WIFI

[JEREMY HAWKE]

When ever I speak to somebody on the Zoom machine and their internet goes I always ask
Who are you with
They never say BT

 

[tan_lan]

Thats because the BT customers could not get on the call to start with

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Thats because the BT customers could not get on the call to start with

Maybe explains why I don't know what a zoom machine is?

 

[tan_lan]

People of a certain age consider computers machines, and software more machines!

 

[Ian J]

When ever I speak to somebody on the Zoom machine and their internet goes I always ask
Who are you with

Zoom is fine for you youngsters but I wanted to join in a Zoom conversation with the local gin distiller yesterday so downloaded the app to my phone but couldn't fathom out how to work it

 

[Mark T Jones]

BT own the infrastructure, so really should be able to deliver

Even so, they have a spectacular history of f**king up. When I moved to my current house ,they were installing FTP. They wouldn’t allow anyone else in as provider (even companies they own like EE). So I had no choice but to go with them. Sure enough, they messed up spectacularly leaving me without internet for 3 weeks.

By way of compensation, they gave 6 months free hyperfast. They also do compensation quite well- presumably on the basis that makes it OK to f**k up, as long as you get something free

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Zoom is fine for you youngsters but I wanted to join in a Zoom conversation with the local gin distiller yesterday so downloaded the app to my phone but couldn't fathom out how to work it

We can't keep using the excuse that everything is for youngsters

 

[Bob Morgan]

We can't keep using the excuse that everything is for youngsters

We are Dinosaurs! – But and to be honest, I am quite proud of that! Yesterday I came across an article in the Daily Fail (I only look at that rag out of Morbid Curiosity). Apparently the Department for Education has issued a report stating that an increasing proportion of 11 year-olds entering Secondary School, cannot write by hand, or are exceptionally poor. Similarly, the same group have difficulty telling the time from an Analogue Clock!

 

[Bob Morgan]

Zoom is fine for you youngsters but I wanted to join in a Zoom conversation with the local gin distiller yesterday so downloaded the app to my phone but couldn't fathom out how to work it

Did you determine how many Fathoms of Gin were required?

 

[Bob Morgan]

People of a certain age consider computers machines, and software more machines!

My father (90) still regards the telephone as 'An Instrument of the Devil!'

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

We are Dinosaurs! – But and to be honest, I am quite proud of that! Yesterday I came across an article in the Daily Fail (I only look at that rag out of Morbid Curiosity). Apparently the Department for Education has issued a report stating that an increasing proportion of 11 year-olds entering Secondary School, cannot write by hand, or are exceptionally poor. Similarly, the same group have difficulty telling the time from an Analogue Clock!

Missed that we have the TImes on a Saturday and The Mail today

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Nearly all use BT for the exchange to home or office so does it matter

 

[alan1302]

Another person that confuses an internet connection with a WIFI connection

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Another person that confuses an internet connection with a WIFI connection

Alan in the real world terminology means nothing
Only the results

 

[alan1302]

Alan in the real world terminology means nothing
Only the results

That's why people can never sort things out properly with their internet - you can have a very good connection but poor WiFi...or a poor connection and good WiFi - but if you don't understand which is which you won't know how to sort it out.

 

[estwig]

This thread so reminds me of my eldest daughter, bear in mind she is 22 years old with 3 kids of her own:

Dad the wifi is broken can you come down and fix it please?
The last time this happened it eventually turned out one of granddaughters had dropped the phone down the loo, my daughters attempt to dry it on a radiator and not tell me, didn't work, the phone was knackered.
The problem was obviously the wifi!

 

[Darren_Ssc]

The problem was obviously the wifi!

So WiFi isn't waterproof, who knew?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

That's why people can never sort things out properly with their internet - you can have a very good connection but poor WiFi...or a poor connection and good WiFi - but if you don't understand which is which you won't know how to sort it out.

Not my job

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

So WiFi isn't waterproof, who knew?

Can you feel it if you put your hand in the air

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Can you feel it if you put your hand in the air

Never thought of that, it may explain why I often have a feeling of over-powering resistance to movement?

 

[Naheed Mir]

Zoom is fine for you youngsters but I wanted to join in a Zoom conversation with the local gin distiller yesterday so downloaded the app to my phone but couldn't fathom out how to work it

Zoom is very easy to use. If you want to join the Zoom conversation, you will need the ID
and password to join the conversation. There is also no need to sign up for an account.
You can join the zoom meeting even without login.

