No Internet

[Condorguns]

Just a quick double check. We have been without Internet for over 24 hours and Time Warner sales it still has no ETA on its return for our area.

Am I correct that we have found no work around for delivering guns when we can't access the system?

[Condorguns]

Damn it

[Mayor McRifle]

If you got an iPad, would you be able to do it with 4G?

[RZ Operations]

I can access the DES from my iphone. I have never attempted to deliver from it before or print but I can try next time...

[Condorguns]

I am going to try using the smart phone. I need to try and find a way to print.

Man... My data use us going to be crazy.

[blackberg]

Some printers offer wireless printing, so you can print from your phone, I use my brother inkjet all the time to print from my phone or iPad
-bb

[laurelpark]

Best thing to try is to make your mobile device a WiFi hotspot and use that as you normally would. Just connect to it via your usual wireless internet connection options and you should be good to go.

[Condorguns]

We are trying the hot spot now. It's kind of working. Due to a large fire out here out cell signals are spotty.

It's going to be a very long day here at the shop.

[laurelpark]

If you have several people with mobile devices, and you need access via several different computers, you can optimize things by connecting the computers to their own devices. We run into this situation every once in a while at work, and it's not a perfect solution, but it's better than nothing...

[Condorguns]

So far we have been able to do FSC and submit new dros and deliver.

It's slow and glitchey, but we are open.

[Burbur]

I run exclusively off 4g mobile hotspot. It's 20 times faster than the out of spec DSL we have...

Good luck today.

[kemasa]

One thing I would suggest is to have an alternate means of connecting to the Internet. If you use a router like what is available from Cradlepoint (you can buy them used on ebay), you can have a failover of a tethered device or use wifi as WAN. This allows you to failover without having to change anything. There are other routers which can connect multiple connections to as well, but the ability to use a cell phone or hotspot in an emergency is a good backup plan.

BTW, I would not trust a cable company for critical services :-).

[laurelpark]

One thing everyone forgets about is regular dial-up connectivity. It takes time, but for the government stuff which is basic data and no bloated images, it works OK. I always have three redundant systems in place: regular high-speed WiFi, mobile devices that can serve as hotspots, and dial-up provider that I can plug into a USB port. Being offline just isn't an option in today's world...

Definitely look at some of the USB adapters for dial-up, and some of the cheap dial-up providers. Depending on who hosts your website, you may already have a dial-up plan in place and you aren't using it (because it is generally unusable except in emergencies).

[Condorguns]

Lot's of good info guys. Thanks for the help today. We made it through and my have to do it again tomorrow.

The joys of having a shop in the middle of nowhere.... Limited services.

Kudos to my customers today, not a single person complained.