Tag: wireless Posts

Finding Free Wireless Internet in New Zealand

New Zealand

Unless you are coming from Australia, you’ll likely arrive in New Zealand and be instantly surprised with how hard it is to find usable Internet, or how much money you have to pay to get online. Sure, some coffee shops give you 30 minutes of free time with the purchase of a coffee, but that’s hardly enough time to send a few emails or check in with friends and family on Facebook. If you want to do anything useful, such as upload photos or do a few online chats with people back home, you’re going to find it very difficult all over New Zealand unless you’re willing to shell out $3-$5 an hour whenever you do find it. Even if you do shell out any money to get online, you will likely have a bare-bones data-cap to contend with, often only 50MB or so for a one hour session. I […]

Virgin Broadband2Go Pay As You Go Broadband

Technology

About a year ago, I was down in the United States attending WordCamp San Francisco. While there, my friend Jason lent me a little USB dongle that let me basically surf the web from anywhere. It was a CDMA device that basically piggybacked data onto the wireless towers such that you could use the internet wherever you could get cell access. I was so impressed by it (remember, this was before the iPhone came to Canada) that I’ve been constantly on the lookout for something like that that I can also use down in the USA, since the Roger’s roaming data rates are fairly absurd. When I looked last year, there were several hardware options I could have gone with, but all of them required either a one or a two year contract at a base monthly price of $60 USD, which was way more than I wanted to commit […]

Chilliwack Wi-Fi Spots

 Journal

Well, given that Rebecca has Surrey covered in terms of blogging, I might as well take the reins here with Chilliwack. I’ve spent most of my time here at home since I moved back, but I’m going to start venturing out more and more. I’ve been keeping my eye out for Wi-Fi spots in town, and wanted to present a list for anyone ever looking for where they are. I’ll keep updating this post over time as Chilliwack slowly emerges from the dark ages. Starbucks out in Vedder Crossing – (paid hotspot) | map Java Hut (near Future Shop) – (free hotspot) | web | map Major Leagues 2 Sports Pub – (free hotspot apparently) | map Decades Coffee | web | map I have a hard time going to a Chilliwack pub and pulling out my laptop, which is why I have yet to test the Wi-Fi at Major […]

Why The Silence, Rogers?

 Journal

Dave summed up the sentiment behind this post with one of his recent Flickr photos: While most of Canada is ecstatic for the release of the iPhone in Canada, one company seems rather mute about the whole event. Ironically, that company is Rogers, the only company that has the technology to actually bring the iPhone to Canada. As Dave pointed out, the Apple website has been updated to reflect all the available information regarding the iPhone in Canada. Roger’s unfortunate marketing campaign involves what exactly? A simple teaser, like we’ve all been living in a cave and have absolutely no idea what’s coming out next month. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m fairly certain Roger’s data plan will be overpriced, which is why I suspect they are holding out as long as possible before revealing it to Canadians.

Apple Finalizes 3G iPhone Release Date For Canada – July 11th

 Journal

I stopped by the new Vancouver Apple store on my way to work to hang out with John Biehler and watch a bit of Steve Job’s keynote. Obviously the question on everyones’ mind basically revolved around the 3G iPhone that was rumoured to be announced. The good news is that the release date for the iPhone in Canada has been officially set for July 11th. The bad news is that not only is the jury is still out on just what type of data plans Rogers and Fido are going to be offering with the plan, but also most of the Rogers and Fido people seem completely clueless about the offerings. The first comment I have to make is that the new price for the 3G iPhone is $199, which is significantly less than I paid for my iPod touch. The rumours in the last couple of days alluded to […]

Clearly Not Everyone Likes Rogers

Technology

Jay from Giant Ant Media just emailed me a few awesome YouTube videos they did with regards to Roger’s customer service. I thought I’d share them with everyone, because they’re a riot. Given the content of my last post, I think these are particularly relevant. Now, I’ve been a Bell Mobility customer for a long time, and I can honestly say that they’re not very good either. I suspect the grass is always greener, but I’m fairly certain most wireless users in Canada would agree that we need some new blood in the market to help keep the current breed of wireless providers honest and competitive.

Roger's Wireless And The Canadian iPhone

Technology

I missed the boat on the first round of Canadian iPhone action last year mainly because I was (quite stupidly) locked into a crazy Bell Mobility contract. The current consensus of the rumour mill is that Apple is gearing up to announce the 3G version of the iPhone on June 9th, which would hopefully put that model into Canadian stores sometime in the near future. I have been patiently awaiting it’s arrival so I can call up Bell and tell them where they can shove my phone and my crappy contract. The only problem is that Roger’s has been completely silent on what type of plan will be available for the Canadian iPhone here in Vancouver. As most people know, the data rates in Canada are fairly atrocious. I want to point out a graph that Boris did last year that highlighted just some of the craziness: And while data […]

So It Begins – Wireless During Flights

 Journal

JetBlue is about to launch a beta Airbus 320 plane that features in flight wireless. Pretty cool. Check it out here. In a welcome first for domestic airlines, JetBlue will be rolling out free in-flight Yahoo IM and email services to passengers packing WiFi-equipped devices, starting aboard its new “BetaBlue” Airbus A320. Once this test-bed passenger jet reaches 10,000 feet, an in-plane network with three in-ceiling access points is activated, allowing most any wireless gadget with a Flash-enabled browser to view specialized versions of either Yahoo Messenger or Mail through a universal landing page. What’s more, owners of certain BlackBerry handsets like the 8820 or Curve 8320 can keep feeding their addictions non-stop thanks to an agreement between JetBlue and RIM.