Jamie's Random Musings on Video IM
Having spent a good part of the last year struggling with a variety of video chat and IM programs, I have decided to write a few things down and see what other people have to say about them.
Tuesday 8 January 2008, 9:42 PM
SkypeOut calls to U.S. not working - Legal Action Next?
Well, it looks like Skype has finally pushed their paying customers too far. I heard some rumblings about this from my brother, who signed up for Skype Unlimited Calling in the U.S. a year ago (and was VERY happy to get away from it at the end of 2007). Apparently the problem is that Skype decided to terminate the "Skype Unlimited" calling plan, and force their paying customers to switch to "Skype Pro" or some other plan. But those who did so now find that if they call any U.S. number (other than toll free numbers), they are cut off after 5 seconds! To add insult to injury, it appears that they are still charged for a full minute for every 5 second connection!
This problem has been known for about two weeks now, and as yet the only reaction from Skype is "We are working hard to fix this problem". I'm sure that makes Skype paying customers who are unable to make outgoing calls feel much better. No indication of when all that "hard work" might pay off; no offer of any alternative service or assistance in getting something, anything, set up which will work.
The entire mess is described in this link:
https://developer.skype.com/jira/browse/SCW-640
From the final couple of comments, it appears that legal action will be started against Skype this week if this situation persists.
Those who are considering paying Skype for services, and particularly those who might be considering using Skype as their only phone service, should consider this situation carefully. No outgoing calling capability for several weeks, makes a nice "bookend" to the total loss of service for four days in August, and the U.K. service loss for several days in November.
Monday 7 January 2008, 1:47 PM
Fujitsu Lifebook S6510 - Wrap-Up
This will be the last entry that I will write specifically about my new Fujitsu Lifebook S6510. I have it completely set up and everything transferred from the Lifebook S2110, and port replicators installed both at home and in the office. So starting today, it will be my "primary" PC. As I have said previously, I am very happy with the S6510. It continues to run without any significant problems, and most of the things that I had been struggling with have now been resolved.
I've had a couple of rather surprising "discoveries" as I have been using the S6510 more, and particularly using it in the port replicators with an external display. The built-in webcam, which is integrated in the center of the lid, near the latch, is very nice when I am traveling. It makes for one less thing that I have to carry along, and connect to the laptop when I am going to video chat with someone on SightSpeed. However, when I am working at my desk and the laptop is connected to the port replicator the lid is closed so the camera is pointing straight down. If I want to make a video call I have to either open the lid, which often isn't possible because of things on or around the laptop, or I have to have another USB webcam connected. That isn't a problem for me, because I have a few webcams on hand, but it is something to keep in mind if someone were going to buy such a laptop and expected the built-in to be their only webcam. Of course, if you are concerned with video quality you're going to want to use an external webcam anyway; the built-in webcam is nothing more than "adequate", and my Philips SPC900NC runs rings around it both in picture quality and low-light performance.
The same is true of the fingerprint scanner. After using the laptop for ten days while traveling, I was accustomed to logging in by just swiping my finger across the fingerprint scanner. But when the lid is closed, the fingerprint scanner is covered, so to log in I have to either open the lid, scan, and close the lid, or login with my password.
I expected to have the same problem with the built-in microphone, which is also integrated in the laptop lid, but I got a pleasant surprise on that one. My brother said that he could hear me just as well with the lid closed as with it open. Beats me why, but I'm pleased.
The built-in speakers were a sort of a compromise, they are not as clear or loud with the lid closed, but they are still useable if need be. They are not a problem for me anyway, as I use a Logitech Audio Hub for speakers when in the port replicator.
Fujitsu's decision to move all of the connections off the back of the laptop might be the single best thing they changed compared to the S2110 (and S6120). Not having to grope blindly around the back, or stand on my head on the desk to see the back, is really very nice. All of the connections on the sides and front are easily accessible, and I haven't had any problems yet with anything blocking something else. Likewise, being able to turn the WiFi adapter on and off with a switch on the front of the laptop, rather than the back, is much more convenient.
