Fones, Computers and Other Technical Junk

[zekeb]

Here I am sitting in Omaha with my phone on Verizon 5G. This is annoying. Either it works lightening fast or it switches back to LTE, hanging the web pages I'm on. I need to look a nd figure out if there's a way to turn 5G off.

[Uninformed]

Yesterday after much dithering I finally decided on new sunglasses to replace my favourites that got trodden on. Since then everything online is plastered with sunglasses adverts. Too late dummies.

[Reality Check]

I am starting to look at phones again. Mrs. RC had an ancient iPhone 7 that is about out of memory. I have an iPhone XR with 64 GB of memory so I am OK. The question is whether I should get an iPhone 12 and give my XR to her or just upgrade her to an iPhone 11. The 11's are pretty cheap now. On our AT&T plan they are $10 for 30 months. I am satisfied with my XR but I might want to get a 5G capable phone. I am probably not switching to an Android because I like the iPhone iPad integration. Otherwise I would go to an Android for me.

So the questions are...

1. What upgrade path to take?
2. Buying a phone outright vs. paying installments to AT&T?
3. Should I really look at Android despite having an iPad?

[Mr brolin]

Here I am sitting in Omaha with my phone on Verizon 5G. This is annoying. Either it works lightening fast or it switches back to LTE, hanging the web pages I'm on. I need to look a nd figure out if there's a way to turn 5G off.

If this is an android phone,go to Settings, Connection, Mobile network, Network modeband there should be a switch setting to change from 5G,4G,3G,2G to 4G,3G,2G only.

It should also be the same area in the IPhone settings.

This assumes that Verizon haven't buggered around with their version of Android and removed that setting function.

[Mr brolin]

I am starting to look at phones again. Mrs. RC had an ancient iPhone 7 that is about out of memory. I have an iPhone XR with 64 GB of memory so I am OK. The question is whether I should get an iPhone 12 and give my XR to her or just upgrade her to an iPhone 11. The 11's are pretty cheap now. On our AT&T plan they are $10 for 30 months. I am satisfied with my XR but I might want to get a 5G capable phone. I am probably not switching to an Android because I like the iPhone iPad integration. Otherwise I would go to an Android for me.

So the questions are...

1. What upgrade path to take?
2. Buying a phone outright vs. paying installments to AT&T?
3. Should I really look at Android despite having an iPad?

1.Check if AT+T have a trade up, trade in option plan, ditto Apple directly for the 7 and the XR. If you don't see any overwhelming need for the 12 versus the 11, get 2 of the 11's, probably end up cheaper in the long run and keeps you both on a much simpler upgrade path for the next occasion, also helps with support.

2 Do the math..... The offer is 10 pm per phone PLUS you have to buy into their 75 buck per month plan, so its actually 85 pm per phone PLUS a 30 buck "activation fee" before any credits over a 30 month period so 85x30+30=2580 per phone, less credits of 300 bucks of credits = 2280 per phone.

Say you switch to T mobile 55+ plan for two lines, same phone number, total of 55 bucks per month, brand new 11 is 600, so......... 27.5x30 +600 = 1425 per phone

3.Apple make it incredibly tedious to swap from their ecosystem, deliberately, so whilst I will never have an iPhone it probably would be too much of a pain in the rear swapping although I would in your place

[tek]

I too ought to be looking for a new phone, it is getting harder and harder find coal to power my Moto Z force..

Not iPhone.

nothing I've seen looks at all interesting.. so not sure what I'm gonna do..

[Reality Check]

Thank you Mr. brolin for the thoughtful reply!

1.Check if AT+T have a trade up, trade in option plan, ditto Apple directly for the 7 and the XR. If you don't see any overwhelming need for the 12 versus the 11, get 2 of the 11's, probably end up cheaper in the long run and keeps you both on a much simpler upgrade path for the next occasion, also helps with support.

