Case Study
J took up a package deal from Virgin Media, including telephone, TV and broadband internet. This came with a Virgin-branded modem, which allowed for connection to one computer. It's good value, and all just worked. No problem. However, J's children have an X-Box which they want online, and J has a laptop. There was no obvious way of connecting everything at once, with the result that they switched cables around on demand and only had one connection live at a time. This also worked, but caused disruption and fights.
We had a quick look at the setup and determined that a budget router would solve all the problems. Ten minutes later the required kit had been ordered through Amazon, and we offered a loan unit free of charge for a few days until the new one arrived. We offered to return (also free of charge) and help configure the router, but they managed to sort that out themselves. We did advise on security matters (again, no charge), and it sounds like the router is now well set up.
Total time taken: 15 minutes, not including the cup of coffee (thanks) and the natter afterwards.
Total cost: about £30 for the router. NO CHARGE for the consultation, J was lucky enough to "buy" one of our free visits. If this had been a standard callout, a fee of £35 would have been raised, which would have covered all follow-up work.
We Promise Value!
Ask around at computer shops for help on this subject. You will almost certainly be told you need an expensive combined modem/router, probably about seventy pounds worth. Then an expert configuration consultation for maybe fifty quid. It'll work in the end, but you'll have paid over the odds at every step, and ended up with more than you needed. This is why we don't sell hardware! We have nothing to gain by recommending expensive equipment, our only interest is that you get what you need - including value for money.
