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How to unblock Vudu on Verizon Wireless

Read More Vestron The latest Vestron Video release is Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection), which came out December 13th. I found it at Walmart for $17, which is a great price for three remastered films. ....

I recently purchased The Dentist Collection, the latest Vestron Video Collection, and I tried to redeem the digital code on Vudu.

When I went to Vudu’s website on my desktop, I couldn’t use it. At first, I thought Vudu’s website was down… maybe I can check it on my iPad. Nope, it wasn’t working on my iPad or iPad’s app. In fact, no devices on my network could reach Vudu.

After a little research, I found out that Vudu was blocking or banning Verizon Wireless because of their usage of proxies. Apparently this was a problem since 2013, but I only know about it because it’s affecting me. You see, I had switched over to Straight Talk Home Internet in October 2022 and Straight Talk is own and operated through Verizon.

You can get around the Vudu problem:

1. Use a different ISP… you can always leave Verizon.

2. Use your cellular data on your phone, share it with your computer via hotspot or tethering.

3. Use a VPN. Make sure to use USA location on the VPN. I’m using Atlas VPN (New York location), which worked for me.

If none of that works for you - I am truly sorry! I hope that this Vudu vs Verizon thing is only temporary, I will check back in a few weeks to see if Vudu resolve this. Otherwise, I think I’m moving away from Vudu as for my digital video choice, going forward. It’s really a shame, because every since Walmart sold Vudu to Fandango, I’ve had my worries.

You can say that the whole process of trying to redeem a digital copy of The Dentist was like pulling teeth.

As for the movie, The Dentist and The Dentist 2: don’t watch these movies if you’re planning on going to the dentist in the future. It’s truly horrifying…. Scarier than any zombies and vampires movies!

How to unblock Vudu on Straight Talk Internet (or any ISP that Vudu blocks)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Update on Straight Talk Home Internet: It's amazing!

Read More Tracfone The other day, I ran into an endcap display of Straight Talk Home Internet. I was interested, because two months ago (in September 2022), I got rid of my DSL home internet service and was basically using my phone’s internet as a hotspot. …

So here is a two weeks update on the Straight Talk Home Internet service. I have to say, when everything is working, this is an amazing service from Tracfone, which is own by Verizon.

In my experience, I will address the bad things first: you have to pay for the 5G Home Internet Router before you can even use their service. This device is $99, and may actually discourage people from trying out the service. This is a hard sell, because if you decide to not continue with their $45 home internet service, you are going to have to eat that $100.

The Straight Talk router does not have a very good range. For example, I’m using my desktop computer downstairs and it would barely connect. When it does connect, I’m reduced to 10% of the speed that was promised. I have solved that problem by upgrading to a TP-Link’s WiFi 6 Deco 6000. Since using the mesh network, I’ve consistently experienced over 80 to 100mbps downloads and 10 upload.

If you want to maximum the best WiFi access, is that your computer or device needs to have the latest WiFi chip to benefit from WiFi 6’s speed.

You also need to live in a location that can benefit from Verizon’s 5G service… so it might not be ideal for you if you don’t live near a Verizon 5G tower or if you are roaming in a mobile home. For mobile internet, I would recommend just getting the $30 Visible (also own by Verizon) phone service and using the hotspot. That makes more sense to me than maybe having a router that won’t always work based on your location.

Anyway, so far, I’ve experience 80-100 average speed. It’s probably because in my area, fewer people are using the Straight Talk Home Internet network. This might all change if more people in my area sign up… but right now, based on my location and usage, it’s been very good for me.

You have to understand that I am coming from very slow first generation of Cable Internet (4mbps) and DSL (4mbps). I was paying as little as $35 to as much as $75 (Comcast) for very slow internet speed. Plus, with Comcast (now Xfinity), they had put a data cap on their service. So, getting 100mbps for $45, with no data cap, was a massive upgrade for me. For the first time, I can freely download all the games for my PC and Steam Deck, and stream in 4k, without worrying about a data cap. Things that I couldn’t do before, such as GeForce Now (which I couldn’t use in 2019)… that’s all possible now with my fast internet connection.

