How thick are these walls?

I woke this morning feeling so much better, unbelievably so considering how bad I’ve been all week.

Dad makes a start whilst I have a shower and dressed but with wet hair he asks for advice. That’s it I’m sucked in.

Microfilters fitted – check.
Router software loaded – check
Router plugged in to power and phone line – check
Router cable plugged in to ethernet port on PC – check
Ethernet port anything more than a deceptive hole in the back of the PC – ah problem found

I make reassuring noises and reach for the USB option.

“But you said it would be slower” remarks my concerned papa.
“Well yeah Dad, but you’re going from creaky old dial-up to 4.5Mb broadband, trust me everything is relative…”

Router connected, line tested, bingo we have broadband.

“Ooh!” says an impressed father as he sees how fast webpages now load.

A new homepage created, new email accounts set-up, message rules created to manage their mail, old email account adjusted for the new connection – check.

“Ooh!” says an impressed father as he watches example emails sent to the various different email addresses from my laptop, filter automatically into separate folders.

“Ooh!” says an impressed father as the penny drops as to how my laptop has managed to send emails without a wire in sight.

Next – operation wireless.

Wireless adaptor fitted to Mum’s PC – check
Router temporarily relocated nearby – check
Software added – check
Wireless connection to the internet achieved – check
Email accounts etc also set up – check
Router relocated back to Dad’s PC – check
Mum’s PC still getting a wireless signal – no. Bugger.

We now enter a period of many hours in which the helpful daughter tries out different router locations with the revised plan of connecting both machines wirelessly. Not an easy project given the thick walls and doors and the fact that the two PCs couldn’t be further apart within the house if you tried. Oh and we only have one wireless dongle at this point…

Just as it seems a compromise position has been identified everything stops. After much faffing and reconnecting via cables it’s clear it’s the broadband line that’s gone.

It stays down for the rest of the day, reappearing only for a few seconds at a time.

Grrrrr...