I'm thinking that my next cellphone might be a Fairphone. I've generally tried to shop wisely for phones, and mostly I've been quite successful. They generally last me at least five years each, often a year or two longer.

I go with as close to vanilla Android as much as possible, with high RAM and good specs - never top-tier phones, but solid mid-range phones. I don't buy from Samsung, because I have no interest in having crapware foisted on me or helping a corporation violate my privacy.

My current phone is a OnePlus 6T, which is still running solidly after nearly seven years. But Carl Pei left OnePlus some time ago, and OnePlus has apparently gone downhill as a result.

The Fairphone sounds appealing, but I'm concerned that I might have to switch carriers. Meanwhile my son is pulling for a Pixel; I'd rather avoid doing business directly with Google because they're so fucking evil.

So...suggestions? Thoughts?

Thanks!

#cellular #phones #Cellphones #Android #Fairphone #Technology #FediAdvice #FediTechSupport

Can anyone recommend some good open-source torrenting software I can use on a Windows 11 machine?

#Tech #FediTechSupport⁩
#FediAnswers⁩ #Technology #Torrent #Software

I thought my internet was fixed. But at 5:30 on the dot this afternoon, the connection died again - pretty much the exact same time it has died almost every day since December 30th.

So I contacted Xfinity again. The AI chat robot basically wasted my time, and then after it ended the chat I reopened it and got it to connect me to a live agent - or at least, what it *claimed* was a live agent.

They talked to me in a creepy way about how kind and nice and helpful I was, and how they wanted to make sure to put a smile on my face. They sent me a ♥️, which seemed even MORE creepy. Then they told me that the problem seemed to be with the network outside my home, somewhere - although when all this started they told me that their network was perfectly fine, and the problem had to be with my equipment. They said they'd send a technician to check the line from the pole to my house tomorrow morning. And then very suddenly they ended the chat.

I didn't know anything about the technician they were sending, so I asked in chat anyway. Apparently that counted as starting a new chat, and I was connected with a new "live agent". This person also started complimenting my kindness and helpfulness, and also told me they wanted to put a smile on my face. And used a ♥️.

They told me they couldn't send anyone to check the line to my home any sooner than Monday. I told them that I had just been told by the previous agent that a technician would be here tomorrow morning, and they gave me some double talk about the other person "must have been talking about robot tools to check the network".

I wasn't happy at all. They ended up giving me a $15 credit, which is pretty much a joke for 10 days of highly unreliable internet. But just to cap things off, they only gave me a $10 credit. I pointed out the difference, and they gave me a $5 credit on top of that.

So now I have to wait until Monday morning, and at this point I have absolutely no confidence that anything is going to be fixed then. But I have no alternative internet provider.

I swear, I'm incredibly tempted to try to start a municipal internet service at this point!

Meanwhile I have to constantly disconnect and reconnect the coaxial cable, which is pretty much destroying my fingers. And reboot the modem and router, over and over. I can't...I just CAN'T. There's nothing left to say.

#YouTube #Internet #Xfinity #WiFi #FediTechSupport

Edited to add:
Thank YOU to everyone who responded in any way to his call to the Fediverse for greater knowledge about WiFi routers than I possess.
Finally settled on this 3-unit mesh router set from the Costco online store:
TP-Link Deco BE11000 Wi-Fi 7 Tri-Band Whole-Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, 3-pack.
I've been using an earlier version of this router and satellites with which I've been quite happy.
This new setup represents an upgrade to a higher "G" level.
The set I have now installed easily and quickly, and had an online app with numerous useful system tools and diagnostics. It worked flawlessly for years. I WAS hoping the Fediverse hive would come up with something off the beaten path that would work for me. And now I'm hoping that the new setup works as we'll as the old one.
Again, thanks to all.
We all know something.
Together we know everything.

Asking the Fediverse Hive Mind About WiFi routers:
I'm moving to a home where fibre high speed internet is available.
In order to avoid the monthly fee for the service provider's router, I'd like to provide my own.
Are there brands or models you kind folks would recommend?
I'm looking for something offering a good product at a reasonable price. (WiFi 7 seems worth getting.)
Dependable would also be nice.
Thanks to those who would be kind enough to boost.
#FediverseHiveMind #FediTechSupport #FediAnswers #WiFi

Fedi/Bsky hivemind: Are there any privacy-friendly shared scheduling tools? We have a group of people who need to be able to schedule themselves on specific days and, ideally, times. We could use a shared text doc for this but I think it helps folks to see a calendar-type layout.

Hey, I have someone in my life who uses an iPhone and would benefit from a little bit of internet privacy help. Is there anything I can recommend them?

"Stop using iPhone/iOS" is not an option for them. Thanks in advance!

Hey #feditechsupport would it be possible/practical to purchase a cheap android tablet and, with the parental settings available by default, lock it down to only run one or two apps and no browser?

I could probably spend 5 minutes looking this up but search engines suck now.

 #PleaseBoost:

Does anyone have a #Motorola #Iridium9505 (not #9505A / 9555 / 9575(A)(PTT)) charger / charging cradle / dock / serial adapter or can give me the #Pinouts for said #connector?

• Kinda need to charge one, ideally without having to remove the battery (which is at least tool-free accessible!) and hooking it up to a benchtop power supply for CV/CC-charging...

#TechSupport #FediTechSupport #VintageElectronics #Vintage #VintageComputing #Communication #Communications #Iridium #Satcom #Satellite #SatelliteCommunications #Charging #Charger #Cable #Pinout #Dock #Docking #DockConnector