The service may not be for everybody. Perhaps you’re paying less or getting much faster speed (such as Fiber), but for my situation and location… this Straight Talk Home Internet is just perfect for my needs. I would highly recommend it.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

Read more Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

TP-Link Deco W6000

Read More Tracfone The other day, I ran into an endcap display of Straight Talk Home Internet. I was interested, because two months ago (in September 2022), I got rid of my DSL home internet service and was basically using my phone’s internet as a hotspot. …

In the latest Straight Talk Home Internet saga… I had to upgrade my Wireless access.

So here’s the recap. The Straight Talk router is upstairs to get the best 5G signal. My main desktop/gaming PC is downstairs in my bedroom. My old Fallout iBuyPower PC struggles to connect to Straight Talk router, and when it does connect, speed was slower than my cellphone’s 4mbps.

I bought a new Lenovo Legion computer with the latest WiFi 6, hoping it will fix my slow speed internet. While it did fix the problem, the speed was not great (20mpbs) and there’s barely a one-bar WiFi connection. This tells me the connection is weak or too far away.

Basically, what I needed is to have more access point for my home network. The solution is to get a some sort of home mesh network. After looking at Google Wifi (now called Nest) and TP-Link Deco, I decided to go with the latter, based on features and pricing. I bought the Deco W6000 (aka AX3000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System) two-pack for $150 (so about $75 for each Deco).

Between the two Decos, it promised to cover up to 5,000 square feet, so this should fit my needs. In addition, TP-Link’s app would monitor congested network and also parental controls, if you need it.

Setting up the device was easy. You need to hook up one base via an ethernet cable to your modem. This Deco is now the primary base station. Other Decos that you install in the house will be satellite station, passing on the internet. The system is smart enough to see if your PC can use the 5Ghz band and will automatically connect you to the fastest lane.

Download Speed

After some firmware updates and rebooting and re-adjusting the location, it would seem that I’m now rocking with fast internet on my Lenovo Legion computer.

Everything is working. I’m fully satisfied now.

I’ll give it a few days to see how the new Deco network holds up. If it’s rock solid, I will probably be buying another one to cover the garage area (which is a deadzone).

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

Read more Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Straight Talk Home Internet

Read More Tracfone Since Tracfone is a budget pay-as-you-go service, you do not actually need to pay every month or actually need to activate the phone to use all of its features. I’m not actually sure if you can use other SIM chips … Visible I’ve been using internet-only telephone service called Visible for three months now… and I feel I’ve experienced all the pain and strain of using their service. The short story is that this is a very inexpensive mobile service . …

The other day, I ran into an endcap display of Straight Talk Home Internet. I was interested, because two months ago (in September 2022), I got rid of my DSL home internet service and was basically using my phone’s internet as a hotspot.

While you can get away with using the Visible unlimited data plan as your main internet… it’s not exactly ideal. You see, I have a lot of “smart” devices that constantly need an internet connection, such as my security cameras and my photo frames.

This couldn’t come out at a better time. I’ve been shopping around for something like this.

I did some research, apparently the Straight Talk Home Internet is basically a Walmart’s version of Verizon’s Home Internet service. I actually tried to order the Verizon’s service, but for whatever reasons, Verizon will not service my address.

From my understanding, the main differences between Straight Talk and Verizon is that Straight Talk is pre-paid, meaning you pay for your internet in advance, while Verizon is post-paid, meaning you are billed after (and you may actually be locked in a contract).

According to the Straight Talk’s website, their service will include “Truly unlimited Home Internet 5G/LTE Network”. You are going to get 5G or 4G, however some customers may only get 4G LTE, depending on their network reach. They further expand on that statement, “Our new prepaid home Internet plan with fixed wireless easily supports the Internet needs of your entire household. Straight Talk’s home router provides an all-in-one service for broadband and Wi-Fi, and we also include unlimited data. That means no data usage caps, no auditing of use, and no overage fees.”

