Comments

Episode-2282- Listener Calls for 8-30-18 — 12 Comments

  1. Not 5G (it’s 4G) but if you’re looking for an unlimited data internet connection that uses the 4G Sprint network look at Calyx Institute (https://www.calyxinstitute.org/).

    It’s called a 30GB+ plan but it doesn’t throttle or restrict data as far as I’ve been able to determine. Apparently this service is the result of Sprint taking over some bandwidth that was set aside for educational purposes for their 4G network.

    It’s $500/year which includes the mobile hot spot. Additional years are $400/year.

  2. My weekend bugout house in the mountains does not have access to cable or DSL. Satellite is available, but we are in the middle of a forest, so there’s no free path to the sky. And, since we are only there mostly on weekends, it doesn’t make sense to buy an expensive service. We just pay for an unlimited data for our cell phones through AT&T, and pay an extra $30 total per month and all 5 phones can hotspot at high speed for 10 gigs, and then it supposedly get’s throttled down. I use it for internet, and even connect with my blue ray and get Amazon and Netflix in case we want to see a movie. I could get a digital antenna, but at my location I might get two channels.

    We never have a problem with speed, or even watching movies on Netflix. In fact, I sometimes feel that I am connecting faster through my cell phone than I get in our apartment with cable. Of course, between 5 cell phones, 5 laptops and 2 gaming systems, the home system is probably a bit overloaded… LOL

    • Just so others are clear because I think you are, he is not saying 10 gigs of speed, he is saying 10 gigs of data total for the month.

      That should really put into perspective what a 1 gig per second connection is. 4G gives you download speeds of 4-12mbps.

      In our world that seems slow but remember an old school T1 is only 1.45mbps and it is robust as hell because it is a dedicated synchronous connection.

      10-12mbps in the sticks is likely that you are not really competing much for shared bandwidth on that tower, it is going to smoke for you.  I tether my iPhone to my macbook any time our internet goes down and it works fine.

      So really think you and I are able to steam data, etc, at 4-12 mbps, what do you think a full 1 gbps connection is going to be able to do?

      The answer is it will be able to deliver technology that doesn’t even exist yet.

      • We are to getting  broadband over a 4G network as the  copper network in our area is too old and no longer works, we have 240Gb of data per month at speeds of 18.31 Mbps (ping 21 secs ) after listening to Jack just checked when the 5G upgrade will be in my area and have been advised 2-3 years. This will level the playing field with rural businesses being able to deliver better services.

        Thanks Jack for All you do

        Finster

        Don’t get too excited
        I live in New Zealand
         

  3. Jack I also bought the tire kits and recently had a nail in my tire.  I was so glad I took your advice to get the kits so I could fix my own tire. Thanks buddy.

  4. Charles, customer isn’t the correct relationship. You are donating to an educational non-profit (503(c)) and in return you receive a benefit which is partially tax deductible. I have been using the benefit for the past 18 months or so because I’m not able to regular cable in my current location but there is a line of sight to a Sprint tower.

  5. The AP bathtub question got my attention since I’ve been using one as a grow bed for quite a few years.  If I had an old claw foot cast iron tub I think I’d sell it since they seem to be desirable – at least around here.  What I use is the old porcelain on steel built-in type like what is used for a tub/shower combo.  These tubs are usually free for the hauling from anyone doing remodeling.   I’d insert an image but I can’t seem to make that work, so I’ll just have to describe it.

    The top of the tub sits about 42″ high on the wood support structure I built under it. It is filled with pea gravel and is set up constant flow.  Water comes from the IBC fish tank and is distributed around the top with 1/2″ PVC with holes every 6″.  The bottom drain is fitted with a water heater drain valve so I can hook up a hose and drain/flush the bed if needed.

    The overflow back to the IBC goes through the tub overflow hole – where the flipper for the drain stop used to be.  There’s a uniseal in that hole which a PVC pipe runs through.  It goes over about 6″ to a T which is orientated vertically.  There’s a stub down from the T to within about an inch of the bottom and a media guard around all of this.  The top side of the T is open so it will flow.

    So basically the water flows in around the top, flows down, and is pulled off the bottom for the discharge.   I also have an air line from an aquarium air pump shoved down in the gravel to provide a little more oxygen.  The system is inside my shop building and this bed performs really well.

  6. I’m still trying to grok what all the implications this transition to 5G will have for the surveillance state in the US and abroad, particularly how all this bandwidth will make widespread, intrusive surveillance more feasible. Combined with regular innovations in storage capacity and AI-fueled data analysis, and you have a recipe for Big Brother on a scale even more frightening than what we see now.

  7. The thing I love about our RO system is that it’s plumbed into the fridge, so the ice is made from RO water.  Yes, it costs more over time than a Berkey, but for us, it’s well worth the convenience.

     

    We bought our system back in 2006 and the pressure tank lasted us about 8 years.  (It’s only supposed to last 4-5 years.) We also had the replace the faucet last year, but that only cost about $20.

     

    Later, we’re going to add a 14-gallon secondary tank so there’ll be insane amounts of water available at any given time.

    One drawback of RO that I can see is that it requires utility line pressure to operate.  That means I won’t be filtering water from my non-existent pool with the thing.

    The other issue for some is the fact that it uses some water to rinse the membrane.  This means that there is water wasted for each gallon that’s filtered, but again, we’ve accepted that consequence in exchange for the convenience and the fact that we don’t have something taking up counter space that people have to actually remember to fill.

    We’ve talked about this at length on Zello and the best we can do is agree to disagree about which solution works better for day-to-day water consumption.

  8. David Ermer – I totally want to join Calyx but I can’t reach them by phone & they won’t respond to my inquiry.  It seems like the only way to get the internet you described is to donate $500 to them, but I have now way of knowing if the system will work for me.  The Sprint website says that my coverage should be excellent, but I don’t know how fast the internet will be. How fast will pages load? I know I would basically have unlimited bandwidth, but I wonder if I could somehow test it out to see if if would be fast enough for me.