Cisco Systems
Router cannot work with USB modem, hours wasted with tech support

I purchased a Linksys wireless router to accompany the XO laptop that I bought for my parents for Christmas (the laptop is great). They currently have an old desktop PC that does not have any Ethernet ports, and must therefore connect to the DSL modem via a USB cable.

I was able to get the wireless router to work, but then the PC couldn't connect to the Internet. Once I got the PC's Internet connection working again, the wireless stopped working.

After about an hour and a half of trying to get it to work, I called Linksys customer support. And after about 45 minutes on hold, I spoke with a tech support person who had me fiddle with the connections and configurations for another 45 minutes or so to no avail until my cell phone battery died.

The next day, I called customer support again, waited for 30 minutes on hold, and then fiddled with the connections and configurations with another tech support person for another 30 minutes.

After trying a bunch of different things, the support person asked me to hold. He came back after a few minutes, and informed me that the router I purchased cannot be used with a USB modem.

Had they shared this tidbit with me in the first place - or better still, included it in the documentation that came with the router - I would have simply given up and returned the router to the store and would have continued buying Cisco's products with no hard feelings.

But because they wasted several hours of my time through their sheer incompetence, not only has Cisco Systems lost a customer, they have gained a lifelong enemy.

Company: Cisco Systems
Country: USA

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