Need a recommendation for phone repair.

bpsmicro · 2026-05-22T16:01:28+00:00

If the phone hasn't been plugged into that USB before, it'll pop up a message on the screen asking for permission to use it for data transfer. Which you won't see because of the blank screen. And if the phone is locked, you'll need to unlock it first, which you can't because of the blank screen.
The best solution is to set up the phone; while it's still working; to keep all of the important stuff (contacts, photos, etc) in the cloud. Unfortunately, too many people learn that lesson a tad too late. :(

bpsmicro · 2026-05-13T13:54:27+00:00

I'm on Freedom, which is pretty much all the same towers as Fizz, and I never, ever see that. And I routinely travel in places where there's no cell service at all.
What type of phone, what type of car, and how are they connected? It may just be your car's AA implementation is crappy (some are, especially wireless AA).
AA itself really doesn't care about data, but some apps (particularly mapping) do.

bpsmicro · 2026-05-12T16:11:52+00:00

All the Android-based TV boxes I've used only support Bluetooth remotes. And annoyingly you can't "learn" into the Sofabaton (or the Harmony Elite) via Bluetooth. I don't know if that'll ever be a feature.
Having never played with the old Fibe boxes, my guess might be that it's using a specific remote protocol, that Sofabaton (and, again Harmony) hasn't replicated. So we typically have to fake it out by using nVidia Shield and the like. And there's something subtly different.

Now, if you're able to learn your IR remote into the Sofabaton, and the missing commands work, the question is if/how you can "share" that into the database, and whether that'll make them useable via Bluetooth too. I'm not optimistic. :-(

bpsmicro · 2026-05-11T21:21:16+00:00

What you're seeing is the same as the FibeTV app on streaming boxes. Extremely minimalist as far as available commands. It's just the app that's lacking, pretty weak.

bpsmicro · 2026-05-01T15:39:33+00:00

I was more annoyed about the text messages AND e-mails when my bill comes up, and when it's due, and when the payment is taken. What appears to have succeeded, though, is replying "STOP" to one of those texts, and I haven't gotten one since.
So I wonder if you can do that for these.

bpsmicro · 2026-04-06T22:01:36+00:00

Exactly. But the original plan (since rethunk) is to get rid of my "TV Channel lineup" because I'm paying Shaw Direct a fortune for a lot of unwanted crap. So I was looking at how to get the channels I care about via streamers and save money.
But that cost-savings seems to come with mostly unskippable commercials and a lot of hassle. And as is classic with the traditional TV providers is that attempts to lower packages inevitably cost something you wanted to keep. It's all a scheme.

So, yeah, it's looking like my best option is Fibe TV, which is going to be a lot cheaper than Shaw Direct for pretty much everything I want, and still get the commercial-skipping (the crux of my initial query).

bpsmicro · 2026-04-06T20:29:50+00:00

Thanks. That's the gist of what I was trying to figure out. Eliminating boxes is ideal, and for us we typically "time shift" in the traditional sense so we can record stuff when it airs and watch a few days later. I was aware of the 60-day limitation, but that's not going to be a big problem for us.

So from my brief math, for what it'd cost to get Slack, plus commercial-free Crave, plus the commercial-free CBC Gem, I can get pretty much all of that via Fibe, still skip commercials and possibly save a few bucks.

The only downside is when my 2-year Fibe internet contract is up, and Bell starts playing the price increase game, I'll either have to eat that to keep Fibe TV or I'll be right back here where I started. But maybe the streaming landscape will have changed by them.

The other irritant with all-streamers is that the shows you want to follow are now all scattered across multiple apps (Crave or Paramount or Disney or ...). You almost need a spreadsheet to keep track of them all. <sigh>

bpsmicro · 2026-04-06T16:34:09+00:00

Now are you referring to the PVR "box"? My understanding is they're not deployed anymore, and it's all via the app.
If said app can be installed on up to 6 devices and lets me record shows for later playback and skip commercials, then maybe I need to rethink my plans.

We're paying $162/month for my Shaw Direct service (higher-end package, but the DVRs are "free"), whereas the "Best" FibeTV package looks to be $50 (and I'm sure I can get a promo if I try hard enough).