It sounds too good. I’ve previously had Comcast and they put a data cap on my service, and some months I would go over. When I did, my service was downgraded to very slow speed. My Skype (when I was paying for the VOIP phone service) was not usable. It was horrible. If this new Straight Talk service is reliable, with no caps, I may end up trying more streaming services, such as going back to Game Pass.

10/27/2022: So I got the router today and setting it up was relatively easy. You just have to power up the device and login to Straight Talk’s website or app and activate the router’s MEID number. Since I prepaid for the service, the service recognized my unlimited home plan and connected. The router, itself, is just like the Verizon brand, except at the very bottom of the device, it’s branded Tracfone (which owns Straight Talk).

100mbps Speed Test

As for speed - it varies. When you are close the router, connected to the 5G/5GHz band, you can get 95-100mbps. That’s really fast, I download a few very big games on my Steam Deck and it was quick. I was able to get the games running in a few minutes. You can also get the same speed if you connect directly via ethernet cable.

However, the bad news: the further you move away from the router, the slower your speed will get. I was down the in basement and I was only getting 8mbps because I could only connect to the 4LTE/2.5GHz band. This also depends on the time of day. When everyone is on the network, it was slow… but at night, the speed bump to 25mbps.

I will play around with some of the settings to see if I can get a better speed, but I think the reality is that I’m probably going to only get about 10-20mps downstairs. I can’t move the router to the basement as it needs to be close to a window to get better reception, since the technology is based on the Verizon 5G Network.

So far, I’m just happy it is working, but no entirely impressed. It’s still much faster than DSL, but at times it can be just as slow.

PROS Connect up to 130 devices Unlimited data, no data cap Download speed 4-100 Mbps No contract Faster than DSL Available in my market

CONS You have to pay for $99 router Walmart exclusive or direct Upload speed slower at 1-5 Mbps Unreliable speed Need to be close to the router No bundle discounts

Read more Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

iPhone 5s

Read More Apple It's hard to believe that it's only been three years since the iPad was introduced. Despite me thinking what a crap name "ipad" was, I think the name is probably well-accepted with people now. …

The iconic iPhone 7 has been announced by Apple yesterday (September 7th). It is the latest and greatest from the company, and they are getting a lot of negative feedback about the lack of a headphone jack (which I don’t think this is such a bad thing).

Like you, I don’t have $649 lying around to get the new iPhone - but if you don’t mind an older (and smaller) iPhone, you can pick up an affordable Tracfone’s iPhone 5s for $199 at Target (I looked around, I believe this may be a Target exclusive as they are not available at other retailers like Best Buy or Walmart). Since Tracfone is a budget pay-as-you-go service, you do not actually need to pay every month or actually need to activate the phone to use all of its features.

I’m not actually sure if you can use other SIM chips in this iPhone, but if it is locked to that carrier... the iPhone, even without phone service, is still a valuable WiFi device (web, email), music, video, gaming, reminder, checklist, voice memos, book reader, pocket camera, health device (it has a built-in steps tracking), etc.

However, personally speaking, I feel that TracFone is the best budget cell carrier. It costs about $20 for three months (180 mins, 180 text, 180 mb data). Normal users will burn through the 180 mins in no time, that's why alternatively, when you're at home, you will want to use WiFi phone alternatives like Skype ($30 a year for unlimited calling to North America and Canada).

Additional costs: 1,000 text for $5 and 1GB for $10. Since the minutes and text and data carry over, you can actually stretch out your usage until you run out of service time.

PS, if you were looking to get an iPod, why not consider getting the iPhone 5s for the same price ($199) instead? If you decide to not use Tracfone, you can still use it as an emergency phone (by law you are allowed to call 911).

