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Author Topic:   Technology Obsolescence
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 1 of 23 (815331)
07-19-2017 6:28 AM


Technology Obsolescence
XKCD comic 19Jul2017: WIFI vs Cellular
Curiously I have been thinking along these lines. With cellular data downloading faster than my current ISP I am tempted to get ride of land-line DSL and get an unlimited data plan. This would let me access internet anywhere there are towers, not just at home, and use my phone as a WiFi Hotspot or Bluetooth Tether.
Get TV over internet and I don't need DirecTV satellite dish. Get the TV stations you want.
All I need to check is download speed for streaming video signal ... and cost of unlimited data plan.
Technological obsolescence says it will get better and better ... 5G ... 6G?
Has anyone else thought/done this?
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by New Cat's Eye, posted 07-19-2017 9:52 AM RAZD has replied
 Message 3 by Chiroptera, posted 07-19-2017 10:05 AM RAZD has replied
 Message 7 by Stile, posted 07-19-2017 2:11 PM RAZD has seen this message but not replied
 Message 9 by caffeine, posted 07-19-2017 4:39 PM RAZD has replied
 Message 18 by ramoss, posted 07-22-2017 7:34 PM RAZD has replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 4 of 23 (815351)
07-19-2017 10:31 AM
Reply to: Message 3 by Chiroptera
07-19-2017 10:05 AM


Re: Wifi works well for me.
I'm looking at a small camper ...
Both for my(our)self and for possible mini-home for brother Nate, one he can take south in the winter and north in the summer. Our Subaru Forester can tow it with weight allowance to spare.
Shower, toilet, on-demand hot water, blue-tooth dvd player/radio, 19" tv (bluetooth), A/C, heat, sink, 2-burner cook-top, add a microwave and I'm good to go.
I've never priced data plans, so it's possible replacing wifi with 4G would save me a few dollars each month, but there would be an initial upfront cost for me as well as I'd have to replace all my devices with ones with 4G capability, so I'm not seeing anything here that makes any of this worth it for me.
Well I already have a 5-G capable smart phone that I can mirror to my samsung tv ... getting the unlimited data plan and I can use it to watch my home tv channels (DirecTV has this with them delivered over internet and are currently promoting an internet tv service). I had thought of Hughsnet.com, but if the phone can do it then I don't need a dish and another bill. We like to watch PBS mystery shows and they have streaming of various shows over the internet.
With DirecTV now separated from Verizon and run by ATT&T I get three bills, one for land-line and DSL from Verizon, one from ATT&T for the satellite TV shows (90% of which we don't watch), and one for our 2 cell-phones. One phone plan looks pretty good. Gets rid of two bills ... and I can take it with me in the camper.
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by Chiroptera, posted 07-19-2017 10:05 AM Chiroptera has seen this message but not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 5 of 23 (815354)
07-19-2017 10:35 AM
Reply to: Message 2 by New Cat's Eye
07-19-2017 9:52 AM


I am tempted to get ride of land-line DSL and get an unlimited data plan.
Don't forget to consider them throttling your speed...
There are times when the service gets very slow. Reminds me of back in the day when everyone was on modems, and you could tell when the kids got out of school or were on vacation ....
The satellite tv is also a bit of a disappointment -- whenever we have a heavy rain the picture freezes and pixilates. Often right at a critical moment in the mystery show.
Enjoy
Edited by RAZD, : sp

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2 by New Cat's Eye, posted 07-19-2017 9:52 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 6 by New Cat's Eye, posted 07-19-2017 11:08 AM RAZD has seen this message but not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 10 of 23 (815444)
07-20-2017 9:46 AM
Reply to: Message 9 by caffeine
07-19-2017 4:39 PM


internet to the house ... or camper ... via cell data
On the contrary, it's been several years since home wifi reliability ceased being a bottleneck.
The issue is not so much the wifi in the house but how the internet gets to the house. I use Verizon DSL, and it's service is variable and unreliable at times (reminiscent of old modem days).
Using cell phone data is another way to get the internet to the house ... or the camper.
As far as I can see speeds are compatible. I'd like to get away from the Verizon land-line and the ATT&T satellite dish and just use the cell phone ... if practical/possible.
I don't need hyper-speed, just enough to watch tv from data link to mirrored tv screen (or via bluetooth from phone to tv or via wifi from phone to tv)
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 9 by caffeine, posted 07-19-2017 4:39 PM caffeine has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 16 by caffeine, posted 07-21-2017 6:08 AM RAZD has replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 17 of 23 (815565)
07-21-2017 9:58 AM
Reply to: Message 16 by caffeine
07-21-2017 6:08 AM


