Well, that Nextel iM1100 pcmcia modem I picked up on Thursday is _still_ not working! Here’s the letter I scrubbed off to the local Government sales rep (no, I don’t think he caused the problem):
Hello [Rep],
Do you ever feel like banging your head against the wall while dealing with the fine folks at Nextel?
I picked up the iM1100 modem Thursday morning, spent the next couple hours installing the software and trying to figure out why it wasn’t working. After trying everything I could think of to debug the issue, I called the Key Corporate Accounts hotline and asked to speak to a representative in the wireless department. After asking me the usual 10 questions to establish who I was, she finally transferred me to wireless. Luckily, she gave me the direct dial number to wireless should any future problems arise.
After spending another 10 minutes on the phone with the “technician” at wireless support answering the same questions the first girl asked me, I was finally able to explain my problem. She determined after much looking that I was on the wrong type of plan for the modem. She would submit the changes to move me to the Packetstream Gold plan, but it would take another 24 hours for that plan to be provisioned… argh 1. Okay, thank you.
Friday afternoon I was very busy at work so I didn’t get a chance to test things.
Saturday afternoon I finally found some free time at work. Plug the modem in, try to use the Internet, nada. Same problem as I originally had.
After arriving home Saturday evening, I spend another couple hours rechecking things to ensure that my system is not the cause of the problem. By this time, I have reinstalled all the modem software because the CD that comes with the modem from Nextel has badly outdated drivers. After installing the newest drivers available, rechecking and testing… same problem.
Call the handy-dandy direct line to wireless that the girl on Thursday so conveniently provided, only to find that the number has been disconnected. Okay, minor inconvenience. Call the “Key Corporate Accounts” line back, and (yep, you guessed it) after asking to be transferred directly to wireless support, I am first asked the usual barrage of questions to identify myself. Then I’m told by the gentleman that he cannot transfer me directly without first trying to debug the issue himself… argh 2. After explaining the problem in as succinct a manor as I am able, he realizes that he has no idea, and transfers me to Wireless Support.
The woman at Wireless Support then puts me through the same string of questions, and then asks what the issue is. I explain in full network-geek terminology exactly what I believe the issue to be, only to find out that the “technician” has a very limited understanding of networking. As this is to be expected from a first line tech, it doesn’t push the frustration buttons too badly. After spending 20ish minutes with her trying to explain exactly what I believe the problem to be, and waiting for her to catch on, she finally figures out that the best plan might be to let me speak directly with a higher level support person (Yeah!).
After assuring her that I would not report her should there be more than a two minute delay before one of these higher level support folks picks up the phone, she agrees to transfer me. I’ve assured her that I will not pursue any form of complaint against her should I have to hold for more than two minutes as I have a meeting with the highest levels of the Wake County finance department at 9:30AM on Monday morning to hash out the details of our upcoming fiscal year budget, and I need the modem operating so I can VPN back to work and have access to any financials the County might request. This is, after all, one of the primary reasons for purchasing this modem.
After holding for a short period of time, she returns and informs me that it is now approximately 9:00 PM, and that the other support department closes at 8:00PM. She then informs me that they will be open from 9:00 AM until 8:00 PM Sunday, and that I should call back and again attempt to speak to them. Fair enough. I.ll do that. While I have her on the phone, however, I ask her to confirm that I am indeed now on the Packetstream Gold plan, and that it should have been provisioned. She confirms both questions. I thank her for her exceptional efforts and hang up.
Sunday afternoon arrives and it.s now time to try things again. It.s now been almost 72 hours since the plan switch on Thursday afternoon, so I figure I would try to connect again before attempting to find my way through the support maze. Modem comes on, connects fine, but the same problem is still present and prevents me from accessing the Internet. Nice to see some things never change.
Get on the phone, spend the usual time making my way through Key Corporate Accounts and once again convince the chap that he cannot solve my problem and that I really need to speak to Wireless Support. He agrees and transfers me. The woman at Wireless Support then checks my security clearance, etc and I explain the problem. She sees the notes on the account, and then informs me that it now takes 48 hours to provision a new plan. And those 48 hours must occur during business hours! Apparently the Nextel computers are turned off after business hours. Either that, or it takes a significant amount of time for someone to add my IP to the ACL on whichever router I.ll be going through. She does inform me, however, that if I wait until late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning, it might be working by that time. Argh 3! I explain the time restraint I.m under re: the budget meeting, and politely ask if I can speak to someone in the upper support department. She informs me that they close at 3:30 PM(!!) on Sundays. I tell her it.s a good thing I called early and still have 10 minutes left, as it is only 3:20PM on the ntp-synchronized clock here. She then politely explains that where she is, it.s well after 3:30PM. Apparently this Nextel support department is run on a barge floating off the Atlantic coast and is one time zone ahead.
So, I guess my option is to carry my brand new $300.00 iM1100 .works anywhere in the Nextel network footprint. modem to the meeting tomorrow and prop the laptop on it. That should improve the ergonomics of the laptop keyboard, if nothing else.
Ah, well, welcome to business with Nextel.