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Moto E

Read More ZTE Valet I just recently got a "smart" phone, the ZTE Valet 3G phone. Sure, it's not as fast or new or beautiful as the Moto X, but then again, I only paid $50 for the phone. And the service, using Tracfone, is just incredibly …

For years now, what I've been doing was carrying around my iPod Touch 4 (for music, podcasts, and Wi-Fi device) and my dumb phone. I've been thinking about replacing my iPod for a long time now, since it wasn't holding the battery juice. When I first got the iPod, it would last a few days ... but after five years, I would be lucky to get it to run four hours. Sure, I can pay someone to swap out the battery, but with the extra cost and time, you might as well get another newer iPod.

I almost got rid of the iPod when I got the ZTE Valet, a semi-smart phone. I didn't replace it because the ZTE didn't exactly do all the stuff I need it to do... and it was slow. After three months, the phone died and I was forced to get a (very) cheap replaceable phone.

Last week, I bought a Moto E by Motorola for $80 (originally $140). Although the E model is the lowest in the Moto family (followed by G and X) and often referred to as the budget phone, it is really quite impressive. This little phone does it all... and it's affordable. This was the best money I ever spent (I later found out you can get it on Amazon for $60).

The phone does it all: email, MP3, Podcasts, FM Radio, GPS, Cell Phone, Skype, Text, web browsing, audio recorder, notes, maps, games, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, alarm clock... everything you would expect in a smart phone. My favorite thing to install on the Android device was a firewall, which would block annoying advertisements from apps.

Now for some complaints. The camera is absolutely the worst camera I've ever used. It's almost laughable how bad the camera is, they might as well not even built it into the Moto E. The Tracfone version of the Moto E only has 2GB of internal, which is a mistake, because system software takes up over 1GB and cannot be moved to an external storage. I put in a 16GB micro SD to store my music. I suggest you tinker around in the settings to move apps to the external to free up additional space. Also, like I mentioned earlier about the iPod's non-replaceable battery, the Moto E's battery cannot be removed.

For a week now, the Moto E has replaced my temporary phone and iPod. Everything the iPod did, the Moto E did better and faster. So far, I'm a big fan of the Moto.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

ZTE Valet

ZTE Valet Tracfone Read More iPod Guess what? I have an iPod Touch Second Generation. I love it. I mostly use it for an internet device (checking email or surfing the web) while being mobile (watching television) ...

I just recently got a "smart" phone, the ZTE Valet 3G phone. Sure, it's not as fast or new or beautiful as the Moto X, but then again, I only paid $50 for the phone. And the service, using Tracfone, is just incredibly cheap compared to the national carriers (which typically starts at $40 a month for talk and data).

Tracfone's rates (using the 'triple minutes' phones) are about 180 mins, 180 texts, and 180 MB of data, for the cost of $20. The best part is that this also buys you 90 days of service, which means if you don't talk or use data that much, you don't actually have to pay another $20 until three months later. Also, your minutes and data also carries over. Compared to other prepaid services (including Tracfon's Net10), Tracfone is the most convenient and affordable service, at least in the U.S.

Again, I should stressed that the ZTE Valet phone is not the best, and definitely not the fastest, phone on the market. You are only using this as a budget phone, as it barely runs Android Jelly Bean, with its Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7625A chip, and terrible low pixel screen (165ppi), and the 3mp camera quality is simply terrible ... still, for $99 (retail), it's actually not bad! Especially if you consider that a standalone GPS device costs about the same (the phone comes with GPS and Google Maps).

The phone comes with 4mb internal and a 4mb micro SD card. The first thing I did was swap out the SD card for 16mb so I can store games, movies, and music on it. Movies playback is not good or smooth, but to be fair, it's not like you're going to be watching a full feature film on a tiny 3.5 screen.

Battery life is not great either, they lists "6 hours", but it's more like 3 hours on normal use. Standby mode should last you the full day, though.

Testing the phone out on the field, I love the ability to easily turn on and off the data service using the "power bar" on the phone. This bar also lets you turn WiFi and GPS on and off to conserve battery life.

On the positive side, since it's Android, there are a few free SNES emulator you can download. If you have a Moga controller, you can connect it via Bluetooth and play some games on your ZTE phone. You can grab the pocket Moga controller for $12 via Groupon now.

ZTE running Mario Brothers with Moga Controller

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic