Current Information

In June 2008, Wayne Reeh was faced with the difficult choice of continuing to operate PNX without the full technical staff needed to ensure a quality operation or look for another company with similar vision and background to continue the service. His searching led him to Caldwell Global Communications, Inc., a privately owned company based in Tennessee. After several discussions with the owner, Wayne felt very comfortable that Caldwell Global would not only be able to take over the existing services for customers but would also be able to expand the services available to the PNX customer base.

On August 15, 2008, the deal became official, and Wayne (along with his staff) began working with Caldwell Global staff to handle the myriad intricate details necessary to transition the services and billing from PNX Computers to Caldwell Global.

History Up Through August 2008

In October of 1982 my father-in-law, Mr. George Ragsdale, opened one of the first video rental stores in Orange, TX, Randy’s Home Video, Inc. It was named for his son, Randy Ragsdale. In early 1983, I joined Randy in the family business.

In 1987, I purchased the business outright and began to diversify. One of the first decisions I made was to computerize the store. That challenge was my introduction to technology. As the video business became much more competitive, I continued to look for new business opportunities. In 1990 I partnered with Mr. Tony Hernandez and we began to build a computer hardware sales and repair business. Tony handled the technical side and I handled the business side. Our first major opportunity came when we were awarded the bid to provide the new hardware and network infrastructure for the Little Cypress High School Library.

In 1992, Tony accepted a position with a company on the East Coast. Before leaving he introduced me to Mr. Mark Foreman. Tony and Mark worked together and on Tony’s recommendation, Mark and I partnered and continued to grow the computer side of my business. Mark brought a great deal to the table. His expertise went beyond computer hardware. Mark’s hobby was a single line, 2400 baud dialup Bulletin Board System (BBS) he named Pink’s Place.

That BBS was the foundation for what eventually became the first, local number dialup Internet access in Orange, TX. As my business moved away from video rentals to computer sales and Internet access, a new name was needed. Taking up the Pink’s Place handle we began to brainstorm and hence, Public NetXchange, PNX for short, was born.

At the height of the dialup business I had standardized behind the Rockwell v.90 56K modem standard. Fiber optic phone lines powered my digital modems. PNX also supported ISDN and multi channel ISDN connectivity, Point to Point T1 as well as Domain name hosting and email management. To this day, PNX remains the only local Internet Service Provider (ISP) that also builds, sells and repairs computers. To me, a computer store and an ISP are a natural combination.

Following an ice storm in 1998, (we were without power for 7 days) I purchased a 35KW natural gas powered generator. The generator was sized so that it would not only handle my computer equipment and insure continuous Internet connectivity but also handle all other power requirements; lights, heating or air conditioning. Once the generator was installed, PNX was no longer affected by power outages. When the power goes out, all critical computers switch to battery backup power. There is an auto transfer switch that recognizes the outage, signals the generator to start and in just 45 seconds, the generator is up to speed and transfers all power from the public utility.

In 2002 and 2003 as broadband began to chip away at my dialup Internet customer base, I knew that PNX was faced with a loss of customers to this new technology. I realized that it made no difference who provided Internet access to the public, they had to have a computer that would remain up and running and trouble free. I began to transition once again shifting the focus from ISP and computer hardware to computer hardware and ISP.

In September of 2005 I dealt with the biggest challenge of my business career, Hurricane Rita. Rita made landfall on September 24 and the eye passed directly over Orange, TX. Total damage to the Gulf Coast was estimated at $11.3 billion. When Rita hit one of the first things to go down was electrical power. That is, except at PNX. When the public utility power went down, my natural gas generator took over. For the next 19 days my generator kept PNX Internet online. I am proud that the investment I made following the ice storm in 1998 proved to be a good decision. While the major broadband providers were devastated and out of service for months, PNX dialup never went down.

In April of 2007 PNX opened a second location in Beaumont, TX. While we still have dialup Internet customers as well as Email/Domain Hosting customers, the primary focus of PNX today is:

  • First Class Customer Service provided by an excellent Staff
  • Building and selling custom built computer systems as well as name brand laptops.
  • Service and repairs on all PCs regardless of brand name.
  • In-store as well as on-site service work
  • Customer designed Service Agreements
  • Web Page Development/Design

As PNX moves forward I am confident that, unlike the video rental business, technology will never be a fad. The demand for technology will only increase. I am proud that PNX continues to diversify to meet the ever changing needs of its customers. One such diversification was the introduction a few years back of our online store: www.pnxcomputers.com. In an “apples to apples” comparison test, PNX is very price competitive with the big name brands. However, PNX remains a small business by all standards and I like that. At PNX, if you call in with questions or assistance, the only accent you’ll ever hear is a Texas Drawl. Thanks for reading about my company. I welcome your comments.