W♥M

Techtober

iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Details From dramatic framing flexibility to next-generation portraits, see what you can do with our most powerful iPhone camera system. The 48MP Main camera is more advanced than ever, capturing super‑high‑resolution photos with a new level of detail and color. You’ll see the improvements in your portraits. And now you no longer have to switch to Portrait mode. If your subject is a person, dog, or cat, iPhone automatically captures depth information. So you can choose to instantly see your photo as a portrait, with an artful blur effect. Or later in the Photos app. For iPhone 15 Pro Max, we designed a 5x Telephoto camera with the longest optical zoom of any iPhone ever to fit in our compact Pro camera system. Now you can take sharper close‑ups from farther away — like a phenomenal photo of your friend or a goal in your kid’s soccer match. 5x optical zoom with the 120 mm lens. Read More iPhone So in November 2021, I purchased the iPhone 13, and have been very happy with both the device and my ability to connect multiple devices. Speaking of hotspot, there is a 5 mbps cap when you tether. That’s still faster than my old DSL ....

iPhone 15 Pro Max
apple.com

You know I love my iPod (before it was replaced by the cellphone) and my iPad (own the original iPad and currently loving the new 11 inch iPad Pro), but I was never an iPhone guy. However, all that changed when I switched phone service to Visible… and because there were no restrictions on the iPhone, I decided to switch to the iPhone 10.

It worked so well with the iPhone, that I bought the new iPhone 13 in November 2021. Then I bought the iPhone 14 Plus in October 2022.

In keeping with tradition, I’ve upgraded to the new iPhone 15 Pro Max recently. I think after that hefty price tag, I am going to stop upgrading until they come out with some amazing new features.

Here are the new things in the iPhone 15 Pro:

USB-C: Finally! Thanks to the UK, Apple caved in and now their iPhones uses the universal serial bus. Now I can use the same cable that charges my iPad with my iPhone. I’m all for this new change. Also 20x faster file transfers.

Titanium: Lighter, harder, looks great. This is the same alloy that they make spacecraft out of. Lightest iPhone Pro models ever. Titanium is here to stay.

A17 Pro: Apple’s fastest chip yet, they claimed it’s 40% faster than the competition. In tests, it beats the Google’s Pixel 8, and the new iPhone can play a console game, like Resident Evil 4.

Action Button: This replaces the silent switch. You can change this to a physical camera button, so you can use your phone as a traditional camera.

Dynamic Island: A gimmick that was introduced in last year’s model, but it’s been improved thanks to the upgrade cameras.

Upgraded Camera: The new periscope has a 5x optical zoom.

I’m mostly interested in the telephoto lens in the new iPhone. According to Apple, the iPhone 15 Pro Max provides the longest optical zoom at the equivalent of 120mm. This is great for taking concert photos, or just take some “close up” photos in general.

In my own test, taking photos at the back of the venue, I found that the new 120mm camera on the iPhone is pretty impressive (considering that it’s on a tiny pocketable device). I know there’s less details on the iPhone camera, but no cellphone can beat a real camera. Still, the iPhone photo is still very usable.

Apple claims it’s their best camera ever, and from what I’ve seen, I’m a believer.

iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Sony A7IV

Read More Google a Google home, as everything is built around the Google Home Hub application. If you don’t mind giving Google your information, you can use many of their services - for free. That’s the attractive thing, it’s mostly free. …

Nest Audio
google.com

I recently purchased the Google’s Nest Audio Speaker on clearance at Target. I didn’t have a need for the speaker, but seeing as it’s normally $100, I couldn’t pass it up for 50% off.

If you stream music and subscribed to audio services (such as Spotify or Google Music), I think this is a great speaker to have in your home. It sounds great, it fills the room. It’s a very capable speaker. It is just that I do not subscribe to any music services. I own all my music on CD that I ripped myself.

