THE TECH GUY

The Tech Guy. From smartphones, computers, wearables, smart speakers, internet security, to digital cameras, gaming, and home theater systems Leo Laporte provides entertaining tech talk that appeals to the inner geek in us all. The Tech Guy airs every weekend in over 170 cities in the US and Canada, and is taking your calls on Saturdays and WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO DROBO? Rick bought a Drobo 2, and it's a bit flakier than his gen 1 Drobo. If it gets jostled, it has to reboot and rebuild. He's concerned that it's a single point of failure and he'll lose his data. Leo says that Drobos are a RAID (called Beyond Raid) where if one drive fails, it rebuilds form the other drives. So it's not really a single point of

failure.

ADD MORE ETHERNET PORTS TO YOUR ROUTER While Wi-Fi is more popular and prevalent than ever, it's still no match for a hardwired ethernet connection. But many of the new routers, especially mesh routers, don't have many ethernet ports built into them. Fortunately, if you have at least one ethernet port, you can expand that to as many as you need with a "Switch". Netgear makes some quality switches, but any unmanaged WHAT PROJECTOR SHOULD I GET TO PROJECT ONTO A GIANT 20FT Dennis is building an outdoor movie theater in his back yard and has a giant 20 foot screen. Scott Wilkinson called in to help with this question, and he says he'll need a projector with a 30ft throw, which is huge. It will require a lot of light. Leo uses the Epson Powerlight Home Cinema Projector, but it's 2000 lumens may not be enough light. ANTIVIRUS | THE TECH GUY Theresa is a serious amateur photographer and she wants to know what antivirus she needs with a Mac. Leo says you don't really need one. Apple does some great CAN I PORT MY HOME PHONE NUMBER TO A TRACFONE? Jim as a Tracfone pay as you go phone and wants to know if he can port his home phone to it? Leo says that there is an FCC rule that says you should be able to port your landline to the phone, but you may lose the use of the number during the transfer. That would include 911 service. Also, using a cellphone as your number will have to rely on regional or e911 services, which WHY WON'T MY ANDROID PHONE HOLD A CHARGE? Jeff's old Android phone is dying really quickly. Leo says it's likely because it's nearing the end of it's rechargeable life. Phone batteries have a limited number of charge cycles, at about 500. After which, it will die pretty quickly and won't take a charge anymore. That's why it's best to leave the phone plugged in all the time unless

he's out.

WHY DOESN'T MY HDMI SPLITTER WORK? John wants to show video on two separate screens using an HDMI splitter, but it won't work. Leo says HDMI splitters are frustrating. Leo says that they often don't work and when they do, they likely only work with one screen, rendering it pointless. Leo suspects his problem is due to copy protection called HDCP, and if it's not HDCP compliant,

it won't work.

BROWSE FACEBOOK PRIVATELY AND ANONYMOUSLY Leo's Mom wants to do something that many users probably want to do -- see other Facebook accounts without being public themselves. Facebook hides the ability to do this, and the default when creating an account is to be public. Here's how to make an account that's as private as possible: Create a Facebook page that has no information in it, not

even a photo.

WHY DOES THE INTERNET GET SLOW WHENEVER I STREAM NETFLIX Dan got a new 802.11n router and when they stream Netflix at night, nobody else can use the internet because it gets too slow. Leo says this is because of his bandwidth. Netflix uses a ton of bandwidth, and after 6pm, over 40% of all internet traffic is Netflix. Dan could use a hard wired connection from the router to his PlayStation, but he only has so much bandwidth.

THE TECH GUY

The Tech Guy. From smartphones, computers, wearables, smart speakers, internet security, to digital cameras, gaming, and home theater systems Leo Laporte provides entertaining tech talk that appeals to the inner geek in us all. The Tech Guy airs every weekend in over 170 cities in the US and Canada, and is taking your calls on Saturdays and WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO DROBO? Rick bought a Drobo 2, and it's a bit flakier than his gen 1 Drobo. If it gets jostled, it has to reboot and rebuild. He's concerned that it's a single point of failure and he'll lose his data. Leo says that Drobos are a RAID (called Beyond Raid) where if one drive fails, it rebuilds form the other drives. So it's not really a single point of

failure.

