Author: jameskinler

If you have two or more children trying to do virtual learning at home, then you understand the struggle of making sure that your Internet connection is strong enough to handle multiple Zoom calls at once. Here are some tips to make sure that you are making the most of your Internet connection: Use Active Speaker view instead of Gallery view. Using the Active Speaker view¬ reduces the amount of bandwidth needed because only one video is being shown a time. When Active Speaker view is enabled, the only video shown will be the person who is speaking. To enable speaker view, find the button that says, “Switch to Active Speaker”. Connect directly to your router with a wired connection. If possible, connect to your router directly using an ethernet cable. Using a wired connection to the router will increase your speed as opposed to a wireless connection through the Wi-Fi. If unable to get a wired connection, move closer to the router. If you don’t have an ethernet cable or are unable to connect directly to the router, try moving closer to the router. The closer you are to the router, the stronger the Internet connection will be. Disable HD video or turn off video completely. Disabling the HD video and only streaming in standard definition will decrease the amount of bandwidth you are using. If the instructor allows it, turn your video off completely. Mute microphone when not talking. When you are not speaking, mute your microphone so that you are not using up bandwidth by streaming your audio. Avoid other activities on your Internet connection. Make sure that no one else is using the Internet connection while you are on a Zoom call. The more activity on the Internet connection, the less speed and bandwidth will be available. Activities like streaming video or downloading games can slow down an Internet connection drastically. Call in to the meeting instead of streaming audio. If possible, call into the meeting using your phone instead of streaming the audio via your Internet connection. This will reduce the load on your bandwidth even more.

Whether you need a better way to organize your grocery list, or would love it if someone else just grocery shopped for you, these apps will make your grocery shopping experience even easier. Walmart Grocery is available at most Walmart locations across the country. The best part about Walmart Grocery is that you don’t even have to leave your car. All you have to do is order your groceries on the Walmart Grocery app, schedule your pickup time and check in on the app when you park in the designated parking spot. A Walmart employee will then bring out your groceries and load them into your car! One of Amazon’s most recent ventures is grocery delivery. Amazon is now a grocery and household goods delivery service! You can get a variety of non-perishable groceries including cereal, coffee, snacks, bottled water, cleaning supplies, toiletries and other goods delivered to your home…and if you have Amazon Prime you get free shipping on orders of $35 or more! With Shipt, you can get delivery from stores such as Target, CVS, Smart & Final and Vons. Place your order either online or via their mobile app. Once your order is complete, you can schedule a delivery at a time convenient for you. Your shopper will be contact with you throughout the entire shopping process via text message, so they can communicate with you about any substitutions and you can request last-minute items as well. A Shipt membership is $99/year of $14/month. All Shipt members get free delivery on orders over $35. Instacart offers delivery from Aldi, Sprouts, Total Wine, Save Mart, Sam’s Club and Costco. Their expert shoppers will pick out the freshest produce for you and will be contact with you while in the store regarding any item in your order. Delivery fees start and $3.99 and vary based on time of day and the size of the order. You can purchase an Instacart Express membership for $99/ year or $9.99/month and get free delivery on order $35+ and reduced fees. Out of Milk makes creating and sharing grocery lists easy. Create different categories and lists to organize all of the items with ease. It even connects to your virtual assistants, so you can ask your Amazon or Google device to add items to your Out of Milk grocery list. You can use their barcode scanner to scan and automatically add items from your kitchen to your Out of Milk list. They also have a Pantry List to keep track what is in your pantry, so you know when to restock certain items. One of the best parts about Out of Milk is that you can share and sync your list with your family so that everyone can edit and check items off the list.

People are using video calls now more than ever and they are great way to stay in touch with your family and friends or have remote meetings with clients and colleagues. Whether you have been doing video calls for years, or this is your first time video calling, here are some tips to improve your video calls. Use your mute button. Having a lot of background noise can prevent the other people on the call from hearing each other. If you need to speak to someone not on the video call, have a lot of background noise or need to cough or sneeze, you can turn off your microphone using the mute button. If you are on a video call where you are not the main speaker, then you can even keep yourself muted the entire time unless you are speaking. Lighting is important. Choose a well-lit area for your video call. Also, make sure that you facing a light source and are not backlit, as it can make it difficult for others to see your face. Sitting directly facing a window or lamp is one the best places for video calls. Pay attention to your background. Consider what others will see in your background when you are on a video call, especially if you are on a professional call. You don’t need a full studio set-up with a picturesque background, but moving some things around can make a big difference! Remove that basket of laundry, get your dirty dishes out of the way and make sure that kids and pets won’t interrupt, if possible. Know where your microphone is. Before your start your call, make sure that you know where your microphone is. Whether it is built into your computer, tablet or phone, or you are using an external microphone, knowing where the microphone is will help you make sure that others can hear you. Also, make sure that you are not covering up your microphone with your hand or papers whenever you are speaking. If you are planning on video calling often, you might consider investing an external microphone, which can improve the quality of your audio. Make sure your Internet connection is solid. Having enough upload and download speed is essential whenever you are on a video call. For example, Zoom requires 2 Mbps of both upload and download speed. If you are having connection trouble on your call, check to see if any other apps or programs are open that might be hogging up the Internet connection. Also, if you are at your home, ask other members of the family to stop using the Internet, especially for more bandwidth-intensive activities like streaming or downloading games.

