Find your closest site here >> http://dellreconnect.com/

Any of you that have asked my advice on PCs know that I’ve been critical of Dell’s consumer line of products, mostly because of the decline of their tech support in the 2000s, and will know I am no  corporate cheerleader.  They have however raised the bar on their server support in recent years and maintained the excellent customer service on acquired companies like SonicWall (which is a fav of mine).  I will reexamine their consumer products, but this is an excellent reason to start, or continue, to use their enterprise products.

Find your closest site here >> http://dellreconnect.com/

Any of you that have asked my advice on PCs know that I’ve been critical of Dell’s consumer line of products, mostly because of the decline of their tech support in the 2000s, and will know I am no  corporate cheerleader.  They have however raised the bar on their server support in recent years and maintained the excellent customer service on acquired companies like SonicWall (which is a fav of mine).  I will reexamine their consumer products, but this is an excellent reason to start, or continue, to use their enterprise products.

I am currently using Seagate 2nd Gen SSHDDs and Samsung Evo 840 SSDs.  Depending on what you are doing and how much storage you need an SSD or 3rd Gen SSHDD  is going to be a huge improvement for your system.

I am currently using Seagate 2nd Gen SSHDDs and Samsung Evo 840 SSDs.  Depending on what you are doing and how much storage you need an SSD or 3rd Gen SSHDD  is going to be a huge improvement for your system.

I am currently using Seagate 2nd Gen SSHDDs and Samsung Evo 840 SSDs.  Depending on what you are doing and how much storage you need an SSD or 3rd Gen SSHDD  is going to be a huge improvement for your system.

I am currently using Seagate 2nd Gen SSHDDs and Samsung Evo 840 SSDs.  Depending on what you are doing and how much storage you need an SSD or 3rd Gen SSHDD  is going to be a huge improvement for your system.

First of all the concept of internet speed is a misnomer to begin with.  Electrons travel at the same speed along copper wires and photons travel at the same speed along fiber optic cables regardless of how much you pay and how your connection “rated”. This is limited by laws, those of physics however and not the FCC.  Probably the closest thing to speed you can measure is the time it takes to “ping” another internet address.  All of this is affected by a variety of factors including the distance and the speed of light and resistance of the medium traveled.  None of this has any impact on the “speed” the ISP touts.  

That “speed” is also referred to slightly more accurately as bandwidth or even more accurately as capacity.  Think of it as a straw that you use to drink your big gulp.  If you get a bigger (larger diameter) straw, you can suck down your sugary drink quicker.  The fluid doesn’t enter your mouth at a different speed, you just get more in the same amount of time.

Think of your internet connection then as a pipe, or even more accurately as two pipes, and the diameter of those pipes is what we are going to evaluate.  For almost anyone that streams anything, download times are very relevant… to a point.   For household usage, depending on the amount of media you might be trying to stream at the highest peak of usage, this would be your biggest limiting factor on minimum download bandwidth.

For businesses this is a more complex scenario.  For download speeds, you want to look at the size of files you might get emailed or your staff might retrieve.  Are you using the cloud and if so how much data are your moving across your Wide Area Network (WAN) connection?  Streaming could be a consideration, but probably not your top priority.  In reality business download bandwidth is not something that generally needs to be as fast as residential.

So now the question of upload bandwidth.  Does it need to “match”  or be synchronous?  Almost always the answer is “No”. For residential usage, the biggest reasons that you would want the speed to be fast is a) you are using Slingbox or some other media redirection so you can watch TV remotely,b) need to access files or remotely control your computers.  While remote computer control applications like Remote Desktop or Log Me In work better with higher bandwidth, they are only sending screenshots.  And how often do you need a 5 gig file from your home PC.  The only times you would “notice” it from home is if you were to upload a large email attachment or transfer a very large file to someone.  Most consumer email cannot receive the size file that would be at issue, Facebook, Twitter, and others limit the size of the files you can upload, and none of this has the slightest effect on downloading data, which is the primary thing residential consumers do on the internet.

Again business usage is more complicated.  Do you host an application that others access from outside? For this your would want to identify any points where your application needs to send large amounts of data quickly to the client.  This can be identified by flattened humps rather than peaks on a network traffic monitor, indicating that the data has to wait to be transferred.

If you transfer large files outside your local network, than this is another consideration.  Finally, site to site Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or extending your enterprise into the cloud are other prime considerations for high upstream bandwidth.  These are not very common scenarios, yet, and even when present usually do not demand extraordinarily large bandwidth allocations.  If you have these requirements, then you most likely knew everything in this article and probably could even improve on it.

In conclusion, the likelihood that you need synchronous or “matching” bandwidth speeds is directly proportional to your knowledge of your WAN requirements and absent the knowledge that you need higher upload bandwidth, you most likely would have no use for it.  In other words… If you don’t have a reason to need it, you don’t need it, and certainly shouldn’t pay more for it!