Funny that I have been with AT&T for so long it never occurred to me to check out other carriers. Actually I pay for 3 lines. My adult son is still on our plan. He switched back to a Samsung from an iPhone last year. He has had everything over the years dating back to an iPhone 3. Oddly his favorite OS was Windows phone but lack of apps killed it. But I digress.

One reason to stay with AT&T is that we spend summer months in rural Colorado and we get (barely) AT&T coverage using a cell phone booster. I would have to know T-Mobile would work there to switch. We have satellite internet so wifi calling will not work. If we could ever get Starlink I think it would work then.

2 Do the math..... The offer is 10 pm per phone PLUS you have to buy into their 75 buck per month plan, so its actually 85 pm per phone PLUS a 30 buck "activation fee" before any credits over a 30 month period so 85x30+30=2580 per phone, less credits of 300 bucks of credits = 2280 per phone.

Say you switch to T mobile 55+ plan for two lines, same phone number, total of 55 bucks per month, brand new 11 is 600, so......... 27.5x30 +600 = 1425 per phone

It is certainly worth considering the swap for that difference. I really cannot see a big advantage for 5G. We already have 1 GB Internet for data at home in Florida and I doubt we would ever get 5G in the next ten years in rural CO.

3.Apple make it incredibly tedious to swap from their ecosystem, deliberately, so whilst I will never have an iPhone it probably would be too much of a pain in the rear swapping although I would in your place

When you boil it all down what I really like with Apple is iMessaging on the iPad. I like having the larger keyboard for sending texts. Mrs. RC uses Facetiime with a few friends but I do not. The other thing is she hates changing technology. I mean really hates it. Guess who hears about it when she cannot get stuff to work? Even giving up the home button is going to be a big deal for her and I dread that.

[keith]

I'm in Australia so my remarks may not apply, but
1 and 2) yeah, definately compare carriers if you are off plan. Consider buying your new phone outright. In Oz, all carriers have a BYO phone plan that is quite reasonable. Your son is not odd - I too loved the Windows mobile - pity its dead - I still keep it charged and loaded with a cheap pay as you go SIM for emergencies and when im out of my main carriers service area (which is not often in Oz).

3) Android phone and tablets DO have a 'home' button. Android phones work great with Windows 10, I use mine for messaging from the desktop all the time. I've never considered using my wifes iPad for messaging.

[p0rtia]

Get the phone that is most compatible with your computers.

I.e., If you use Apple computers, get an iPhone.

[AndyinPA]

I just got a new Apple iPhone 12 on Wednesday. I went in to AT&T because they had an offer to pay ten times the exchange price that Apple was offering, which would have been $350 off. That would have required turning in my old iPhone 7, which still had plenty of room on it as I only buy a 128 gb. I have lots of apps and over 6,000 photos on my phone. To get the offer, we had to upgrade to 5G, which the phone is, add unlimited data, and agree to pay the account automatically. Hubby would not go for auto payment. We did not need the unlimited data based on our usage. I use mine a lot, but he doesn't use much data.

I ended up paying full price for the iPhone 12, but he got my iPhone 7. It probably has two years' time left. It doesn't matter to him. To him a phone is a phone. Apps? What's that?

I know the iPhone 13 (?) or 14 will be out in the fall, but I really wanted to upgrade for the camera. We have a trip out West coming up in June. We didn't add any of the new stuff, including 5G, but it works just fine for me. He's happy; I'm happy.

So I am the proud owner of a new mint green iPhone 12, with a clear cover so that you can see the green. (I am passionate about the color green.) I'm pretty much married to the iPhones now since I bought my first Apple Watch.

[bill_g]

I've had a cellphone for over 30 years, and never bought one. The company has always kept me phoned up. We built out the first cell sites in the PNW in the 80's, and were hip deep in the digital conversion during the 90's. We snapped up a bunch of tower sites and dark fiber during the telecom meltdown before and after CYA2K which positioned us as property managers in later years. We didn't have to keep up with technology. We could just put tenants on our towers, provide utilities, access, site maintenance, and collect rent. Good decision because the US was over fifty percent CPO (cellphone only) before 2007. Landline service crashed as America embraced their smartphones with hot-n-cold running interwebs, email, and play by play photos. No cash flow problems for us during the covid.

