The Sunday Morning Wi-Fi Panic (and How We Fixed It)
When the Internet Went Out at the Worst Time
Every Tech Minister knows that Sunday mornings can be… unpredictable. You’ve got volunteers running slides, musicians asking for last-minute track changes, and someone always asking, “Can we make the lights just a little brighter?” But nothing quite prepares you for the heart-dropping moment when the Wi-Fi decides to quit fifteen minutes before service.
That’s exactly what happened one Sunday. The livestream computer couldn’t connect, ProPresenter was stuck syncing, and half the staff were staring at me like I had a magic wand in my back pocket. Spoiler: I didn’t.
Diagnosing the Problem Without Losing My Cool
Now, I’ll be honest: my first instinct was to panic. But after a few deep breaths (and maybe a quiet prayer), I started digging. The issue turned out to be a DHCP hiccup in the router—our devices weren’t pulling proper IP addresses.
So, I rerouted everything through a backup access point I had stashed in my bag (pro tip: always keep spares), restarted the stream, and crossed my fingers. Within minutes, the livestream was back online, ProPresenter was syncing, and worship kicked off without most of the congregation ever knowing we’d had a crisis brewing.
The Lesson: Redundancy is Your Best Friend
What I took away from that Sunday is simple: backups aren’t optional. In church tech, you don’t just need Plan A—you need Plan B, C, and sometimes even D. That little backup access point probably saved us from total chaos.
It’s why I encourage every church (and every client I serve through 850 Tech Gurus) to invest in some kind of redundancy: spare cables, backup routers, even a second streaming path if possible. It’s not about being paranoid—it’s about being prepared.
Why Wendy’s Came to the Rescue Afterwards
Of course, once everything calmed down and service ended, I realized I hadn’t eaten all morning. And if you know me, you know what happens next: I head to Wendy’s. Because nothing says “You survived Sunday tech chaos” like a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and a Frosty. Trust me—it’s the best recovery meal a hangry tech guy could ask for.
Filed under: Uncategorized - @ September 17, 2025 6:44 pm