If you opt to work from anywhere like we do, your business life, your sanity, depends on reliable Internet access. Recently we’ve been dealing with a complicated, frustrating issue that has been pinpointed to a problem with Verizon’s wireless network.

Working Internet service is life or death for remote workers.

This issue is preventing Verizon wireless customers from accessing our Tripawds animal amputee support community. People who are desperate for help and only use Verizon wireless for service can’t get to us.

It’s affected our other endeavors too, like this one and LiveWorkDream. Over the last week it’s also kept us from accessing our own sites during a spring snow storm that prevented our satellite dish from seeing the sky. Normally we would use our Verizon MiFi device as a backup. Not this time.

Several frustrating weeks later and after many hours on the phone trying to get somewhere with Verizon wireless support, things are going nowhere.

So much for the benefits of redundant Internet access when you live and work remotely. We’ve now ordered a third broadband hotspot from AT&T, it’s supposed to show up today along with another $60 a month Internet bill. That makes a total of $270 that we pay, before taxes, to access the web every month.

Instead of redundancy, we now have tridundancy. Ironic, considering that the biggest way this Verizon failure is impacting us is by hampering the reliability of our three-legged animal support community.

Frozen satellite Internet dish

What’s the issue? I’ll let Jim tell you about it in these posts he’s already written.

Verizon Wireless Technical Support Fails to Help Tripawds Users

I could use the MiFi to easily browse other websites. Only when attempting to connect to our site, did the Verizon connection timeout. Meanwhile, certain Tripawds members who also happen to be Verizon customers started reporting similar issues . . .

I had consulted with our data center, my server manager, and a number of internet experts and very technically adept friends. We all agreed that the problem lies in the network, there is no problem with my server or website configuration. And my MiFi is working fine.

Also check out our recent LiveWorkDream post about why Internet redundancy, or more like tri-dundancy is a must.

What Internet Service Is Best for RVers?