Spoke with Tracey and Stuart about some people having problems with their wireless broadband and a slow rate. Why is this? Well, there could be a number of reasons, but if it is endemic within an area it’s usually due to a saturation point being reached. Telcos set up towers and then they start signing up customers, and due to the number being signed up, the signal gets diluted and weaker. So then the telco has to set up more towers.
Lynn, who lives in Grafton wanted to know how she could tell what channel she was on when using her set-top box. She was finding it hard to differentiate between the different channels. A zero is usually added to one of the free-to-air channels so you know the difference. For example, Channel 9 standard def is called Channel 9, while its HD channel is Channel 90. However, the other thing people need to realise who are not up to speed on this, is that a set-top box will not show HD vision unless the television is HD. So it will not upscale it.
Mark was wondering about his Unwired connection and why it was a little slow. Unwired has its own towers, and it’s on a different spectrum. Its price plans correlate with the speed of the service – the more you pay the faster the service. The good thing about Unwired is that if you move house, you just unplug your computer and it goes with you.
Christine wanted to know if the 7GB that she had left on her Optus plan for her mobile handset was enough to see her through a few Skype calls over the next couple of months. It should be, but what she has to realise is that some telcos – including Optus – charge for uploads and downloads. However, Optus also has an online widget that allows you to check how much data you have left on your cap.
John was wondering about losing Channel 4 when he was tuning in his new HD TV. Another listener told us after John’s call that Channel 4 was just a test channel and it is no longer running. However, I would advise John to check out the electronic programme guide, or EPG, which comes standard. This is a greatly underutilised feature of most digital televisions, but a very handy one. It allows you to program your favourite show weeks in advance, as well as a few other handy things.
That last call was from Mike, who queried whether he should get an LED or 100/200Hz LCD television. The Hertz refers to the refresh rate – the higher the Hertz the faster the refresh rate, which is what you want when you are watching sport. I’d suggest the LED because of the better backlighting and your would hardly notice the difference in refresh rate.
We also talked about the Road Recorder, which is a little device that is mounted on your dashboard and starts recording every time there is a noticeable or sudden change in direction, or braking, while you are driving. Not too sure how popular it will be, or whether you want to record your own accidents, but it would certainly stop debates on who was responsible for what in such an event!
NEWSFLASH! CyberShack TV is back on air on Saturday May 15, at 1.30pm on Channel 9. A fun-filled episode that will include talking to the 888 V8 Racing Team about Toshiba technology, getting security software specialist Symantec to open up about Cybercrime, an on-hands look at 3D TV, plus a whole lot more.
Also, check out the newlook CyberShack website at www.cybershack.com….