You can also use it as a Google Assistant, asking it all sorts of questions. If you have a Google Nest Hub or Lenovo’s Smart Display or Smart Frame … you do not need the Nest Speaker.

I’m currently using it as a Bluetooth Speaker (you need to enable this feature on your Google Home App), and it’s fine. There is a slight delay and audio sounds out of sync compared to the video… I’m sure there must be a way to fix the syncing issue.

I do somewhat regret buying it … because I don’t really have a use for the speaker. Perhaps I will evict it to the garage. Maybe if I need to stream music in the garage from my iPhone, it would fill the room.

When am I ever spending time in the garage for anything? I guess I can throw a party and move the Nest Audio to the party room. I do not know what to do with this speaker.

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

Weekend Gamer Update: Memorial Day Weekend

Windows 11 Pro Product Description Instantly productive. Simpler, more intuitive UI and effortless navigation. New features like snap layouts help you manage multiple tasks with ease Smarter collaboration. Have effective online meetings. Share content and mute/unmute right from the taskbar (1). Stay focused with intelligent noise cancelling and background blur. (2) Reassuringly consistent. Have confidence that your applications will work. Familiar deployment and update tools. Accelerate adoption with expanded deployment policies. Powerful security. Safeguard data and access anywhere with hardware-based isolation, encryption, and malware protection built in. Read More MicroSoft That’s because I just bought the Microsoft Office Professional 2021 lifetime license for $30, after reading about it on C-Net. The article referenced Stack Social, which I’ve never heard of until today. …

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, which means I have this Monday off and it’s a long weekend for me. As usual with these holidays, there are a lot of sales and deals all across retailers. I’m planning on going to a few Half-Priced Books to take advantage of their 20% instore purchases. The problem with HPB is that their stocks are limited and are vastly different from store to store. You never know what you are going to see, day to day, store to store.

Best Buy is selling a lot of Bluray for under $10… but the cool thing is that the new Pixel 7a is being sold for $450, the first sale price since it was launched on May 10. That was fast! Even though it’s a $50 savings, it’s still not enough for me to want it. I’ve already committed to buying the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I need to set aside roughly $1,200. I was never an iPhone guy, until I started using the $25 unlimited data/phone service from Visible. Now, it’s impossible for me to break away from the Apple ecosystem.

Anyway, over at Stack Social, I just purchased Windows 11 Pro for $40. This is the full product key, not an “upgrade” key, meaning you could use it on a freshly built computer. I just basically upgraded my Windows 11 Home on my current computer.

For most people, Home is just fine for everyone. There are some differences, such as local accounts and Hyper-V and some extra security options (as well as more faster updates), but for the most part, I personally didn’t need to upgrade to Pro… But the sale price was so good (it’s normally $199), that I couldn’t pass it up. As of this writing, I don’t have buyer’s remorse.

When Windows 11 first launched in late 2021, video gaming was a problem with stutter and lag… but it was related to driver issues for video cards. Now that it’s been out for a few years, there are no issues with gaming. Since I started using Windows 11 Home in Nov 2022, I have been impressed with its performance over Windows 10.

Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition

Speaking of games, Epic Games is offering Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition for free. You guys know I love Fallout, so naturally, I’m going to encourage you guys to get it for free. Of course, I already own this on various platform (GOG, Steam, Xbox, etc.), and you can usually find it on sale.

This is the Ultimate Edition, which means all the DLC are incorporated in this game, so there’s a ton of great content to go through.

Of all the Fallout games, New Vegas is one of my top three. A lot of fans did not like the game when it first came out, but over time, I believe they’ve turn around and would agree with me that it’s a great game. The game is 13 years old, and it could benefit from a remaster or remake of the game, in my opinion.

