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TUTORIAL/FAQ

TUTORIAL/FAQ

Short Tutorial/FAQ – What Are the Downsides of 5G Home Internet?

Download Graphics to View Question: I’m hearing big promises from 5G home internet. What are the downsides?

Answer: As the saying goes, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Some customers who switched to 5G home internet are feeling buyer’s remorse for these reasons:
  1. Service is less stable. Signals for 5G travel through the air rather than in cables underground, and speeds tend to fluctuate more often.

  2. Actual speeds are often slower than advertised ones. Factors such as network congestion, buildings and other obstructions, and inclement weather can slow down speeds.

  3. During peak usage times, your connection may be deprioritized. This is because 5G home internet is a connection shared by many users.

  4. The farther you are from the radio towers, the weaker your internet signal will be. Since 5G home internet uses radio frequencies, the travel distances of the signals are limited.

  5. 5G home internet isn’t as good as fiber internet. Fiber is the fastest, most reliable internet available.

CUSTOMER ALERT

CUSTOMER ALERT

Stay Alert – “Accidental” Texts May Be First Step in a Scam

Watch Out For Charity Scams People accidentally text the wrong number all the time, and you’ve no doubt received texts that were meant for someone else. Unfortunately, wrong-number texts aren’t always innocent mistakes. Scammers send “accidental” texts to catch you off guard and exploit your friendliness and kindness for financial gain.

These types of texts might say something like, “Sorry I’m running late, I’ll be there in 15 minutes.” Or they may reference a medical appointment or business meeting. Not wanting to be rude, you respond to tell the sender they’ve got the wrong number. The scammer then tries to engage you in an ongoing conversation to gain your trust — often the first step in a romance or employment scam. By using AI messaging bots, some scammers are able to target thousands of people at a time.

Here’s what to do if you receive a wrong-number text:
  1. Don’t respond. If you receive a text from an unknown number, ignore it. Responding, even to correct the mistake, can confirm your number is active.
  2. Block and report. Use your phone’s features to block the number and report the message as spam. This helps prevent others from falling victim.
  3. Be skeptical of investment opportunities. Be cautious if someone you don’t know starts discussing investments or money-making opportunities. Scammers are skilled at making their offers seem legitimate.
If you’ve been scammed, contact your financial institution immediately to try to recover your money, and report the scam to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

TUTORIAL/FAQ

TUTORIAL/FAQ

Short Tutorial/FAQ – What Are the Most Common Passwords?


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Question: What passwords do people use most?

Answer: Nordpass, an online password manager, released its list of 2024’s most used passwords. Here are the top 10:

  1. 123456
  2. 123456789
  3. 12345678
  4. password
  5. qwerty123
  6. qwerty1
  7. 111111
  8. 12345
  9. secret
  10. 123123
It will come as no surprise that these passwords are also the worst ones to use, since they’re extremely easy for hackers to guess and for automated software to quickly “crack.” People choose simple passwords because they’re easy to remember, but that convenience comes at too high of a price in terms of security.

If you’re using any of the passwords on this list (or similar ones), it’s time to do better. Create longer passwords that are a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols such as “%,” “!” and “@.” Don’t include easily guessable information like names, birthdays, and common words, and never use the same password for multiple accounts.

Consider using a password manager, a software application that securely stores all your online account passwords in one place. This allows you to generate strong, unique passwords for each site and access them with only one “master password” you need to remember.

CUSTOMER ALERT

CUSTOMER ALERT

Stay Alert – Fake PayPal Invoice Scams are on the Rise

Watch Out For Charity Scams The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline has recently seen a rise in reports of PayPal scams. Cybercriminals use the payment system’s invoicing tool to send victims fake invoices for large purchases. When the invoices are sent, PayPal sends an official notification email to the recipient, which makes the otherwise fake invoices appear legitimate. The scammers include an official-looking message in the “seller note to customer” section of the fake invoice, encouraging the victim to call a fake customer service line to prevent the charges from being processed.

If the victim calls this line, the scammers attempt to fool them into paying the invoice or giving them credit card or bank information. In some cases, victims are asked to install software they claim will help with the recovery process. Instead, this software records the victim’s keystrokes or gives the cybercriminals remote access to the victim’s computer.