ADD MORE ETHERNET PORTS TO YOUR ROUTER While Wi-Fi is more popular and prevalent than ever, it's still no match for a hardwired ethernet connection. But many of the new routers, especially mesh routers, don't have many ethernet ports built into them. Fortunately, if you have at least one ethernet port, you can expand that to as many as you need with a "Switch". Netgear makes some quality switches, but any unmanaged WHAT PROJECTOR SHOULD I GET TO PROJECT ONTO A GIANT 20FT Dennis is building an outdoor movie theater in his back yard and has a giant 20 foot screen. Scott Wilkinson called in to help with this question, and he says he'll need a projector with a 30ft throw, which is huge. It will require a lot of light. Leo uses the Epson Powerlight Home Cinema Projector, but it's 2000 lumens may not be enough light. ANTIVIRUS | THE TECH GUY Theresa is a serious amateur photographer and she wants to know what antivirus she needs with a Mac. Leo says you don't really need one. Apple does some great CAN I PORT MY HOME PHONE NUMBER TO A TRACFONE? Jim as a Tracfone pay as you go phone and wants to know if he can port his home phone to it? Leo says that there is an FCC rule that says you should be able to port your landline to the phone, but you may lose the use of the number during the transfer. That would include 911 service. Also, using a cellphone as your number will have to rely on regional or e911 services, which WHY WON'T MY ANDROID PHONE HOLD A CHARGE? Jeff's old Android phone is dying really quickly. Leo says it's likely because it's nearing the end of it's rechargeable life. Phone batteries have a limited number of charge cycles, at about 500. After which, it will die pretty quickly and won't take a charge anymore. That's why it's best to leave the phone plugged in all the time unless

he's out.

WHY DOESN'T MY HDMI SPLITTER WORK? John wants to show video on two separate screens using an HDMI splitter, but it won't work. Leo says HDMI splitters are frustrating. Leo says that they often don't work and when they do, they likely only work with one screen, rendering it pointless. Leo suspects his problem is due to copy protection called HDCP, and if it's not HDCP compliant,

it won't work.

BROWSE FACEBOOK PRIVATELY AND ANONYMOUSLY Leo's Mom wants to do something that many users probably want to do -- see other Facebook accounts without being public themselves. Facebook hides the ability to do this, and the default when creating an account is to be public. Here's how to make an account that's as private as possible: Create a Facebook page that has no information in it, not

even a photo.

WHY DOES THE INTERNET GET SLOW WHENEVER I STREAM NETFLIX Dan got a new 802.11n router and when they stream Netflix at night, nobody else can use the internet because it gets too slow. Leo says this is because of his bandwidth. Netflix uses a ton of bandwidth, and after 6pm, over 40% of all internet traffic is Netflix. Dan could use a hard wired connection from the router to his PlayStation, but he only has so much bandwidth.

EPISODE ARCHIVE

Episode 1793. What broadband speeds a caller should be getting, backing up your data appropriately, why your TV might be flickering, why webpages are freezing in Chrome at times, getting rid of popups, talking to Rod Pyle and the late-night landing of the Space-X Crew 1 and Sam Abuelsamid about the shortage of rental cars, and more of your

calls!

WHAT'S THE LATEST IN VR? Andrew bought an HTC Vibe virtual reality device and he says it's a blast to play games with it. But it's a few years old now and wants to know what's the new hot device for VR? Leo says that Facebook pretty much owns the VR space now with the Occulus Quest 2. But you have to log into your Facebook account to use it, which Leo doesn't like. And if you use a dummy account, they WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO DROBO? Rick bought a Drobo 2, and it's a bit flakier than his gen 1 Drobo. If it gets jostled, it has to reboot and rebuild. He's concerned that it's a single point of failure and he'll lose his data. Leo says that Drobos are a RAID (called Beyond Raid) where if one drive fails, it rebuilds form the other drives. So it's not really a single point of

failure.

HOW CAN I CONNECT TO WIFI ON MY RV? Jan and her husband bought and RV and wants to know how to get online while traveling. Leo says there's three ways. 1) There will probably be wifi at any campground or RV park you stop at. But it will likely be overloaded and slow. 2) You can hotspot from your cellular carrier. You can open up your phone for it or pick up a MyFi card to handle

multiple devices.

