Network Administrator

When working (or playing) on the internet have you ever received a message that reads something like, "...please contact your network administrator..."? If you use the internet, then I am sure that you have received this message at some point (whether you actually read it or not is a different story). When I read this type of message or when my wife says that she got this message I get a big lump in my throat and my palms begin to get a bit shaky and sweaty. Why? Because, as of a few weeks ago I became the Network Administrator for our little wireless network for the house!

Theoretically, this is a simple job: keep the internet server running; turn on the internet; turn on the wireless router...OH! but it is SO much more complicated than that! Here is my latest episode...

I rearranged my office to accommodate a new computer that I plan to use for my WTC teaching work. On Thursday afternoon, the internet seemed sluggish, but still functional. I checked our wireless internet connection and it still showed 3-4 bars of reception (the max available). On Friday, it was unreasonably slow and it was all that I could do to stay at work. By Saturday, then connection was dropping about once an hour. So I rebooted the internet server, checked all my settings and tried again. It was going OK...for a while...argh! Today, Monday morning the connection was still slow and still dropping. So I put my Network Admin. hat on again and moved my wireless internet connection modem over about 2 feet. I now have high internet speeds again...go figure.

Enjoy!