click for full view

Back when I was still on Nokia and later on Android phones, a microSD card reader on my keychain was key :-) to what I call data freedom. I also believe that micro SD cards are the best invention after sliced bread and that they should be on all phones and should contain all user data (so that your data is secured in case of a water damage). The lack of microSD card compatibility on my iPhone and iPad is that one thing I dislike about these Apple gadgets.

The readers for these microSD cards are cheap – most of them purchased via eBay in China, about 1-3 EUR each. I’ve meanwhile tested a lot and the ones I’ve kept are shown above. Most readers have a similar PCB layout inside and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are all from the same manufacturer.

Here’s my preliminary rating on these types:

1. conventional USB card reader that also accepts SDHC format. Great, lightweight. I have one in my bag with cables and chargers. ==> A

2. The plastic version: one of the first readers and because of its shape nice for the pocket, but only those from SanDisk rock, the rest (like this one) are cheap Chinese copies that may fail. Also card is unprotected, may come out accidentally. ==> A

3. Small, very small, but the microSD card isn’t secured and mine has a problem as it pushes the PCB further down when the card is inserted which means it won’t fit in the USB port. Also no secured cap which may get lost. ==> B-

4. Flat reader, would be nice if only… the “ear” that holds the cord had less sharp edges. Too fragile for the pocket. ==> B

5. One strange reader, inside like no. 6. The plastic bomber. May break any time and is for the occasional user only who doesn’t mind when other USB ports are getting blocked. ==> C-

6. Not the smallest reader, but one where the SD card is secured by another cover. I’ve been using this one for the past few month. ==> A+

7. My latest purchase – the ear for the cord is inside the frame, rounded edges, still as slim as possible. Not the cheapest (4.5 EUR), but well made and from my favourite company Kingston. The recent purchase of a Kingston microSD card actually made me buy this reader no. 7. because the cards and the reader ARE superior  - at least to the nameless fake quality I usually go for. ==> A+

What kind of USB key do you use? Also one of these microSD cards on a reader? Or the conventional type? Or non at all?

I know it’s strange to write about these 1-3 EUR gadgets because we just get new ones when the old ones stop working, but it’s the details in life that matter and I wouldn’t want to use one of these USB keys that imo aren’t that well designed (they should be much slimmer). Especially if you can have the full USB pleasure with a card and reader that are as big as your thumb – but much slimmer.

A flash-based web-solution to test your webcam.

Mutter: “Was heißt A-Deeh?”
Sohn: “Adeeh (ade) is Schwääbisch und heischt Uff Wiederseen”
Vater & Sohn lachen.
- Familie Heinz Becker

The Candidate

There are quite a few things I dislike about my laptop, but mainly financial reasons and the lack of a much better alternative (suggestions welcome!) make me being stuck with an HP Elitebook 6930p, a laptop that’s most often operated at home on a docking station because of a) a heavy power cord (the cord, not the transformer), b) a CCFL screen (instead of an LED option which would add another 1h of battery runtime), c) an internal 2G/3G/EV-DO modem that will only work in a MS-Windows environment and d) lousy battery runtime of about 2-3h on 4cell battery (I have another travel battery that extends it for a few hours, but also adds weight).

This computer…. I don’t know. Back in the days we used to say: HP = High Price, Huge Problems. The 6930p is quite durable and well built, but the CCFL screen is so 1990s. Brilliant colours vs. battery draining. Uargh…

The Webcam

The webcam on this said laptop has no cover – like many other modern laptops. If you feel being spied on via your webcam, mistrust the LED that’s supposed to show activity on the cam or never pay attention to it anyways, there are simple and professional ways to cover your webcam. I’ve used a piece of a note-it post in the past, others use their beloved duct tape or whatever is around. And then there’s the good solution that will cost you ~ US$ 12 or EUR 15 (even though it’s a German company!). Good but also expensive for a little piece of plastic. For half the price, ok. But 15 EUR is a bit too much.