First of all the concept of internet speed is a misnomer to begin with.  Electrons travel at the same speed along copper wires and photons travel at the same speed along fiber optic cables regardless of how much you pay and how your connection “rated”. This is limited by laws, those of physics however and not the FCC.  Probably the closest thing to speed you can measure is the time it takes to “ping” another internet address.  All of this is affected by a variety of factors including the distance and the speed of light and resistance of the medium traveled.  None of this has any impact on the “speed” the ISP touts.  

That “speed” is also referred to slightly more accurately as bandwidth or even more accurately as capacity.  Think of it as a straw that you use to drink your big gulp.  If you get a bigger (larger diameter) straw, you can suck down your sugary drink quicker.  The fluid doesn’t enter your mouth at a different speed, you just get more in the same amount of time.

Think of your internet connection then as a pipe, or even more accurately as two pipes, and the diameter of those pipes is what we are going to evaluate.  For almost anyone that streams anything, download times are very relevant… to a point.   For household usage, depending on the amount of media you might be trying to stream at the highest peak of usage, this would be your biggest limiting factor on minimum download bandwidth.

For businesses this is a more complex scenario.  For download speeds, you want to look at the size of files you might get emailed or your staff might retrieve.  Are you using the cloud and if so how much data are your moving across your Wide Area Network (WAN) connection?  Streaming could be a consideration, but probably not your top priority.  In reality business download bandwidth is not something that generally needs to be as fast as residential.

So now the question of upload bandwidth.  Does it need to “match”  or be synchronous?  Almost always the answer is “No”. For residential usage, the biggest reasons that you would want the speed to be fast is a) you are using Slingbox or some other media redirection so you can watch TV remotely,b) need to access files or remotely control your computers.  While remote computer control applications like Remote Desktop or Log Me In work better with higher bandwidth, they are only sending screenshots.  And how often do you need a 5 gig file from your home PC.  The only times you would “notice” it from home is if you were to upload a large email attachment or transfer a very large file to someone.  Most consumer email cannot receive the size file that would be at issue, Facebook, Twitter, and others limit the size of the files you can upload, and none of this has the slightest effect on downloading data, which is the primary thing residential consumers do on the internet.

Again business usage is more complicated.  Do you host an application that others access from outside? For this your would want to identify any points where your application needs to send large amounts of data quickly to the client.  This can be identified by flattened humps rather than peaks on a network traffic monitor, indicating that the data has to wait to be transferred.

If you transfer large files outside your local network, than this is another consideration.  Finally, site to site Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or extending your enterprise into the cloud are other prime considerations for high upstream bandwidth.  These are not very common scenarios, yet, and even when present usually do not demand extraordinarily large bandwidth allocations.  If you have these requirements, then you most likely knew everything in this article and probably could even improve on it.

In conclusion, the likelihood that you need synchronous or “matching” bandwidth speeds is directly proportional to your knowledge of your WAN requirements and absent the knowledge that you need higher upload bandwidth, you most likely would have no use for it.  In other words… If you don’t have a reason to need it, you don’t need it, and certainly shouldn’t pay more for it!

First of all the concept of internet speed is a misnomer to begin with.  Electrons travel at the same speed along copper wires and photons travel at the same speed along fiber optic cables regardless of how much you pay and how your connection “rated”. This is limited by laws, those of physics however and not the FCC.  Probably the closest thing to speed you can measure is the time it takes to “ping” another internet address.  All of this is affected by a variety of factors including the distance and the speed of light and resistance of the medium traveled.  None of this has any impact on the “speed” the ISP touts.  

That “speed” is also referred to slightly more accurately as bandwidth or even more accurately as capacity.  Think of it as a straw that you use to drink your big gulp.  If you get a bigger (larger diameter) straw, you can suck down your sugary drink quicker.  The fluid doesn’t enter your mouth at a different speed, you just get more in the same amount of time.

Think of your internet connection then as a pipe, or even more accurately as two pipes, and the diameter of those pipes is what we are going to evaluate.  For almost anyone that streams anything, download times are very relevant… to a point.   For household usage, depending on the amount of media you might be trying to stream at the highest peak of usage, this would be your biggest limiting factor on minimum download bandwidth.

For businesses this is a more complex scenario.  For download speeds, you want to look at the size of files you might get emailed or your staff might retrieve.  Are you using the cloud and if so how much data are your moving across your Wide Area Network (WAN) connection?  Streaming could be a consideration, but probably not your top priority.  In reality business download bandwidth is not something that generally needs to be as fast as residential.

So now the question of upload bandwidth.  Does it need to “match”  or be synchronous?  Almost always the answer is “No”. For residential usage, the biggest reasons that you would want the speed to be fast is a) you are using Slingbox or some other media redirection so you can watch TV remotely,b) need to access files or remotely control your computers.  While remote computer control applications like Remote Desktop or Log Me In work better with higher bandwidth, they are only sending screenshots.  And how often do you need a 5 gig file from your home PC.  The only times you would “notice” it from home is if you were to upload a large email attachment or transfer a very large file to someone.  Most consumer email cannot receive the size file that would be at issue, Facebook, Twitter, and others limit the size of the files you can upload, and none of this has the slightest effect on downloading data, which is the primary thing residential consumers do on the internet.