 

[forevergroup]

As others have stated it's often a case of having robust WiFi performance rather than purely having a decent internet connection.

I can explain why - as some may recall, BT and co engaged in a heavy marketing campaign a while back regarding WiFi range one-upmanship (including Mr Ryan Reynolds).

BT hubs are therefore now in a permanent state of 'one louder'.

This actually makes them annoying noisy neighbours in dense residential or business environments. In fact you could probably sit on the moon and get 12 BT WiFi hotspots right now.

However, the impressive range does often lead to a false sense of ability in offices with lots of devices that actually end up way oversubscribed for their BT hub/router.

So unlike OP, I have actually seen BT users with serious WiFi/internet problems but generally in more dense environments where they seriously need to upgrade it.

Unfortunately, in my experience BT Local Business tend to be ill equipped to offer this level of advice and I'd therefore recommend consulting specialists such as the Cisco partner channel.

The traits of the BT hub however do actually lend itself fairly well to home and SOHO use.

Anyone who needs something more extensive for home can get a cheap upgrade from the Tenda mesh units - and of course there are lots of business-grade options on the market such as Cisco Meraki.

 

[pcourtney]

all our engineers use Netspot - it allows them to survey the premises and tell the client where the not spots are - simples

NetSpot is a software tool for wireless network assessment, scanning, and surveys, analyzing Wi-Fi coverage and performance. It runs on Mac OS X 10.6+ and Windows 7-8-10 and supports 802.11n, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g wireless networks

 

[forevergroup]

all our engineers use Netspot - it allows them to survey the premises and tell the client where the not spots are - simples

NetSpot is a software tool for wireless network assessment, scanning, and surveys, analyzing Wi-Fi coverage and performance. It runs on Mac OS X 10.6+ and Windows 7-8-10 and supports 802.11n, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g wireless networks

We use Ekahau Site Survey Professional. It’s a beast, we’ve been very happy with it. Especially when surveying for more specialist requirements such as voice or location services.

 

[pcourtney]

Netspot gives the end user a free tool/app to see if the wifi is acceptable or not when using Zoom or Teams, its better than nothing, some rooms around the house, or at work might have better wifi reception than others

 

[forevergroup]

Netspot gives the end user a free tool/app to see if the wifi is acceptable or not when using Zoom or Teams, its better than nothing, some rooms around the house, or at work might have better wifi reception than others

It's a nice idea but I'm yet to find an end user that needs an app to tell them if an area of their house struggles with WiFi for video conferencing.

If an end user has coverage problems we'd generally push them to one of those new home WiFi solutions.

The Tenda units for example are so cheap these days. My cousin is a senior manager for HSBC and has endless meetings - he has been very happy since he bought some.

We would always try and resist committing engineer or diagnostic resources to any scenario that is evidently a hardware limitation.

I was also trying to be polite in not directly comparing Netspot to ESS Pro.

 

[pcourtney]

I was very clear "its better than nothing" - if zoom calls are dropping out, and you can move to a different room ( postion in the building ) to get a better wifi signal - then at least you can carry on with the zoom call

not many users are savvy enough to investigate where the wifi strength may be the strongest, for that alone Netspot is a very useful app to keep a zoom call alive

of course the underlying problem (more than likely) is poor coverage around the premises, and more WAP's maybe required, or better postioning of the WAP's in the first place - but we digress

 

[forevergroup]

I was very clear "its better than nothing" - if zoom calls are dropping out, and you can move to a different room ( postion in the building ) to get a better wifi signal - then at least you can carry on with the zoom call

not many users are savvy enough to investigate where the wifi strength may be the strongest, for that alone Netspot is a very useful app to keep a zoom call alive

of course the underlying problem (more than likely) is poor coverage around the premises, and more WAP's maybe required, or better postioning of the WAP's in the first place - but we digress

Thank you for the information, it's always interesting to hear the experience of industry colleagues.

I therefore did actually go to give the app a try after your recommendation.

However they are rated 1/5 on the App store - full of furious reviews. I'll give it a miss!

 

[Naheed Mir]

That’s great. If Netspot helps in a wireless network
evaluation, scanning and analyzing Wi-Fi coverage.
It will be very helpful. I will definitely give it a try.

 

[shadowjoe]

Oh, I need to try it as well. My internet connection is not as good as it used to be a few months ago and to be honest, I understand why. There are way too many devices connected to it, from ordinary phones and iPads to the Ajax security system or something like that, so I'm shocked that it's still working in general. Maybe I need to increase the radius or the number of devices that can be connected, I don't know.