Time to build my own solution using black cardboad:

It’s cheap, it wins, it works!

The laptop lid also closes without problems. Very nice!

Ich weiß gar nicht, was ihn seinerzeit zum Kauf all dieser verschiedenen Lamy, Cross und Montblanc Kugelschreiber, Drehbleistifte und Füller getrieben hatte – wahrscheinlich die Faszination an der Qualität oder der Bedarf guter Schreibgeräte in der überwiegend geisteswissenschaftlichen Tätigkeit, aber da ich nun doch schon ziemlich nach ihm geraten bin, hatte ich die Anfrage natürlich bejaht und mich dann für einen alten Lamy 2000 entschieden.

Gestern Abend habe ich diesen schönen Kugelschreiber aus den 1970er Jahren dann mal geputzt, mit WD-40 eingeölt und mich bei Lamy nach neuen Mienen und alternativen Schreibgeräten schlau gemacht.

oben: Lamy 2000 // unten: Lamy noto

Beim Durchstöbern der Lamy Website fiel mir dann dieser geniale Lamy noto (Modell 283) ins Auge, der für schlappe 4,95 EUR ein ähnliches Design wie der Lamy 2000 bietet, mit seiner dreieckigen Form wunderbar in der Hand liegt, gerade mal 1g weniger auf die Waage bringt als der Lamy 2000, die gleichen M16 Mienen verwendet und auch sonst irgendwie typisch Lamy durchdacht wirkt.

Ich finde diesen Lamy noto Kugelschreiber so genial, dass ich ihn mir heute umgehend gekauft habe und mir dachte: ok, das muss ich bloggen. Hätte ich vor dem Kauf mal gegoogelt, wäre mir dieser nette Artikel mit Hintergrundinfos aufgefallen, denn der “noto” stammt von einem japanischen Designer namens Naoto Fukasawa und bekam wohl auch schon einen red dot award fürs Produktdesign in 2009.

Beim Thema Lamy erinnere ich mich aber auch an diesen interessanten Artikel aus der BrandEins im Juni 2009, wo es u.a. heißt:

…zur DNS von Lamy gehört, nicht in Billiglohnländer auszuweichen. Man macht fast alles selbst: Gehäuse, Federn, Minen, Tintenpatronen, insgesamt 95 Prozent aller Bauteile. Auch sämtliche Werkzeuge und Spritzgussformen entstehen im eigenen Haus. (….) “Bei uns gilt wirklich noch: made in Germany.”.

Dass es mir bei guten Schreibgeräten aber nicht nur um ein gutes Image geht, zeigt vielleicht auch folgendes Bild meiner derzeit vier favorisierten Schreibgeräte:

Oben die beiden Lamy, darunter in blau ein Pelikan “Pelikano” Schulfüller mit A-Feder (A, wie Anfänger) und ein no-name Werbetintenroller von arte. Der Tintenroller hakt eigentlich, liegt dafür aber wunderbar in der Hand. Tintenroller kann man austauschen, Gehäuse eher weniger.

Der Pelikano Füller mit seiner Kinderfeder Feder für Schreibanfänger ist so ziemlich der genialste Füller, den es gibt. Vor einigen Jahren habe ich auf Anraten einer guten Freundin auf dieses Modell gewechselt und freue mich jedes Mal über die leichte Eleganz, mit der diese extrem rundgefeilte Feder übers Papier gleitet. Diesen Füller kann man eigentlich gar nicht falsch herum halten oder zerschreiben – die Spitze hält vieles aus und schreibt in vielen Positionen, in denen andere Füller eher zickig reagieren.

Das Thema Schreibgeräte ist sicherlich so individuell wie Lieblingsfarben beim Auto, und nicht jeder hat den gleichen Individualisierungsbedarf. Meine Freundin schreibt z.B. sehr gerne mit den billigen BIC Kugelschreibern. Die reichen natürlich zum Schreiben aus, auch wenn ich mit diesen Billigschreibern in Kenia bisher andere Erfahrung gemacht habe (Tinte trocknet schnell aus, egal ob BIC, Speedo, Glider, etc.). Ich würde eigentlich auch niemals auf die Idee kommen, mehr als 40,- EUR für ein Schreibgerät auszugeben, aber hey – wenn man für 4,95 EUR einen qualitativ so hochwertigen Lamy Kugelschreiber bekommt – wieso dann überhaupt mehr ausgeben?