How to avoid PayPal scams:
  • If you receive a suspicious invoice or money request, don’t pay it.
  • Don’t call any phone numbers in the invoice note or open suspicious URLs.
  • Never send money to a cryptocurrency wallet mentioned in an invoice or money request.
If you receive a suspicious invoice, you’re encouraged to report it by logging into your PayPal account at paypal.com or by using the PayPal app.

Choosing Your Own Streaming

Choosing Your Own Streaming

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With more than 200 streaming services available, the options may seem endless and a little overwhelming. But narrowing down your choices to what suits you best is quick and painless.

To find the perfect streaming for you, start by asking yourself a few questions about your TV watching habits.

What are my must-watch TV shows and channels? We all have beloved shows or televised events we simply can’t live without! Rest assured there is a way to stream them. Make a list of the shows and channels you and your family watch regularly. Then, before signing up, browse each streaming service’s channel listing to see if they carry the channels you want.

In some cases you’ll be able to replace your favorite channel programming with a streaming service such as Netflix or Hulu, though many current-season episodes may not be available immediately.

The best substitute for your old cable box is a live TV streaming service. Each offers a package of live channels you can watch on a streaming app that works like cable but better! They include program guides, cloud DVRs, and extras your cable box can’t deliver, including user profiles and mobile streaming. Many of the cable replacement services also offer a free trial period.

Remember, for all of these services you can cancel and restart service anytime without contracts or penalties, unlike with cable. You can subscribe to follow a particular show, for example, and then cancel after a finale.

Are local news and sports important to me? If you like to watch sports, local news, and channels such as NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, or PBS, several services could be a good fit for you. Live streaming services like YouTube TV, HULU + Live TV, Sling TV, or DirectTV Stream let you watch many of the live channels available on your cable box with no contracts to sign, so you can cancel anytime.

Can’t get enough professional sports? You have several options that offer the full gameday experience. Prime Video has the exclusive rights to Thursday night football. Apple TV carries Friday Night Baseball. And services such as ESPN+, Sling TV, FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, and DirectTV Stream all give you access to a variety of sports.

You can also search for a service or service bundle that includes more sports features. NFL Sunday Ticket is available exclusively on YouTube as a standalone channel or as an add-on to a YouTube TV base plan. You can watch all the out-of-market regular season NFL games with unlimited simultaneous streams at home, real time stats, your Fantasy Football metrics, and the ability to watch four games at once. 

Keep in mind that if you like to chat with friends in real-time during the game, or follow live games on social media, be aware that streaming sports are often delayed compared to the “live” game on cable. The Super Bowl, for example, lags 30 seconds to a minute behind cable.

 Do I use my DVR a lot? You might be familiar with recording shows using an in-home digital video recorder (DVR) from your pay TV provider. However, these might have limited storage or come with a monthly fee. Fortunately, a cloud-based DVR feature is built into many streaming services. Instead of storing your favorite video recordings on a hard-drive device in your living room, cloud DVRs don’t require hardware to worry about and let you watch your recordings on various mobile devices.

Several live streaming services include unlimited DVR. Also, live TV services such as YouTube TV offer both on-demand videos and a library feature where you can add your selected shows for recording and watching later. With on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu, or Prime Video, you don’t need to record shows in the traditional sense; the video library is already available to watch whenever you want.

Remember, to replace cable TV with streaming you just need a good internet connection to get started. From there, the apps built into your smart TV or running on an inexpensive streamer such as a Roku will give you access to some of the most popular streaming services. Then you can add or change anything you want.

SRT can make your selection even easier. 

You don’t have to memorize which services carry which channels or constantly research to keep up with the latest streaming offers and bundles. SRT has a tool called MyBundle that will help you find everything you love to watch in minutes. Visit Find Your Streaming Service with SRT Communications and MyBundle show you the streaming services that have what you want – plus the best deals.

You can even search for a particular channel, show, or genre, and MyBundle will instantly tell you where it’s available. Try it! Just click https://mybundle.tv/srt/discover and type in the search bar. Do you like the Cowboy Channel? Looks like it’s available on Sling TV and RIDE TV.

Finally, SRT is here to help. We can walk you through and offer you a free in-home setup of the TV streaming service you’d like. We’d do all the work and all you have to do is enjoy watching your favorites.

To get started, click Find Your Streaming Service with SRT Communications or call us at 701-858-1200 for a free streaming checkup.