Germany Goes Digital
Right! It goes but how!
Let me tell you a story. NO! It is not fiction. It is what happened to me in the last days.
Ten days ago I wanted to upgrade my internet speed from 150 downloads and 5 Mbps upload to 500 downloads and 25 Mbps upload – megabits per second- and I wished for a new router. I have sent an email to the provider – Unitymedia – with all my wishes and requests.
After a day I got a phone call from the provider – with a new name, Vodafone – to confirm my requests and she happily informed me that my wishes would be fulfilled in two days.
In two days the post brought the package, and on the same day, I have received an SMS that; my products are activated and I can use it immediately.
I have disconnected the old Router – Fritz! Box 6490 – and connected the new one – Fritz! Box 6591 – and configured it by the Fritz!Box web browser. Everything went well EXCEPT for the speed of my internet. It was between 20 and 40 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload. I thought it would be fine. I just should be patient for one day, even I knew that the new connection would take an estimated about 2 hours.
24 hours passed, and I called the company Vodafone and explained that my new internet connection and its download varies from 20 up to 40 Mbps. She said, test your speed and hung up. Of course, I was testing the speed all day and evening. I have tried to call again and this time a lady connected me to the technical department. The gentleman promised me to send a technician as soon as possible. Something about two hours later I got an SMS that the ANTEC GmbH will send a technician in two days between 10:00 and 14:00. The next coming two days the internet was terrible. And sometimes I didn’t have any internet at all.
On a promising day the technician was here in my apartment and started to test the internet wall outlet where I have connected my internet and after a while he said, that is the problem and I have to change the wall outlet because it is old. He has done it and tested again and said. Oh, the cable they sent is wrong, but I have the standard one. He changed that one too, and measured the speed. He couldn’t find why the speed is still very slow. I’ve asked him to check the new router and his answer was;
- I have the same router and it is working very well”.
I smiled and asked him:
- Maybe you should try it.
- No need. I know it is new and fine.
- How do you know that?
He didn’t answer my question and went further into the other rooms and checked all internet wall outlets. The result was the same, “slow download”. It varied from 20 to 34 Mbps.
He suggested we should go to the basement that he could check the main cable. He did and concluded that
- The problem is there and we should change it.
- But do you know what that means? You should break the walls from here to the second floor of my apartment.
- Yes, we have to, but for now, you can use your internet and we will monitor your speed.
- But I can’t accept that because it is not what I am paying for that. And I need faster internet for my online teaching.
He said nothing and gone.
Within an hour I’ve received an email with the report of the technician which he didn’t show me what he has written and even I didn’t sign it.
I called the technical department and told them the whole situation. The lady told me: I am sorry, this case is closed and we can’t help you.
- But I didn’t sign that report. How could you accept it?
- Because of Corona, you are not allowed to sign it.
- Ridiculous! Nonsense! He was here, inside my apartment for about two hours and there was no problem, but signing a paper we got the problem with Corona?
- Sorry, we can’t help you.
She hung up. I didn’t give up and called again to get somebody to help me. She couldn’t help. I was sure that the new router was broken and dead. I have started to search on the internet for hours to collect some information about the router.
I found out that in Germany, you can only use the FRITZ!Box 6591 Cable with article number 20002857 with all cable connections. Models with other AVM article numbers are not intended for use with all cable connections. And what I got was with the article number 20002827.
The next day I called three times to ask them to deactivate the new router and activate the old router. They did it and within 30 minutes I have got my high-speed internet.
I’ve called the company again to tell them
BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT AND TECHNICIANS!
And I explained all details and I knew they were recording my voice.
I don’t blame the company, the technician, and all co-workers. The politicians in Germany don’t care about the digital era.
In Germany, only 26,2 percent of young people attend a school where both teachers and students have access to a WiFi network. This puts Germany absurdly behind the international average of 64,9 percent.
On average, each computer in Germany is shared between 10 people, compared with five in Denmark. 3,2 percent of schools equip all teachers with their own portable digital terminals (i.e. Laptops or tablets). Internationally, the average is 24,1 percent and in Denmark, it is as high as 91,1 percent.
Regard all those facts, I am optimistic that Germany goes digital in 2100! Cross the fingers!
Manouchehr Abrontan
October 2020