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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Bad Design--Easy to Hit the Fail Switch

I spontaneously lost home broadband connectivity this afternoon. I spent 20 minutes troubleshooting on my end--re-setting cable modems, and Comcast boxes--before calling Comcast. Just as I was talking to the Comcast rep, I had the idea to press the little black button on top of my cable modem. Voila, all the lights went solid, and I had a connection.

I think the idea is that is the emergency disconnect button--you know, in case you are online, and Russian e-gangsters start attacking you. But it is SO ridiculously easy to tap by accident, that my cat could have nosed it, or more likely, my son with restless, teenager energy, kicking underneath the desk whilst using the computer. Really bad design, just like your typical telephone mute button.

3 comments:

  1. Sorry for the troubles. Thanks for the feedback. I will be share with the appropriate departments and leaders.

    Kind Regards,
    Melissa Mendoza
    Comcast Customer Connect
    National Customer Operations
    We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
    @ComcastMelissa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just to be clear--the button is on a Motorola modem, not on any Comcast equipment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, big brother is watching!

    Don't get ahead of yourself, still only have 2 teenagers for the moment!

    ReplyDelete