wifi hotspots?

[hmaria1609]

My branch manager used Jitsi Meet (https://meet.jit.si) for our online staff meetings while our library system was closed.  It's free, secure, no account sign up required, no time limits, and generous attendance levels. (There's a mobile app available) It's comparable to Google Meet for those who've used that.

[Puget]

Just to mention that generally, unlimited data plans do not allow you to use your phone as a hotspot. They specifically hinder that, for the predictable reasons.

T-mobile allows it. One of the many reasons I will never switch back to Verizon.

[polly_mer]

My branch manager used Jitsi Meet (https://meet.jit.si) for our online staff meetings while our library system was closed.  It's free, secure, no account sign up required, no time limits, and generous attendance levels. (There's a mobile app available) It's comparable to Google Meet for those who've used that.

Jitsi crashed Safari on my Mac desktop.  The crash was so hard that I was logged out of the machine entirely, which has never happened previously for anything.  Eventually, Jitsi worked on Firefox on Mac, but it's not as good as WebEx or Zoom for a real meeting.  I have not been impressed watching Blocky's online classes using Google Meet, either.

[fourhats]

T-mobile allows it. One of the many reasons I will never switch back to Verizon.

I'm on Verizon, and we use our phones as hotspots all the time. It's not good enough for a full-length Zoom class though.

[Puget]

T-mobile allows it. One of the many reasons I will never switch back to Verizon.

I'm on Verizon, and we use our phones as hotspots all the time. It's not good enough for a full-length Zoom class though.

Good to know-- at the time I switched, they wanted a lot extra for using your phone as a hotspot after a small pot of "shared" data was used up, plus was more expensive even without that.

[hmaria1609]

Jitsi crashed Safari on my Mac desktop.  The crash was so hard that I was logged out of the machine entirely, which has never happened previously for anything.  Eventually, Jitsi worked on Firefox on Mac, but it's not as good as WebEx or Zoom for a real meeting.  I have not been impressed watching Blocky's online classes using Google Meet, either.

I'm sorry about that.  There's no perfect system!
Our online staff meetings were half hour to an hour; my Mac Book held up well during these sessions.

[AvidReader]

You can buy a modem for $50: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N7QK8Z5/

You can, but be very precise about what you are buying. Spouse and I have moved a lot recently, and have not been able to keep our existing internet providers for any move. This has led to our modem collection. We have at least 4: A Verizon, a Comcast, a CenturyLink, and one that I can't remember. Each one seems to have proprietary limitations that keep you from reusing it at the next place. However, quite a few people in our situation seem to sell used modems on eBay, so if you end up deciding to buy a modem, I recommend asking the provider to write down all the specifications for you, and then buying it online from someone who has recently left that service.

--

Unrelated: I have never been able to take a video call from a hotspot, and am impressed by those of you who can.

AR.

[polly_mer]

Jitsi crashed Safari on my Mac desktop.  The crash was so hard that I was logged out of the machine entirely, which has never happened previously for anything.  Eventually, Jitsi worked on Firefox on Mac, but it's not as good as WebEx or Zoom for a real meeting.  I have not been impressed watching Blocky's online classes using Google Meet, either.

I'm sorry about that.  There's no perfect system!
Our online staff meetings were half hour to an hour; my Mac Book held up well during these sessions.

There's no perfect system, true.  However, it's beyond old to have to wrestle with a new program every time we turn around.

For example, we had a parent-teacher conference* yesterday where the teachers insisted on Google Meet.  Mr. Mer's desktop has regularly used Zoom with no problem for other meetings we've had for many consumer experiences, but Chrome and Google Meets couldn't work the camera.  The teachers asserted that we couldn't go forward if they couldn't see us so we transitioned to Blocky's school-issued Chromebook. 

Yeah, why wouldn't we want to gather around that tiny screen to look at the required documents being projected on only half the screen and two small faces on the side instead of being at the large screen where the text was clearly visible?  The teacher initially was jokey about only seeing the tops of heads and it turned out that the tiny couple pixels in the corner was our view of ourselves.

It was a crap experience that was horrible compared to the bazillion WebExes and Zooms I do for work and outreach every week where only the speaker/host projects the material and the rest of us watch on our devices and talk/text to interact.

Video calls are great for one place to one place like the Sunday afternoon Skypes we have to speak with grandparents.  It's really unnecessary to be looking at random talking heads.


* Blocky tested into an advanced group, so we had to meet about additional expectations about being pulled out of the regular remote class.

[kaysixteen]

What was the school's rationale for requiring use of Google Meet?   What advantages does this program have?

[polly_mer]

What was the school's rationale for requiring use of Google Meet?   What advantages does this program have?