The main battery is positioned in the back of the S6510, where the connectors used to be, and I suspect that they were able to make it a bit larger (and thus stronger) there than in previous models. The S6510 battery is rated at 5800 mAh, whereas the S2110 is rated at 5200 mAh, and the S6120 was only 4000 mAh. Conversely, because the S6510 is so thin, the modular bay battery is thinner than in the previous models, and thus less powerful; 2300 mAh, compared to 3800 mAh in the S2110 and 3400 mAh in the S6120. All of this translates directly into noticeable differences in battery life. The S6510 runs much longer on its main battery than the previous Lifebooks did, but the modular bay battery seems to go down in no time at all. By the way, I like the indicator LEDs, mounted on the front edge of the laptop keyboard, better than the LED display in the previous models. It's possible that the older laptops gave a little more precise information with their graphic display of batteries, but you really had to go looking for them, whereas the colored battery status and charging LEDs are obvious at a glance.
The S6510 also still has one PCMCIA slot, another reason that I bought this particular model (the S7000 series has dropped the PCMCIA slot in favor of an ExpressCard slot). My Swisscom Unlimied Data Card (cellular data) is a PCMCIA card, and I can't travel without that. There is also an SD/xD/MS memory card slot, just below the PCMCIA slot, and when traveling being able to just pop the memory card from the camera into the computer is very nice.
The generous number of USB ports, on the laptop and the port replicator, is also very nice. There are three on the laptop and four on the port replicator, none of which get blocked, so there are seven available. The S2110 had three on the laptop and two on the port replicator, but one on the laptop was blocked when it was in the port replicator so there were only four available. The S6120 had two on the laptop and two on the port repliator, so it also had four available. Having three more USB ports makes a surprisingly large difference. I leave things like the trackball, printer, webcam and speakers always connected to the port replicator, so they are always ready when the laptop is docked, and I still have three USB ports available and easily accessible on the laptop for "temporary" things I want to connect, like USB disks and a barcode scanner.
One problem that I finally worked out was with the external displays, connected to the docking stations. Because the S6510 has a somewhat unusual display resolution (1280x800), and my external displays are rather old, none of them were able to match their resolution to the laptop display. What I have found is that the S6510 does a good job of managing (and remembering) different resolutions for the built-in and external displays, so I now have the external displays set for 1280x1024. As long as I don't try to use both the built-in and external display at the same time, this works just fine, and I never do that. I either use the laptop stand-alone, while traveling, so I am using the laptop display only, or I use it at the office or at home, in a docking station with its lid closed so I am using the external display only. I still have one small complaint about this; the S2110 did and amazingly good job of noticing when an external display was connected and/or the laptop lid was opened and closed, and almost always selected the "right" display automatically. I find that I have to use Fn-F10 to force the S6510 to put the display where I want it, or to turn off one that I don't want to be used. It is kind of interesting and informative, though, to toggle through the internal-external-both display sequence, and watch the resolution of one or the other display change as they are switched. With the external display I have connected right now in the office, the sequence is 1280x800 (internal only), 1280x1024 (external only), and 1024x768 (both simultaneously).
I had mentioned previously that I was struggling to get Wireless-N working, and then finally got it going with help from Fujitsu Support. Now it is paying off, and I am able to do something that I had wanted for quite some time. I have to use a wired connection with a fixed IP address when I am at the office, and a DHCP connection when I am at home. Changing the network adapter configuration each time gets tiresome very quickly, so I have always wanted to use wired in the office and wireless at home. Now, with Wireless-N speed, I can do that without worrying about it being "too slow".
Overall I would give the S6510 a rating of 9 out of 10. It is by far the best, nicest, laptop that I have ever owned. In fact, the only drawbacks, disadvantages and irritants I can think of about it actually have more to do with Vista than they do with the laptop itself. I am going to write a side-by-side comparison of Vista on the S6510 with XP Professional on the S2110 next. It will be interesting to see how that comes out - I don't even know yet, because I haven't thought about it that much yet. I can say, though, that at the beginning of last week, when I was still struggling with the display and network problems, I was seriously considering staying with the S2110 for my primary laptop, simply because of stability and convenience. In fact, since the S6510 came with a Microsoft "downgrade" certificate and XP Professional recovery disks, if it turns out that I run into serious problems with Vista again, as I did on the S2110, or I get irritated enough with the things that don't work (or don't work as well), I might just get a second SATA drive to swap out, and try loading XP on the S6510.
jw 7/1/2008
Sunday 6 January 2008, 7:24 PM
Wireless-N (802.11n) Success!
