Ask Dr. Z–Will my laptop with the Z4 work while I travel?

Dr. Z has crisscrossed the country the past few weeks and he did this last November and December conducting town hall meetings.

This is to give you an insight into how one deals with all kinds of wifi connections and wired connections while traveling on the road.

The Z4 is a blessing–Dr. Z uses it often to make relay calls and calls his wife every day to check on her while he travels. He has never experienced the freedom to communicate he has had in the past and to be able to talk with his wife and see her everyday on the road is a life changing event, indeed.

But–the wired and wifi world is not perfect–here are some patterns for you to consider. First of all, in a perfect world, with a good connection, a video call works beautifully.

The truth of the matter is that wifi or wired connections on the road do not always give you the necessary bandwidth to experience high quality video communication.

Some airports are better than others. Some hotels are better than others. Some hotels within the same chain vary greatly in quality. What Dr. Z has noticed that in many hotels, the internet connection is much worse at night when everyone else in the hotel uses internet and shares the single line that comes into the hotel.

The same is true with the mifi (3G/4G) or Sprint Overdrive. Sometimes a 3G signal works very well, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes a 4G connection works fantastically, sometimes it doesn’t. Do not blame it on your computer or the z4–blame it on the poor quality of internet connections.

Some McDonald’s or Starbucks have better wifi connections than others. Dr. Z has had better experience with Barnes and Noble–they seem to have the best connections anywhere.

The bottom line is–if you find your connection not too good–move to another place–move closer to the lobby in the hotel, move to another McDonald’s or Starbucks.

Most of the time, the connection is good for browsing on the internet–but when it comes to making a video call–it varies greatly from one place to another.

Dr. Z is confident that over time, we will continue to experience better internet connections. Remember, hearing people do have problems with their cell phones. Some places do not give you a good connection, others do….its the same with a video call.

But Dr. Z loves his Z4 to death–its the best invention since sliced bread (or the wheel.)

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.