But, as I approach retirement, I'll probably have to consider a phone. Hmmm ...

[Phoenix520]

My iphone11 is out of storage! The two apps I use most often take up about 35% of the 64gb

The iphone12 has dropped the telephoto lens on the camera in favor of HD video, which I couldn’t care less about. I want what I want so ima get another 11with more gigs and give sprout my old 11. With his 7 trade in, it’ll be about 600. We’re already on Sprint, can’t change ( business account).

[MsDaisy]

I guess this qualifies as "Technical Junk" or if there's a better place Mods feel free to relocate it...

Minutes before Trump left office, millions of the Pentagon’s dormant IP addresses sprang to life
After decades of not using a huge chunk of the Internet, the Pentagon has given control of millions of computer addresses to a previously unknown company in an effort to identify possible cyber vulnerabilities and threats

While the world was distracted with President Donald Trump leaving office on Jan. 20, an obscure Florida company discreetly announced to the world’s computer networks a startling development: It now was managing a huge unused swath of the Internet that, for several decades, had been owned by the U.S. military.

What happened next was stranger still.

The company, Global Resource Systems LLC, kept adding to its zone of control. Soon it had claimed 56 million IP addresses owned by the Pentagon. Three months later, the total was nearly 175 million. That’s almost 6 percent of a coveted traditional section of Internet real estate — called IPv4 — where such large chunks are worth billions of dollars on the open market.

The entities controlling the largest swaths of the Internet generally are telecommunications giants whose names are familiar: AT&T, China Telecom, Verizon. But now at the top of the list was Global Resource Systems — a company founded only in September that has no publicly reported federal contracts and no obvious public-facing website.

As listed in records, the company’s address in Plantation, Fla., outside Fort Lauderdale, is a shared workspace in an office building that doesn’t show Global Resource Systems on its lobby directory. A receptionist at the shared workspace said Friday that she could provide no information about the company and asked a reporter to leave. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... s-mystery/

Interesting.....

[AndyinPA]

I guess this qualifies as "Technical Junk" or if there's a better place Mods feel free to relocate it...

Minutes before Trump left office, millions of the Pentagon’s dormant IP addresses sprang to life
After decades of not using a huge chunk of the Internet, the Pentagon has given control of millions of computer addresses to a previously unknown company in an effort to identify possible cyber vulnerabilities and threats

While the world was distracted with President Donald Trump leaving office on Jan. 20, an obscure Florida company discreetly announced to the world’s computer networks a startling development: It now was managing a huge unused swath of the Internet that, for several decades, had been owned by the U.S. military.

What happened next was stranger still.

The company, Global Resource Systems LLC, kept adding to its zone of control. Soon it had claimed 56 million IP addresses owned by the Pentagon. Three months later, the total was nearly 175 million. That’s almost 6 percent of a coveted traditional section of Internet real estate — called IPv4 — where such large chunks are worth billions of dollars on the open market.

The entities controlling the largest swaths of the Internet generally are telecommunications giants whose names are familiar: AT&T, China Telecom, Verizon. But now at the top of the list was Global Resource Systems — a company founded only in September that has no publicly reported federal contracts and no obvious public-facing website.

As listed in records, the company’s address in Plantation, Fla., outside Fort Lauderdale, is a shared workspace in an office building that doesn’t show Global Resource Systems on its lobby directory. A receptionist at the shared workspace said Friday that she could provide no information about the company and asked a reporter to leave. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... s-mystery/

Interesting.....

Very.

[p0rtia]

[MN-Skeptic]

Get the phone that is most compatible with your computers.

I.e., If you use Apple computers, get an iPhone.

I disagree with this.