Also, ROG Ally Update: On the day that it was available to pre-order on May 11, 2023, I overreacted and immediately ordered it from Best Buy. It was at a location and a time (noon-ish) and at Best Buy, that I normally don’t buy from online, and at such a high amount, that the unusual activity alerted my bank to issue a stop on my bank card. I had to basically go to the bank and told them that I did purchase the ROG Ally. Unfortunately, the bank already put a stop on the payment. That’s fine, I suppose I’ll just have to go to the physical store on June 13th to see if I can just buy one at their store. It kind of sucks because my local Best Buy closed this year, so I need to travel to another city to visit a Best Buy now. You know, all this could have been prevented, if ROG Ally would just make it available at all retailers… meaning if I had purchased it from Amazon, my bank would’ve just allowed it.

I suppose it’s probably better this way. Now that I’ve seen early reviews, it’s not exactly “twice as fast” as they’ve been claiming. The truth is, it sounds like the ROG Ally is about the same as the Steam Deck… the only difference is that the ROG Ally runs Windows 11 out of the box. Basically, once I get the ROG, I’m calling it my ROG GOG because it’ll be my GOG and Battle Net machine. I just cannot wait to play Diablo IV on handheld.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

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

Visibile Update

Visible Mobile Unlimited everything, no hidden fees Get the unlimited data, messages and minutes you love without hidden fees raising your cost. 99% of the US population covered Visible is by Verizon, so all Visible’s benefits come with America’s most reliable 5G network. All the hotspot usage you can handle There are no data limits on your hotspot usage so feel free to stream wherever you are. 24/7 access to human assistance We don’t have stores, but we can still offer you access to our care team via chat, at any hour. Add a smartwatch for just $5/mo Bring your own Apple Watch, or buy one from us. Read More 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 . …

I’ve been on Visible since March 2021, and have zero complaints about the service. For the first year, I was still hesitant about switching over entirely (I still had my old phone as backup), but eventually Visible became my main phone.

In fact, when I was shopping for a permanent home internet solution, Visible temporarily became my home internet for a few months. I can tell you, it’s truly unlimited, I was burning about 500GB of data a month!

Anyway, now that we’re two years in Visible, they’re making some upgrades to their network. I’ve known the changes since September 2022. I’ll confess, I wasn’t looking forward to upgrading, because I knew that it meant a price increase, because they were removing the $15 discount called “Party Pay”.

On Valentine’s Day, Visible forced existing users to upgrade to one of their two services: their standard $30 line or a faster “plus” line for $45. I was happy to see that Visible did the right thing and kept my bill to my original $25 by giving existing members a “Value Member Discount.”

Switching and activating a new line, it was painless for me. I’m on an all e-Sim iPhone 14, so while it was creating a new 5G eSim EID number, I lost phone service for about 10 minutes.* I believe if you are on an older phone, Visible may have to mail you a physical SIM card insert and activate (this could take weeks to mail). Most modern phones, starting with iPhone XS (2018) and Google Pixel 4 (2019) have eSim support.

Visible Speed Test (14 Feb 2023)

I tested the 5G Visible Speed as soon as the new line was activated, and it shows about 90mbps download - however, I should point out that during congestion, Visible will slow your speed down. I’ve also read that watching Netflix and YouTube, Visible will slow your connection to SD video... but since I don’t stream videos on my phone so I basically don’t care. If you are going to be upset about SD video you can always pay $15 extra for their Plus service (which has “premium data”). I am not aware that Visible downgrade connection to Spotify or other music streaming services, so music should be fine through your phone.

Anyway, basically, all the limitations (like the 5mbps hotspot) on Visible’s old plan are present here. The only improvement is that, according to Visible, the new network is more reliable.

If you want to try out the service at $30 or $45, please use my referral code 3ng2nr, which basically pays for my phone bill for a month.

PS, there are some things you need to know: you need to know how to remove SIM cards or activating eSim, etc. If you don’t know what a SIM card is or how to get your EID number from your phone, I can’t recommend Visible to you. Visible has a bad reputation for terrible customer services - because it’s almost impossible to get help from them. You’re forced to use their app (it’s required), you’re forced to “chat” (no voice call), and there’s constantly a long wait list. But hey, if you can solve things yourself, Visible remains the best value in unlimited phone and internet. There is no other phone plan that compares to $30 for unlimited data/phone with no data cap.