Ich glaube ein Problem ist hier eher, dass die meisten Leute gar kein Geld für einen Kugelschreiber ausgeben, oder bei einem Kauf dann gleich 20-30 & eben mehr Geld ausgeben. Ich glaube viele Leute, die einen Montblanc (Meisterstück) haben oder wünschen, schreiben damit gar nicht soooo gut. Nicht weil das Gerät so schlecht wäre, sondern weil sie so selten dazu kommen und die Tinte nicht immer frisch ist. Vom richtigen Papier ganz zu schweigen (es schreibt sich nicht überall so schön glatt & flüssig).

Für eine ganze tolle Kombination (hey, über 4,95 EUR Kugelschreiber bloggen? Dann aber richtig…) aus Kugelschreibern und Füllern halte ich auch die besseren Tintenroller. Ich habe hier auch noch (neu gekauft) einen Lamy Tintenroller für 6,- EUR, einen 3,- EUR Uni-Ball Gel Impact (Gel Schreiber) sowie einen einfachen 1,- EUR Pelikan Inky. Alle in blau, die Pelikan und Lamy Tintenroller sind sogar mit einem Tintenkiller entfernbar. Das heißt: im Lamy Tintenroller für 6,- EUR steckt genau die gleiche M66 Tintenpatrone drin wie in einem 30,- oder 80,- EUR Lamy Tintenroller.

(…diese indischen Töpfe eignen sich übrigens auch ganz wunderbar als Stiftbehälter aufm Schreibtisch :-)

Bei den vielen Werbekugelschreibern und Tintenrollern, die es da draußen gibt, finde ich es eigentlich erstaunlich, dass gerade dieses 1 bis 10 EUR Segment immer noch so gut abgedeckt wird und es Schreibtechnisch danach keine Steigerung mehr gibt (ausser bei den Füllern vielleicht, und natürlich dem Gehäuse). Oder etwa doch?

All the way from the US to Germany within 7 days. Cool.

I opted for the Kit and bought this directly from LadyAda via her shop @ http://www.adafruit.com because a) I wanted to see how fast this would pass through German customs (well documented on the envelope, btw), b) buying this part by part in Germany is more expensive, c) I wanted to see if the quality of the delivered items is as good as the online tutorial (it is!) and d) – the main reason – it’s very hard to find this (LT1302) IC in Germany & they are often expensive.

There’s an excellent tutorial available online as well as various blog posts that already cover the assembly of this little kit, so I won’t go into detail + it’s really just a few parts that are quickly soldered onto the pcb. After testing the voltage output, I soldered the female USB connector on the pcb and connected my iPhone. And yes, it works! It will probably and hopefully also work with more recent phones, like the iPhone 4 (this is version 3.0 of MintyBoost), but I couldn’t test this.

This post, however, made me remember that my initial plan was to add a little switch and find a better case than the Altoids tin I have (the MintyBoost was designed for the Altoids bubblegum, not the mints)…

…so I am currently searching for a better box, or I’ll take this one and use the extra space to accommodate the cable.

Oh, and about these “1900mAh External Battery Chargers“ with a said output of 5V/800mA – they never worked for me (and mine is just an iPhone 2G & her iPod Touch 1G which are very humble when it comes to charging peculiarities):

I think the MintyBoost kit currently is one of the best systems because it’s not limited to a certain phone like the iPhone, but also supports it and can be modified (even though these portable batteries like the one pictured above or the more expensive ones rated A- on iLounge probably are the more elegant solution).

In any case: thx 2 everyone @ Adafruit Industries for this well-documented kit, the quality of all parts and the quick delivery!