HOW CAN I EXTEND WI-FI TO MY SECOND FLOOR? Henry wants to extend his Wi-Fi upstairs. What extender should he use? Leo says he has a few options. Mesh routers are great because they have satellites that he can plug into each room, creating a wireless grid for his home. These usually come with a base station and a few extenders. They're a bit pricey, but they have the advantage of having full duplex communication, so the HOW CAN I BACKUP MY MAC HARD DRIVE AND MAKE IT BOOTABLE Tom isn't thrilled with the new iMacs, and Leo recommended he pick up a MacMini and get a dock and monitor for it. So he did, and now he wants to move his data from his old mac to his Mac Mini. But the Thunderbolt drives are too expensive. Can he use USB 3 drives? Leo says absolutely. You can also clone the drive and make it bootable. Leo recommends Carbon Copy Cloner, since BROWSE FACEBOOK PRIVATELY AND ANONYMOUSLY Leo's Mom wants to do something that many users probably want to do -- see other Facebook accounts without being public themselves. Facebook hides the ability to do this, and the default when creating an account is to be public. Here's how to make an account that's as private as possible: Create a Facebook page that has no information in it, not

even a photo.

HOW CAN I GET DATA OFF AN OLD, DEAD IPHONE 6? Caller has an old iPhone and wants to get the data off it. But it won't start up. He also wants to make sure she has her own separate Apple ID, but have access to his 50GB iCloud backup. Leo says to add her to the family plan. That will give her access. You can also get the Apple 1 plan to have access to everything. Leo says to check her iCloud account to see if the phone has WHY DOES MY TV KEEP TURNING BACK ON AFTER I TURN IT OFF Lee recently bought a Vizio 55" TV. However, frequently when he turns the TV off, it will either stay on or turn back on again. Leo says the TV probably senses the signal loss and then just stays on. It's perfectly normal and Leo suggests going into the TV menu settings to make sure it's set to turn off when the cable box goes off. Additionally, Lee wants to know if he can NEW YORK TIMES QUESTIONNAIRE ACCURATELY PINPOINTS WHERE This quiz from the New York Times asks 25 questions about your personal dialect, and it displays a heat map that can very accurately pinpoint where you're from.

THE TECH GUY

The Tech Guy. From smartphones, computers, wearables, smart speakers, internet security, to digital cameras, gaming, and home theater systems Leo Laporte provides entertaining tech talk that appeals to the inner geek in us all. The Tech Guy airs every weekend in over 170 cities in the US and Canada, and is taking your calls on Saturdays and WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO DROBO? Rick bought a Drobo 2, and it's a bit flakier than his gen 1 Drobo. If it gets jostled, it has to reboot and rebuild. He's concerned that it's a single point of failure and he'll lose his data. Leo says that Drobos are a RAID (called Beyond Raid) where if one drive fails, it rebuilds form the other drives. So it's not really a single point of

failure.

ADD MORE ETHERNET PORTS TO YOUR ROUTER While Wi-Fi is more popular and prevalent than ever, it's still no match for a hardwired ethernet connection. But many of the new routers, especially mesh routers, don't have many ethernet ports built into them. Fortunately, if you have at least one ethernet port, you can expand that to as many as you need with a "Switch". Netgear makes some quality switches, but any unmanaged WHAT PROJECTOR SHOULD I GET TO PROJECT ONTO A GIANT 20FT Dennis is building an outdoor movie theater in his back yard and has a giant 20 foot screen. Scott Wilkinson called in to help with this question, and he says he'll need a projector with a 30ft throw, which is huge. It will require a lot of light. Leo uses the Epson Powerlight Home Cinema Projector, but it's 2000 lumens may not be enough light. ANTIVIRUS | THE TECH GUY Theresa is a serious amateur photographer and she wants to know what antivirus she needs with a Mac. Leo says you don't really need one. Apple does some great CAN I PORT MY HOME PHONE NUMBER TO A TRACFONE? Jim as a Tracfone pay as you go phone and wants to know if he can port his home phone to it? Leo says that there is an FCC rule that says you should be able to port your landline to the phone, but you may lose the use of the number during the transfer. That would include 911 service. Also, using a cellphone as your number will have to rely on regional or e911 services, which WHY WON'T MY ANDROID PHONE HOLD A CHARGE? Jeff's old Android phone is dying really quickly. Leo says it's likely because it's nearing the end of it's rechargeable life. Phone batteries have a limited number of charge cycles, at about 500. After which, it will die pretty quickly and won't take a charge anymore. That's why it's best to leave the phone plugged in all the time unless

he's out.

WHY DOESN'T MY HDMI SPLITTER WORK? John wants to show video on two separate screens using an HDMI splitter, but it won't work. Leo says HDMI splitters are frustrating. Leo says that they often don't work and when they do, they likely only work with one screen, rendering it pointless. Leo suspects his problem is due to copy protection called HDCP, and if it's not HDCP compliant,

it won't work.