* Note: I had to restart my phone and restart Visible’s app to get it to work a second time, so you might have to do the same thing if you are having trouble switching over to the new Visible phone line. Make sure you have the latest update and you’re required to be connected to WiFi when Visible is activating the new upgraded line.

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

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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

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

iPhone 14 Plus, eSIM, and Visible

Read More 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 . …

So, I recently bought the new iPhone 14 Plus, which is a 6.7 inch larger iPhone, but not “Pro” level. A quick review: the iPhone 14 Plus is the same as the iPhone 13, only slightly bigger. I wouldn’t recommend upgrading. I bought the new one so I can gift the old phone, but otherwise, there’s really no need to upgrade.

iPhone 14 Plus

Going to the new iPhone 14 was a little tricky, because the iPhone 14 do not have a physical SIM tray. So you can’t just yank out your SIM card and put it into the new phone. Instead, you have to use eSIM. eSIM are less convenient, but it’s more secure. For example, someone can steal your phone, they can’t just do a “SIM Swap” (it’s horrible if your passwords are tied to your phone).

The other thing about going all eSIM is that it has better anti-water/moister protection.

The last benefit about eSIM is that a phone company can just activate a new phone number/account in a few seconds. In the past, if you wanted to open a new line, they would have to mail you one of their SIM cards.

Having said all that, I truly wish there was a physical SIM option.

For what it’s worth, activating the Visible service, using eSIM, on the new iPhone 14 Plus was relatively easy. You have to key in some unique numbers from Visible and you have to tell them the phone’s EID. The only trouble I ran into was that I needed internet for the new phone to activate properly (as the old phone was disconnected once you transfer to the new phone).

Anyway, since getting rid of my DSL home internet earlier in September, I’ve been looking into other unlimited cellular plans with tethering or hotspot options.

If you are in the same boat of getting rid of your home internet, I’ve broken down some of the options available.

Right now, I’m quite happy with Visible, with both the pricing and the ability to use hotspot to multiple devices using my iPhone. Even though there is a speed cap of 5mps, I don’t actually mind this, as I was used to speed slower than 3mpbs on DSL. It is fast enough to stream YouTube and get my email… and it’s free unlimited hotspot. If you don’t want to hotspot, you can always plug in your phone to your computer and it automatically will share internet with the computer.

Anyway, looking at the other phone companies, none of them comes close to offering unlimited hotspot. Most of these service cap at 5GB, 25GB, or 50GB. The only true “unlimited hotspot” on the list, are Google Fi and AT&T… but you are going to have to pay through the nose at $65 or $85 a month. With AT&T, you do get HBO Max… but I don’t think it’s worth $85.

To sum it up, If you are looking for an unlimited data/phone line, based on features and pricing, I would recommend Visible. I’ve used the service for over a year… and for the past two months, the phone has become my home internet as well. I have had no issues with it, so far.

In November, or so, I will have to switch over to one of Visible’s two new plans: Unlimited $30 and Unlimited Plus $45. Since I’ve been enjoying the unlimited internet so much, I may spend the extra $45 because I’m interested in the new Ultraband 5G speed… plus some limited roaming in Mexico and Canada.

	Name	Plan	Price	Network	Limitations and Notes
	Visible	Unlimited	$30	Verizon	Hotspot speed is capped at 5mbps One connection at a time* * iPhone does not have this restriction
	Google Fi	Unlimited Plus	$65	T-Mobile Sprint	Hotspot up to 10 devices Data slow after 50GB 100 GB of Google One
	Tello	Unlimited	$30	T-Mobile	Speed slowed to 2G after 25GB
	Mint	Unlimited	$40	T-Mobile	Hotspot is limited to 5GB Data slow after 35GB
	US Mobile	Unlimited Premium	$45	Verizon	Speed slow after 100GB Hotspot limited to 50GB eSim International Data: 10GB
	AT&T	Unlimited Elite	$85	AT&T	Includes HBO Max Speed slow after 100GB Hotspot speed slow after 30GB

Read more Technology.

