Broadband Woes to Start 2023 – So it’s a Late Happy New Year From Me

First of all, a very belated happy new year to everyone. This is not the new year post that I had intended to publish. I’ve had broadband woes again. On the 28th of December, I was about to publish a post when our phone and broadband gave up on us. Eventually, after what seems like an eternity without access to the phone or broadband, we are now reconnected with the world again.

I’m Used to Broadband Woes

People who know me will be familiar with my previous broadband woes. We live in a fairly remote area of the Scottish Borders and couldn’t get access to standard broadband. We needed satellite broadband which was extremely expensive and fairly unreliable. If it sniffed rain in the air, it decided not to work. And it was slow and limited so we really couldn’t watch movies or have video calls with anyone. But it did allow us to be online so we were happy to have it.

Then last year, full-fibre broadband was installed in our valley and all our Christmases came at once. We chose a package through Sky which gave us tv, our phone and very fast, unlimited broadband for less than we’d been paying for everything previously. We were overjoyed. (And still are when it is working.)

It’s worked perfectly until the 28th of December. At first we thought the weather had maybe affected it and hoped it would come back on quickly. By the following morning, it still wasn’t working so my hubby drove a few miles down the road to phone Sky using his mobile phone. Living in a fairly remote area also means we have no mobile access at our house.

Sky checked the line and said there was an external fault and arranged for Openreach to repair it. They hoped it would be fixed within a couple of days. The following day, there was an almighty storm with torrential rain and gale-force winds so we knew Openreach wouldn’t be able to repair it that day as it would be unsafe to climb telegraph poles. Then the New Year holidays were upon us, so we knew it wouldn’t be fixed then.

We Rely On The Internet So Much

We were patient. Very patient. But it was kind of annoying. We had no phone. No broadband. And no access to television in the bedroom as it uses a minibox which needs broadband. No Netflix or catch-up tv. But the biggest issue was that my husband’s business depends on internet access. He had to drive a few miles down the road every day to deal with that. 

I normally like to watch tv in bed because that’s where I am most comfortable. When I sit in the living room, even for a short while, my back complains loudly these days. Lying on the couch just isn’t as comfortable as my bed. So that was a big miss.

Obviously, I couldn’t access my blog and groups on Facebook or have contact with friends or family. My friends live inside my laptop and I normally chat with them daily. When you live with a disability, often your social life is non-existent. Social media becomes a replacement for that. It makes you feel less alone.

Thankfully, I wasn’t physically alone. I had hubby and Kip at home but being without broadband made me appreciate it even more.

I think we both realised how much we rely on our broadband apart from just using it for business, blogging and social media. Want a recipe? Google it. Who was in that movie? Google it. Need groceries delivered? Order online. Prescriptions! Online. Everything revolves around the internet nowadays.

Hopefully No More Broadband Woes During 2023

Anyway, thankfully, we are back online and life is somewhat back to normal. Hopefully, I’ll have no more broadband woes this year.

Now, I’ll need to play catch-up on everything I’ve missed and I better remind myself how to blog again. It feels like so long ago since I pressed the publish button.

How has the new year been so far for you? I hope you’re as well as you possibly can be and there have been no major problems in your lives.

Take care and I wish you happiness and good health throughout 2023.