Have you ever changed out your Wi-Fi modem? We recently upgraded our’s to a NetGear Nighthawk.

We did it because we felt like our old one wasn’t reaching out like it should. Even our children had mentioned that our Wi-Fi was not up to par.

My wife is the IT guru at our house. I’m so thankful for all she does. She changed it out fairly quickly. (About a week after we purchased it.) Then we accessed the new hardware on our phones and made the proper changes. I felt good that everything had gone so smoothly.

I felt good until I sat down to watch something on Netflix. I have a special remote designated for that. There was some sort of message that basically stated, “You cannot get there from here.”

Hmmmmmmm.

Now that I’m older things like this don’t upset me like they once did. I didn’t get angry and throw the remote at the television. I said to my IT person, “Netflix isn’t coming in anymore. “

She fiddled with it for a while before she switched to our basic TV remote. I watched with amusement, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to access Netflix on that device.

BAM! She did it.

Hmmmmmm.

“What about Prime?” I asked.

BAM! She did it again.

Hmmmmmmm. I was stunned. No longer do I have to use two different remotes.

The next thing we noticedy was that our Ring doorbell app wasn’t working. We could no longer see what was going on in front of the house.

BAM! She did it again.

I was beginning to feel inadequate. She’s one sharp cookie.

I thought about a few other smart devices we had around the house. “Alexia, play John Prine music.”

Alexa was not responding.

Hmmmmmmmm. I thought, surely I can fix this. I went through the app and fumbled around for a while.

The power of positive thinking wasn’t working. After several minutes of mumbling and sighing my IT person took over.

BAM! It was fixed.

“Alexa, turn on the garage lights.”

Nothing.

“Alexa, turn on the living room lamp.”

Nothing.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I was determined to fix the problem by myself. I fumbled through the Wemo app, the Alexa app and the settings on my phone. I YouTubed it and watched several how-to videos.

Confident that I could do it myself, I tackled it again. And again. And again. For three days I have tinkered with getting Alexa to warm up to me and turn on the lights out in the garage and the living room lamp.

Communicating with the opposite sex has always been a challenge for me. But this Alexa was not giving me a break with the lights. She’d sing to me. Answer a few questions. But turn on the lights to my detached garage? Nope. She wasn’t having any part of it.

Today I called for backup. I found a number in the Wemo app and was connected with a young lady in the Philippines.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

I seriously need to get hearing aids. She was very friendly. Had to repeat things a dozen times so I could understand what she was saying, but she was cool. Bless her heart.

I was on the phone, running back and forth between my house and the detached garage out back for about two hours. Kill the power to the garage. Go to the settings in this app, then another app. Press the restart button here. Hold another button there. Update the Wemo app. Update the Alexa app. Go back to the phone settings. Do the Hokey-Pokey, turn yourself around.

Two hours later Alexa decided to turn on the lights in my garage. Praise the Lord.

The young lady thousands of miles away was happy. I was happy. She was about to hang up when I asked, “What about the smart-plug for the lamp in my living room?

“Oh.”

We began the process to get the plug working again.

That young lady was so nice and patient. It’s like that’s the only thing she had to do all day long.

Hmmmmmmm. Come to think of it, that is all she has to do all day long.

“Are the lights blinking on your plug?”

“Yes.”

“What color?”

“Blue and red.”

“Oh, something is wrong. What is the model number on the back of the plug?”

I had had to go find a magnifying glass. Finally, I was able to focus in on the tiny letters and numbers on the backside of the plug.

“That cannot be. Wemo does not have model numbers like those.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Those numbers are Amazon numbers. I cannot help you with this problem.”

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

“Okay. I didn’t realize it wasn’t a Wemo plug. Thank you for your help.”

After two plus hours I felt like we were family. I almost said, “I love you” before I clicked, End Call, but I caught myself before I did.

I researched the Amazon plug and was able to get it to communicate with Alexa within five or ten minutes.

Now I feel brilliant. Go figure.

I have a simple suggestion for you if you are considering changing or upgrading your WiFi modem. DO NOT DO IT.

But if you feel you must, make yourself a sandwich, pour yourself a tall glass of tea, wine, or whiskey, and call that young lady in the Philippines. Tell her Rick says hello

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Rick Algood
June 4, 2020