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Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

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101–110 of 209 posts

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The heaviest things I own are probably books, but they're pretty sweet books so I take the weight. What are they, if you don't mind me asking of course.

I found this really old book from 1938 for learning German which is quite the artifact, one from 1944 on how to survive an atomic bomb which is also super old and has some funny advice/a picture on wearing a fedora to protect yourself from the heat flash... some book from 1924 on mathematics which takes a historical analysis approach to teaching called mathematics for the million which is pretty cool. It has a lot of…

> one from 1944 on how to survive an atomic bomb which is also super old and has some funny advice/a picture on wearing a fedora to protect yourself from the heat flash

1944?

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#102
post #85

Everyone is talking about hotspots, but since I got used to having WWAN (as opposed / in addition to 'WLAN') directly in my laptop there's zero chance I could ever go back to tethering. My main portable is one of those custom modern motherboards for a 2011 ThinkPad X-series shell since I hate the keyboards on all the new ones. Originally a "third-batch" I7-8250U that I've since supplemented with a "fourth-batch" i7-1…

Good mention. I've had laptops with dodgy wifi in the past, or been in some very wifi-noisy environments. It definitely helps not having to send data through wifi. Phones usually have fairly low-grade consumer wifi chips, they're not top notch APs. There's often considerable additional latency to boot.

I'd throw in the mention that USB Tethering fixes all of these issues.

My cell provider is not very cool about handing out additional (even data-only) sim cards, and it seems like most are similarly block-headed. Google Fi is one of the only Nice Guys on the scene, but I refuse to go anywhere near a service that throttles me to 256k if I hit my "unlimited" cap. So I've had a number of devices with cellular connectivity, but it's always gone unused.

So again, usb tethering. Very fast connection speed, much more stable latency. It works great. My battery, a ZMI 20k, has a USB Hub mode, where it charges the laptop, while acting as a USB hub for two devices, so I can charge my laptop, and charge my phone (very slowly!), and have usb tethering, all at the same time.

But for many folks, a simple USB-C cable can be a godsend in a time of need / slowness.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#103

I've been pretty happy with spending most of my time in Costa Rica for nearly a decade or so. The pandemic numbers here have been really low, partly because people are fairly health-conscious here. Anti maskers are basically just gringos nobody likes or want anything to do with here instead of crazy people yelling vitriol in grocery stores. I don't live at the beach, because frankly it's kind of distracting having pe…

How's the process of getting permanent residence there?

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#106
- ‘86 Winnie RV

- Nomad Internet: It’s RV friendly cell data service with high caps. ~400GB monthly with version or T-mobile variants

- Work MacBook Pro

- Personal MacBook Air: The M1 is wild fast

- Adjustable Desk: Cheapest one on Amazon

- Keychron K8 Mechanical Keyboard: Great keyboard for the price

- Logitech Master MX3 Mouse: Best mouse I’ve ever used, hands down.

- Crappy Dell monitor: My company paid for it, but boy is it bad.

- DDJ-SB3 DJ Controller: Former DJ, so gotta shake the rust of now and then.

- GoPro Hero Black 9: Just got this, amazing little piece of kit! Just need to use it more

- Polaroid whateverthehell: makes instant shots. Fun for on the fly shots, and a way to meet strangers.

- Arctis Pro Headphones: as a DJ, I do not recommend these, not loud enough. Could be hearing damage. Sound quality is good for the price, as is build quality.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#107
post #9

Semi truck driver. I have a laptop, and a phone. I use the phone's hotspot. "Being on the internet" is not part of my job, and many nights I don't bother to take the laptop out of its bag. I never use wifi because I'm paranoid. While driving I listen to podcasts or streaming. I never predownload anything. I don't know if I ever get throttled. Sometimes, even in this day and age, I'm out of cell range, and my podcasts…

> Your lifestyle and work may just be five or ten years ahead of it being worthwhile for businesses to provide what you need.

I think it’s also the whole telecoms situation in the US puts it ten years behind everywhere else. The data caps and bandwidth issues are mostly not a technical or business cost issue. Ubiquitous fast and cheap 4G is quite normal elsewhere.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#108
post #9

Semi truck driver. I have a laptop, and a phone. I use the phone's hotspot. "Being on the internet" is not part of my job, and many nights I don't bother to take the laptop out of its bag. I never use wifi because I'm paranoid. While driving I listen to podcasts or streaming. I never predownload anything. I don't know if I ever get throttled. Sometimes, even in this day and age, I'm out of cell range, and my podcasts…

Out of interest, can I ask what made you decide to leave development for semi truck driving? :)

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#109
post #97
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Verizon drops you to 600kbps after the first 15GB, and then further deprioritizes your traffic from there after you hit 22GB. See https://www.verizon.com/support/verizon-plan-unlimited-faqs/ FAQs 6+7

The 600kbps mentioned in FAQ 6 is for the hotspot plan. FAQ 7 specifically states you will not be throttled, but will be de-prioritized, but user reports that they are seeing 600 kbps speeds are all over the place. Perhaps they're incorrectly reporting the situation, but it feels to me like Verizon is being dishonest. I really wish there were some good consumer reviews of these services, that include this critical be…

You’re totally right, I misread that. Thanks for the correction.

Unfortunately too late to edit my previous comment, apologies.

Re: Ask HN: Digital Nomads: What's Your Setup?

#110
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know if StarLink would help? Is it possible to set up a StarLink antenna on an RV?

Starlink does not allow you to be mobile. You have to give them a service address and that address cant change (often enough for RV travel) Edited - spelling

It will! SpaceX just filed with the FCC this month for approval of mobile ground stations on land vehicles, boats, and aircraft. https://fcc.report/IBFS/SES-LIC-INTR2021-00934/3877177.pdf
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