UPC - no internet access

I have a three package deal with UPC - TV, Phone and internet. All was grand up two weeks ago when the internet stopped working. We have a Netgear wireless router and I thought the problem might be the computer but when I tried to access the internet using my daughter's laptop the problem persisted.
UPC put me in touch with their service department and after bringing the computer downstairs and plugging it in manually finally got it working. Unfortunately, when I brought it back upstairs again, it stopped working and that is where we are tonight.

My question is - can I buy another wireless router? I would rather do that than go back to UPC - who say they cannot replace a router and that Netgear are the only people I can contact regarding this problem.

Sorry for being so long winded but any help would be appreciated.

johnd said:

UPC [...] say they cannot replace a router and that Netgear are the only people I can contact regarding this problem.

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That right there is where your problem lies. That's complete nonsense. Whoever is telling you that, stop them, ask for their name and then to speak to their supervisor. Say that you're paying for a wireless router and that it is up to them to provide one that does the job. The walls in your house didn't suddenly grow thicker in the last two weeks, I presume?

Thanks DrMoriarty, when I rang I asked for a new router to be sent and the reply was that UPC didn't deal with routers that was Netgear's responsibility. I was put onto their customer service which is apparently in India, judging by the accents. UPC wouldn't even deal with the query! To be honest I rather not bother again just want internet access.

Thanks for the reply

johnd said:

...the reply was that UPC didn't deal with routers that was Netgear's responsibility.

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Nope. Netgear are simply the manufacturer of the router; UPC are your "service provider" (I use the term loosely). Your contract is with UPC, and they are chancing their arm completely by telling you to contact Netgear. If you've followed the instructions given [broken link removed], and still can't connect, then I'd say the onus is on them at the very least to replace your router as a first step. Of course, you're free to go out and buy another router if you want, I suppose. But it's a bit like paying for a taxi and then taking a bus home.

I suspect many companies rely heavily on customer inertia; make the customer service experience sufficiently painful, and people will just give up. Talking to them is usually a waste of time. Personally I keep everything in writing and, at the first sign of this kind of guff, I ask them for acknowledgement of a formal complaint under the terms of their published procedure and advise that I'll take it if necessary to the National Consumer Agency. That usually gets things moving.

Best of luck, whichever way you go.

Strangely enough I have another thread posted about problems with my UPC wireless internet, but they have been great to me, both on the phone and sending out technicians.

My advice would be to not self-diagnose the problem, but let them do it. If they can't fix it over the phone (and plugging your computer in directly is not fixing your wireless problem) then they should send out a technician. It's up to the technician to decide what needs to be done, and I think he or she should have some spare equipment in the van and be able to swap your malfunctioning unit for another one, if that is the problem.

I agree that UPC are your service provider, and they should either provide a working service or do whatever it takes to provide a working service. And I also agree that if you're fobbed off again you should ask to speak to a supervisor. As I said, I have found them great as regards investigating problems, maybe you just got a bad person on the phone.

Can you just clarify if the Netgear router was provided by UPC, or was this something you provided yourself?