Everyone knows that Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping to its members, but did you know that they also have a variety of other features and benefits for their Prime members that you may not have even heard of? Here’s a breakdown: Same-Day & One-Day Delivery Besides their infamous free-two day delivery, they also offer same-day and one-day delivery on certain items. No-Rush Shipping Earn rewards for delaying your Amazon Prime delivery, such as for promotional credits on Kindle books, tv shows and movies. Amazon Day Choose your Amazon Day and have all of your Amazon deliveries arrive once a week and in fewer boxes. Prime Photos Get unlimited storage space for all of your photos on the Amazon Photos app. You can even set it up to auto-save all of the photos on your phone as a back-up. Prime Day Take advantage of thousands of deals and discounts on Amazon’s annual Prime Day. Prime Music Stream over 2 million songs ad-free and browse Prime Playlists. You can also download your music to listen offline with unlimited skips. Prime Video Watch thousands of movies and TV shows from the Prime Video library for free. You can even download movies and TV shows to your mobile device, so that you can watch on-the-go. Prime Reading Gain access to a library of free eBooks and magazines that you can download to your Kindle device or app. Amazon First Reads Each month, you can buy a curated early-access Kindle book for only $1.99. Prime Pantry Get a variety of groceries and household goods delivered for free on orders over $25. Prime Wardrobe Fill a Prime Wardrobe box with up to 8 clothing items and you get 7 days to try on the clothes. You’ll only be charged for what you decide to keep! Amazon Family Get discounts and deals on items for your family, such as 20% off diapers when you Subscribe & Save. Twitch Prime Get free games, exclusive in-game add-ons and a subscription on Twitch.tv. Discounts at Whole Foods At Whole Foods, you can get an additional 10% off sale items, as well as special discounts just for Prime members. Simply scan your Amazon QR code at the checkout.

We know that there’s nothing better on a hot day than staying inside and streaming your favorite movies and TV shows, so we have some Netflix shows that are perfect for a summer binge session! If you need something uplifting… Sweet Magnolias - Lifelong friends Maddie, Helen and Dana Sue lift each other up as they juggle relationships, family and careers in the small, Southern town of Serenity. Northern Rescue - After the sudden death of his wife, search and rescue commander John West relocates with his three kids to his rural hometown of Turtle Island Bay. If you want some action… Outer Banks - On an island of haves and have-nots, teen John B enlists his three best friends to hunt for a legendary treasure linked to his father's disappearance. Dead to Me - A hotheaded widow searching for the hit-and-run driver who mowed down her husband befriends an eccentric optimist who isn't quite what she seems. If you want to laugh… Space Force - A four-star general begrudgingly teams up with an eccentric scientist to get the U.S. military's newest agency — Space Force — ready for lift-off. Schitt’s Creek - Suddenly broke, the formerly filthy-rich Rose family is reduced to living in a ramshackle motel in a town they once bought as a joke: Schitt's Creek. The Good Place - Due to an error, self-absorbed Eleanor Shellstrop arrives at the Good Place after her death. Determined to stay, she tries to become a better person. If you love documentaries… Babies - From nature to nurture, this docuseries explores the groundbreaking science that reveals how infants discover life during their very first year. Cheer - This gripping docuseries follows the ups and downs of Navarro College's competitive cheer squad as they work to win a coveted national title. If you love medical shows… Grey’s Anatomy - Intern (and eventual resident) Meredith Grey finds herself caught up in personal and professional passions with fellow doctors at a Seattle hospital. Call the Midwife - This period drama set in impoverished East London in the 1950s follows a newly qualified midwife and her colleagues at a nursing convent.