I've always been a Microsoft Windows user. Having Microsoft Excel, Quicken, and TurboTax are high priorities for me, and the Windows versions of those programs are much better than the Apple versions. Plus I've been using the Microsoft operating systems for almost 40 years at this point and feel very comfortable with it.

My first handheld device was a Palm Pilot. My first tablet was a Google Nexus. I resisted anything Apple because I was not a big fan of the company. However, at one point I had to replace my then current Palm device and the only good alternative was an Apple iPod Touch. And at some point I had to replace my Google Nexus and Google did not have a Google Nexus that I liked at that time, so I bought an Apple iPad Mini. And at some point I had to replace my LG cell phone, and, because of my other Apple handheld devices, it made the most sense to get an iPhone.

I now own an iPhone 8 Plus, an iPad Mini 5, an iPad Air 3, and an Apple watch series 3. Each perfectly serves the purpose for which it was bought. I love that all of the devices sync with each other. They do not have to sync with my Windows laptop. That said, I use Google Docs and Google Sheets for a few word processing documents and spreadsheets. I can pull those files up on my Apple devices or my Windows laptop. I download crossword puzzles from within Windows and transfer those files to my iPads via dropbox. I don't see any drawbacks of owning Apple devices and a Windows laptop.

And the story I know I've told here before - I was so frustrated in 2011 that the best alternative to my dying Palm device was an Apple iPod Touch, that I bought Apple stock at the same time, figuring that its dividends and increase in value would pay for that iPod Touch. In my Roth IRA, I bought $15,035 worth of Apple stock. Today it's worth $124,012. Plus I've been receiving dividends for 10 years. That's paid for all of our electronic devices plus internet charges plus cell phone bills up to this point and for years to come. (Of course, if the stock had tanked, I probably wouldn't be confessing to owning it now, would I? )

[Uninformed]

“Cisco says computer chip shortage to last six months”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56847518

[AndyinPA]

I got into the Apple brand exactly the same way you did. When Palm went belly up, the only thing I could find that worked sort of the same was the iPod. That got me into Apple. A few years later I got my first iPhone, then two mini iPads, one cellular. I don't know how many iPhones I've had at this point, but I knew I was in when I bought my first Apple Watch after having a Fitbit. But I also have an Amazon Fire and a Samsung Nook, so I work with Apple and Android, and I'm good with either. My computer is a Windows, and I've never really seen the need to go with anything else. I'm comfortable with it.

[Lani]

My Samsung will need to be replaced soon. Probably very soon. I hate getting a new phone.

Thanks to the phone chatter here, I spent some time on the Verizon website. Gawd phones are expensive. A lot of small print to review. Some deals looked great at first, but I would need to buy some add-ons to get the deals (which aren't really deals). So, guess I'm going to Costco this week to see what's available there.

I'm happy with Samsung, but want a phone that's a little bit bigger. I love the folding one, but it's $1800. I'm rough on phones and don't want to spend that much.

[sugar magnolia]

Maybe I'm an outlier but I get my phones either at a big box store or a refurbished/trade in at the phone repair place. I get the cheapest one I'm happy with and then have them add the biggest SIM card that fits. I think SIM card is what they add. The thing that makes it go from 28 or whatever to 164 or whatever. Whatever they call it, I got my last phone, a Samsung 7, for about $80 at Target, then went to the phone place and had them add the memory thing for another $60. If I had bought the same phone with that much memory at Target it was over $600. Phone, text, photos, a few apps and some music streaming stuff is about all I use mine for so I'm not willing to pay a huge amount. I have close to 4000 photos and some videos and haven't run out of space yet. The photo quality is fine unless you're trying to shoot professional portraits or want to blow something up to a 3'x5' poster. Fortunately for my bank account, phones and cars are 2 things I can do without all the bells and whistles. I've paid more for a sewing machine than I did for my last car.

