Is having a VPN worth it?

[Sam Vimes]

One of the biggest issues these days is - FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. This is experienced by Governments, Corporations and Consumers. For Governments and Corporations its usually pressure from above with little understanding of what 'Make it so...' actually implies. For consumers its the race to be the first person on the block to have the latest and greatest, again, without any real understanding of what they're doing with it.

You've only got to look at the lemming like rush to incorporate AI into everything. Vaste amounts of money and energy being expended but so far little evidence of any real measurable return..... but maybe any day soon

In my professional life we listened to what our customers wanted rather than tell them what they need. In my personal life I still keep abreast of technological developments but I always ask the question - what's in it for me? I'm seldom an early adopter of anything.

 

[Buckman]

One of the biggest issues these days is - FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. This is experienced by Governments, Corporations and Consumers. For Governments and Corporations its usually pressure from above with little understanding of what 'Make it so...' actually implies. For consumers its the race to be the first person on the block to have the latest and greatest, again, without any real understanding of what they're doing with it.

You've only got to look at the lemming like rush to incorporate AI into everything. Vaste amounts of money and energy being expended but so far little evidence of any real measurable return..... but maybe any day soon

In my professional life we listened to what our customers wanted rather than tell them what they need. In my personal life I still keep abreast of technological developments but I always ask the question - what's in it for me? I'm seldom an early adopter of anything.

I used to find it quite amusing reading about people who camped outside a shop to be one of the first to get the latest technology like an Apple or similar phone.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Or things like this..... look at the price

Introducing iPhone Pocket: a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone

ISSEY MIYAKE and Apple today unveiled iPhone Pocket, designed to fit any iPhone as well as all pocketable items.

www.apple.com

 

[otherclive]

Or things like this..... look at the price

Introducing iPhone Pocket: a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone

ISSEY MIYAKE and Apple today unveiled iPhone Pocket, designed to fit any iPhone as well as all pocketable items.

www.apple.com

And NO it is not 1st April yet!!!

 

[RogerL]

One of the biggest issues these days is - FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. This is experienced by Governments, Corporations and Consumers. For Governments and Corporations its usually pressure from above with little understanding of what 'Make it so...' actually implies. For consumers its the race to be the first person on the block to have the latest and greatest, again, without any real understanding of what they're doing with it.

You've only got to look at the lemming like rush to incorporate AI into everything. Vaste amounts of money and energy being expended but so far little evidence of any real measurable return..... but maybe any day soon

In my professional life we listened to what our customers wanted rather than tell them what they need. In my personal life I still keep abreast of technological developments but I always ask the question - what's in it for me? I'm seldom an early adopter of anything.

The head of Alphabet, which owns Google, has warned of the AI bubble bursting at some point https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy7vrd8k4eo similar to the "dot.com crash" of 2000 - some companies will get wiped out and some investors will get hurt, including ordinary pensioners.

I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.

 

[Buckman]

The head of Alphabet, which owns Google, has warned of the AI bubble bursting at some point https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy7vrd8k4eo similar to the "dot.com crash" of 2000 - some companies will get wiped out and some investors will get hurt, including ordinary pensioners.

I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.

Amazon was almost part of the .com crash, but look where it is now.

 

[RogerL]

Amazon was almost part of the .com crash, but look where it is now.

Their shares dropped from $113 to $6 - that's a lot of hurt for those who were invested but a windfall for those who took the risk and bought at $6.

 

[GUMPY]

Or things like this..... look at the price

Introducing iPhone Pocket: a beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone

ISSEY MIYAKE and Apple today unveiled iPhone Pocket, designed to fit any iPhone as well as all pocketable items.

www.apple.com

Why does that remind me of this

 

[otherclive]

Their shares dropped from $113 to $6 - that's a lot of hurt for those who were invested but a windfall for those who took the risk and bought at $6.

But the shares came up again, so those who did not withdraw didn’t loose out, but it could affect those who were in a pension fund and had to buy an annuity. But funds do try to lower investors risk as they start to approach pension time, by balancing the stock market holdings with lower risk steady return holdings like government bonds.

 

[Buckman]

Going back to my original post regarding the VPN, I spoke with our son in law who is a business IT systems manager. They initially had VPN to access South African TV channels as they had already paid the subscription before they left in SA. Sadly this meant accessing Netflix etc was a hassle so they dropped the VPN several months ago.

 

[RogerL]

But the shares came up again, so those who did not withdraw didn’t loose out, but it could affect those who were in a pension fund and had to buy an annuity. But funds do try to lower investors risk as they start to approach pension time, by balancing the stock market holdings with lower risk steady return holdings like government bonds.