BROWSE FACEBOOK PRIVATELY AND ANONYMOUSLY Leo's Mom wants to do something that many users probably want to do -- see other Facebook accounts without being public themselves. Facebook hides the ability to do this, and the default when creating an account is to be public. Here's how to make an account that's as private as possible: Create a Facebook page that has no information in it, not

even a photo.

WHY DOES THE INTERNET GET SLOW WHENEVER I STREAM NETFLIX Dan got a new 802.11n router and when they stream Netflix at night, nobody else can use the internet because it gets too slow. Leo says this is because of his bandwidth. Netflix uses a ton of bandwidth, and after 6pm, over 40% of all internet traffic is Netflix. Dan could use a hard wired connection from the router to his PlayStation, but he only has so much bandwidth.

THE TECH GUY

The Tech Guy. From smartphones, computers, wearables, smart speakers, internet security, to digital cameras, gaming, and home theater systems Leo Laporte provides entertaining tech talk that appeals to the inner geek in us all. The Tech Guy airs every weekend in over 170 cities in the US and Canada, and is taking your calls on Saturdays and WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO DROBO? Rick bought a Drobo 2, and it's a bit flakier than his gen 1 Drobo. If it gets jostled, it has to reboot and rebuild. He's concerned that it's a single point of failure and he'll lose his data. Leo says that Drobos are a RAID (called Beyond Raid) where if one drive fails, it rebuilds form the other drives. So it's not really a single point of

failure.

ADD MORE ETHERNET PORTS TO YOUR ROUTER While Wi-Fi is more popular and prevalent than ever, it's still no match for a hardwired ethernet connection. But many of the new routers, especially mesh routers, don't have many ethernet ports built into them. Fortunately, if you have at least one ethernet port, you can expand that to as many as you need with a "Switch". Netgear makes some quality switches, but any unmanaged WHAT PROJECTOR SHOULD I GET TO PROJECT ONTO A GIANT 20FT Dennis is building an outdoor movie theater in his back yard and has a giant 20 foot screen. Scott Wilkinson called in to help with this question, and he says he'll need a projector with a 30ft throw, which is huge. It will require a lot of light. Leo uses the Epson Powerlight Home Cinema Projector, but it's 2000 lumens may not be enough light. ANTIVIRUS | THE TECH GUY Theresa is a serious amateur photographer and she wants to know what antivirus she needs with a Mac. Leo says you don't really need one. Apple does some great CAN I PORT MY HOME PHONE NUMBER TO A TRACFONE? Jim as a Tracfone pay as you go phone and wants to know if he can port his home phone to it? Leo says that there is an FCC rule that says you should be able to port your landline to the phone, but you may lose the use of the number during the transfer. That would include 911 service. Also, using a cellphone as your number will have to rely on regional or e911 services, which WHY WON'T MY ANDROID PHONE HOLD A CHARGE? Jeff's old Android phone is dying really quickly. Leo says it's likely because it's nearing the end of it's rechargeable life. Phone batteries have a limited number of charge cycles, at about 500. After which, it will die pretty quickly and won't take a charge anymore. That's why it's best to leave the phone plugged in all the time unless

he's out.

WHY DOESN'T MY HDMI SPLITTER WORK? John wants to show video on two separate screens using an HDMI splitter, but it won't work. Leo says HDMI splitters are frustrating. Leo says that they often don't work and when they do, they likely only work with one screen, rendering it pointless. Leo suspects his problem is due to copy protection called HDCP, and if it's not HDCP compliant,

it won't work.

BROWSE FACEBOOK PRIVATELY AND ANONYMOUSLY Leo's Mom wants to do something that many users probably want to do -- see other Facebook accounts without being public themselves. Facebook hides the ability to do this, and the default when creating an account is to be public. Here's how to make an account that's as private as possible: Create a Facebook page that has no information in it, not

even a photo.

WHY DOES THE INTERNET GET SLOW WHENEVER I STREAM NETFLIX Dan got a new 802.11n router and when they stream Netflix at night, nobody else can use the internet because it gets too slow. Leo says this is because of his bandwidth. Netflix uses a ton of bandwidth, and after 6pm, over 40% of all internet traffic is Netflix. Dan could use a hard wired connection from the router to his PlayStation, but he only has so much bandwidth.

EPISODE ARCHIVE

Episode 1793. What broadband speeds a caller should be getting, backing up your data appropriately, why your TV might be flickering, why webpages are freezing in Chrome at times, getting rid of popups, talking to Rod Pyle and the late-night landing of the Space-X Crew 1 and Sam Abuelsamid about the shortage of rental cars, and more of your

calls!

