8August2010

Solve wireless network “blues”!

Posted by Jerry Kidd under: Buying Technology Tools; How to...; Product Reviews.

So, I had this problem.  My wife loves to watch movies on the TV.  Recently we were fortunate enough to come into a big screen, flat panel TV that has taken her movie watching into a whole new dimension of entertainment.  I am a member of NetFlix, but since my taste in movies tends to run to anything where people land on Mars or where things blow up, and her taste runs to Jane Austen, my choices from NetFlix were inevitably wrong.

One day I saw that the Wii console we bought for our grandsons to use could also be used to get movies on demand from NetFlix if I just got a special DVD from them to put into the Wii.  The only catch was that the Wii had to have Internet access.

I wasn’t too concerned as I have two wireless networks in my house.  One, on my over 15 year old PacBell DSL line (I still have a static IP address!), and the other on our Comcast  cable system.  I just “knew” that one of those networks could reach the family room from our home office. Wrong!  The Wii could “see” both of them, but neither signal was strong enough to allow it to connect.

So, I went in search of ways to get a strong and reliable wireless signal into the family room.  Although I could have crawled under the house and strung a network cable, I am way too lazy for that.  Then I remembered reading about  something called HomePlug™ networking.  This is a networking standard that uses the wiring in your house to move the Internet connection around.

Click on the picture or go to http://budurl.com/WGXB102 to go to the page on Amazon that will show you the product that I bought.  Be sure to click on the “Watch” button under the picture to watch a short Flash video that explains how it works.  It won’t take long and it explains the process better than I can.

So, I bought the kit and shortly there after, I have a strong wireless signal in the family room that the Wii can connect to, AND that I can also use with any of my WiFi devices like the iPhone, Netbook, Laptop and my grandson’s Nintendo DSi XL game systems.

You don’t have to use this with a Wii.  It could be very useful if you wanted to have a strong WiFi signal anywhere in your house.  Just plug the second unit in anywhere you want.  The first unit stays near the Router in your house. (Watch the video for details).

Once you have this set up, it’s truly plug it in and forget it.  If you have a power failure, the network comes back up right after power is restored.  It consumes very little power and comes in a variety of configurations.  For instance, you can get models that have ethernet plugs at both ends if you didn’t want wireless.  And some models are “green” in that they stop consuming power if there is no activity after a certain period of time.

From where I sit, this is an elegant solution to the issue of how to have the Internet available wherever I happen to want to use it.  What do you think?

1August2010

Own your own AT&T cell “tower”!

Posted by Jerry Kidd under: Buying Technology Tools; How to...; Product Reviews.

On June 27th I told you about a solution that I was using to solve the almost non existent AT&T coverage in my office. Here is the link to that article in case you missed it: http://realtytechbytes.com/solve-poor-att-reception/

It actually worked quite nicely, until you picked up the phone. Once you did that, and took the phone out of the zPocket Wireless Range Extender YX-110 the signal would drop off to nothing and the call would drop.

The following week I told you what my solution was to that problem…a bluetooth adapter that allowed me to use a regular desk top telephone via my iPhone’s bluetooth adapter.  That works very well too.  If you missed that article, it is at the following link:
http://realtytechbytes.com/use-your-cellphone-with-your-home-or-office-phone-system/

But, I was intrigued with a new product from AT&T called the 3G MicroCell™.  Here is what AT&T has to say about what it is: “AT&T 3G MicroCell acts like a mini cellular tower in your home or small business environment. It connects to AT&T’s network via your existing broadband Internet service (such as U-verse, DSL or cable) and is designed to support up to four simultaneous users in a home or small business setting.”

Essentially, you plug this device into a. power outlet, connect a network cable between it and your router, and it becomes your own private cell tower.  There are some detailed steps to take to get it activated, but the instructions are clear and detailed enough so that the average user could get it done.  The part of the activation process that you are involved in only takes a few minutes.  But, it takes the device about an hour to finish the process in the background as it communicates with the AT&T network

It has to know where it is, so it needs to be a able to “see” a GPS satellite in order to get a GPS signal.  This was of some concern to me as I have an inside office with no windows facing outside.  Across the hall from my office is an office with outside windows and there was sufficient GPS signal getting to me that the device could get enough of a GPS signal to connect.