Again business usage is more complicated.  Do you host an application that others access from outside? For this your would want to identify any points where your application needs to send large amounts of data quickly to the client.  This can be identified by flattened humps rather than peaks on a network traffic monitor, indicating that the data has to wait to be transferred.

If you transfer large files outside your local network, than this is another consideration.  Finally, site to site Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or extending your enterprise into the cloud are other prime considerations for high upstream bandwidth.  These are not very common scenarios, yet, and even when present usually do not demand extraordinarily large bandwidth allocations.  If you have these requirements, then you most likely knew everything in this article and probably could even improve on it.

In conclusion, the likelihood that you need synchronous or “matching” bandwidth speeds is directly proportional to your knowledge of your WAN requirements and absent the knowledge that you need higher upload bandwidth, you most likely would have no use for it.  In other words… If you don’t have a reason to need it, you don’t need it, and certainly shouldn’t pay more for it!

1. Get a spare OEM battery.  Seriously get an OEM not a knockoff.  It makes a HUGE difference. Get 2. Or 3. Not 4.  Get them on Amazon.  The price for OEMs ratio to the likelihood
   

   Get these if your phone can use them

   they’re fake is better there than Ebay.  You are going to need another battery at some point.  GET IT NOW.

2. Get an external battery charger for your specific battery.  This isn’t a Mophie, that is an external battery… this is a battery charger that will charge your battery outside the phone.  You can charge all the extra batteries up the night before a big event (with enough planning between your phone charger and the external 3 is about the most you can mange and the reason not to get 4)  You can also leave a depleted battery charging at the outlet without having to be tethered along side it.
3. Ok, I know, you have an iPhone.  Neither of those options work for you.  If you have a GSM SIM card … Get a burner (prepaid) phone on your carrier’s network.  Whether or not you have an iPhone it can be really useful to have another phone in case yours dies or is crushed, soaked, etc.  For about $60 you can have a spare phone.  You can also use the spare phone without the SIM for Wifi access.  This will also more likely be an Android or Windows (really not a bad option) so you can go back to 1 & 2 and do the battery thing now.
4. Use your laptop.  Many now don’t even need to be “on” as they have a USB charging port that is colored yellow.  If you are carrying around your computer, put it to use.  No yellow USB?  Turn your laptop on, then put it to sleep (usually just shutting the lid works) and you should be able to freeload your phone.  I found this was a GREAT way to use my Surface!
5. Manage your device.  If you need to eek out every last drop you can turn down the brightness, turn off the radio, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, turn off synchronization. Check any apps that may be running without it being obvious.  A quick good way to get a baseline of no apps running is turn off your phone, then be very selective on what you turn back on.  Be especially wary of apps that constantly are assessing where you are or what you are doing, like maps, as they are constantly active and that means wasting power.
6. Go for a ride.  “A ride… now that’s a good idea!  Let’s Go!”  Unless the late great Dennis Hopper is suggesting it, a ride might be just the trick.  And depending on your car (my Explorer for example) will power the DC 12v even with the key out of the ignition. This can make a good charging “locker”, just keep your gadgets out of view or your locker may turn into some unscrupulous person’s vending machine.  There are also true charging lockers in many places now, especially conferences and airports. This isn’t a great option over plugging into a wall though as you are forced to be either tethered to your phone or leave it behind.  At least in your car you have a comfy seat and a bit of  quiet or radio.
7. My last suggestion is the one I recommend in addition to any and all of the above suggestions.  This is to get an external universal battery.  A BIG ONE.  4000 mAh is probably the smallest I would suggest.  I got an 800 mAh Enercell from Radio Shack.  The only nice part is it is small and needs no cables, but it would only charge to about 25% and then it would start sucking the power back out of the phone.  Yikes!  I still have it and keep it for desperate situations, but it is not worth the money. I loved my Mophie.  I am going to get another Mophie.  I had no issues with it and used it often.  It is sized in a way that is convenient.

Here is the final reason to get a big external battery.  They are a great investment! You become one of the most useful people in the world to someone that needs a charge to their device. Talk about instant rapport and standing!  Think about how long you can maintain a conversation with someone if they are using your charger?  Or, you can leave it with a person (why you should always use more than one of my suggestions above) and have a reason to be in contact later as a follow up.

And hey you could land yourself several awesome thank you meals!

Oh and if you want to go all MacGuyver on this… http://www.instructables.com/id/Lost-Your-Charger-How-to-Charge-any-Battery-Survi/?ALLSTEPS

This is an awesome way to adapt a universal power supply when you don’t have (or they don’t make) a specific tip…  http://www.instructables.com/id/Hacking-your-iGo-Universal-Power-Adapter/?ALLSTEPS