WHAT'S THE LATEST IN VR? Andrew bought an HTC Vibe virtual reality device and he says it's a blast to play games with it. But it's a few years old now and wants to know what's the new hot device for VR? Leo says that Facebook pretty much owns the VR space now with the Occulus Quest 2. But you have to log into your Facebook account to use it, which Leo doesn't like. And if you use a dummy account, they WHAT'S A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO DROBO? Rick bought a Drobo 2, and it's a bit flakier than his gen 1 Drobo. If it gets jostled, it has to reboot and rebuild. He's concerned that it's a single point of failure and he'll lose his data. Leo says that Drobos are a RAID (called Beyond Raid) where if one drive fails, it rebuilds form the other drives. So it's not really a single point of

failure.

HOW CAN I CONNECT TO WIFI ON MY RV? Jan and her husband bought and RV and wants to know how to get online while traveling. Leo says there's three ways. 1) There will probably be wifi at any campground or RV park you stop at. But it will likely be overloaded and slow. 2) You can hotspot from your cellular carrier. You can open up your phone for it or pick up a MyFi card to handle

multiple devices.

HOW CAN I EXTEND WI-FI TO MY SECOND FLOOR? Henry wants to extend his Wi-Fi upstairs. What extender should he use? Leo says he has a few options. Mesh routers are great because they have satellites that he can plug into each room, creating a wireless grid for his home. These usually come with a base station and a few extenders. They're a bit pricey, but they have the advantage of having full duplex communication, so the HOW CAN I BACKUP MY MAC HARD DRIVE AND MAKE IT BOOTABLE Tom isn't thrilled with the new iMacs, and Leo recommended he pick up a MacMini and get a dock and monitor for it. So he did, and now he wants to move his data from his old mac to his Mac Mini. But the Thunderbolt drives are too expensive. Can he use USB 3 drives? Leo says absolutely. You can also clone the drive and make it bootable. Leo recommends Carbon Copy Cloner, since BROWSE FACEBOOK PRIVATELY AND ANONYMOUSLY Leo's Mom wants to do something that many users probably want to do -- see other Facebook accounts without being public themselves. Facebook hides the ability to do this, and the default when creating an account is to be public. Here's how to make an account that's as private as possible: Create a Facebook page that has no information in it, not

even a photo.

HOW CAN I GET DATA OFF AN OLD, DEAD IPHONE 6? Caller has an old iPhone and wants to get the data off it. But it won't start up. He also wants to make sure she has her own separate Apple ID, but have access to his 50GB iCloud backup. Leo says to add her to the family plan. That will give her access. You can also get the Apple 1 plan to have access to everything. Leo says to check her iCloud account to see if the phone has WHY DOES MY TV KEEP TURNING BACK ON AFTER I TURN IT OFF Lee recently bought a Vizio 55" TV. However, frequently when he turns the TV off, it will either stay on or turn back on again. Leo says the TV probably senses the signal loss and then just stays on. It's perfectly normal and Leo suggests going into the TV menu settings to make sure it's set to turn off when the cable box goes off. Additionally, Lee wants to know if he can NEW YORK TIMES QUESTIONNAIRE ACCURATELY PINPOINTS WHERE This quiz from the New York Times asks 25 questions about your personal dialect, and it displays a heat map that can very accurately pinpoint where you're from. Skip to main content

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THE TECH GUY

THE TECH GUY WITH LEO LAPORTE From smartphones, computers, wearables, smart speakers, internet security, to digital cameras, gaming, and home theater systems Leo Laporte provides entertaining tech talk that appeals to the inner geek in us all. The Tech Guy airs every weekend in over 170 cities in the US and Canada, and is taking your calls on Saturdays and Sundays from 11AM - 2PM Pacific Time. See our complete station list to find the best time and station in a city near you.

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK What's the Best OLED? Fred from San

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PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

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The Heil PR 40 is an excellent microphone for broadcasters, content creators, and vocal personalities. It features a wide frequency range, a low mass shock-mounted diaphragm, and dual mesh screens. There is also an internal breath blast filter on the diaphragm element, improving response for several vocal ranges without annoying "popping" sounds. The product is great for musical instruments too, such as guitar, bass drums, and tom drums. The mic is available in Chrome, Gold, Black, Champagne, and Black with a Gold grill. Packaging includes a carry bag and mic clip, while windscreens are sold separately. Warranty is three years for parts and ninety days for labor. The PR 40 weighs 13.5 oz and possesses a frequency response from 28 Hz – 18 kHz. Check out Bob Heil's appearances on the TWiT

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