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

Elden Ring

Read More Demon’s Souls I was a bit surprise to hear that the 2009 Gamespot Game of the Year went to Demon's Souls. What was so surprising is that the game was hardly marketed here, I mean I didn't really see any advertisement for the game nor did I read any reviews …

Yes, I’m finally playing Elden Ring, the game that literally everybody was playing in February 2022. The game went on sale on disc, so picked it up. I popped in the disc, expecting to play the game. Guess what? You can’t just put in a disc and play the game.

The game required a 50GB download/update. This might be more common than you think, as sometime the game on the disc is actually not complete. For example, if there are cut scenes or files that are too large to fit on the disc, you need to download the missing components. It just basically suck, because you can’t really play games offline.

Having said that, I’ve been offline and playing the Elden Ring game, after that one-time 50GB update. In recent news (as of today): “Microsoft is making it easier to play games on your Xbox Series X, even if it’s offline — as of the 2208 update released earlier this month, you won’t be forced to do an online compatibility check to play a game from an Xbox One disc. Instead, you can just pop the disc in, install the game, and play; no internet connection required.”

That works out just fine for me, as currently I’m only connecting online via my iPhone’s internet connection on Visible Mobile.

As for Elden Ring, playing at first was overwhelming, as the game is open world and you can wander where you like. I like that sort of game play, but I found myself getting killed a lot and I didn’t really understand all the mechanics in leveling up or farming for “souls”. I’ve played other “souls” games, starting with Demon Souls on the PS3, so I’m familiar on how they work. To be honest, I’m surprised that this sort of role-playing/action game is beloved by so many gamers… as they are very hard game. They’re so hard, that I’ve never beaten any souls games. I like playing them, but man, I generally suck at my timing for defending and attacking.

What drew me into Elden Ring is that the software developer, FromSoftware, hired George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones) as writer. There’s actually not much of a story, but it’s clear that FromSoftware wanted a Western perspective/writing style to the game to appeal the Western market.

Anyway, I’ve been watching some masters at the game explain how you can level up faster and how they did it. It’s fascinating. You can go from level 1 to 100 in just an hour. There are obviously some exploits, but I didn’t think it was cheating.

Right now, I’m at level 15 and I’m still learning all the basics. I still suck at defense, but I’m enjoying what I already put into the game. From this point, I’m just going to take it easy and explore the world.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

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

Weekend Gamer: Abandoning Home Internet

Read More 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 . …

I no longer have home internet. I was paying $35, then $50 a month, for home internet with a DSL company, which I won’t mention its name… but they’re nationwide. Internet was slow at 3 mbps, but it was fine for what I was doing. I wasn’t streaming HD videos (I still buy Blurays) or doing live streams.

For the first time, I decided to abandon home DSL internet. All this was made possible when I was getting unlimited data on my phone, via Visible, a company by Verizon. I know many people have problems with Visible, but I’ve been using them for over a year, and it works for me.

Of course, leaving home internet, there will be some drawbacks. None of my “internet of things” devices will work correctly now. For example “smart screens” or internet security cameras. You can still access the camera using a local network (that’s not connected to the internet), as long as you are signed into that local network. Still, it’s not convenient and these constantly connected devices won’t work properly.

The other drawback is that Visible only allows you to connect one device to your phone, using your phone’s hotspot or tethering method. I suggest you read Visible’s website for details about its hotspot restrictions…. however, you can get around the one device limit by using an iPhone (Apple uses a different method to connect devices that bypass Visible’s restriction). So in November 2021, I purchased the iPhone 13, and have been very happy with both the device and my ability to connect multiple devices.

