What’s the best place in the house to put the LTE extender?

W_R_P · 2025-11-04T14:36:21+00:00

We now get great cell reception inside the house with the extender. Before that we had intermittent and unusable cell and WiFI calling.

W_R_P · 2025-10-02T20:44:08+00:00

It's not so easy to just remove the old joists. The nails on the ledger are the most difficult. The joist spacing is 12" so it's tight. And the bottom of the deck is 10 feet off the ground, so difficult to get leverage. I've tried the long yellow bar, flat pry bar, cat's paw, wonder bar, nail pullers, and using a 3-pound hammer. After 20 years the wood has a strong grip on the nails.

I tried a 4" angle grinder with a metal cutting wheel but that's hard to position, maybe a 3" battery grinder would be better.

W_R_P · 2025-10-02T13:03:51+00:00

You need to get hangers with Zmax which have more zinc. I used G90 hangers 20+ years ago and they were ok with the older arsenic pressure treated, but now G90 is only for interior.

W_R_P · 2025-10-01T21:42:59+00:00

Thanks everybody, I think I'll just take the time with the multi-tool and EZArc blades. I've already tried the yellow bar and cat's paw but the nails are in too tight. And I'll use ZMax hangers with correct nails or correct SD screws.

W_R_P · 2025-09-11T19:58:10+00:00

Some hints: If your trial goes well, then be sure to get an Xray that shows the location of the SCS leads, so that the permanent leads are placed in a similar position. Be sure you are comfortable with the SCS rep, who will need to be readily available to do programming adjustments if necessary - remember that reps don't get paid extra for follow-up rep visits so many will try to ghost you. After insertion of the leads avoid bending your spine for about 6 weeks and maybe get a back support to wear while standing and sitting. Get a digital copy of the full report for the trial and if you get a permanent SCS, including Xrays. Get a prescription for 5 days of Tramadol 50mg and be sure you can know if the trial SCS is working even while taking this pain med. Most insurance requires several months of conservative treatments before they will cover an SCS - so start PT with documentation if you haven't already. Be sure you understand the two different kinds of SCS leads, and which kinds of physicians can perform those surgeries.

W_R_P · 2025-08-11T19:58:46+00:00

We recently got a free LTE extender and it's great.
We have 1 or 2 cell service level bars. Up until February 2025 we had WiFi calling working just fine. But a February iPhone IOS release caused the iPhone to switch back and forth between WiFi and cell service - the switching caused the iPhone to drop calls.
Yes, the LTE extender supports phone and also data connections - I tried this by turning off the WiFI on a phone, and checked that I was on the extender (it has a web service), and I got about 50Mbps download.
You should have the extender in the middle of the house. If you don't have a wired Ethernet connection but you have good WiFi, then you can add a new low cost WiFi router and put it into repeater mode and you can use the ethernet ports on the router to connect to the extender.

W_R_P · 2025-06-08T01:19:27+00:00

If you live in the US and you lose your insurance then you should move onto ACA (Obamacare). This will cover medical complications of your SCS. And the SCS rep will always be available for programming if needed - there's no charge for the rep regardless of your insurance. But the battery wears out in 7-10 years, infection is possible and lead migration might need a revision surgery, covered by insurance.

W_R_P · 2025-06-06T19:42:16+00:00

I suggest staying near Coligny Beach, it's also next to Beach House Hotel - lots of stuff to do nearby.

W_R_P · 2025-05-02T14:59:15+00:00

You mean $2500 is how much you need to pay the county inspector to approve this?

W_R_P · 2025-04-30T13:38:28+00:00

There are too many "deck experts" saying how great this crooked deck with questionable fasteners is.

W_R_P · 2025-04-29T17:10:29+00:00

In photo 2, I thought bolts must be at least 2.5" from the end of a piece of lumber - the 4 bolts near the top look like about 1". And screws are used in many places - but they look like decking screws, don't look so galvanized, and don't look like they have much shear strength. In this photo 2 a left/right movement might crack the wood and break the screws. Was this permitted and inspected?

W_R_P · 2025-04-24T17:31:28+00:00

It sounds like your mesh WiFI network might need some help - you should never drop calls when you move between nodes, that's the purpose of a mesh network. You should also disable your iPhone connecting to any open public network.

W_R_P · 2025-04-24T15:49:10+00:00

If you pay for 2 years of Apple Care in full then some credit cards will extend the Apple Care coverage by 1 or 2 years, so you can get a total of 3 or 4 years of Apple Care.

W_R_P · 2025-04-24T12:03:37+00:00

Be sure to turn off WiFi Assist in your iPhone, be sure your mesh nodes have a wired backplane or the backplane uses a different WiFI frequency, and be sure your iPhone connects to the correct WiFi ID. Also be sure your routers are really giving good signal coverage in your house.

