Latest news with #WiFi
CNET
15 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
Last-Minute Memorial Day Deal: Last Chance to Get Starlink Mini on Sale for $299
With Memorial Day deals still clinging on, it's a great time to upgrade your home in plenty of different ways. One big improvement you could make is a better internet connection -- or one at all if you live remotely -- and a Starlink Mini can help you out there. You can currently get your hands on the Starlink Mini with $200 off on Home Depot, which means it's down to $300 right now. You can also get this deal at Best Buy as well. The Best Buy deal states it ends at midnight tonight, and we've got no reason to think that Home Depot will keep the deal up beyond that either -- so act fast if you want this. The Starlink Mini is built to fit in a large purse or backpack and includes a DC power output. You use the device simply by plugging it into a power source and ensuring it faces the sky. Then you can surf the internet with speeds up to 100 Mbps, perfect for completing any task or communicating with loved ones. Mesh Wi-Fi coverage ensures you get a quality signal, no matter the corner of the world. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. Looking for a new Wi-Fi system but aren't sure if the Starling Mini kit is right for you? We have a list of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems, so you can compare before you shop. CNET's dedicated shopping team is also keeping tabs on all noteworthy Memorial Day deals so you can save during the tail end of these sales. Best Buy/CNET Why this deal matters The Starlink Mini kit typically costs $500, but this Home Depot deal knocks off $200, saving you a massive 40% off the usual price. For just $299, you can have reliable internet service when camping or living in a remote area with a spotty signal. When does it expire? The Memorial Day sale at Home Depot lasts through May 28, which means you only have a day left to save. It's possible that the retailer might extend deals on some items, but there's no guarantee, so we recommend you act fast if you want to get this price.
CNET
a day ago
- Business
- CNET
Memorial Day Deal: Last Chance to Get This Starlink Mini Kit on Sale for $299
We all need a stable internet connection at home, for everything from working to streaming entertainment. But if you live in a more rural area, getting a strong, dependable Wi-Fi connection isn't always easy. If this is something you struggle with, investing in a Starlink Mini kit can help. And right now it doesn't cost a fortune. We've spotted it for just $299 at Home Depot, reducing the price by $200, thanks to Memorial Day deals. But you'll have to act fast. Home Depot's Memorial Day sale is only expected to last through May 28. And although Best Buy had the same deal over the weekend, the item has already returned to the price of $500 on that site. The significant savings will allow you to snag a high-quality Wi-Fi system before tariffs begin to affect the cost of electronic goods. The Starlink Mini kit is a portable mesh Wi-Fi system that offers 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz band Wi-Fi. It runs on Wi-Fi 5 and can connect to satellites as long as it's placed in an area where it can face the sky without obstruction. The Starlink Mini was built to fit in a large purse or backpack and includes a DC power output. Using the device requires simply plugging it into a power source and ensuring it faces the sky. Once plugged in, you can surf the internet with speeds of up to 100 Mbps -- perfect for completing any task or communicating with loved ones. Mesh Wi-Fi coverage ensures you get a quality signal, no matter the corner of the world. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. Looking for a new Wi-Fi system but aren't sure if this product is for you? We have a list of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems, so you can compare before you shop. CNET's dedicated shopping team is also keeping tabs on all noteworthy Memorial Day deals so you can save during the tail end of these sales. Best Buy/CNET Why this deal matters The Starlink Mini kit typically costs $500, but this Home Depot deal knocks off $200, saving you 40%. For just $299, you can have reliable internet service when camping or living in a remote area with a spotty signal. When does this deal expire? Memorial Day sale by Home Depot lasts through May 28, which means you only have a day left to save. It is possible that the retailer might extend deals on some items, but there's no guarantee, so we recommend acting fast if you want to get this price.