Speaking of hotspot, there is a 5 mbps cap when you tether. That’s still faster than my old DSL service! I found that, especially when I upload files, it’s much faster than DSL.

Pricing for Visible, right now, is $25 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data. Starting in October, they are changing their prices to $30 or $45, which I previously mentioned in Sep 2022. Hey, even at the more expensive $45 (which promises a faster network and expanded network), I might be willing to pay more, especially if now I am paying for both a phone and personal internet combined. Even at $45, it would still be cheaper than my ex-DSL service.

My other concern is that my Xbox always want a connection. I’ve taken precautions and have ended my Xbox Game Pass in August 2022. All the games I want are on the system, and if I need to buy new games, I will have to buy a disc. Besides, it’s been proven that buying discs (especially used games), they are much, much cheaper than buying a digital copy.

In a few months, I’ll keep you updated if my experiment goes horribly wrong or if this is be the right move for me. I sometime feel like I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket, so I will have to look around for some other alternative solution to home internet. Any suggestions?

-- Weekend Gamer

PS, by the way, Visible is not the only unlimited data in town, there’s Tello, at $30 a month for unlimited data. Tello’s restrictions is that if you go over 25GB, they throttle you to 2GB. Mint offers unlimited for $30 a month, but you have to pay 3 months in advance ($90) and they cap your hotspot to only 5GB.

If I’m really desperate to have my internet photo frame or home security cameras to connect to the internet, I would probably buy a Tello line and leave that phone at home, plugged in with the hotspot turned on. Tello doesn’t have restrictions on how many device can connect to the hotspot... so that might work. Those home security cameras probably won’t even go over their 25GB limit. Perhaps I will look into buying a Tello line in the future to see if that might work out for me.

Read more Technology.

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

Site Update: Visible to remove Party Pay

Read More 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 . …

I’ve been using Visible since May 2021, and I have to admit, I love it. For $25 a month, I got unlimited talk, text, and, most importantly, unlimited data. It made me re-think the way I use the internet on my phone, since I’m no longer watching how much data I’m using. You basically use the phone like you were on WiFi, like allowing Google Photos to upload original image sizes or downloading massive Podcast or stream Vudu or Amazon Prime.

The best part is that of the price, you can tether or use your phone as a Hotspot, so one other device can use the internet (for example, my iPad or laptop).

That’s not to say that Visible (a division of Verizon) doesn’t have their issues and problems. I mentioned that this is entirely a “do it yourself” service, if you need tech support, you’re pretty much out of luck.

Still, if you set it up, I think $25 for an unlimited phone service is an amazing deal. You are not going to see that kind of low price from any phone company.

So, some bad news.

One of the key thing I liked about Visible was their Party Pay option, which gives you a $15 discount, if you’re party of a large group. Think “Family Plan”, but none of the party is related to you. Visible will be removing the Party Pay option in October 18, 2022, as they introduce two phone options: a regular service ($30) and a “plus” service ($45).

Look, even an increase to $30 (a $5 increase for me), I think is fine, as long as the service remains the same. I fear that the $30 will be an inferior version of the “plus” service, that’s what I’m afraid of… which means that the service will be a $20 increase for me if I need that “plus” service. $5 is acceptable, $20 is not okay with me.

You can read about it on their website:

Existing members will be required to get a new SIM card to take advantage of all these capabilities. All members, new and existing must update their device software before activating their new Visible or Visible+ plan. Devices that are currently certified for use with Visible services including our new plans are listed in the compatibility checker.

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

Visible Mobile

Read More iPhone 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 ....

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, that offers everything (unlimited data, text, and voice) for $25. I stand behind that, I think it’s such a good price for what you get.

However, before you drop your current phone service, I need you to ask yourself:

1. Can I live without customer’s service?
2. Can I live with only 4G or 5G service?
3. Can I live with random drop calls/unexpected disconnections?

