MacGyver fix for Neotel NeoGo Connection Problem 24/02/2010, originally uploaded by Dale Nunns.

A client of mine had all their and all their neighbours phone lines fail in one go when a roadside Telkom Junction box became the casualty of a high speed chase.

I had to quickly come up with an alternative way to get them connected to the Internet, a quick solution was a Billion Router fitted with a MTN 3G Datacard with a SIM with the MTNVPN APN enabled so that incoming connections would work for there VPN and a Neotel NeoGo card for outgoing mail.

The only problem was that the NeoGo USB adapter couldn’t get a signal inside the building, after alot of walking around and waving it in the air I found the perfect position in between the burglar bars at the window. A few elastic bands tied to it got it suspended in the “sweet spot” and its working… with between 1-2 bars of signal, but at least it works.

I’ve done this kind of thing thousands of times before, using whatever I have at hand. I don’t think you can call it a true MacGyver solution unless it uses at least one commonly found household or office item.