unWired Broadband is proud to announce that we have launched a new tower in the Fresno, CA area. Coming in at 284 feet, the tower is located 20 miles southwest of Fresno, between Riverdale and Raisin City. Access points are installed at 271 feet and will provide excellent coverage for the rural areas west of Fresno. This tower will serve existing customers, as well as provide the capacity to serve even more new customers. This is the 13th tower that unWired has launched in 2020 and is a great addition to our Central Valley network. The addition of a new tower in the Fresno area is the most recent expression of unWired’s continued commitment to providing fast & reliable Internet to those in rural and underserved areas throughout Central California. In the coming months, we look forward to making continued improvements to our existing network, as well as expanding our coverage area. To find out if you can get unWired where you live or work, give us a call at (844) 650-3278!

unWired Broadband is proud to announce that we have launched a new tower in Bakersfield, CA area. The tower is located 18 miles south of Bakersfield, towards the Grapevine. Access points on this tower are installed at 142' and could possibly reach as far south as the Tejon Ranch area. This tower will serve existing customers, as well as provide the capacity to serve even more new customers. This is the 11th tower that unWired has launched in 2020 and is a great addition to our South Valley network. The addition of a new tower in the Bakersfield area is the most recent expression of unWired’s continued commitment to providing fast & reliable Internet to those in rural and underserved areas throughout Central California. In the coming months, we look forward to making continued improvements to our existing network, as well as expanding our coverage area. To find out if you can get unWired where you live or work, give us a call at (844) 650-3278!

unWired Broadband is proud to announce that we have launched a tower in Arvin, CA. Coming in at 150 feet tall, this tower will serve existing customers in Lamont and Arvin, as well as provide the capacity to serve even more new customers. This is the 12th tower that unWired has launched so far in 2020. Special thanks to our construction team members Nick Brown & Greg McKee for their outstanding work. They were able to quickly adapt to changes in the project, allowing us to bring the Arvin tower online in a timely manner. The addition of a new tower in Arvin is the most recent expression of unWired’s continued commitment to providing fast & reliable Internet to those in rural and underserved areas throughout Central California. In the coming months, we look forward to making continued improvements to our existing network, as well as expanding our coverage area. To find out if you can get unWired where you live or work, give us a call at (844) 650-3278!

Did you know you can stream all of your favorite content, even if you don’t have a smart TV? These streaming devices hook up directly into the HDMI or USB port of most TVs so that you can enjoy movies, TV, music, games and more! Here are some of our favorites: Chromecast Google’s Chromecast allows you to stream video and audio content straight from your mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. All you have to do is make sure your device is on the same wi-fi network as the Chromecast and use the Cast button to stream it straight to your TV. The Chromecast is compatible with thousands of different apps and platforms, including Hulu, Spotify, Netflix, Google Play, Disney Plus and more! You can even control your Chromecast using your voice via your Google Home app or device. The basic Chromecast is $35, but you can also upgrade the Chromecast Ultra for $69 to stream in 4K. Roku Streaming Stick The Roku Streaming Stick is super portable, so you can take it with you wherever you go. All you have to do plug it in and start streaming, whether you are in a hotel room, your friend’s house or a dorm room. With the Roku Streaming Stick, you gain access to hundreds of apps and channels. It also includes a voice control remote that can control your TV power and volume. They also have a mobile app that lets your phone act as a TV remote! The Roku Streaming Stick starts at $49.99, but they also have other streaming devices available. Amazon Fire TV Stick If you are already an Amazon customer, this could be the perfect streaming device for you! You can stream tens of thousands of channels including, Prime Video and all of the streaming services you love. You can also listen to music using Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora or more! The Amazon Fire TV Stick can be controlled via Alexa; simply tell Alexa what you want to watch via any Alexa device or your Alexa Voice Remote. If you have compatible smart home devices, you can also use your Amazon Fire Stick and Alexa Voice Remote to view live camera feeds, control the temperature of your home and turn lights on and off. You can get an HD Amazon Fire TV Stick for $39.99 or upgrade to 4K for $49.99. Apple TV While the Apple TV is among the more expensive streaming devices, if you are Apple loyal, it might be a great option for you! Like other streaming devices, Apple TV connects to thousands of apps and channels. But, what sets it apart is that you can use Apple AirPlay to mirror any of your Apple devices to the TV, whether it be your Mac, iPad or iPhone. You can use the voice commands on your Siri remote to find what you want to watch. Also, use the Apple TV app on your Apple devices to continue enjoying your favorite content on the go! You can grab the HD Apple TV for $149 and the 4K version is available starting at $179.