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Project 4G

In the last few days, I’ve successfully switched my parent’s home broadband over to 4G mobile network. In a nutshell the results of this project (which has not fully ended yet) has not been what I can expected. The long and short of it is that the download speeds aren’t quite living up to what I was hoping for. On the ADSL line we were getting about 11 Megabits per second. Now on 4G mobile signal we get a small, modest improve of about 5-10 Mbps – better, but still was hoping for that 30 Mbps speeds. On the plus side though I’ve increased our upload speed about 10 times or more. From a measly 1 Mbps to 12-14 Mbps. This of course helps with video uploading which I occasionally do and screen-sharing on various platforms. I have even thought about Twitch streaming, although I don’t know if that really appeals to me. Still the option is nice!

I started thinking about this project back in the early Spring when I thought of various means to get our speeds up to the fibre standard. Local and national fibre services have not been willing to extend their lines to my little village despite two villages on which have it. The online demand for it locally also isn’t there. So that’s where I began exploring our options. Soon enough I found we could get speeds that rival our broadband through the mobile network. That’s when I set out a plan to deliver these speeds to our household.

The process was relatively simple for anyone with the technical knowledge or will to learn.

  1. Understand where on your property you get the best mobile data signal using various mobile apps.
  2. Research around on 4G SIM routers and home antennas.
  3. Think about how the Local Area Network (LAN) will come to together, with ethernet cables running to Wi-Fi access points inside the house.
  4. Decide on what network to go with the SIM.
  5. Mount the antenna to the optimal location.
  6. Connection up the router with the SIM inside to the coaxial cable from the antenna inside the house.

There are a few things I need to happen with this plan though. One was to get our electrician out to install a power outlet in the attic, where the router will sit. Also find someone who would be willing to install the antenna on the outside. My first plan to was paid a company that installs TV aerials, but in foresight I got my brother, a thatcher, to do it for us.  

I’m only a few days into using this new network. I’ve since repurposed my old modem/router into an access point for various devices on the other side of the house and I also plan to ring up my mobile data supplier to see if they can optimise anything on their end; they say we should be getting about 10 Mbps more, roughly.

So, would I do this all again? Absolutely! It has cost me a bit of money, plus that of a monthly charge for the SIM service. But it’s been a great project to involve myself with, especially during the human malware invasion of 2020. I feel like this is another accomplishment of mine which other people will really benefit from, also potentially added value to this household. Plus a feather in my hat as an IT apprentice.

I do wonder if in the future we’re looking more towards 5G powered households, where old infrastructure exists which costs too much to install high quality fibre and in places which are remote.

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Disability

I have two mental disabilities; firstly is Asperger’s Syndrome and the other is Tourette’s Syndrome. They both pose different challenges in life yet they both have a common theme…

Asperger’s Syndrome is a tricky one to grasp. Emotionally it puts you about 5–10 years behind maturity of others. What this means is that you can spend some time floundering when you need to look for a career or get a partner. This isn’t through a lack of trying. Quite the contrary for a lot of people. No, it’s trying to make sense of a society not tailored to work with difference. Job interviews can be a barrier – when you struggle to get words out of your head you soon get thought of as a poor candidate. As for partners, there’s a lot of people out there who go from looks first. It’s not that we have ten heads but it’s more on behaviours and mannerisms. People see eccentric behaviours and they can recoil and get uncomfortable about it.

I do think the majority of disabilities are made worse by a collective failure of society to understand and tolerate difference. So many people think that a cure is needed. For most, especially autism, a cure is not in question. It’s searching for something which can’t happen. Changing how others react and perceive difference would make life a lot easier and is far more realistic.

Everyone with autism is different so I’ll just be individualistic here in my answer. Sensory wise, I find the sun overbearing and blinding at the best of times. People look at me and assume I’m annoyed. No, I’m just frowning because of the brightness of light. Fluorescent light is a problem less so but isn’t something I can ignore too easily. For myself, sunglasses are often essential on most days out.

I’ve talked to many autistics. The ones with Asperger’s Syndrome seem to value deep conversation more and people with it. We care less for the chit-chat and more for the detailed conversations. That’s not to say we can’t do either but something that is intellectually stimulating is good for us. We tend not to do gossip. So can understand sarcasm and empathy – but it can take a heavy amount of learning to pick it up and even when we do it’s not necessarily as seamless as someone who gets it innately.

Tourette’s Syndrome is an extremely complex movement disorder. People may think it’s a just a movement disorder which waxes and wanes like cycles of the moon. No, there are just so many factors as to why you make a noise or twitch. A tic can be causes by sensory input like restrictive clothing and rumination of past experiences; someone saying something that is related to previous tics and what you eat and drink such as sugar, caffeine and alcohol.

It’s a condition which can cause physical pain. Jerking your head around all the time, as an example, can pull muscles and after enough repetition can cause bone and cartilage wear – even paralysis. Just somethings like another condition – even something as simple as a headache can be worsened by Tourette’s.

Then of course there’s the social side. People struggle with erratic behaviours in public. I’m lucky enough to be able to suppress my tics when I need to. It’s still hard to do though and can only be done for some time. You can get into all sorts of scraps off one encounter with just one wrong person. You could get your life threatened or the police called out to arrest you because you’re presumed to be on drugs. And explanations do little at times because people are too afraid that they might be, socially, taken advantage of.

I hope you were able to pick up a running theme there that I hinted at earlier. A lot of the mental disabilities – and disabilities in general – are made worse because of society’s inability to adapt to difference. Whether that’s ramps on street curbs or someone taking a second thought at the person twitching across the room. I’ve had experiences of people exclaiming that disabled people are a drain on society. Well, how can they not when they aren’t given equity to function properly?

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Tourettespod

Way back in February 2019 I took part in a podcast focused on Tourette’s Syndrome, aptly named, Tourettespod. My episode aired in June. And I have to say it was worth the wait! Ben, the creator of the Tourettespod does an all round amazing job at interviewing and editing these episodes. He’s about to roll out Season 4 as I write this. I highly recommend you have a listen to some of these episodes, there’s so many colourful people with interesting life stories and opinions. The vast majority are family friendly, mine is too.

I think it’s fair to say that disability makes for some awesome stories and amazing opinions.

I plan to write some content for the Tourettespod in the future when I have some time. 

I can’t recommend this podcast enough. It’s available on Google Podcasts, ITunes, Spotify and Libsyn and well and all sort of other places.

Here’s the link directly to my episode:
https://www.geeksrising.com/allshows/2019/6/21/s3-episode-13-rusties-and-ralphies-per-minute

(You may need to manually copy and paste the link to your browser). Blog is still new, perhaps. 

If you do take the time to listen, I hope you enjoy it!

Tic loud and proud.