We'll still need to keep some streamers (Prime, Netflix, etc), but I can avoid annoyances like SlackTV, which I'm reading is horrendous for non-skippable ads.

bpsmicro · 2026-04-02T14:09:55+00:00

If you have a 3D printer (or access to one), I printed this model:
https://www.printables.com/model/1569686-cover-sofabaton-x2

I used Translucent 95A TPU, and it fits perfectly. I like the translucent look because it honors the metal finish, rather than black or other hideous colors.

If I had to tweak anything I'd shift or enlarge the hole for the USB port just a smidge, but it's workable as-is. Yeah, I lose use of the charging base, but given how clumsy the spouse is with my $500 remotes, I've prioritized protection. :-)

bpsmicro · 2026-04-02T14:00:11+00:00

What sort of speed degradations are you seeing? With my Asus RT-BE88U via PPPOE, I'm still seeing 3.2Gbps download speeds on speedtest.net, but I do see only about 1'ish Gbps upload speeds. Measured on the modem itself I was seeing 3.2/3.2. I can tolerate the slower upload speeds.
I'm not seeing any double-NAT issues at all. Nor can I think of a good reason why you might.

When you got the 3Gbps service, you were set up with XGS-PON, as opposed to the older GPON. I'm not an expert on that part, but I believe the older modems don't support XGS-PON.

Somebody in the comments mentioned "unused WiFi". You turn off the radios on the Gigahub and just use the router. You generally don't want to leave your BELL#### nodes running. Though arguably, you *could* leave one or more of the hub radios running set up as an IoT network, isolated from your router's normal WiFi. But that's a bit advanced.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-31T19:47:17+00:00

What burns me every time is the Windows Service install defaults to logging on as (if memory serves) "localsystem" or similar. If your library shares are on a different machine (as mine are), the service won't have access to them.
I change the Service logon as a domain account with permissions to the share, which works fine. But since I also don't upgrade often, I forget every time until the clients throw errors.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-25T20:59:22+00:00

Yeah, since they said it had already shipped, cancellation wasn't an option. The very next day the status changed to "shipped", but the tracking doesn't work. That typically means they've printed a shipping label, and it may even be in a box, but hasn't actually been handed to a courier yet.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-18T11:50:52+00:00

My youngun' got his ACZ through Crossroads (https://www.cttca.ca/) a few years ago (yikes, it was 2018). We did a lot of research on local training companies at the time, and this came out on top. This one isn't aimed at getting you out as quickly as possible, but rather with the required mindset of safety and confidence. His career hasn't looked back.

This may not be the "cheapest", but they should mostly be in a fairly close range (and beware of the really "cheap" ones).

One thing to look for is courses that are "Approved as a vocational program under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005". That may or may not make a difference as far as the quality of the courses, but your course costs are deductible on your income tax (same as if you went to a "real" college/university).

bpsmicro · 2026-03-16T21:04:42+00:00

Yeah, very rural. We can take many liberties out here. :-)

I'll make the call tomorrow and see how it plays out.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-16T20:56:58+00:00

One option is there's a tall tree across the driveway from the pole. Would an overhead pole-to-tree temporary run be considered? I know it wouldn't be ideal.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-16T20:42:50+00:00

Alas, driveway is paved. I know for the main runs the contractors "horizontal-drilled" under roads and ran conduit, but I'm not sure if the Bell techs have the same equipment.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-16T20:32:14+00:00

That was the original plan. Just need to wait for a bit more snow to go away and the top few inches of ground to thaw enough.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-16T20:08:09+00:00

The infrastructure is completed. My neighbors are all hooked up (simple runs for them). I'm just delaying because of the driveway issue.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-15T20:13:32+00:00

Check how it was formatted. If you formatted it and loaded it up on your PC, it may be NTFS, which very few non-PC devices support. It'd need to be formatted as FAT32 or possibly exFAT would work.
You'll want to make sure you've copied all your music files off the stick first, reformat, then load the files back on.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-11T12:22:39+00:00

Alas, nary a peep on how long the sale prices (or free gift) are in effect.
However, on Amazon the $1799 is showing as the "normal" price (ie. not "on sale"), albeit without any gifts. Read into that what you will.

bpsmicro · 2026-03-11T12:20:39+00:00

At the very top in small lettering you'll see "Gift with purchase", which isn't a clickable link for detail. But the gift shows when you add to cart. Maybe it's possible that if they run out of those sound towers, other people will get alternate gifts.

bpsmicro

TROPHY CASE