[Reality Check]

I thought I would follow up on my phone questions. I decided to upgrade Mrs. RC's iPhone 7 to an iPhone 11, which is on sale for $10 for 30 months. I am sticking with my XR since I am at least a year from paying it off. I asked about getting the senior rate for both of us and the sales guy at the store said we cannot get it with our son on the same plan. After I got home I called customer service and the lady found out we were paying extra for a plan that has the mobile hot spot, which we used to use but do not now.

She switched us to a cheaper plan that still has unlimited data and should allow us to also get the senior discount. I am still working on that. I was not able to enroll on line and I have talked with 3 agents either in chat or on the phone and I am still not there yet. When all is said and done I am hoping to knock around $50 off our monthly bill for 3 lines and phones.

[Lani]

I have the senior plan for Verizon. The bill shows two phone numbers on my account, although one is son's phone.

[Mr brolin]

I thought I would follow up on my phone questions. I decided to upgrade Mrs. RC's iPhone 7 to an iPhone 11, which is on sale for $10 for 30 months. I am sticking with my XR since I am at least a year from paying it off. I asked about getting the senior rate for both of us and the sales guy at the store said we cannot get it with our son on the same plan. After I got home I called customer service and the lady found out we were paying extra for a plan that has the mobile hot spot, which we used to use but do not now.

She switched us to a cheaper plan that still has unlimited data and should allow us to also get the senior discount. I am still working on that. I was not able to enroll on line and I have talked with 3 agents either in chat or on the phone and I am still not there yet. When all is said and done I am hoping to knock around $50 off our monthly bill for 3 lines and phones.

Best of luck with AT+T but do be VERY careful before you sign on the dotted line, there is unfortunately still quite a lot of "bait and switch" with the mobile telco's. As I mentioned earlier the "Buy an 11 for $10" is, on their site, tied to the $75 pm plan. details below.

If you have managed to get it tied to a lower monthly rate

If they still are balking at giving you a deal, tell them you will switch to a new provider. You will usually be transferred to a "Customer retention" or similar team who usually have greater abilities to swap your plan, quote them the T-Mobile rate (if lower) then ask them to "meet or beat". If they give yiu a deal great....if they don't, well you're not out anything by not switching.

Suggest looking at the providers online coverage maps as well, at least they will give you an idea of what you can get, where you live

ATT https://www.att.com/maps/wireless-cover ... e&opt=payg
T-Mobile https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map
Verizon https://www.verizon.com/coverage-map/

iPhone 11 smartphones starting at $10/mo.
Get the iPhone 11 64GB for $10/mo., 128GB for $15/mo., or 256GB for $20/mo. for 30 mos. when you buy it on a qualifying installment agreement with eligible wireless.

Limited time offer.

You'll need to:

Purchase an iPhone 11 on a qualifying installment agreement, including taxes on full retail price (up front) and $30 activation/upgrade fee.
Pay taxes on the full retail price up front.
Activate or maintain postpaid unlimited wireless service (min. $75/mo. for new unlimited customers before discounts.). AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy.
After that you’ll get:

Up to $300 in bill credits on the iPhone 11 64GB, up to $200 in bill credits on the iPhone 11 128GB, or up to $150 in bill credits on iPhone 11 256GB, applied in equal amounts over 30 monthly installments—sweet!
Important notes:

[zekeb]

When you upgrade Verizon always hits you with that $80 fee. Two phones means $160. That's not small change. I remember not so long ago when that fee was $35.

[Foggy]

I'm still using my Samsung Galaxy Note 5. The current model is the Note 20, so I'm seriously out of date. The Note 5 has one drawback, ya can't replace the battery, or upgrade it. So I have to put some effort into keeping it charged up.

But otherwise, it still works perfectly. I love that thing, in fact I just bought a $25 telescope that attaches to the camera lens and is 18x and came with its own tripod. Is that a run-on sentence? Walk it off, I need moar covfefe.

.

Screenshot_20210428-083306_Chrome.jpg

.

I've thought about replacing it, but that would be damned expensive for the sole purpose of having a better battery. And TBH, that's the only reason I would ever replace it. So, umm ... no.