Turn your car into a mobile hot-spot?
T-Mobile has a new device to bring connectivity to vehicles
$149 for device that plugs into car analysis data cable and also provides information on car use and mechanical issues.
There is also this information:
quote:
Bluetooth mesh networks could give the Industrial IoT a boost
Bluetooth networks now support mesh network standards, thanks to a recent decision by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the governing body that oversees the networking standard, according to ZDNet.
Mesh networks are decentralized networks that rely on several routers that connect to each other and create a network that usually has a longer range, making it ideal for many enterprise settings. Google Wi-Fi, for instance, is a mesh network designed for use in the home to cover areas that may have had spotty coverage with traditional Wi-Fi.
... But Bluetooth can handle more data than these low-power protocols, and now that it can be extended through mesh standards, it could be good for connecting machinery on a factory floor. ...
The camper uses bluetooth to connect dvd player to tv.
We don't have a landline connection in the flat any more - the previous owners removed it. Internet just comes through the TV cable. Trying to use only cellular data would cost exponentially more, but as I said I guess it all depends on market provision where you are.
The only reason I have a landline is so that I can get DSL, so that adds to my cost. I though of using it for fax connection on printer, but who faxes anymore? If I need to I can use an internet fax service.
We have an antennae and can get stations not carried on DSL.
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 16 by caffeine, posted 07-21-2017 6:08 AM caffeine has not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


(1)
Message 20 of 23 (815685)
07-23-2017 6:44 AM
Reply to: Message 19 by Minnemooseus
07-22-2017 8:46 PM


Re: Windows 8 and beyond (OSLT)
What about technology made "obsolete" by something "worse"?
Planned obsolescence ... with "partners" ...
My CAD software doesn't operate in Windoze 8 so I would need to upgrade that at significant cost, which is not worth it to me for my use. So I have a laptop with XP to run the software. I've tried using Hyper-V with a virtual XP OS, but it is clunky getting in and out and the window size is not negotiable and small.
Then I have another laptop with W8 on it and different software that doesn't operate in W10 ...
And then I got this one, with W8 and touchscreen to be tablet and laptop ... but it updated itself to W10 overnight while I thought it was just running updates to bring it up to date since purchase ... and W10 doesn't do touchscreen, so I've lost that.
I HATE touchpads, they are in the wrong place and always moving my cursor all over the place while typing, so I turn them off and use a mouse once more.
Not much to
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 19 by Minnemooseus, posted 07-22-2017 8:46 PM Minnemooseus has seen this message but not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 21 of 23 (815687)
07-23-2017 6:55 AM
Reply to: Message 18 by ramoss
07-22-2017 7:34 PM


... They DO have separete devices that go through the 4G network that is not tied to a phone for being a hot spot, and I think those are more efficient on the use of batteries than phones. ...
Yes, I am beginning to look into those, maybe a trip to Geek City is in order. I used to have a Virgin Mobile hotspot device for internet on the go, but it was only 3G. If I get a new device like that I would want it to have 5G capacity.
This would work for the camper and home. My DSL is sometimes iffy and slow, and a couple of times I've used mobile hotspot to work around that bottleneck. 4G does seem to be adequate for my needs. With a 4G box I can get rid of my landline and the wire across the road and worry about the tree falling and taking it out or a large truck taking it out. And take it with me in the camper (retirement on the road).
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 18 by ramoss, posted 07-22-2017 7:34 PM ramoss has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 22 by ramoss, posted 07-23-2017 10:49 PM RAZD has replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 23 of 23 (815767)
07-24-2017 9:06 AM
Reply to: Message 22 by ramoss
07-23-2017 10:49 PM


5G is not widely available yet.. it will be a couple of years at least. I am looking forward to it though.
Yes, but I would like upward compatibility. At one time I was working professionally and needed internet on the road, so I got a Virgin Mobile 3G card with unlimited data that I paid for as I used it. Presumably I could still use that if I settle for 3G instead of 4G, and that means no streaming of videos/TV (I'd have to download them if that is possible).
Went to Geek Town / Best Buy and talked to them about 4G stations, cards. You can get them ... with a 10GB limit, worse than the phones (there is one phone plan that provides up to 300GB data
Usually the phone plans say something like:
Each MetroPCS monthly plan includes an allowance of super fast 4G LTE data. Once the allowance is used this reverts to 3G speeds. See the specific details of each plan for confirmation of the included 4G data allowance.
So my 3G card would be just as useful at that point. That worked fine for work here, emails, and downloads.
The allowance limit is usually 23 to 30 GB but This plan: Simple Mobile says unlimited 4G for $60/30days prepaid no contract ... They use T-Mobile's network ... and Verizon Unlimited says "Unlimited Data (Verizon may prioritize your data behind other customers during times/places of network congestion)" and no tethering or hotspotting ...
I could try the Simple plan and see how well it works. No contract, and I have an extra phone.
Enjoy

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAmerican☆Zen☯Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.


Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 22 by ramoss, posted 07-23-2017 10:49 PM ramoss has not replied

  
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