New Internet service -- some simple (?) advice?

Once again, thanks to all for the great replies....even the ones I did not understand.

Internet "guy" came out this afternoon. Wife described him as an unhelpful, terrified of CoVid rabbit. He did set up the modem/router and said he did comment that he was glad it was the Netgear unit because they are quality and offer no problems.

He wanted to walk around the outside of the house and wife wanted to follow him to see what was what, but he told her no way -- again -- I guess the CoVid thing. Me, being me, would have said "Yes, way. I will wear a mask and I will be 15 feet away, but I am going with you."

But, I assume he was looking for the --I will call it -- data box, and I already know where it is located.

So, he hooked it all up and her laptop latched onto it immediately.

She then asked him to set-up the TV and, he grudgingly started on it, but she said he got half done and said she could finish.

So, the TV she insisted on is a LG OLED55CXPUA Alexa Built-In CX Series 55" 4K Ultra HD Smart. It sells for $1700 most places, but I managed to talk a Northwest chain outfit into $1500 delivered (WAY more than I wanted to spend, regardless).

I ran it down earlier this week and hooked it up to an amplified Mohu antenna. It gets 28 channels and they look pretty good. I will head down in the morning and see if I can move the antenna a bit and coax a few more over the air channels out, as well as finish connecting it to the wifi...oh, I also need to set a new wifi password for the Netgeat. Wifey told me it already came with a password, but even I KNOW that needs to be changed ASAP.

 

So, just got back from Oregon (I left Washington about 3 am) and boy traffic was nowhere what I thought it might be with the Fourth holiday.

Anyway, got there and immediately went to change the password on the modem/router. Well, gee.

Netgear said that each of them have a unique individually assigned password and while they offered the instructions on how to change it, the manual said it was not really necessary.

So. Avoided that job.

Second screwing around with the TV. MAN. I hate to say it, but that unit is a ---well---it is GREAT. don't know if it is $1500 great, but great.

So, the internet guy whom left it half-done had basically done it all and stopped at a couple of screens that asked if you want to opt-in or out on privacy issues (can the TV film you without your knowledge sort of things).

I basically rejected all those, except the ones needed to keep setting up the TV. I was done.

Hit the settings button on the "magic remote" and rescanned channels received through the over-the-air amplified antenna. Got 38 broadcast channels vs the 28 a few days ago (moved the antenna around a bit).

But, the real surprise was the TV was latched onto the wifi and it had an extra 172 channels.

Wife was very happy. None of our TVs have ever had wifi, so it was a surprise. Not really sure how it happens, but LG touts their LG channels, so I suppose that is what they are.

Put together a queen bed frame, cut a few limbs off trees and then headed home to Seattle (well, sort of home).

Anyway, happy that it was much less stressful than I was imagining (maybe I am remembering "dial-up").

OH< the modem router seemed to really pump out the signal. I walked a laptop all around the house, all around the yard and even up and down the street a bit (feeling silly holding a laptop) and never got less than FULL bars.

The modem router, though expensive, seemed worth it. While I love the TV, I am not that much of a TV guy. But if you are, that LG seems fantastic. And, if you want a modem/router unit, the Netgear seems fantastic.

 

Well, I am not a tech guy. I have a 32" SHARP (back from when they were really SHARP and before they were bought out by a China firm), that the dog and I watch. It is around 2005 and has no wifi capability.

Wifey mostly watched the upstairs TV -- a 42" Panasonic Plasma from around 2005 or so. It also has no wifi.

So, any TV with wifi impresses me. I have never seen it before. But, the real thing, even with only OTA fare, was the sharpness and detail of the picture. Wife commented on "Leave it to Beaver" and said it almost looked 3-D -- and it did.

 

Don't want to get into it -- but my family was pretty liberal. But we were neighborhood friends with the Nixons (before my time). His mother actually attended my grandmother's funeral.

So, lived in the same area. Have a number of Nixon family stories, but not telling them.