3 ms·

Everyone is talking about hotspots, but since I got used to having WWAN (as opposed / in addition to 'WLAN') directly in my laptop there's zero chance I could e

by Lammy 6y ago

Everyone is talking about hotspots, but since I got used to having WWAN (as opposed / in addition to 'WLAN') directly in my laptop there's zero chance I could ever go back to tethering. My main portable is one of those custom modern motherboards for a 2011 ThinkPad X-series shell since I hate the keyboards on all the new ones. Originally a "third-batch" I7-8250U that I've since supplemented with a "fourth-batch" i7-10510U system so I have a spare just in case something happens to it, and paired with a Telit LTE card and a T-Mobile "unlimited" (50GiB soft-cap) SIM. T-Mo is probably not a good choice for very remote areas since their reception is spotty, but the price is right since I have a family plan of four unlimited lines for $130/mo thanks to some grandfathered stacked promotions. Pixx: https://imgur.com/a/JWGC39n https://imgur.com/a/JWGC39n I don't have a good recommendation for the Zoom bandwidth issue, but it is possible to host an audio-only meeting if your participants are okay with that :) https://it.umn.edu/services-technologies/how-tos/zoom-host-or-join-audio-only-meeting#hosts https://it.umn.edu/services-technologies/how-tos/zoom-host-o...

rektide 6y ago
Good mention. I've had laptops with dodgy wifi in the past, or been in some very wifi-noisy environments. It definitely helps not having to send data through wifi. Phones usually have fairly low-grade consumer wifi chips, they're not top notch APs. There's often considerable additional latency to boot. I'd throw in the mention that USB Tethering fixes all of these issues. My cell provider is not very cool about handing out additional (even data-only) sim cards, and it seems like most are similarly block-headed. Google Fi is one of the only Nice Guys on the scene, but I refuse to go anywhere near a service that throttles me to 256k if I hit my "unlimited" cap. So I've had a number of devices with cellular connectivity, but it's always gone unused. So again, usb tethering. Very fast connection speed, much more stable latency. It works great. My battery, a ZMI 20k, has a USB Hub mode, where it charges the laptop, while acting as a USB hub for two devices, so I can charge my laptop, and charge my phone (very slowly!), and have usb tethering, all at the same time. But for many folks, a simple USB-C cable can be a godsend in a time of need / slowness.

by Lammy 6y ago

rektide 6y ago

Good mention. I've had laptops with dodgy wifi in the past, or been in some very wifi-noisy environments. It definitely helps not having to send data through wifi. Phones usually have fairly low-grade consumer wifi chips, they're not top notch APs. There's often considerable additional latency to boot. I'd throw in the mention that USB Tethering fixes all of these issues. My cell provider is not very cool about handing out additional (even data-only) sim cards, and it seems like most are similarly block-headed. Google Fi is one of the only Nice Guys on the scene, but I refuse to go anywhere near a service that throttles me to 256k if I hit my "unlimited" cap. So I've had a number of devices with cellular connectivity, but it's always gone unused. So again, usb tethering. Very fast connection speed, much more stable latency. It works great. My battery, a ZMI 20k, has a USB Hub mode, where it charges the laptop, while acting as a USB hub for two devices, so I can charge my laptop, and charge my phone (very slowly!), and have usb tethering, all at the same time. But for many folks, a simple USB-C cable can be a godsend in a time of need / slowness.