Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

5 GHz WiFi definitely has a shorter range than 2.4 GHz WiFi since shorter wavelengths (=higher frequencies) are being absorbed more by obstacles and even air.

Mobile networks vary way more, it all depends on which frequencies are available in the region and which frequencies are actually used by the mobile providers. 5G can be between .6 and 6 GHz (FR1 = frequency range 1) as well as between 24 and 40 GHz (FR2), the latter having way less penetration than the former so those frequencies won't be used as much since there would have to be an extreme amount of base stations to provide good coverage.
 
A local provider called me and offered a 5G plan, which is not yet available here...so I guess this means it will be soon?
Anyway, my phone has 5G, so yay?
 
5 GHz WiFi definitely has a shorter range than 2.4 GHz WiFi since shorter wavelengths (=higher frequencies) are being absorbed more by obstacles and even air.

Mobile networks vary way more, it all depends on which frequencies are available in the region and which frequencies are actually used by the mobile providers. 5G can be between .6 and 6 GHz (FR1 = frequency range 1) as well as between 24 and 40 GHz (FR2), the latter having way less penetration than the former so those frequencies won't be used as much since there would have to be an extreme amount of base stations to provide good coverage.

This is what I was referring to.

 
A local provider called me and offered a 5G plan, which is not yet available here...so I guess this means it will be soon?
Anyway, my phone has 5G, so yay?
They keep trying to sell me one since buying the new iPhone but we won't get 5G out here in the sticks for a while yet, maybe don't get your hopes up. :p

A friend bought a plan without checking his area and... nada. It was a silly-cheap deal though with 200GB of data for the price I pay for a 60GB 4G plan. 4G is plenty fast enough for me anyway.
 
Perhaps the Linus Tech Tips video is outdated, but I thought 5G had some major range limitations. Or was that 5GHz network???

To cram more bandwidth into the available spectrum you need to crank the frequency up. This means shorter range, which means you need more towers. Google tells me 5G in Finland starts at 3.1GHz. I think 4G is 2.1GHz at most.

4G also runs on 700 and 800 MHz (iirc) which is nice for rural sparsely populated areas where range is important.
 
i saw an note that Telia (here in Finland) is stopping 2G networks, so that the 5G can have more availaible frequencies (gsm or 4G Voice compensates).
 
i saw an note that Telia (here in Finland) is stopping 2G networks, so that the 5G can have more availaible frequencies (gsm or 4G Voice compensates).
to be fair, unless you're a Classic Mobile Phone Enthusiast, who is using 2G these days?
 
to be fair, unless you're a Classic Mobile Phone Enthusiast, who is using 2G these days?
unless your phone or isp has set the 4G voice, then all calls are done using that, and data for extre ranges?
 
unless your phone or isp has set the 4G voice, then all calls are done using that, and data for extre ranges?

Seems to depends here. If both people on the call have HD Voice, it'll be on the data side for dat high kwality voice.
 
who is using 2G these days?

I remember a charging station of ours in an underground garage had constant connectivity issues (well, duh), so Someone installed a 3G repeater in there. Yeah... turns out that charging station (and thousands like it) only has a 2G modem :|
 
I remember a charging station of ours in an underground garage had constant connectivity issues (well, duh), so Someone installed a 3G repeater in there. Yeah... turns out that charging station (and thousands like it) only has a 2G modem :|

M2M devices FTW!
 
M2M devices FTW!
not so sure about the W.

I mean sure, 2G is more than enough to satisfy all the bandwidth requirements, because they're basically nonexistant. but still... one would think M2M is all innovative and new and shit and thus people would maybe think to future-proof their stuff. but no, the 2G modem probably was 5ct cheaper than a 4G modem...
 
I thought back to this thread and topic last night when I couldn't sleep, and came up with lots of other cases that rely on 2G. Residential and car alarm systems, monitoring systems at various utility plants (fresh water, sewage...), automatic gates at industrial areas, etc etc etc. Things that don't need much data or that sometimes even rely on a phonecall with a couple of DTMF tones.

I don't think you can shut down a 2G network without pissing off lots of customers.
 
I don't think you can shut down a 2G network without pissing off lots of customers.
Definitely!

... I think what's happening over here is that they're leaving 2G alone and shutting down 3G more and more to use (some of) those frequencies for 4G & 5G (although according to German wikipedia there's no overlap, but the telcos are saying this at least).
 
So I recently added a cheap gig switch to my tv bench, where my modem/router also lives. It’s managed because it was like 4€ more than the out-of-stock dumb version.

My Internet has been flaky lately. My iPad has been throwing errors like “your Wi-Fi looks like it doesn’t have Internet, do you want to use cellular?” etc.

Turns out the switch seems to grab 192.168.0.1 for itself, and stick to it, if there isn’t a DHCP server present. Which there isn’t, because the switch boots way faster than the cable modem. I’ve been power-cycling both from the power strip because it’s easier than reaching in and unplugging the correct wall wart.

I wonder who the guy is that thought the most used router IP in the world was a good one to default to.
 
So... my old BluRay/DVD player partly gave up. Specifically, it couldn't play DVDs anymore.

I know, streaming age has begun yadda yadda, but I do own too many discs already. So I bought a new player. Of course, I also have R1 DVDs, so I needed one that can be region-unlocked. My choice was a Panasonic model that can be unlocked via special commands given by a universal remote - the OEM remote cannot send these commands. Well, I don't have a universal remote. So, I could either
  1. buy the player from a specialized dealer, already unlocked, for about €60 more than going market price
  2. buy a universal remote and play around with that
  3. buy this little item on eBay from some UK-based guy for a bit over €20 incl. two AAA batteries and shipping:
    20210310_202732.jpg
Naturally, I went with option 3. I'm astounded it made its way here by air mail without being confiscated for being mistaken for a remote bomb detonator. :D

And yes, it worked perfectly. :)
 
Last edited:
Minimalist electronics at its best. Do you know what the chip is or have a link? I have no use for one but I'm interested anyway.
 
I ordered a couple of IKEA shortcut buttons for their Trådfri system and received them today. As I expected (but not as I hoped) they only do one thing. I can have one on my bedstand for turning everything off at night but I can't press the same button again to turn the lights back on the next morning.

Thankfully this is easily fixed since every new Trådfri device I add automatically shows up in Apple's HomeKit app including the shortcut buttons, and HomeKit supports normal press and long press. I'll just keep on not using the IKEA app for anything ever.
 
Top