Here are some additional facts from the AT&T web site:

Device Features:
Enhanced coverage indoors – up to 5000 square feet.
No required additional monthly fees – just use the wireless minutes and data from your existing plan.
Available  minute voice feature.
3G handset compatible – unlimitedworks with any AT&T 3G phone.
Supports 3G data services for customers without Wi-Fi capable handsets*.
Device is secure – cannot be accessed by unauthorized users, easy and secure online management of device settings
Seamless call hand-over – start calls on your 3G MicroCell and continue without interruption, even if you leave the building.

Device Requirements:
3G wireless phone
Broadband service over U-Verse, DSL or cable
Computer with Internet access for online registration

Additional Information:
Installing your device near a window is strongly recommended to ensure access to Global Positioning System (GPS). A GPS link is needed to verify the device location during the initial startup.

The 3G MicroCell is portable and may be moved, provided the new location is within the AT&T authorized service area and properly registered online.

Additionally, it can have up to 5 devices connected to it at once. When you set up the device, you tell it which phones are allowed to connect.  Those are the only phones who will be able to use it, so you will be able to feel secure in using it.

The phone seamlessly connects to the MicroCell when you enter it’s range. If you are on a call that is routed through an AT&T cell tower when you enter the range of the MicroCell, you unfortunately stay on that tower.  In my case, this means a dropped call.  But, if I begin a call on the MicroCell, and then leave my office, it is handed off to the nearest cell tower seamlessly.  So, I can start a call in my office and hit the road with the phone and keep the call alive.  I just can’t do the reverse.

Here is a screen shot of my iPhone 4 connected to the MicroCell. (Click on the picture to see a larger picture)  Notice that where it normally says “AT&T 3G” that it now says “AT&T M-Cell 3G”.  Notice all of those lovely bars!

I’ve been using it with my iPhone 4 for a few weeks now with no problems, and with 5 bars of signal too.  Which means I can get rid of my zPocket device.  Any one want to buy it from me? 

25July2010

Can I offer you One Facebook tip?

Posted by Jerry Kidd under: How to...; Rants; Social Media.

I sure hope that you’ll say yes, because the problem that this tip will solve is starting to look like an epidemic.

Facebook is built on connecting with people and becoming their “friend”.  Once you are friends with someone you can start to share your life stream with them and they can share theirs with you.  Works really well and we gain a deeper understanding of the other person.  As a bonus, when we interact with their posts, their friends have the opportunity to see the interaction and “chime in” with their thoughts, which can lead to us making new friends.  It’s awesome how well it works.

But, with all of the hysteria about privacy, I think that some of us have thrown out the baby with the bath water.

It seems like every friend request that I get is sent to me with just the Facebook standard request message of “so and so wants to be your friend”.  Unless I really know you (in other words we have actually met face to face more than once) I am going to click on your name to see what I can learn about you.  When I do that lately, I end up at your profile which has been configured in such a way that I cannot get information about you!  Facebook tells me that “so and so only shares some of his/her profile information with everyone”.  In other words, I have to accept the friendship to find out if I want to be friends with so and so!  And that my friends is absurd!  When I see that, I simply choose to ignore the friend request.

Here is a way to solve the problem.  When you send a friend request to someone, take a few minutes to personalize the message.  Let the person know how you come to be asking to create a friendship.  Maybe you have friends in common, if so, be sure to tell them.  Maybe you went to the same schools, or worked for the same companies in the past.  Maybe you like what they have written, maybe you just like the way they look.  What ever it is, please take a moment to let the object of your friendship request know who you are and why you are asking for the connection.

Maybe I am getting old and cranky, but it seems to me that this could solve the problem and get the new friendship off to a great start by identifying the common ground that you stand on right from the beginning.

What do you think?  Am I on track or should I just go chill out?