Hooray! I now have my new Lifebook S6510 and my new Linksys WRT350N communicating via Wireless-N (802.11n) connection. The information that I got from Fujitsu Support (thank you, Wanda), was correct, although just a little bit short of being complete.
Apparently, in order to get a Wireless-N connection (Wanda said this was for any connection above 54 Mbps) you must be using WPA2 security. But in addition to that, what she didn't specifically tell me was that you apparently also have to use AES encryption, not TKIP. That wasn't too difficult to figure out, since I was convinced that the basic advice she had given me was correct; when I set up the router and laptop for WPA2/TKIP, and it still only connected at 54 Mbps, I just went ahead and tried AES, and it came right up at 130 Mbps.
My other concern was that I still have several other wireless devices which need to connect to this router, and which either can't do WPA2 at all (my Roku SoundBridge Internet Radio), or I would have to download patches or updates (the S2110, and a couple of Dell Dimension PCs). It turned out that this is not a problem, because the router is very flexible in handling connections. There's a minor confusion in terminology between the Vista and the Linksys router; Vista refers to it as WPA2-Personal, and Linksys calls it PSK2-Personal. Anyway, when PSK2-Personal is selected, the router will actually accept either WPA or WPA2 security. Then for encryption the router has either "AES" or "TKIP or AES". The result is that with these settings, the router is accepting a WPA2/AES connection from the S6510, and WPA/TKIP connections from everything else.
One other short note about software/firmware updates. I'm not sure that it was "necessary", but in the process of setting all of this up, I have updated the firmware in the Linksys router (to 2.00.17), the Intel wireless adapter (to 11.5.0.32), and the Marvell Yukon Gigabit Ethernet controller (to 10.28.3.3). Even if some of these might not be absolutely necessary, with something like Wireless-N, which is still pretty fluid, it's best to have the latest that you can get.
In addition to this wireless success, as I mentioned previously, the S6510 is connecting wired ethernet at 1.0 Gbps. With this setup everything is working just fine, and these higher wired and wireless speeds were one of the major reasons that I bought the S6510, so I am quite pleased.
jw 6/1/2008
Thursday 3 January 2008, 9:42 PM
Kudos to Fujitsu Technical Support
I mentioned earlier today that I was not able to get a Wireless-N connection between my Lifebook S6510 and Linksys WRT350N router. I have just been on Fujitsu live support chat, and I believe the problem is now solved. It seems that in order to get a wireless connection above 54 Mbps, you must be using WPA2-Personal security, and I was only using basic WPA security. I haven't actually tested this yet, as there are several other computers and devices that connect to the router which I will have to change at the same time. But it makes sense that something like this would be the problem, since the connection itself was working just fine, and the signal strength was excellent, it just wouldn't even try to go above 54 Mbps.
While I had the support specialist on the line, I asked the question again about disabling tapping on the touchpad. Yes, I had already figured this out, but since I had previously been told by Fujitsu support that it was not possible, my intention was to tell this support specialist what I had found, so they could use that information in the future. Much to my surprise, before I could do that she came back with a solution that is even better (easier) than what I had found! If you have the Synaptics touchpad icon in the system tray, you simply have to right-click on it, and "Tap to Click" is one of the options.
So, kudos to Fujitsu Technical Support, and "Wanda" in particular. This is the way support should work, at its best. I originally changed from Toshiba to Fujitsu laptops primarily because Toshiba support was hopeless, and I have commented many times, in many places, about how ridiculously incompetent Skype support is. It's nice to deal with a good support organization for a change.
jw 3/1/2008
Thursday 3 January 2008, 2:43 PM
Lifebook S6510 - Part 3; Networking, Software and Drivers
I have continued to make good progress in moving to the new Lifebook S6510. I am still crazy about it, despite some minor hiccups.
