This is a paid piece from Midco.

Simplified: Excited to tune in for the Super Bowl? Ready for March Madness? Here's a look behind the scenes at how Midco prepares for the days when everyone is tuning in.

Why it matters

  • No one wants to run into tech problems when they're trying to catch every play on Super Bowl Sunday. Midco's team plans ahead to make sure your internet and TV connections are reliable.
  • The company also has redundancies built in, so even if the connection goes down in one location, there's a way to reroute traffic to pick it up and make sure fans can keep watching.
  • And, even if problems arise, Midco's got their locally based customer service team staffed up and at-the-ready.
"It really is just all hands on deck to make sure the experience is as seamless as possible," said Noelle Tieszen, senior customer experience operations manager.

What goes on behind-the-scenes?

A day or two before the high-viewership event – say, the Super Bowl – Midco institutes what's called a "network lockdown," said Pao Lo, vice president of network engineering.

  • That means no work is being performed on the network.
  • It also means Midco's engineers – who are always on standby in case of outages – are on an even more heightened alert to jump on any problems as quickly as possible.

And, if one location loses service during the game for whatever reason, Midco switches to one of their backup connections in another location.

"Our systems are redundant," Lo said. "It’s geographically diverse if something happens from a natural disaster perspective."

How can I get help with any issues that arise?

The best way to avoid issues is to plan in advance, Tieszen said.

  • Turn on your TV, if you haven't in awhile.
  • Reboot your devices.
  • Know in advance what channel the game is on.
  • Make sure devices are connected to the internet, and that you're ready to share Wi-Fi information if you're hosting.

And, if problems do arise, the first place to go is Midco's website, for troubleshooting tips.

If you need help beyond that, or need TV or internet before the big game, you can chat with a customer service representative on the site, or you can call 1-800-888-1300 or text 64326 for further support.