Technical.ly
2 days ago
- Business
- Technical.ly
What Pennsylvania stands to lose if federal research dollars dry up
This is a guest post by Thomas P. Foley, a former college president and the current president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania. In early March, on behalf of 85 independent nonprofit colleges, I sent a letter to Congress about the many ways that funding research benefits each one of us. In the weeks since, this topic has exploded across news headlines, as the effects of cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) become clear. Your daily routine — even what you're doing right now, reading an online article — is likely shaped by the innovations born from academic research funded with federal dollars. I could list hundreds of examples for you, many even pioneered in PA, like WiFi and Java code, but simply put, according to the MIT Technology Review, 'every major technological transformation in the US, from electric cars to Google to the iPhone, can trace its roots back to basic science research once funded by the federal government.' NIH and NSF funding is a major economic driver for Pennsylvania. In fact, Pennsylvania ranks fourth in the nation in winning NIH federal research grants. Local researchers won $1.8 billion in NIH funds last year alone, and just one year of NIH funding in Pennsylvania generates $5.2 billion in economic activity and supports 21,787 jobs. NSF funding amounted to another $332 million for Pennsylvania in fiscal year 2024. Every one of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania, whether rural or urban, receives research funding through NIH and NSF. Cutting these programs is estimated to mean a $27 million loss to Dauphin County (Harrisburg), $259 million loss to Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), and a $397 million loss in Philadelphia. Cutting research funding means real dollars that will be pulled out of Pennsylvania's economy. Education is an export that pays off Don't sell education short. Higher ed is doing the heavy lifting for our state's economy. One of the nation's biggest exports is education, even bigger than coal, corn and natural gas. The PA Chamber of Business and Industry found that the 5 th largest industry in PA isn't steel – it's higher education. Two hundred thousand jobs in PA are supported by the independent nonprofit higher ed sector alone, with thousands more jobs supported by our outstanding trade schools, community colleges and state-owned and state-related colleges. We've made strides in ' brain gain ' here in Pennsylvania, and we changed a Rust Belt narrative into a story of success. PA is a magnet for talent, our colleges attract the second highest number of out-of-state college students in the country (considered an economic 'export' for the state), and the number of college graduates moving into the state has ticked up (51% increase in 2023 according to Newsweek). Sixteen percent of all American Nobel Prize winners were affiliated with one of Pennsylvania's independent nonprofit universities and colleges. We're winning in innovation, and we've made a thriving ecosystem where university research fuels businesses and supports startup culture. So why lose all that by reversing course and cutting the research that underpins our state's prosperity? An impending brain drain Nationwide, we're looking at potentially 68,000 job losses due to NIH cuts alone, according to the Science & Community Impacts Mapping Project. That doesn't include the unknown loss in medical breakthroughs or tech innovations that won't happen now without much-needed research. The losses pile up from there. Universities are cutting back on their doctoral programs, which means fewer doctors at your local hospital and fewer researchers working on treatments for diabetes and cancer. Foreign countries are actively seizing their moment to poach American talent and lure away our best and brightest minds (see: Australia, China, EU, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea). Remember, WWII and the Cold War were fought in labs and lecture halls as well as on battlefields when America was a shining beacon for émigré scientists (see: Manhattan Project, Project Paperclip). Tomorrow's competitive edge can be found today on college campuses where A.I. and drones were first developed, and Pennsylvania's higher ed sector is already a significant contributor to our nation's isn't about conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. In fact, in years past, it was a Republican who pushed for more funding for higher ed and NASA, when President Eisenhower realized the competitive advantage of America's universities. Let's not give away what took so many years to win.
