Queuing Theory
A long hold time does not necessarily mean too much demand. I think a lot about queuing theory. Today, it’s mostly about contact centers, but in the old days it was basic voice engineering. Most telecom engineers today missed all…
Supply Chain Shortages: Here We Go Again
I recently noticed that there weren’t many ships at the Tacoma Port. I was wondering where they all were. Eureka. They are in Shanghai. I initially learned this from a tweet. With Shanghai in a near total lockdown, this is…
My New Apple M1 Mac
I recently received my new Apple Mac with the M1 processor. I will be honest, I was skeptical and fearful of this machine. It does NOT use an Intel CPU chip. The chip it uses has an entirely different microcode…
Record and Transcribe your Phone Calls
Have you noticed that since Covid-19 the people at call centers are a LOT ruder? I’m not quite certain what happened, but the people in most of the call centers have become short-tempered, rude, and even aggressive. This is especially…
The Empty Promise of #5G
Nobody can explain to me why 118 megabit speeds are any more important to me than 35 megabit speeds on my cell phone. Why do I care? How does its make any difference to me in any way? I just…
Covid to End in 15 Months
We’re all hunkering down for the long haul of living with Covid. But it may not go that way. It may just end. Abruptly. Covid-19 is a coronavirus, just like SARS and MERS. Every variant of Covid-19 is a coronavirus,…
T-Mobile for 55+
If you are 55+ or older, T-Mobile has a great plan for you. And, you can have up to 4 lines on their plan…just one person needs to be 55+, everybody else can be younger. It’s the best postpaid deal…
Undoing the UnCarrier
With John gone, T-Mobile is sliding back into being a regular ol carrier. My biggest gripe is that the information on their website contradicts itself. It will state that “Stateside Calling” calls are 20₵ a minute in the feature description…
US Approach to Cellular Towers is Wrong
Why is the US cellular system among the worst in the world? My experience is that when I travel to other countries is that there are no dropped calls, there are no coverage gaps, and speeds are remarkably faster than…
The case for mandatory cellular roaming
Traditionally we have placed a very high priority on reliable communications in the event of an emergency. It’s been a national priority that we can not only call 911, but that we can reach each other if there is a…
What Became of the Telecom Gold Standard for Reliability?
The United States used to have the most reliable communications system in the world? Now, it is one of the worst. What happened? And why don’t people seem to care? The standard in 1975 for Central Office reliability was that…
The Dual SIM challenge
I was very very hesitant when I decided to switch from Verizon to T-Mobile. I had been with Verizon for decades and they had a good (although declining) network. I perceived of T-Mobile as a third-tier company. (I would later…
How to Watch YouTube on Verizon
For years I have been frustrated by my inability to watch YouTube videos on my Verizon phone. When I do a SpeedTest there is more than enough speed to watch videos. My data plan has more than enough high speed…
Understanding Speedtest
Alternative title: Why you can’t actually use your cell phone’s data plan. There’s one great misunderstanding that most people have about speedtest: that your download speed isn’t controlled by your upload speed. Consider the speedtest shown in the photo. Looks…
I loved Google Fi So I Let It Go
I tried Google Fi. I really wanted it to work. The idea of just having a simple, straightforward plan was appealing. What I found was that it was expensive and worked very poorly on an iPhone. It was not a…
The Moth and the Candle and 5G
If I could describe the mindset of telephone companies it would be the story of the moth and the candle. In May, AT&T announced with great fanfare that it is back to being a telephone company again: AT&T to refocus…
Old is New Again
One of the popular trends in cables is braided nylon. They not only look good, but they wear exceptionally well. Unlike plastic coated cables they don’t crack, rarely fray, glide easily, and tend not to kink. They also feel nice…
Learning by Shipping (AirTag Edition)
Apple AirTags are remarkable tracking devices. You can put one of these half-dollar sized disks into a package, or hang it on your pet’s collar, or stick it to anything you desire to track. (Think: grandkids at Disneyland.) I’ve been…
Standalone 5G
Cellular 5G is confusing and conflicting. But there are a few points that I think are worth explaining, clearly. T-Mobile has been advertising that they are building a “Standalone 5G” network. This terms means nothing to most of us, but…
Switching to T-Mobile from Verizon
I was a Verizon mobile customer for decades. I’ve had a cell phone for 35 years now (not many can say that) and I have always wanted (and was willing to pay for) the best service. And, for a long…