The Next Chapter of Wifi...

[solarscreen]

While many are still using Wireless G or N, 802.11ac has been out for awhile and several steps beyond that are shaping up to change how wireless works in your home.

http://gigaom.com/2014/06/12/next-phase-of-wifi-80211ax/

[kee]

Does upgrading Wifi versions contain the same difficulties as upgrading wife ver.?
 
Now I have an old Thomson ADSL and WiFi router cranking as the nave of 2 repeaters- do you think I'd get faster response with a separate ADSL box and a new WiFi router? I always assumed the bottleneck was in those old copper wires that, according to my network supplier, won't support higher speeds than I have now (5 mbit down, 0,5 mbit up).

[solarscreen]

Wife 2.0 eh?  lol No, that's a more difficult upgrade...

I think keeping your wifi separate from your router or cable modem is a good idea. It gives me a way to keep my desktop gear separated from all the wireless gear.  I have never been a fan of all in one solutions!

[A Nonny Moose]

It is interesting that people want to go faster and faster.  The only reason is to get rid of any pauses in streaming, which is becoming ever more popular. 

While I have helped people get wifi systems running, I don't use it, and generally won't.  My last router used 10BaseT wires and worked just fine, thank you.

Wifi is just another way to broadcast your signal.  I am too paranoid for that having done considerable security work during my chequered career.  I don't even have a cell phone.

Pull those cables, kid, this tunnel isn't that long ...

Now wife 2.0 is an area in which I have no experience.  Keeping wife 1.0 happy was enough, and now that she has passed on to her reward, I am single again.  However, putting aside wife 1.0 if still live may turn out to be more than one can afford.

[irrelevant]

In my experience, Wife 2.0 was a significant upgrade over 1.0. Not only far better performance, but also but also a significant improvement in compatibility with all other existing systems.

YMMV 

[mariesalias]

My son was telling me that some homeland s. guy was caught stalking his ex through her cell phone camera. I don't know how true the story is, but I do know that there has been serious research into this type of covert surveillance since the early 80's (with TVs), at least.

One thing I am sure of is that much of our supposed privacy in this age is an illusion. 

[slink]

You can always embed wire mesh in your walls, if you don't want the neighbors picking up the movies you are playing from your EMF emissions.  Of course, then you can't receive any external broadcasts with interior antennae and sticking your antennae out through the walls exposes you again, although less so because the cables between your pieces of equipment are still shielded.  Or you can move out into the countryside where people need better equipment to spy on you in any fashion, which is what we did.  Now we are only(!!!!!) vulnerable to our service vendors and the government(s).

[mariesalias]

@slink  I have no secrets worth that much effort to keep.

If I were famous or influential in some way, I would have reason to have more security of this type. Since the mid-80's I have just assumed that at any time, someone could be viewing my actions. I am naturally a little paranoid so it is no stretch for me, and I find that a side benefit is that it keeps me more true to myself. I tend not to do things I would not want to admit to the world or my family/friends and try to present myself as accurately as I can, even when alone. This viewpoint also seems to give me a little bit of fortitude when I am tempted to do something I normally wouldn't want to. I find that if I assume I will be held accountable for all of my actions, it helps me think a little before acting more often (impulsive behavior can be a real issue for people with ADD)--, at least with more important, spur-of-the-moment decisions.

On the other hand, I have no desire to live a public life so there is no reason to make things less secure then they need to be! Given my choice, I would prefer to live a little apart from people (i.e. not in a crowded area). After living here in Alaska, I could never go back to living in densely-populated areas like back in Jersey! Here I am surrounded by mountains, forests, and water and no matter where you go, you have a lovely view to look at (well, maybe not the big buildings downtown).

It is funny, I had not really thought too much about this in regards to how I act/think until I started typing this reply.

[rkelly17]

@slink and @mariesalias, you might both be interested in reading Mediated by Thomas de Zengotita from a few years back. He makes some interesting points about how we all represent ourselves in a media saturated culture.

[mariesalias]

Thanks @rkelly17, I have added it to my amazon book list.
I googled it and it does look like a book I would find interesting, and judging by the reviews I read, it is not a dry read. Nonfiction can be a bit of an ordeal for me to read if it does not flow well and it it meanders on too much.     Some fiction, as well; for example, I have never been able to complete a reading of Moby Dick, though I have tried a few times. I just never become engaged.

[rkelly17]

Thanks @rkelly17, I have added it to my amazon book list.
I googled it and it does look like a book I would find interesting, and judging by the reviews I read, it is not a dry read. Nonfiction can be a bit of an ordeal for me to read if it does not flow well and it it meanders on too much.     Some fiction, as well; for example, I have never been able to complete a reading of Moby Dick, though I have tried a few times. I just never become engaged.

You are not alone, @mariesalias. I used to read nonfiction and make others read nonfiction for a living. In such cases some books just have to be read, even if the author, shall we say, isn't the most stimulating a writer. And much of the stuff I "had" to read was written by German academics, who have their own unique, unrepeatable style. Other books I read because I actually enjoyed reading them. Mediated fit into both categories. Now that I'm retired I still like to keep up with the various fields I taught (history, theology and ethics), but I tend to go for those that keep me engaged. After being required to read Melville's Billy Budd in high school I never even attempted Moby Dick, so you're ahead of me.

[slink]

I had to read Moby Dick and don't recall having a problem, but Crime and Punishment defeated me utterly.  It is the only book for which I resorted to Cliff Notes for my report.  On the other hand, I probably should have resorted to Cliff Notes for another book which I remember by the title of Green Mansions.  It could not possibly have been that book judging by the text of the copy available on Gutenberg Books, and the summary on the Wikipedia.  The book that I remember was similar.  An important nautical figure (perhaps the Captain of a ship?) was cast upon the shore (by a shipwreck?) and lived idyllically with a jungle woman.  In the end he goes back to his nagging wife (in England?), because his duty to God and Country outweigh his own happiness.  It never was clear to me why this was the case and I expressed that in my reports.  Maybe he missed Scotch-on-the-rocks and hot baths.

Edit: I should add that I chose that book three times for book reports, and got a bad-to-mediocre grade all three times.

[mariesalias]

Thankfully, notes and class discussions were enough information for me to pass the essay test on Moby Dick. I've always learned much more from class discussions but then, I've always loved participating in them (in college, anyway).  I miss taking classes and a big part of what I miss is the discussions. 

[rkelly17]

. . . .
In the end he goes back to his nagging wife (in England?), because his duty to God and Country outweigh his own happiness.  It never was clear to me why this was the case and I expressed that in my reports.
. . . .

Why? Simply because he was English. That's just what they do.

[slink]

. . . .
In the end he goes back to his nagging wife (in England?), because his duty to God and Country outweigh his own happiness.  It never was clear to me why this was the case and I expressed that in my reports.
. . . .

Why? Simply because he was English. That's just what they do.

And it is still somewhat incomprehensible to me, although I now accept that as the case.    Seriously, I can now understand getting bored drinking fermented coconut milk and frolicking with a native mate all day long, and going back home for some satisfying work and the company of one's peers, but at that age it was completely incomprehensible to me.  Also incomprehensible was the notion that he was cast out of Paradise for his sins and did not deserve his happiness, which are the terms in which it was finally couched to me back then.  I still reject that interpretation of the book, even if that is what the author intended to impart to his readers.  If you really are happy on the beach and aren't living off tax money, what's wrong with that?