When a share drops from $113 to $6 it's a brave (or foolish) person who bets that $6 against going bust and losing everything.

Like lemmings, many investors big or small, sell when share prices drop significantly - which ironically forces the price even lower!

 

[Beachball]

I was with them for years, found the kit and technicians to be fine. But hated the so called customer service.

John

I would agree with you about customer service with Virgin the other day had a fault did what they said still no joy got a new remote and hub so far okay

 

[otherclive]

When a share drops from $113 to $6 it's a brave (or foolish) person who bets that $6 against going bust and losing everything.

Like lemmings, many investors big or small, sell when share prices drop significantly - which ironically forces the price even lower!

We did the opposite in 2008 and don’t regret doing so. But selling when a market weakens opens a downward spiral as sales aren’t instantaneous so by the time you get your money the return money is even less. Panic ye not🙈

 

[RogerL]

I would agree with you about customer service with Virgin the other day had a fault did what they said still no joy got a new remote and hub so far okay

I ordered Virgin fibre broadband some years ago - the first engineer said they'd need to cable it underground, the second said it it was too far from their access point, the third agreed with the first but then it was cancelled altogether.

 

[otherclive]

I would agree with you about customer service with Virgin the other day had a fault did what they said still no joy got a new remote and hub so far okay

Did you have a lot of hassle getting your new remote and box? My new remote arrived but after being unresponsive the original remote started to control the box again. So I have not used the new remote. Did an engineer visit, if not what did you have to do to obtain the new box, as I suspect my box is the source of the system’s fragility especially loosing recordings twice.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Going back to Wifi 5, 6 or 7.....

I was looking through my box of bits this morning and found that I have a Wifi 6 dongle and a Wifi 7 dongle. My router is only Wifi 5.

However I thought I'd run some tests to see what the internal link speed was for each of these.

The internal laptop controller reported a speed of 585Mbps

Using the Wifi 6 dongle - which looks much like a normal usb memory stick - 433Mbps

The Wifi 7 dongle - which not only looks like a memory stick but has two aerials on it about 8cm each which can be rotated - 866Mbps.

Its the router that's the limiting factor because technically speeds could be up in the multiple Gps range.

Speed is not the only factor with the new standards. One thing is that they support more channels and if you're in a neighbourhood with multiple nearby users - e.g block of flats - you could get a better connection and speed.

 

[Tobes]

Going back to Wifi 5, 6 or 7.....

I was looking through my box of bits this morning and found that I have a Wifi 6 dongle and a Wifi 7 dongle. My router is only Wifi 5.

However I thought I'd run some tests to see what the internal link speed was for each of these.

The internal laptop controller reported a speed of 585Mbps

Using the Wifi 6 dongle - which looks much like a normal usb memory stick - 433Mbps

The Wifi 7 dongle - which not only looks like a memory stick but has two aerials on it about 8cm each which can be rotated - 866Mbps.

Its the router that's the limiting factor because technically speeds could be up in the multiple Gps range.

Speed is not the only factor with the new standards. One thing is that they support more channels and if you're in a neighbourhood with multiple nearby users - e.g block of flats - you could get a better connection and speed.

I assume you performed your test using something like fast.com, or speedtest.net, in which case you are testing the performance of your internet connection, not your wifi. The result will be limited to the slowest element.

The difference in performance between the native wifi, wifi 6 dongle and wifi 7, could be the driver, the USB chipset or - as your say - the local RF environment. For some details about Wifi 7 - have a look at the Cisco explainer here.

Either way - Wifi 5, 6 and 7 all have a theoretical performance far above 866Mbps (your best result).

If you want have a better comparison, you can eliminate the internet part of the test by using something like TamoSoft throughput test. They have a small server you can install on a host in your home - usually a PC connected to the network via a physical ethernet cable, and a client you can run on various technologies (laptop, phone etc) to test the performance between the two nodes.

 

[GUMPY]

It's also about choosing the frequency of your various AP, I have fixed my three 5ghz ones at either end of the available spectrum (no radar round here) and one in the middle so they don't interfere with each other. There is only one 2.4ghz AP and that's away from any neighbours Wifi and bandwidth restricted as it's mostly IOT data.
Most people don't bother to go to such lengths but I like stuff to work to 100% of it's capabilities.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I assume you performed your test using something like fast.com, or speedtest.net, in which case you are testing the performance of your internet connection, not your wifi. The result will be limited to the slowest element.

