Failures of Technology

[billroper]

Having ascertained that what the hotel wanted for Wi-Fi access in the Dealers' Room was just a bit high and outside, I pulled out the Verizon hot spot that I'd bought for just such an occasion, fired it up, connected the Square tablet to it, and went to log in and pay for net access.

Which might have worked if the webpage could be found, but it couldn't, despite the Jetpack showing plenty of signal. I tried to call the tech support number for the unit, but it showed up as disconnected. I called a different Verizon tech support number that Steve gave me, entered the phone number for the Jetpack, and was told they were having technical problems just before the phone robot hung up.

Yes. Yes, they are.

So we're running the charges on my phone over the Sprint network now. Backup strategies are my friend.

Comments

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

It took me a couple of tries to get my new Jetpack to register. But once I called a second time, they updated the info to the correct SIM.

At least I had my LTE enabled iPad at Wondercon, so we could have ran a charge if we'd made a sale.

[billroper]

My Jetpack had been registered and ready to connect to the system before when I tested it. However, I didn't need Internet then, so I didn't pay the $15.

I suppose I'll sort this out with them before Detcon1...

[mia-mcdavid.livejournal.com]

I still use a wacka-wacka machine. It does not need phone service or satellites, did not cost anything, and will never go down.

[billroper]

True enough.

On the other hand, our credit card processor was charging us about $35 / month while Square has no monthly fee...