Connectivity overseas can be a real pain. Roaming is prohibitively expensive, so a local SIM is best. But most American mobile phones are "locked" to a carrier, and American phone companies use different network technologies and frequencies than most other countries. That's why I was excited to test my Verizon iPhone 5 abroad. Using the Verizon iPhone 5 on the Vodafone … [Read more...] about International Roaming With the Verizon iPhone 5
CDMA
Is there no such thing as a cheap, prepaid data SIM in the USA?
One of the coolest things I get to do these days as part of Tech Field Day is bring friends from all countries to the United States to meet with various companies. But too often, they find themselves isolated and unable to communicate because of our odd mobile phone network. Although prepaid SIM cards are more available these days, I'm having a tough time locating a data SIM … [Read more...] about Is there no such thing as a cheap, prepaid data SIM in the USA?
Making Sense of Global Mobile Phone Networks
The mobile phone network landscape is incredible confusing. I pulled together the following overview to help myself make sense of it, and I thought it might benefit my readers, too. Overview: 2G, 3G, 4G, and more-G! Today's worldwide mobile phone network consists of many different technologies operating at many different frequencies. Setting aside the frequency issue … [Read more...] about Making Sense of Global Mobile Phone Networks
Building a Combination 3G/4G/Wired Wi-Fi Network
The Tech Field Day events I run are hotspots of social media, but it has been hard building an Internet presence to keep up. Constantly on the move, I need a flexible network with scalability and failover (and fail-back) between 3G/4G and wired Internet. My latest design relies on CradlePoint's MBR1200 "Failover Router", which can load-balance across multiple 3G and 4G data … [Read more...] about Building a Combination 3G/4G/Wired Wi-Fi Network
Which iPad is the Best Choice?
Apple may make their product lines easy to understand, with simple and consistent names, but there sure are a lot of iPad 2 models. Which iPad is the best choice? I picked the 32 GB Wi-Fi model personally, but I can see cases where others might prefer a 3G or base model. Let's consider it. The iPad 2 Model Lineup There are no less than 18 different iPad 2 models: 16 … [Read more...] about Which iPad is the Best Choice?