Answers...

to commonly asked questions.

ISPs

Email immeadiately comes back after it's deleted.

Beginning today, when I delete multiple messages ( for example, Saks Fifth Ave) I deleted them and then they all return and need to be deleted again. Is there a simple fix? Thanks!
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That’s a sign that the email account is not syncing quickly enough. You delete, and before it has a chance to send the message up to the server that you’ve deleted them, the server sends the message down saying “oh, looks like you’re missing these.” Then puts them right back. This is probably due to a lag in your upload speed of your ISP. There’s not really much you can do about it. Hopefully it will go away on its own. Calendar will sometimes exhibit similar behavior. You create an event, name it and within seconds the name goes back to “untitled”. This is the same thing happening. Download is faster than upload.

What router do you recommend and how much bandwidth do I need?

Do you think through FaceTime you could help me set up new routers at home?? What brand router and type do you recommend??
How much band width is needed to run multiple computers, iPhones and 10 nest cameras plus streaming devices??
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FaceTime router setup is not impossible but it's definitely a bit frustrating for people. I don't recommend it but if that's the best we can do under the circumstances, then we can make it happen. As long as the person I'm working with has patience we can get it done.

I recommend the Orbi router system by Netgear. Depending on the size of your home, you may get a larger coverage pack. Modern routers have the ability to provide way way way more bandwidth than your ISP can actually deliver to you. Therefore, routers aren't the bottle neck when it comes to speed. Your ISP is. Typical speeds around Charlotte can be between 50-150mbps down and between 20-100 up. This depends on the plan you buy with your ISP and whether you use Spectrum, Google Fiber, or ATT. ATT has better upload speeds in general but are less reliable as a service overall in my opinion. Google Fiber is rare so I can't really make any declarative statements about that service yet. No matter what ISP you have, you hate it and you wish you had the other one.

But to answer your question more specifically, it depends on the quality of video streaming. Have a 4k tv? Streaming 4k? You need as much bandwidth as you can get. Have 2 4k tvs streaming at the same time in 4k? Then somebody's not gonna be watching in 4k. There's just not really enough bandwidth coming into residences to stream two instances of 4k in 2020 right now. That may change by 2021 but it would max out your download speeds. Everything else besides 4K streams can usually fit inside one ISP residence plan. If you have kids, then assume they are all over the internet. But they're not streaming 4k. Youtube and Netflix will usually pull back video quality if they notice high traffic in the house. I have like 80 down and rarely really need that much. But it's just my wife and I. 80 down in a house of 4 may be maxing out.

BellSouth's internet service is slow...what else is new?

Scotty,

Anne has a iphone 4.0.  She wants an ipad.  I don't want to pay $25 a month for the "ANYWHERE" accessible ipad service.  Mywi app i found on google.  Can we really turn her iphone 4 into a wifi hotspot so she can take the lower priced ipad and connect to the net via her iphone?

if yes, then i could buy the lower priced ipad right?

Thanks,
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Yes. It is possible to do what you’ve mentioned however you’ll have to jailbreak your phone to do it. What that means is you’ll have to alter the normal software that Apple puts on it, with a modified version that can be found on the internet. The courts have declared it’s not illegal but Apple will most likely void the warranty o the phone if you were do so. Given my relationship with Apple as a consultant, I can not recommend doing this. Yes, it is possible with jailbreaking and jailbreaking the phone has become extremely easy. A simple google search will direct you to several sites you can just visit on your phone and you’ll be jailbroken. However, in the long run I think that jailbreaking is fun at first but a nusance in the long run. I’ve found that it tends to slow the phone down and make it much more unstable. Apps (not vetted through Apple) tend to crash a lot more.

I certainly am not recommending you pay even more money to ATT. I have the WiFi only iPad and I can’t blame you for wanting to share your phone’s connection. There’s also the possibility that ATT will detect more data being used through the phone and charge a fee for doing so. Just a few thoughts.

Is Clear internet service ready for prime time?

Scotty-my computer is going to go pretty quick I think...the lines are starting to show up more and more lately-just so I am ready....I have everything backing up to Time Capsule and did a back up to the back up last month.  Anything else I should do before it goes on its merry way to make things easier for a new computer?

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Not really.  As long as you have a good back up.  Most likely the drive is fine as well so you can just transfer the info to the new computer via firewire cable when you get the new one.  It will go faster than pulling from a TM backup.   Especially if you're using FW 800.  If you don't have a cable though, it's not really a big deal.
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