If you said “yes” to all three questions, then Visible may be for you.

Now, with all that out of the way, I’ll start to rave about what I love about Visible. First of all, $25 for unlimited data, text, and voice is unheard of in the US mobile industry. Technically, it’s $40 for the service, but if you join a Party Pay group of four members or more, your cost is $25. Visible encourages joining Party Pay, some groups have over 200 members. Personally, I’m in a small group of 6 members at OldGreatParty.

The downside to Party Pay is that each member must have a payment option and unique user account. It’s not meant for family… so if a parent wants to buy a Visible line for their child, that child must have a login and payment option (the parents can’t just add a family plan option). The family thing doesn’t affect me, but I can understand that is very annoying for family plans.

The other important thing with the unlimited data is that Visible offers is the ability to tether or “Hotspot”. They limit the connection to one and the speed to 5mbps, which is fast enough for email and light web browsing. I didn’t have any issue with the speed cap, when I’m using my iPad or laptop. I think that’s acceptable, considering that Visible is trying to protect themselves. Think about it, if they all unlimited connection and unlimited speed… people will just cancel their home cable internet and start using their phone only. I understand why they do this, even though I do think the cap is very limited.

You can get around the one connection limit if you use visible on an iPhone. This is because iOS handles hotspot linking a little differently than Android. iOS has a built-in limit of five or six devices, using its own linking style. I have tested this out, and yes, I can connect a few devices at a time when I’m using an iPhone.

Over the last three months, I have to say that I’ve really enjoy using the Visible service. I don’t worry about my data usage anymore (before I had to watch everything I do when I’m mobile). I love the ability to tether, especially that it’s free with the service is amazing. My last phone company didn’t offer tether. So, for $25, I think you get a lot, especially the 4g/5g (if you have a newer phone). Speed test varies from anywhere between 70mbps to 30mbps. I can only assume it’ll be much faster on a 5g network.

Now for some complaints about Visible. The number one problem I have is that you have to use their app on Android or iPhone. I’ve used both, the one on Android is not very good, the one on the iPhone is slightly better. Their app basically suck, but you must use it to activate your service. You must use it to pay your bill (you can only pay 7 days before it’s due). Their autopay system didn’t work for me, so on the day my bill was due, they put my account on suspension. That’s fine, I just reverted it back to manual pay.

Since Visible is built on Verizon’s newer network, you cannot use the older CDMA technology. Visible wants you to buy their approved GSM phones from them … but you can bring your own device, so long you can provide the IMEI number.

If you have technical issues with Visible’s service, they don’t really have customer support. Actually, they do, sort of. You can chat with one of their people… but often time, they are not very good. The line to talk to someone is often really long. Like maybe the wait time might be as much as an hour during peak times. I’ve chatted with someone at Visible, and they were not helpful, so I suggest you sort out your problems on your own.

Sometime you can’t connect to Visible, this happens about once a month for me. When this comes up, just either power off/restart your phone or turn on and off Airplane Mode. When you do this, it resets the network protocol, and you should be able to get back on Visible’s network.

Despite these issues, I’m on good terms with Visible. The service is far from perfect, but given the freedom and pricing, it works for me. It might not work for you. I suggest if you’re on the fence about switch service - that you give Visible a trial month first. Do not port your number, just create a new number with Visible at www.visible.com. If you want to try out the service, please use my referral code 3ng2nr, so I can reduce my phone bill for a month. If you want to save $15, join a Party Pay like the one I’m in called OldGreatParty.

P.S. Since I like the ability to tether on multiple devices on an iPhone, I’ve given it some thought and I may be purchasing the new iPhone 12 off of Visible’s website. Now the problem is that Visible states you get a Visible SIM card with the purchase. I’m almost afraid that they might cancel my current Visible service for the new SIM. I don’t want or had a desire to active the new SIM. I would call and ask, but it’s Visible… so they probably don’t even know.

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