UPDATE:

Well ok, the pics may be a bit too dark, but I managed to install the MintyBoost in a bigger Altoids tin (the ones sold in Germany) and used the extra space for a switch and to accommodate the cable.

The interim Smintyboost solution turned out to be a bit too short, so I went back to the Altoids tin:

Just where would I be without my Leatherman?

Yeah it may still look a bit too jua kali…

The original cable actually fits inside this box with a bit of squeezing, but I’ve also bought this shorter version which should do a better job. Also, with a bigger box there’s enough room for future improvements like a battery mod.

I was looking for a decent cover for my Nokia E72 as the leather pouch it comes shipped with isn’t that great. It opens to the side and is very tight, so you’d have to push the phone inside (with some force) and pull it out (with even more force). Not that smart.

Another reason – and explanation why I went for a cover instead of another pouch/sheath – is that the E72 is rather thin, maybe too thin for a phone. It lacks a rubber back, like the one on the E63 for instance. So any potential cover would have to ensure that the phone gets a better grip on the back side.

I then checked the market and bought a cheap (3€) silicone cover. The one that came delivered wasn’t good at all – the silicone was too stubborn and didn’t even cover all the edges (as pictured above). Such a cheap quality. I threw it away after taking these pictures.

So I kept on looking and stumbled upon this OtterBox Commuter Case. There are almost only positive reviews on the cover online, the people behind OtterBox seem to be innovative and responsive to customer input (they are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) – and such a cover costs around 29 €.

Now, I can probably get two used Nokia 1208 phones for the price of such a cover, and it took me some time to think about this investment. Why should I invest 29 € on a cover that will only add weight to my phone? And it’s a lot of money for “just a cover”…

I am so glad I just bought it in the end. The cover instantly worked for me – it’s such a pleasure to handle the phone now (almost as thick as an E63 now, yay! :-). The OtterBox Commuter really is the BEST phone cover I’ve ever bought for a phone so far, makes so much sense on this particular Nokia phone and I am sure I’ll also never again waste any money on cheaper alternatives that just won’t work.

It also came shipped with a screen protector (sticker), a little card and a cleaning cloth which will help you apply the sticker onto the display. Amazing. I am yet to see something like that (the card) on other – also professional – screen protectors. Sooo… yes, I can only highly recommend the OtterBox Commuter Case to other E72 users.

Everyone who owns a knife probably knows that a dull/blunt knife is almost useless, so there’s a knife sharpening service available in most places like this one we’ve featured over at AfriGadget some time ago.

I also bought one of these rotating grinding stones from Uchumi (ex-supermarket chain in Kenya) many years ago (for Kshs. 265/=, actually) and have also been tempted to get one of these huge sharpening stones / hones for kitchen knives which also sold for something like 70 bob back in the days (they are much more expensive in Europe, btw – even though they are all Made in China). Sharpening a panga (machete) with a rotating grinding stone is “ok” – for kitchen knives the flat grinding stone (~ hone) is the better (and often only) alternative as you want to keep the angle of the edge.

This edge angle actually is the most important part on a knife, I think, at least when it comes to its sharpness.

Cheap and lazy as I am, I have in the past only used sharpening stones and other – cheap – sharpening tools that MAY work for the ordinary kitchen knife, but should NEVER be used on a hunting knife, or – in my case – a multitool.

Arkansas oil-stone

Just in case you didn’t know: the sharpening process itself is a peculiar task on which you’ll find various – dedicated – websites and forums that solely talk about how to best sharpen a knife. As far as I know, using a sharpening stone (with water or oil, sometimes also some polishing paste) is the best way to sharpen a knife. This, however, requires some basic knowledge on steel, how knives are usually made, what kind of steel was used on your knife and how this steel will behave under higher temperatures. Those Japanese kitchen knives (we have one at home from back in the days) for example are very sensitive to higher temperatures above ~ 160°C (of course, again, depending on the steel mixture it is made of), so you absolutely have to make sure the hone is cooled down and soaked in water anyways. The majority of all other knives in our kitchen are Made in Germany, which means they are not as sensitive as the Japanese kitchen knives and also keep their sharpness to some extent. They aren’t as cheaply made as the ones from China as I am yet to see a decent knife from China. My sister actually gave me a set of 5 really good kitchen knives from Zwilling, Germany, as a present during last christmas, and I have to admit that cooking really is a joy with these new knives. Good tools are a blessing!

