Technology is still an issue for me this week. I tried to call Carol and the wifi at the hotel was so bad, that I only got every other word. I have been doing some investigating into the situation and have discovered that a device called WiMAX is the solution. Well sort of. The government controls the internet access so you have to buy a WiMax unit from the government run company. Sort of like having Comcast as the only provider. There are two flavors of WiMax units, one is a USB device ($120) that plugs into your computer, the other is a larger unit ($260) like a router. It plugs into the wall and then the whole apartment can have wifi. We have one of the routers at our job trailer and 20 people use that one unit. The speed is OK, but you are sharing the bandwidth with the rest of the office.
So the IT guy from our office took me in to town to get the USB version. Well the price is right, but it does not work on a Mac. Evidently they have software built into the unit that only works with PC’s. So I was able to convince the RWA office in Tripoli that since I will be getting my own apartment by the end of the month, that it would be great if I could get a router. I know it works with the Mac, since that is how I am getting access to the internet at the job trailer. I got an email from our IT guy in Tripoli and he said that all I have to do is fill out some forms with RWA and they will get one setup for me. So maybe in a week or so, I will be up and running with my own wifi system.
The way people pay for their internet access is you buy credit cards. You rub off the back of the card and type in the code number at the website and then it add more time on to your wifi. They use a similar system to add time on your cellphone. The credit cards are $30 a month for 15Gb of download material. I have been told by the IT at our job site that 15Gb is plenty per month. They don’t know Carol and I.....we like to Skype a long time.....we will see how it goes and I will update you on this effort.
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