Awesome Internet

Instead of a monthly subscription or data packages, Tern is a global wireless hotspot that lets you compare and select plans from the local providers at your destination via its mobile app. It even gives you a local phone number to make and receive calls.

Mental Floss shares a handful of interesting stories and trivia about the Internet during the early 2000’s. Watch and find out about an unlucky music pirate, a brief history of Neopets, why Livejournal is still alive and more.

Skyroam’s 4G LTE hotspot works in over 120 countries around the world. You can buy or rent the device itself, then purchase unlimited data for $9 per day. Up to 5 devices can connect to it at once. It lasts up to 16h per charge, and doubles as a powerbank.

CZNIC’s Turris Mox is a router that you can enhance or optimize at will. The basic unit has dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit WAN, USB 3.0, and microSD ports. The other modules add Ethernet LAN ports, a backup LTE modem, fiber and more. You can also get just the circuit boards.

Nerdwriter reminds us to be vigilant and read text before clicking links when we’re browsing online or playing games. He points us to “dark” patterns – bad user experiences that are designed to manipulate an outcome. For more, there’s a helpful awareness website.

The Tenda Nova MW6 is an affordable set of three routers that can each act as a Wi-Fi access point. Install them apart to ensure you get a strong signal in all areas of your home. One set can cover 6,000 sq ft, and you can connect more units for larger areas.

Did you know that “Wi-Fi” doesn’t stand for anything and is actually a trademarked term? Or that using your microwave could slow down wireless Internet connections? All that and more in Nat & Friends’ trivia video about our beloved technology.

(PG-13: Language) Here we go again. The FCC wants less regulation of US internet service providers, even though it’s long been proven that given the chance, ISPs will create unfair situations for their competitors and customers. Speak your mind, America.

(PG-13) “Be mentally prepared for your job.” Ciaran Cassidy and Adrian Chen’s eye-opening short follows the training of newly hired online moderators. Every day, they are expected to view and rate tens of thousands of pictures from social media, dating sites and more.

A user-friendly Internet solution for large households. Plume consists of multiple small routers that plug into a socket in each room. These tiny routers learn and adapt to your usage, and let you manage connected devices through a dead simple app.

(PG-13: Language) exurb1a theorizes about at how our obsessive use of the Internet and smartphones has diminished our ability to pay attention, learn new things, and deal with problems in the real world, and provides some ideas for cutting back on our digital addictions.

The Netgear Nighthawk M1 is the world’s first LTE router that delivers up to 1Gbps downloads and 150Mbps uploads. Its battery lasts up to 24h per charge. It has an Ethernet port, dual-band Wi-Fi and a USB-C port. It will debut on Australian telecom Telstra for ~$270.

Google employees Nat and Lo spoke with their colleagues and visited a ship that lays new Internet cables to give us a comprehensive yet still digestible explanation of how these critical communication links are made and deployed. More here.

Adam Ruins Everything digs a little deeper into the obvious – that free online services sell our data to advertisers. On one hand, targeted ads sustain the free stuff we enjoy (like this website). On the other hand, we don’t know just how much of our data is kept and by whom.

An internet router for parents looking for an easy way to manage their family’s online activity. Gryphon comes with an app that lets you see everyone’s browsing history, allow access to websites  or turn off online access temporarily and more.

GeeFi is a wireless hotspot that should save you from data plans and roaming fees. It supposedly works with cellular networks in over 100 countries, with more on the way. A $10 pass gets you 24 hours of unlimited data (video streaming might be throttled in the future).