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i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

topic posted Tue, February 14, 2006 - 11:56 PM by  Unsubscribed 		Share/Save/Bookmark
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this is the second roommate situation in a row where this has happened. roommates, happen to be guys, they don't set up the router properly, and their mismanagement of it means the connection is constantly dropping, having all sorts of problems. i try to explain how to properly set up the router, how to download firmware updates, different encryption protocols, positioning of the router for minimum interference (meaning, thru walls and whatnot)... and for some reason, they just look at me, like i have no idea what i'm talking about, and the distinct impression i'm getting is, "you're a girl, obviously you don't know how to set up a router as well as i do."

like tonight, where i've been living the past 5 months, the wireless situation was a mess when i moved in, major bandwidth drag due to neighborhood leeching off us, etc, router constantly dropping the connection. i fixed it when i moved in. has been working properly for several months, without a hitch.
new guy moves in 2 days ago, and tonight he decides he's going to "fix" the router. i find this out because i'm uploading files to a new domain i'm working on, and suddenly the connection starts dropping out repeatedly. i go out to find out why.

within 3 hours, he has completely crashed the existing router (g) and he's brought out an ancient router that's b.... and he tells me that he removed the encryption i'd set up to deter the neighborhood leeches (they were the ones who kept crashing our router) because the encryption i used could be known to reduce the bandwith speed. the mb/s i was clocking per second wasn't fast enough? what exactly do you do that requires faster speeds? i mean, you couldn't possibly download more porn than *i* do...

and i'm not saying these things out loud to the guys, of course, i'm just trying to get them to put it back the way it was, and they're looking at me like, you're a girl, obviously we know more about these things than you do. and i knew they were doing this, because they were really dumbing down the technical concepts, but would talk normal to each other, and the new guy tells me, well, b routers were the first kind of routers that existed, and then g came along next... and i'm just looking at him, having no idea how to respond to this. it's like he's knocking on my door trying to explain what the acronym "html" stands for, when inside my room i'd been editing php scripts and converting an excel database to mysql.

i finally, after 3 hours of this, said, "you know what? just because i'm a girl, it doesn't mean i'm STUPID about TECH stuff!" all of a sudden, they start using big words, and talking to me straight. THANK you. thankfully, i have remembered to keep my humor, and i have them laughing with me. and when he throws that whole "well, it's obviously your mac that's the problem" at me, i just growl at him and say, "don't EVEN go there."

by the way, i am not male-bashing here, i just find it odd this is the second roommate situation in a row where this has happened. anyone other geekgirls ever encountered this? next place i move to, i have to ENSURE i get put in charge of the wireless. i may be quiet and shy, but i am geek, and YOU CAN'T MESS WITH MY INTERNET!
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  • Jaso...
    Jason "Slick"
    offline 43

    Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

    Wed, February 15, 2006 - 12:30 AM
    Lol Your my kinda girl. Granted I don't know much about Routers, but my theory is if the router is working properly then there isnt' a problem with it at all :P I can setup a network easily enough and get me to build a Computer NP at all (see geek in me)

    I just don't understand why those guys seem to Mess up a perfectly working router configuration that you have setup. Are they having problems connecting? Well if they are maybe they should ask you to set it up for them before they hurt themselves lol.

    Well at least they wised up.

    Check you later

    jay
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  • Kelly
    Kelly
    offline 122

    Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

    Wed, February 15, 2006 - 6:57 AM
    What MORONS.
    Hey, any idea why my wireless router occasionally just drops all its settings and comes back on-line with its encryption shut off?
    It's easy to fix, but I'm exposed until I do.
    Firmware is all up to date.
    It'sa Belkin 802.11G wireless.
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    • Unsu...
       

      Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

      Thu, February 16, 2006 - 12:26 PM
      thanks to all for the kind words. =)

      kelly, possible houseboy, how good to see you here. the sexless midgets and i were talking about you the other day. i so wish i could help you with your belkin router problem, but i've never dealt with a belkin before. i would google it and try to find a solution but then realized i would be shooting drunkenly in the forest. (no, my name is not cheney.) unlike what i've read of japanese business expectations, in which encyclopedic knowledge is contained in the brain, or else those with whom you work lose respect for you, i am much like the western american business person, in that i just pull things out my.... spur of the moment genius. unfortunately, this "genius" technique requires me to be in the vicinity of the afflicted hardware/software.
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      • Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

        Thu, February 16, 2006 - 12:58 PM
        So, I'm not totally clear on this. Are the midgets themselves sexless, or do the midgets just not *have* sex? These are the things that keep me up at night. And look! You too can be shot by Cheney, even if you can't *be* him <g>:

        iwontheinternet.com/dick/
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        • Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

          Thu, February 16, 2006 - 1:01 PM
          Oh, and on the actual topic <lol>, I completely feel you NM. I used to be a professional carpenter, and I want to KILL when I people say things like "just get your husband to put this in for you" when I buy a deadbolt or something. Ugh. I'm happy to hear that you stood up for yourself!!
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          • Unsu...
             

            Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

            Thu, February 16, 2006 - 1:58 PM
            oh, the sexless midgets. it is such a complicated story to tell. i bought the domain name, one of these days i'm gonna have to put the site up. (imagining...) ... (living it...)

            it's just bizarre, i mean, i was oblivious for about the first 27 years of my life, blissful tiger rampaging away, completely heedless, not noticing ANYthing around me (surely because my own magetism was so stunning and powerful, surely. of course, the magnetism is gone, i'm no longer cute, and so now i'm just curmudgeonly, badly dressed geek). first time it occurred to me that blatant sexism occurred, and that i was its recipient, was when i worked at an it-shall-be-unnamed utility company end of 2003. worked undereath a rotund-bellied guy who had a mini-program counting away the days to his retirement on his desktop. i was a temp hired to deal with account reconciliation issues, churning out personalized invoices. given my project management background, i analyzed the workflow, realized there was a much more efficient way to manage the project, figured out how it could be down, worked out the details, and then, very carefully, very tactfully, submitted my proposal to him. he completely ignored me, didn't even acknowledge me when i walked by in the hallway, but the 21 year old guy temp who was hired with me, they'd chat up a storm. 3 days later, we got called into a meeting, and the supervisor dude, not even looking at me, but talking directly to the guy i was working with, told us that he'd thought of some ways to streamline the project we were working on, and he proceeded to outline absolutely everything i'd sent him. did not even mention me. when i asked him for details, he abruptly started using monsyllabic words, then would turn to the guy beside me, and start back in with the big words.

            i walked away from that meeting, totally bowled over. it was like glasses being removed from my eyes, and i looked around me saying, "whoa. what ELSE haven't i been seeing?"
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            • Jim
              Jim
              offline 38

              Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

              Fri, February 17, 2006 - 8:00 AM
              That kind of intellectual claim-jumping happens all the time. It's reprehensible, to say the least, and a story like yours cries out for such vengeance as would give pause to the gods themselves.
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              • kc
                kc
                offline 108

                Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

                Fri, February 17, 2006 - 3:38 PM
                if these guys had half a brain, they would realize you know what you're talking about and leave the stuff alone.
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                • jaime
                  jaime
                  online 57

                  Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

                  Mon, February 20, 2006 - 11:07 AM
                  wow, i'm impressed. you waited that long to get beligerently technical on them. i would have password protected the f@ker & put a "don't reset me of die" note on the damn thing. who really wants the whole neighborhood using their wireless? how in the hell does encryption possibly lower the speed more than leechers? maybe he needs to check the crap running in the background on his PC slowing the bitch down.

                  luckily, none of my guy friends even attempt to say/think they know as much as i do about anything computer related. my boyfriend is about the only one who is my tech-equal & even then, he always asks me if i know anything about what he is doing before he assumes i don't know.

                  i think the men you're been dealing with are just a little out-dated in their views. but that is pretty obvious :)
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  • Unsu...
     

    Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

    Mon, February 20, 2006 - 6:28 PM
    thanks again, all. these are actually really good guys in all sorts of other ways, it's just odd the things you encounter in other people. a constant learning experience. if it were my router, i so would've password protected it, et al. but it's not, it belongs to the not-as-tech savvy guy who owns the flat. that was what made the situation a bit... awkward, and why i wasn't as forward at first. it was password protected, by the way; they just ripped it out, completely reset it, set up a new wireless network.

    i take the good with the bad. i let them assume i'm dense about this kind of stuff, they move furniture and paint my room for me. it's a trade-off. =) now, about the dirty underwear and rank-*ss socks i find constantly in the bathroom, hallway, living room, kitchen... (don't ask me how they get there.) to make a long story short, if anyone knows of a decent place to live in the berkeley area, let me know. this place is a frat house. =)
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    • Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

      Mon, February 20, 2006 - 6:30 PM
      Well, at least maybe they have good keggers?
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      • Unsu...
         

        Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

        Wed, February 22, 2006 - 6:26 PM
        mid-30s. they've moved beyond mere keggers; now it is constant construction projects, an ever-present layer of dust and detritus on the bathroom floor, and always a 12-pack of either tecate or modelo in the refrigerator. i have to fend the owner of the flat off with a spatula everytime he opens the refrigerator door, as he's always eating my food. frequently right after he comes walking down the hall completely naked save for a pair of tighty-whiteys. he's well-built, so not as horrible as it could be. standing here, in a state of undress, his mouth on my mission street burrito, chewing away, he looks up, notices me looking at him, and says, "what?"

        good times, good times... =)
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        • Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

          Wed, February 22, 2006 - 6:39 PM
          hee hee - well, I grew up with brothers, and they don't really consider themselves naked if they have the tighty-whiteys on - I mean, technically, they are covering everything. I had a brotherless friend nearly fall off her chair when when she was staying with us for a few days, though. And I am sure the standards are different in different families, but I can see where there could be some confusion about that. The food, however, should be crystal clear - maybe you could get one of those plastic bins, with a lid, and put your burritos in there, with a mousetrap right on top...
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        • Unsu...
           

          Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

          Wed, February 22, 2006 - 7:56 PM
          okay, now I am starting to see that your male housemates are just inconsiderate twerps overall, not just when it comes to your geek cred.
          You REALLY need to move out and in with some more mature folks, esp. if these guys are still acting this way in their 30s. :)
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          • Shannon
            Shannon
            offline 58

            Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

            Thu, February 23, 2006 - 12:47 AM
            "esp. if these guys are still acting this way in their 30s. "

            Way in their 30's? I thought this went on their entire lifetime. :P Ok, now I'm being the biased one.

            If that were me, I would have spoken up way sooner. Either that, or snuck out during the night, taken the router apart, got rid of the reset button, pluged it back in and password protected it. Then, the next morning when they wake up and can't figure out how to reset the thing and ask you what happened, say, "I don't know. Somehow I figured out how to take apart a router, remove the reset button, put it back together and password protect it! :o I am only just a girl, so I don't know how I managed this..." Then walk away. ^_^
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  • bhall
    bhall
    offline 36

    Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

    Thu, March 9, 2006 - 10:32 PM
    i used to be how you described. for some reason, many guys just think they know more or are right. there is no realistic basis for this viewpoint; they aren't self-examining. i was lucky enough that my close female friends never took that type of shit and fought me till i wept and bled before them. i love them all the more for it now
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  • Unsu...
     

    Re: i'm a girl, obviously i don't know how to set-up a router

    Wed, April 19, 2006 - 8:18 PM
    Try a D-Link router.. That's what we're on now and it's smooth sailing.. We also have a NetGear router hooked to that to better facilitate the use of the DS in the house. For some reason, D-Link wasn't working too well for it. They work so well that we forget that we have them.... Don't bother with Linksys, it's a waste of time. You'll be resetting every 5 minutes. It just wasn't working out with CoH or WoW.
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