The school district bought Chromebooks for all students, faculty, and staff and went all in to standardize on Google products in an effort to reduce IT support needs for everyone at home.  I assume the district got a good deal by bundling everything. 

I don't care about requiring using the standard program for a one-off meeting so much as I remain annoyed that we couldn't go forward all just looking at the paperwork with the insistence on video all around when the camera had an issue and doing so made seeing the only necessary visual harder.

After that horrible meeting, Blocky is getting a big external monitor and keyboard (he already had the mouse) to improve his daily experience.  Blocky didn't complain, but when we asked if he'd like a bigger screen, he agreed that would be nice.

[pigou]

I'm mortified by people who work all day on laptop screens and without an external keyboard & mouse. Can't possibly be good for their eyes or hands.

I just picked up this external monitor which, although a little pricy, is a complete game-changer: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B083TDZJD7/

32" is the perfect size to use the side-by-side mode in Windows -- effectively giving you two monitors in one. But much easier on the eyes than using two separate monitors.

[kaysixteen]

WRT Zoom, I confess I am less than impressed with this foundation I am doing the volunteer senior citizens courses for.   My two courses are set to start Thursday, and I do not yet know if this is going to work.  I get that the foundation board was essentially winging it last minute in late July when they decided to go online this fall, and the director asked if I could do that.  I asked the tech person who gave me the machine if it could do Zoom, and learning that it could, I agreed to do the classes.   But the foundation director promised to provide Zoom training, which I told her then that I wanted and would need.  She dilly-dallied for several links and then sent, as 'training', links to a couple of youtube videos.   I was able to sign up for Zoom account with this info (but of course I could have located the info myself), but I have gotten no assistance beyond this, certainly no access to a local tech person to see if this is going to work.   And when I  registered for Zoom last week, the Zoom screen offered me a chance to do a demo meeting.... I have asked the foundation director to set something up for me to do so, but gotten no response.   Unless I very much miss my guess, a 'demo meeting' actually requires at least one other person somewhere else working with me to do it, it cannot be done by myself?   If I cannot do a demo mtg by Thursday, the first class is going to end up as the demo, and we will see what happens.

[Puget]

WRT Zoom, I confess I am less than impressed with this foundation I am doing the volunteer senior citizens courses for.   My two courses are set to start Thursday, and I do not yet know if this is going to work.  I get that the foundation board was essentially winging it last minute in late July when they decided to go online this fall, and the director asked if I could do that.  I asked the tech person who gave me the machine if it could do Zoom, and learning that it could, I agreed to do the classes.   But the foundation director promised to provide Zoom training, which I told her then that I wanted and would need.  She dilly-dallied for several links and then sent, as 'training', links to a couple of youtube videos.   I was able to sign up for Zoom account with this info (but of course I could have located the info myself), but I have gotten no assistance beyond this, certainly no access to a local tech person to see if this is going to work.   And when I  registered for Zoom last week, the Zoom screen offered me a chance to do a demo meeting.... I have asked the foundation director to set something up for me to do so, but gotten no response.   Unless I very much miss my guess, a 'demo meeting' actually requires at least one other person somewhere else working with me to do it, it cannot be done by myself?   If I cannot do a demo mtg by Thursday, the first class is going to end up as the demo, and we will see what happens.

Ideally you'd have some people to demo on, but you can test out a lot of stuff for yourself-- just start a meeting with just you, practice screen sharing your slides (if you are using them), check your camera and mic are working, practice muting and unmuting yourself, etc. There is a pretty extensive user's guide on the zoom website, and it's really not that bad-- a lot more user friendly than some other platforms I've had to use.

[Hibush]

I'm mortified by people who work all day on laptop screens and without an external keyboard & mouse. Can't possibly be good for their eyes or hands.

Now that people are working from home in their jammies, they can also work from bed, propping the laptop on their tummy. An external keyboard and monitor really don't make that better for the eye or hands.

[kaysixteen]

But how do I get to check the camera and the mic if no one is watching?

I do not need much, as there will be no slides, videos, etc., here, more or less just me talking and as much as possible others talking back.  The students are all seniors, and as the director of the foundation well noted in her mass email to all students and teachers, this is very much indeed a work in progress for all of us, as we all essentially have no experience at this.   We will see.   But even if this week does not work, I guess the foundation should be able to see what works and does not work, and fix things going forward?  Truth be told,  am not absolutely sure this computer I have will actually work, because of the hotspot issues.   I am not going to pay any money for cabled modem access, not for a volunteer effort I am not going to be paid for, and there seems no consensus on the fora that I will be able to do this with wifi...