June 2018
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This is a bi-monthly compilation of questions that our clients have asked us recently!
I just moved into a new house and the fastest Internet connection I can get here is 3 Mbsec DSL from AT&T. I have DirecTV for television, since Uverse and other land-based services aren't available. I also have an unlimited talk/text/Internet phone plan from Verizon. What can I do for a faster connection? One would think in 2018 that few people are still finding themselves relegated to Internet service that barely meets minimum standards just to do e-mail or browse the web. In some cases, some research will find alternatives. Unfortunately for this particular client, located in a relatively new development off the Rochester Highway in Oconee County, options were quite limited. I found that for around $30 additional per month, he could bundle Internet with his existing DirecTV satellite subscription and get the satellite-based Internet service. The downside is that the rated Internet download speed is 1.5 Mbsec, or about half of what he's getting now on DSL. Not great. He could purchase a "personal hotspot" (aka "mi-fi") device through Verizon and tap into his existing unlimited data plan for an additional $20/month. He'd get a relatively blazing 4G/LTE speed (25-30 Mbsec) for the first 15 GB of data per billing period. . .but it would drop to a dismal 600 Kbps (less than half of his current DSL) after that. He also has the option of employing the "personal hotspot" option on his regular cell phone with the same restrictions at no additional cost, though convenience and battery issues would have to be considered. Normal phone use by two users, streaming movies or other video, photo sharing and routine computer operating system updates among multiple devices could easily exhaust 15 GB of data in the course of a month. A secondary message here is: "unlimited data" from cell providers does not always mean "unlimited fast data." Not great, either. While I was at it, I also did a quick check about the possibility of going to HughesNet satellite-based Internet. HughesNet is one of the oldest providers of satellite-based Internet and OCW has a few customers who've gone that route. For the record, HughesNet will sell you unlimited data with a decent 25 Mbsec download speed for the first 10 or 20 GB of data per month for $50-$70 month, respectively. However when you hit the high-end data threshold in any billing period, the speed drops to 1-3 Mbsec (DSL-ish, again). Better performance than Verizon cellular data but pricier. This, of course, was not exhaustive research and depending on one's particular location, other providers of both terrestrial and satellite-delivered Internet may worth exploring. If you are moving into a new location, it pays to explore all available options for Internet for the best value/performance (and periodically revisit the exploration, as delivery technology continues to advance). Terri and I are always at your service to assist in such an evaluation. I have to keep up with so many different passwords. How can I manage them all securely without having to remember them? This is a really good question and is a logical followup to an earlier discussion about how to come up with good passwords. According to pcmag.com the 10 best password managers of 2018 are: *Dashlane (rated very best) *Sticky Password *Keeper *Password Boss *LastPass... *LogMeOnce *1Password *RoboForm *True Key and *Zoho. Dashlane, Sticky Password and Keeper are Editor's Choice products and while none of them are free, the prices are very reasonable ranging from $12 (Zoho) to $39.99 (Dashlane). So, what exactly is a password management tool? Using weak passwords or reusing passwords on multiple accounts makes us more susceptible to crimes such as identity theft. A password management tool will generate, retrieve, and keep track of super-long, crazy-random passwords across all of your accounts for you, stored in a personalized password vault, while also protecting all your vital online info--not only passwords but PINs, credit-card numbers and their three-digit (or four-digit for AmEx) CVV codes, answers to security questions, and more--with encryption so strong that a hacker will give up long before figuring it out or not bother trying at all. To get all this security, you'll only need to remember a single password in order to unlock your vault. Your login data will be locked down and, at the same time, remain right at your fingertips. If you are interested in using a password manager and have questions, please let us know. What do you want to know more about? There are still many other topics we could talk about here or in a personal consultation. We welcome your comments and questions for future issues of the OCW Insider. You also can give one of us a call or shoot an e-mail and we'll set up an appointment to meet with you! |
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phone: 864.710.7009 email: dave@oneclickwonders.com |
phone: 864.633.6707 email: terri@oneclickwonders.com |