The biggest progress has been in moving over utilities and application software. Basically, everything I have tried to move so far has gone very smoothly. That includes the Cisco VPN Client and the Swisscom Unlimited Data Manager, which in the past have been two of the most troublesome utilities, especially on Vista. Of course, there are still a few things that don't exist or aren't supported properly under Vista, and I'm having to work around or do without them, but none of them has been a major inconvenience quite yet. I'm planning to write one more time about Vista and XP, making a side-by-side comparison of the S2110, now running very nicely with XP Professional, and the S6510 with Vista.
The new area of investigation is networking. I picked up a new router on Monday, a Linksys WRT350N, which is supposed to do Wireless-N and Wired Gigabit. I was able to confirm that the wired ethernet connection came up right away at 1.0 Gb, but as yet I apparently haven't been able to get a Wireless-N connection. I say "apparently" because when I check the connection status, it doesn't explicitly say Wireless "N", "G" or whatever, it only gives the connection speed. So far it has only been 54 Mb, which is certainly Wireless-G speed (and the same speed that the S2110 connects with). Of course, this is still very early days for Wireless-N, and all of the routers and adapters are described as being "draft Wireless N" compatible. That often leads to differences in implementation and compatibility problems, so perhaps that is what I am up against here. I am in a chat with Fujitsu support right now, trying to find out if I can get Wireless-N working. If that fails, I'll move on to Linksys support. The good news is that both of them have "live chat" support lines, so at least I can get help without waiting endlessly on the telephone.
This may turn out to be a driver problem on the Lifebook, or firmware in the Linksys router. I have gotten a couple of questions about my first comment on driver updates, so I will explain a bit more now. A laptop computer in particular is often a tricky situation with drivers. While the laptop is built mostly from standard components, such as the CPU, graphic controller and display, audio controller, network controllers and so on, those components may be put together (integrated) differently by each different manufacturer, and the drivers may be modified by the laptop manufacturer because of that. So you need to be careful about updating a laptop with drivers that you have downloaded from a component suppliers site.
On the other hand, laptop manufacturers can be very slow about making updated drivers available, and the changes and bug fixes made in new drivers by the component suppliers can be important. So there are often times when you really want, or absolutely need, to update a driver. My general rule is, check the laptop support site first, and then the component suppliers sites, and compare what the two have available.
The Lifebook S6510 seems to be a bit of a special case, just because it is so new. There is practically nothing on the Fujitsu support web site for it; a BIOS update, which was already installed on mine, and a driver update for Windows XP, which doesn't interest me because I'm running Vista. So I went through the Windows Device Manager and determined the suppliers of all of the major components, and then went to each suppliers site looking for driver updates. Here are the results:
Graphic display - Mobile Intel 965 Chipset: Newer drivers are available from Intel, but they will not install on the S6510. This is typical of the problem I mentioned above.
WebCam - Logitech: I still haven't been able to figure out exactly what model of Logitech camera is integrated in this system. Newer drivers are certainly available from Logitech, since this one has 10.5.x and Logitech is currently on 11.5.x, but the drivers from Logitech do not support OEM cameras, it is up to the laptop manufacturer to make updated drivers avaiable.
Touchpad - Synaptics: Updated driver installed
Wireless adapter - Intel WiFi Link 4965AGN: Updated driver installed
Wired Network adapter - Marvell Yukon Gigabit: Updated driver installed
Audio - Realtek High Definition: Updated driver installed
Whenever you install an updated driver, be prepared to go back to the previous version if there is a problem. If you are able to install the driver "on top of" the existing driver, meaning that you don't have to uninstall the existing driver first, you can always go back by going to Windows Device Manager and choosing "roll back driver". If you are forced to remove the existing driver first, such as with the Realtek driver, make sure that you either have an "approved" driver from the laptop manufacturers web site, or you have the driver CD that came with the laptop. If you don't have one of these ways of going back, I would strongly advise you not to risk updating a driver.
jw 3/1/2008
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