Haven't posted in a while, but I thought I would start again since a topic has piqued my interest.
Just recently, a friend of mine asked me to help him set up security on his network on a new router. While I tried everything I could, it didn't work out. Turns out, the problem was his modem was a modem/router combo (at least I'm pretty sure that's the problem). He then said that if anything, he'll go to Geek Squad for help if he later has problems with his network since he can connect without using a security key.
Which goes into the topic at hand. Geek Squad. If you don't know by now, Geek Squad is a service provided by Best Buy that deals mostly with technology set up. Setting up TVs, home entertainment systems, computers, video game systems, etc. While what the service does is good, it's a money waster in general. At the very least (I think), $50 is the first/cheapest/something along those lines, price that it has for one of its services. I looked around the video game set up services it has and the prices are ridiculous. $50 to transfer save files/downloads to a new hard drive, $30 to set up accounts and parental controls, and $130 to set up a network for online gaming. If you ask me, those prices are absurd. Why? You can do it for less. Heck, you can practically do it for free in some cases. With data transfer, you can just buy a sufficiently-sized flash drive, memory card, or a transfer cable (if you're on Xbox 360) for less depending on the console you have. And LOL at the account set up and parental controls. You don't NEED to pay that much to set that up. If you could just READ THE MANUAL of the system you bought, you can do that with ease. If not, you could just look it up online on the system company's website. As for networking, you've gotta be fucking kidding me if you're gonna spend $130 to set up for online gaming. Provided you already have a high-speed internet connection and a gaming console, all you need is an ethernet cable or a good router, depending on the type of connection you want. For this topic, we're going with a wireless connection. If you don't have a wireless router, you can get a good one for around $50 more or less. If you have basic common sense, you don't need to spend anymore than that just to set up your console for online gaming.
Basically, what I'm trying to get at is DO NOT go to Geek Squad first. Look around your area and find a person who can set up technology for you at a much lower price. One of the best things you could do is to contact a friend or a close acquaintance who's tech-savvy to set it up for you, possibly for free, like what my friend did. If anything, seek assistance from Geek Squad last. You don't need to pay an absurd amount to set up technology when you can do it yourself (provided you have common sense) or know someone you can trust who can do it for cheap or even for free. Geek Squad is just there to help those that are technology-dumb and (maybe?) have no friends or are socially awkward.