Daily Record
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Record
'My neighbour says my WiFi is ruining her plants so she made outrageous demand'
A man has been left fuming after his neighbour knocked on his door and claimed that his WiFi signal was impacting the "vibrational energy" of her plants. Being neighbourly is important, yet it shouldn't mean giving in to every request from those living next door. Most individuals would willingly lend a screwdriver or reduce their music volume when asked out of politeness and a desire for harmony. However, one man has expressed his disbelief with his neighbour's increasingly unreasonable demands, branding them "outrageous". Taking to Reddit, he recounted how the woman next door had peculiar ideas in the past, claiming to hold a telepathic connection with crystals" and telling him that his "aura is too digital". These eccentric claims didn't intrude on his life, so he chose to disregard them, letting her carry on with her beliefs. This toleration ended abruptly, though, following a recent encounter concerning his WiFi router. Recounting the incident, the man revealed that his neighbour showed up at his house holding a potted plant alongside a "diagram of a WiFi signal", reports the Mirror. Confronting the man on his doorstep, she ludicrously claimed that his WiFi was "disrupting the vibrational energy of her succulents" In his post, he described the peculiar head-to-head, saying: "Last week she knocked on my door holding a small potted plant in one hand and a printout of what looked like a hand-drawn diagram of a WiFi signal in the other. "She told me we needed to talk about my router. I was confused. She then explained that my WiFi was disrupting the vibrational energy of her succulents. "She pointed to the drawing, which honestly looked like a sad jellyfish, and said the signal beamed directly through our shared wall and bombarded her plants non-stop. "According to her, the plants were spiritually wilting because they thought the WiFi was sunlight, but it wasn't. The best part? Her plants were in a dark hallway with no natural light." She alleged that the plants had been thriving until the man upgraded his modem and then made a shocking demand - that he share his WiFi with her so she could reposition his router in her own home. He continued: "She gave me two options - either turn off my WiFi every night between 10pm and 6am (apparently the plants' rest hours) or let her share my WiFi and move the router into her unit so she could regulate the signal properly. "I laughed because I thought she was joking. She wasn't. She stormed off as I was laughing at her. I'm still currently waiting to see what comes out of this." It's worth noting that there is no scientific basis for the claim that WiFi signals can harm plant growth. WiFi signals are non-ionising and low-energy, meaning they don't have enough power to cause cellular damage to plants or humans. However, a plant placed too close to a router might suffer from scorched leaves or wilting due to the excessive heat generated by the device. Commentators on the man's post quickly speculated that the woman might be using her plants as a ploy to gain access to his WiFi for her own use, whilst others offered tricks to appease her without actually powering down his router or sharing it. One individual suggested: "Log into your router and change your SS ID to 'not displayed'. Your devices will still connect and tell her the WiFi is off. Much simpler." Another voiced their suspicion: "So she doesn't want you to use WiFi unless she can ALSO use your WiFi. And maybe take possession of your router. It's not about the plants. She's a scammer."
CNET
3 days ago
- CNET
Don't Suffer the Buffer: Free Your Internet From Annoying Lags With My Easy Tips
Summer is upon us, baseball is in full swing, and if you're opting to stream any games this season, you must ensure your internet connection is up to par. (Yes, I realize I just mixed my sports metaphors.) No one wants to lag and miss a late-inning home run to the tune of your neighbors cheering upstairs. The hard truth is that when you're streaming significant events at the same time as everyone else, there will always be a bit of lag or delay. There's not much that you -- or your neighbors -- can do about that collective baseline lag. It's just a consequence of how our internet connections work. But if your neighbors upstairs consistently seem several seconds ahead of you, odds are that your home network might be slowing you down. You can optimize your internet in a few quick steps, which I'll walk you through below. If you still struggle with slow streaming speeds, you may have to make long-term changes, like upgrading your Wi-Fi router. But for now, let's focus on easy, quick improvements you can tackle in just a few days. Run a speed test The first step to getting a faster internet connection is to figure out what internet speed you're actually getting. I have a sneaking suspicion that many of you aren't sure what speed you should be getting. If you're not certain, check your account online and verify what speed you're paying for. Next, run a simple internet speed test to determine whether you're getting sufficient download and upload speeds in the room where your TV is located. The best, most thorough approach is to run multiple tests at different times of day to get a complete picture of your connection's speed. Why? Average download and upload speeds vary depending on how congested the network is, so make sure you're aware of factors like that when testing. Locating local internet providers There are plenty of free internet speed tests, but I most frequently use the Ookla speed test. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) I've got the app on my Apple TV and can see the results on my LG TV, but you can also run it in your browser or by using a free speed test app on your Android or iOS device. Get your speed test results right on the big screen. Trey Paul/CNET In our CNET guide to how much internet speed you really need, we recommend a minimum of 25Mbps for streaming 4K video per FCC guidelines, so that's your starting point. Overall, most households should aim for minimum download speeds of at least 100Mbps, if speeds like those are available and affordable at your address, especially considering the number of smart devices connected in our homes (which we'll touch on just below). Now that you've tested your speeds, compare them to the speeds you're paying for. If the numbers are far off, it might make sense to contact your internet service provider and find out if something is awry on that end, or if possible, you could even try to negotiate a faster plan for less money than you're paying now. If you've been with your ISP for a while, you may be surprised to discover that better, cheaper plans are now available. Check your layout Wi-Fi is incredibly convenient, but it could slow you down if your equipment isn't centrally located. Put simply, the farther away from the modem and router your streaming device is, the lower its wireless speeds will be. If speeds are low enough, you'll start to see buffering as the streaming device struggles to pull the video content over the air fast enough to show it to you in real time. For context, my colleague at CNET pays for gigabit speeds but wasn't getting those speeds until she optimized her Wi-Fi setup. I mentioned earlier that I ran my Ookla speed test from my Apple TV. My wife and I decided to connect our Apple TV directly to our router via an Ethernet cable instead of using a Wi-Fi connection. We wanted our streaming services -- Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, etc. -- to access the fastest speeds in our house, which isn't possible via Wi-Fi. If you can manage to configure it that way, a wired Ethernet connection will boost the speeds of any device you connect to, like your TV. If you cannot connect via Ethernet cable, the next best option is to watch the show on a device or TV in the same room as your modem and router. The less distance between your router and your Wi-Fi streaming device, the better your chances for uninterrupted performance. Revive Slow Gigabit Speeds Without Panicking Revive Slow Gigabit Speeds Without Panicking Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:15 Loaded : 100.00% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:15 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Revive Slow Gigabit Speeds Without Panicking Use your router to check your household bandwidth usage If you're still encountering problems even though your download speeds seem to be up to snuff, you may be having trouble with your router. The first thing to try is the oldest trick of turning it off and back on again. I know that can be frustrating to hear, especially if you've ever asked for help from anyone in tech services and the first response is, "Have you unplugged it and plugged it back in?" The truth is, sometimes it can be that easy -- restarting your router helps it reset and function better. Something else worth considering is the number of people and devices using your network. We mentioned earlier that the ideal download speed for streaming 4K video is 25Mbps, but each device on your network uses bandwidth, making it harder for your TV to consistently get the needed 25Mbps. Our homes are now filled with a myriad of connected devices, including mobile phones, laptops and smart TVs. There are also gaming consoles, security cameras, voice assistants, connected speakers/sound systems, smart thermostats, smartwatches and countless other smart home gadgets. These are all vying for bandwidth. Take an inventory of the smart devices in your household and, with your partner, roommate, kids or whoever else is at your abode, agree on what can be temporarily removed from your network to allow a less congested network as you try to stream your favorite programming. On that note, if you have people in the home who want to watch something different than the live event you want to stream -- consult with them beforehand and see if you can come up with a list of shows or movies that can be downloaded before your event. Maybe download some episodes of Bluey for the kids. Or perhaps your roommates would enjoy binge-watching some episodes of Severance or classic episodes of The Office. Whatever it may be, take the time to get your household on board and those alternatives downloaded early, and you can avoid strife, arguments and backed-up bandwidth during your live event. Run a final checklist OK, you've done several practice runs. Now it's Go Time. Just before your live event is about to start, it's time to run through the steps one last time to ensure your internet is ready. Rerun that speed test The fantastic download speeds you registered several days prior won't do you any good if they're lacking on the day you need them most. It's always wise to check your download speed before marking off any other items on your list. Return to your router and double-check the bandwidth status If your speeds are slow, run back through that checklist: Can you remove any smart devices from your network? Do you need to remind other family members to stick to the game plan and hop off the streaming services or gaming sites? Ensuring everything is in order before the event starts will help minimize any lag and frustrations during the event. Now you're set to get the best experience possible for your home's current setup. You've done all you can. So, sit back, grab your ice-cold beverage and a bowl of your favorite snacks and enjoy! Don't suffer the buffer FAQs Is it a bad idea to stream a live event? While many people still watch live events on over-the-air networks, more are watching via streaming platforms. So, as long as you're prepared and have the proper setup, there should be no issues if you choose to stream live events. Should I upgrade my router to get a better connection? While your router might be holding you back from a perfect stream, you should try the other steps listed in this article before buying an entirely new piece of hardware. It's also important to note that your connection speed is still limited by what you're paying your provider for -- that will always be the speed at which you're capped.