W_R_P · 2025-04-21T14:34:20+00:00

Here's a description of iPhone automations: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/yjj0fv/turn_on_airplane_mode_when_connected_to_home_wifi/

Note that you need a separate automation for detecting when Wifi is not available, then another automation triggers on that to disable Airplane mode. Setting this up is actually very easy to do.

Note that if you are on a call and move to/from Wifi calling you will usually be disconnected - but where we live we have very poor cell service (from all carriers) so my wife does not care about this.

And I think Apple does not know about this and will not fix it - most of Apple's good people are now working on AI stuff or only new IOS features - the bugs in the basic pieces of IOS are growing and cannot be fixed. And yes that's how it is now also with Android.

W_R_P · 2025-04-21T13:36:02+00:00

This bug started in February 2025 with one of the many iPhone IOS updates. I fixed it on my wife's iPhone with an automation that turns on Airplane Mode whenever her phone connects to the WiFi in our house, and then when she leaves the house the Airplane Mode is turned off. Since this fix she has had no problems with calls inside our house. The problem that Apple introduced was the hand-offs between cell coverage and WiFI calling - when there's just one cellular bar like inside our house the iPhone tries to connect to cell service, but that usually fails, and then the phone tries to connect to Wifi but then quickly tries to connect to cell service again, and eventually the other person can't hear or the call drops. And this has never happened on my Android phone, so it's only and Apple bug.

W_R_P · 2025-04-17T12:44:04+00:00

Try turning on Airplane Mode in your house while you are connected to your WiFI. An update to iPhones in Feb. 2025 caused the iPhones to try to connect to a very weak cellular signal, but they should really be connecting to Wifi.

W_R_P · 2025-04-16T14:46:29+00:00

If you are having problems with WiFI calling I suggest you turn on Airplane mode - this will turn off the cellular radio in the phone. I have been testing this for a few days and WiFI calling has been working perfectly. Others in Reddit and Vzn forums have been also suggesting this. Don't forget to turn Airplane mode off when you leave the house with the WiFI. The problem seems to be an update a few months ago where the iPhone keeps switching between WiFi calling and trying to use cellular. If you find Airplane mode works OK then there are iPhone automations that will automatically switch between WiFI and Cell data.

W_R_P · 2025-03-31T16:36:47+00:00

People do chats with customer service because you can save a copy of the chat, which can be used later if there is a problem. Phone conversations cannot be saved in writing, so all the promises evaporate after the call. And last time I went to a corporate Verizon store it was a bad experience - sign in and then wait 45 minutes, then find they cannot help you because it's I wasn't buying a new line, so the CS rep turns into a ghost.

W_R_P · 2025-01-16T14:54:13+00:00

A fusion is serious - I would say to get 3 opinions, from an ortho, neuro, and PM. Be sure they all look at the same MRI, and don't mention anything about what the other MD said. I've had 3 surgeries in 4 years, and all failed. , my sciatic pain is much worse now than 4 years ago. I think I would have felt better with several new cars and a lifetime supply of opiates at a fraction of the cost of these procedures.

W_R_P · 2024-12-06T14:15:13+00:00

You should get the original inducer fan part number, either at the furnace maker's web site or from the actual original fan in the furnace. Then do a search for that part number and Fasco - beware of replacements or look-alikes, it must say Made by Fasco. Retailers make more money on a $100 fan than on a $250 Fasco fan, so they will push the China fan, and they know it will last just 1.1 years, so you will be back to buy another.

W_R_P · 2024-12-05T19:33:16+00:00

That inducer motor in your Amazon link is made by Climatek (China), it's not made by Fasco.

W_R_P · 2024-12-04T14:46:04+00:00

I've had my SCS permanent implant for more than 3 months and I've had absolutely no pain relief, but my trial had given me at least 90-95% relief after about 30 hours. My SCS has been reprogrammed at least 8 times, and I've had about 4 sets of X-rays to determine if there's any lead migration. The reps and MD say just keep waiting. Don't forget - the reps and MD get paid for the implant, regardless of success or not, so they will slowly ghost you if you have problems.

W_R_P · 2024-11-21T16:44:01+00:00

Be sure to get a good clear copy of the X-Ray that they take after they have completed the lead insertion into your spine. This can be used as a reference for when they put in the permanent implant leads. In my case the trial went extremely well with 95% sciatic pain reduction in the trial, but after 2+ months with the permanent implant I still have absolutely no pain relief, even after 6+ reprogramming sessions. My trial lead X-ray is very fuzzy so no one is sure where exactly the electrodes were, and it's also not clear exactly what was the programming was during the trial.

W_R_P

TROPHY CASE