richard mackney

Mobile Internet Signal

           

When roaming around the UK (and Touring in France) I've sometimes struggled with mobile Internet signal. I've had to sit outside of the caravan in the cold, just to download email.

I've tried a few different ways of boosting signal, one of the easiest was to just fix a USB modem onto a two meter USB extension, wrap it in a plastic bag and fix it to the top of the pole of the freeview antenna on the caravan.

If you have a modem with an external socket then you have the option of adding antennas with various gain and a directional antenna will allow for the strongest signal once you have located the direction of the nearest mast.

Getting a WiFi enabled modem (or 3G enabled router) will enable you to place the device in the strongest signal area and allow you to connect via WiFi. However, you are still reliant on the strength of the antenna when in a weak signal area and sticking a router on the roof may not be an option. The battery powered MiFi devices are extremely handy if you want to connect an iTouch, PSP or any mobile device that only uses WiFi.

In the pics above, the PCMCIA card is the most versatile for me. It is self powered, fits flush in the laptop and allows a multitude of antennas (pic shows a 2.8 dBi Panorama antenna). Unfortunately smaller laptops and netbooks don't come with PCMCIA slots these days. The USB modem with a USB extension and an antenna socket would be a pretty powerful combination - especially with a 5dB 3G mag mount antenna.

The pictures include:

• Huawei E156G USB modem with antenna socket (works in D100 router)
• 2.8dB 3G laptop antenna with Huawei plug
• Sierra Wireless AirCard 850 Quadband PC Card
• ZTE MF627 USB modem (no antenna)
• Huawei D100 WiFi router (thanks to @Documentally)

(photos taken, manipulated and post written and uploaded with the iPhone)

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Recharging USB with Solar

   

Related:

Winding USB Power on 12seconds.tv

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Locate your mates with Google Latitude

       

In 2006 I mentioned a new service from TomTom that would allow you to sign in and track where your mates were using Sat Nav ... as far as I'm aware it didn't really take off.

These days we are all a lot more social and use loads of the new services on our GPS enabled phones to let everyone know where we are. Apps like Brightkite, Foursquare and Gowalla allow us to check into locations and broadcast this to our social networks. A service that has been around for quite some time now, but doesn't seem to have stuck with the masses is Google Latitude.

I've been using the mobile web version Google Latitude since it launched and find it quite handy for letting people know you are ‘on your way’ or how close you are to someone when meeting up. Most of us already have a Google account these days, so another sign up to yet another service is not required. If you keep the mobile webpage or app open it will constantly update your location and not require you to post separate location updates. It also can act as your route planner utilising Google Maps.

I currently use it with an iPhone in car holder as an alternative route planner and find it works quite well .... However, (and this is a big however) with the current iPhone firmware not allowing incoming phone calls while loading data in GPRS mode, this means you will not get any calls while using Google Latitude (obviously using hands free).

I'm using it to get the kettle on just in time for my mate (yes, I only have one) as he pulls up on the drive or gets into work, and I'm hoping he might be reading this and return the favour ;) ... just think how powerful this could be if a had a load of 'mates' that were taxi drivers and I could see if they were passing ... now surely there is an app for that!

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FREE Pay As You Go 3G SIM

Click here for a FREE 3G SIM from Three.
 

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iPhone in car holder

         

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AA battery emergency iPhone charger

I looked at the iGo PowerXtender in August and thought it was quite a nice emergency power product for the iPhone - it was £14.99. But I recently found this Energizer product in Toys R Us for only £2.99 which included batteries!

I'm not sure if this was an end of line product, but it's really handy to have in the bottom of your bag when you need a boost of power. You can also carry rechargeable AA batteries just in case you need even more power or if you are caught short ... buy some batteries in any local newsagents.

Related posts on richard.mackney.com

• iGo PowerXtender

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Photos taken with iPhone and sent to Posterous

When I post to this Posterous blog, it's usually done with the iPhone. I've found that it's really easy to take a pic or a video and type a short paragraph of text and send it on it's way using either mobile data or WiFi. This is generally spur of the moment and means I'm not restrained to downloading photos from my SLR and having to find a desktop or a laptop to make a post.

Posterous has made photoblogging, lifestreaming and moblogging very easy for anyone who doesn't have the tech knowledge to use or constantly update a self hosted blog, and with a few choice autoposts it can be backed up or shared instantly with other communities. 

Here is a selection of the 'live' autoposts that made it onto my flickr account, which I try and keep to the more interesting or images with a better quality .... 

I currently use the flickr API to pull in sets or tags and display the results as html, from there the html is used in Posterous. The photo's can even load into a popup lightbox pulling the large image straight from flickr.

Let me know what you think ...

Related posts on richard.mackney.com

• Embedding flickr photos with php

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3 launch new mobile WiFi router

It's not bad when you consider that a 3G USB modem with 3GB loaded is £39.99.

Specs:
Huawei E5830
Size: 86 x 46 x 10mm
Weight: 90g
HSDPA/HSUPA
7.2Mbps/5.76Mbps
Memory card support: micro SD 32GB
HSDPA/2100
GSM/EDGE/850/900/1800/1900
Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g
Li battery, up to 5h active usage

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iGo PowerXtender

I've been looking around for emergency power solutions for my iPhone for a while and have been trying to find a solution that uses AA batteries. I've seen a couple of home brew options (The MintyBoost) but I wanted something cost effective that would just sit in the bottom of my bag and something I would not have to worry about recharging - or forgetting to charge.

The beauty of using AA batteries is that you can either have a stack with you or have the ability to nip to a shop and buy some if required.

The iGo PowerXtender is universal and uses electronics within different tips to supply the correct amount of juice to your device. I purchased the main unit for only £9.99 and the iPhone/iPod tip for £4.99 from a Maplin store. You can also use the tips with other iGo chargers and power adapters.

The unit comes complete with two AA Duracell batteries and I found that I got a 20% boost in battery power. This is definitely enough to make that emergency call or order that emergency pizza over the internet ;) adding fresh AA batteries will obviously give you another boost.

I also found the Duracell batteries could be used in other low draining devices as the iPhone only takes the peak of the power rather than draining the whole battery - the iPhone stops charging once the current drops ...

I've also tested a couple of 2100mAh NiMH rechargeables that gave the same amount of boost - and the beauty of these is that you could use an AA solar charger to recharge on the move.

Related posts on richard.mackney.com

• AA battery emergency iPhone charger

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The Ammobox Project

I have been asked if I would be a guest blogger on The Ammobox Project. It's something I have been following for a while and the concept of pre-packaged video equipment used for live video blogging is something I'm keen to get involved with.

You can catch up on my posts here:

Roaming Into France

Mobile blogging with the iPhone

Introducing Richard Mackney

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