The difference in performance between the native wifi, wifi 6 dongle and wifi 7, could be the driver, the USB chipset or - as your say - the local RF environment. For some details about Wifi 7 - have a look at the Cisco explainer here.

Either way - Wifi 5, 6 and 7 all have a theoretical performance far above 866Mbps (your best result).

If you want have a better comparison, you can eliminate the internet part of the test by using something like TamoSoft throughput test. They have a small server you can install on a host in your home - usually a PC connected to the network via a physical ethernet cable, and a client you can run on various technologies (laptop, phone etc) to test the performance between the two nodes.

As mentioned in my post I'm looking at the negotiated link speed and not the download/upload speed of my internet connection which is what speedtest.net would give.

In Windows you can go to the Control Panel and see the status of your Wifi conneced device which includes the link speed. Each of the tests was in the same physical location but the Wifi 7 dongle performed best because of its external antenna.

You can also use the Windows Task Manager to see the speeds of the ethernet/wifi controllers. Again each will be limited by the router and OS overheads.

Note:- this is the negotiated link speed with the router. Setting up a server anywhere on my network will have a speed limitation set by a) the speed capability of the router b) the speed capability of the device on the network. So, putting a test server on a device that can only run at connection speeds of 100/1000 Mbps for example isn't going to produce results more than that.

Equally of importance is the selection of the correct Wireless Mode. I've known it to happend that for some reason of other the 802. mode has been set to a lower band than what the device can run at. E.g. 802.11 b or n which have much lower links speeds than 802.11ac for example.

Similarly for Wifi dongles some can run on USB 2 or USB 3. Having a Wifi 6 or 7 running on a USB 2 port isn't going to get the maximum speed - other things being equal.

Each of the wifi controllers uses Realtek technology. Obviously the drivers will be different for each but come from the same source.

 

[Buckman]

As per my earlier post, after checking every thing on laptop, router etc I still could not connect using Wifi between router and laptop. Router had wifi as could connect to Smartphones, tablets, TVs etc. Laptop had no issue with wifi connection from phone to laptop. So both router and laptop working for wifi?

Eventually switched off laptop and also router. Left them like that for about 5 minutes and switched both on. Now laptop can connect to router using wifi. I have no idea why the router would not connect to the laptop and checking the event log, there is no indication of an issue?

I am beginning to wonder if there is an issue with the router as it seems to play up every now and again?

 

[JTQ]

Could be simply down to a hiccup on booting, often a reboot is the first "go to" when normally operating electronics has a funny turn, IME.

 

[Sam Vimes]

As per my earlier post, after checking every thing on laptop, router etc I still could not connect using Wifi between router and laptop. Router had wifi as could connect to Smartphones, tablets, TVs etc. Laptop had no issue with wifi connection from phone to laptop. So both router and laptop working for wifi?

Eventually switched off laptop and also router. Left them like that for about 5 minutes and switched both on. Now laptop can connect to router using wifi. I have no idea why the router would not connect to the laptop and checking the event log, there is no indication of an issue?

I am beginning to wonder if there is an issue with the router as it seems to play up every now and again?

This is strange and confusing.

In the first sentence you say you cannot connect using Wifi between router and laptop. Then in the second sentence you say you have no issues connecting from phone to laptop using wifi. The only way you an do this is via the router not directly - so for this case the path is Phone to Router to Laptop all with Wifi.

The question then is what do you mean by ...I still could not connect using Wifi between router and laptop. Because to go from phone to laptop you must use the router. How can you tell you're not connecting in this case?

 

[Hutch]

As per my earlier post, after checking every thing on laptop, router etc I still could not connect using Wifi between router and laptop. Router had wifi as could connect to Smartphones, tablets, TVs etc. Laptop had no issue with wifi connection from phone to laptop. So both router and laptop working for wifi?

Eventually switched off laptop and also router. Left them like that for about 5 minutes and switched both on. Now laptop can connect to router using wifi. I have no idea why the router would not connect to the laptop and checking the event log, there is no indication of an issue?

I am beginning to wonder if there is an issue with the router as it seems to play up every now and again?

We had a problem with Talk Talk about a year ago, our Cul de sac is well renowned for trouble with telephone lines,
18 months ago Giga clear dug up the pavement s,,no forward information,,and laid Fibre lines, next to the open reach ones. Strangely enough the Open reach lines started playing up
Anyway, called Talk talk , who contacted open reach ,,who put new lines in, still the problem existed, eventually a young whippersnap, of a tech, said to me, turn off your router for 1/2 hour and reconnect.

All worked fine, but I have only one hard wired teleph in the house now. But we have accepted that. Everything is on WiFi.