So now we know we need that amplifier. If you haven’t been following this blog, you might wonder what kind of amp is under discussion. Your best bet would be to start here and work forward in time to get the gist. Back now? Good. OK, what convinced me was watching the “Cellular Signal Strength” [...]

Posted in MacOS X, Verizon, WiFi, WindowsXP, wireless 8 Comments »

We are on the road between Vernon and Amarillo, Texas, a few miles east of Childress, and while the road (US 287) is pretty good, 4-lane and pretty smooth, with not much traffic, the AT&T cellphone reception on our iPhones is pretty nearly non-existent, and it took several minutes for the Verizon data card to [...]

Posted in AT&T, iPhone, Verizon, wireless No Comments »

OK, the antenna, data card and modem are working fine, but the mid-sized 12-volt inverter we’ve got can’t handle the laptop and the modem at the same time if the laptop’s battery is low, so we need another solution. We’ll be stopping in Amarillo tomorrow, and maybe we can find a bigger one there at [...]

Posted in Metaverse, SecondLife, Verizon, wireless 2 Comments »

As I type this, we are traveling through Denton, Texas on the way to Wichita Falls and points west. I’ve been able to read my email and look at Google Earth, both of which require an internet connection, and I even spent a bit of time in Second Life! We were still in the Dallas [...]

Posted in iPhone, Virtual Worlds, wireless No Comments »

I said I’d report on the new mobile router, modem & antenna we bought this week, so here you are. It’s all good! At least so far. Right now we have the router (with the USB modem sticking out the side of it) sitting on the dashboard of our RV: Connected to the modem is [...]

Posted in eBooks, ePublishing, iPhone, MySQL, Open Source, PHP, smartphones, Software, Twitter, Verizon, WiFi, wireless No Comments »

This is developing into a very busy day, with grocery shopping to do and company to entertain tonight, but I wanted to crow a little about the new mobile WiFi setup. It all works like a charm! I’ll have details later on.

Posted in WiFi, wireless No Comments »

While it is not new technology, until now we have not had a satisfactory way to consistently get true broadband internet away from home. We’ve tried WiFi at various RV parks and internet cafés, smartphones, and even an internet-connected satellite dish, but they all have serious drawbacks. WiFi connections operated by uninformed park caretakers can [...]

Posted in iPhone, SecondLife, smartphones, WiFi, wireless 5 Comments »

There’s a lot of evidence that eBook technology and concept are finally starting to catch on. Not only is Amazon’s Kindle becoming a household word (if not a household appliance), but my good friend Chris Andrews has just published an excellent article on his blog about why 2009 is going to be “the year of [...]

Posted in eBooks, ePublishing, Facebook 1 Comment »

As we prepare for the second phase of our annual southern migration, I was considering our internet connectivity during our travels. Last night when I was trying to put on an event at the ISM, I kept crashing because the cable here has a problem with frequent drops. That’s one problem, but mostly while we’re [...]

Posted in smartphones, WiFi, WiMax, wireless 3 Comments »