HOUR 2:
Tech News & Commentary
Danny in Dorado, Puerto Rico listening on WOSO 1030 AM asked: “I have cable TV, phone and Internet all through the cable in my house. For my phone, I have a cordless phone, 6.0 Ghz. I only get good signal in the room where the cable comes in. In the rest of the house, I get terrible reception on the phone. It’s the second phone I used. The house is concrete with rebar. Would that have anything to do with it and is there a booster I could put in another room to help my reception?”
We think this may be a mistake. In the US, there are no cordless phone that run on 6.0 GHz. The highest band is 5.8 GHz, which was introduced because of overcrowding on the 2.4 GHz band.
If your phone is 2.4 GHz, that could be a big part of your problem. While the concrete and rebar can be a big contributer to your reception issues, a bigger part may be interference.
2.4ghz is the most crowded band, with 2.4ghz phones, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi being very popular. There’s even 2.4ghz wireless broadband using directional antennas from a tall tower directed at homes and offices, and in some areas there’s free neighborhood Wi-Fi where the Wi-Fi signal is all over the place. What’s worse, some newer Wi-Fi devices “bond” together more than one channel so they’ll go faster. That’s a nice idea, but since there are a limited number of channels, that can really cause interference with other 2.4ghz non Wi-Fi devices, or even a Wi-Fi device at the business next-door. Cordless phones can kill the Wi-Fi network, the Wi-Fi network can kill the cordless phones, and it’s pretty hard to know what’s really going on. If you use a 2.4ghz cordless phone with a Bluetooth headset (which is also 2.4ghz), and you have a Wi-Fi B router (2.4ghz) for the Internet, and maybe 2.4ghz baby monitor or wireless camera, none of these things are going to work well!
Your best bet may be to look into a DECT phone. These run on 1.9 GHz, so there’s no interference from Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth devices. You can find these phones just about anywhere.
If you still have trouble, you may need to look into installing a new phone jack in whatever room you use the phone in most, then you can keep the base station near you.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Winnie in Roaming Shores, Ohio listening on 800 CKLW asked: “I have a Droid X that seems to drop phone calls at least 50 percent of the time. It has been replaced once and I’ve talked to the carrier (Verizon) and they said there’s nothing else they can do to assist. Wondering if it’ll be worthwhile looking at another phone or is this something that just happens occasionally. This phone is in Chicago, which I thought would have good reception.”
We’ve heard of this issue and there isn’t a definite solution.
We’ve found stories of two Droid X users standing at the same spot, one with full bars, one with no service, which would point to the source of the problem being in the hardware, but we’ve also heard of the problem going away for some people after a system update.
If you’ve already had a couple of Droid Xs and they all have the problem you might as well try to update your system, you can do that by clicking the menu button while on the home screen and going to settings and then “about phone”, the first option on your screen will be “System Update”.
If there is no update or there is one but it doesn’t fix your problem you should ask other people on Verizon what their signal is like in your area.
If they tell you they get a solid signal and no dropped calls you may have to consider another phone, you’ve gone through a few Droid Xs and if other people don’t have a problem it may just be a fault with this model’s antenna.
As everyone learned when the iPhone 4 came out, not all antennas are the same and some phones simply get better reception than others, and if Verizon won’t do anything to help you you may have to give up on the Droid X altogether… look at the bright side though, there are some great Android phones coming out on Verizon, some of them with LTE speeds!
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
Mike in Jefferson City, Missouri asked: “I am looking at getting a tablet, but do not know which to get. It will be used for internet access and email, and that is about it. I am not sure if the iPad 2 is worth it or should get one of the others. If you recommend one of the others, why? I am looking for the biggest screen and long battery life.”
As with almost everything in consumer electronics, it comes down to what will fit your needs best.
Take for example screen size. You say you’re looking for the “biggest screen.” Tablets come in two general sizes: 7″ and 10″. Now the iPad 2 has a 9.7″ screen while the Motorola Xoom has a 10.1″ screen. By that measurement, the Xoom has the biggest screen. But millions of raving iPad fans would tell you that this doesn’t make it better.
If you decide that portability is most important, then a 7″ tablet is the way to go, and that leaves out the iPad. You’d have to purchase an Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, or wait for the BlackBerry PlayBook (which has a whole host of other considerations that we can get into some other time).
You said you want the biggest screen, so that really takes you to the iPad 2, the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the LG Optimus, and a whole host of other Android tablets from names like Viewsonic, Creative, and many more. We listed the Xoom, Galaxy Tab, and Optimus because, like the iPad 2, they feature the latest dual core processor, and they also run (or will run very shortly) the latest version of Android, 3.0, which is optimized for tablets.
So is Android or iOS better? That depends on who you ask. iOS has a larger number of apps available for it, but Android is gaining fast. iOS forces you to use iTunes to buy apps, Android lets you get them either from their Market or from third party sites. Android supports Adobe Flash which lets you see more web sites that aren’t optimized for mobile viewing, but iOS runs smoother without Flash and who really wants to visit web sites that aren’t optimized for their tablet?
Battery life is excellent on all the tablets. But not every one of them lets you replace the battery. The iPad 2 doesn’t, nor does the Xoom. In fact, very few tablets offer a battery that the user can swap out. So if that’s something important for you, make sure you verify that feature.
Do you see the enormity of the situation? There’s just no possible way we can tell you which tablet is best for you. What we can tell you is that whether you choose an iPad 2 or one of the latest generation dual core Android tablets, you can’t really make a “wrong” choice.
Tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast for more details.
CTIA Wireless Reports…
| HOUR 2 GUESTS | ||
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| Tony De Ruvo, Founder – Gogobeans | Chuck Hamby, Public Relations Manager – Verizon Wireless | Gallagher, Comedy Legend |
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| ShowStoppers | Dave’s imaged edited on Verizon’s Thunderbolt | Gallagher being interviewed |
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| Rob showing his new Cookie Monster iPhone case | Alex Trask, Spokeswoman – T-Mobile (G2X Phone) | T-Mobile’s G2X Phone |
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Zagg: Assorted goodies from Zagg, including ZaggSparqs, ZaggMates, dual USB 2.0 car chargers and XL gadget wipes.
Improv Electronics: Several Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablets in a variety of colors and accessories including sleeves with stylus holders & magnet kits.
SmartShopper Electronics: Several SmartShoppers — Electronic Grocery List Organizer