As mentioned, I am a Multitool guy. I have four Leatherman multitools (the Wave I, Wave II, Charge TTi and a small Squirt P4). You won’t buy these tools for their knives because, well, the steel used on their blades isn’t that great (except for the Charge TTi which comes with an S30V blade).

The blade on my Wave II lasted about four years until it became too dull. Stupid and unknowing as I am, I of course only tried the usual tools (Victorinox Sharpening Pen = horrible, knife sharpener from the kitchen, Arkansas sharpening stone) – thereby killing the edge angle on the knife.

Left with an unability to really sharpen my multitool to a decent level, I brought it to a “professional” shop – a very popular gun & knives shop in Frankfurt downtown. For some unknown reasons, these jerks completely fucked it up, killing the edge angle even more and returning a somehow sharp knife that looked like being sharpened on a high speed sharpening wheel. That’s exactly what I had tried to avoid on my Multitool, so I backed off and told myself: Argh….maybe next time. This was half a year ago.

Ok, so I may be too German on this, but there’s this moment when things just have to be perfect. You either do it right or never. So I ended up buying this GATCO Edgemate Professional Knife Sharpening System for a hefty EUR 47.95 today any idiot like me can use to regain the much needed edge angle on a blade. The guiding rods attached to the hones are inserted into the holes on the clamp and will then glide over the edge at a constant angle. Sounds too complicated? Here’s a video on it…

And you know what? These four different hones on a guidance rod just work and allow you to set an edge angle of 11°, 15°, 19°, 22°, 25° and 30°. There also is a fifth rod for serrated knives – my multitool also has a serrated blade. I’ve been able to restore the angle on my multitool and also sharpened a really dull kitchen knife with great success. I understand that this set isn’t meant to deliver razor blade sharpness (which would probably require another hone with even finer grit and/or paste and some leather) but for everything else – and especially for hunting knives – this set is the best idiot-proof choice. Something like EUR 50 are a lot of money just for sharpening a knife, but I believe that it is well invested money that will enable me to enjoy sharp knives and send all other useless sharpening devices into early retirement.

The blade on my Wave II during the sharpening process. The – still rough – 25° edge angle is already visible (all pics taken with a Nokia N95, btw).

UPDATE: I just received a call by the main Leatherman dealer/importer in Germany who asked about the knife on my Wave II and offered a free sharpening. Amazing! Told them I’d be glad to accept this offer and will send in mine asap the become blunt again.

It’s a rather childish mod/hack that I had done on this outdated PDA way back in 1999 and of which I was reminded just a few minutes ago while googling for a link to this weekend’s AfrikaCamp in Vienna.

Mzeecedric of m.zung.us and I will attend this event and I’ll also try to cover it on my blog if everything works out as planned. I am not expecting too much though, just an open meeting and exchange with interested and active folks in Europe (or let’s say Austria and Germany) who also have some sort of Mal d’Afrique on their agenda or anything else related to this matter.

Coming back to the mod: while googling for the link, I stumbled upon Robert Lender’s website – a fellow blogger who had contacted me way back in 1999 on this hack and had integrated it on his page dedicated to this PDA. I guess I may even have his e-mail somewhere. Ok, now that’s 10 years ago, and if you ask yourself what you did in 1999, you’ll probably say that you’d been online via CompuServe or AOL and probably also hosted your site on Ethan Zuckerman’s Tripod site. Yup. 1999. Long time ago.

This post is dedicated to Robert and it will be especially interesting to see a face behind this contact whose name has been around for such a long time.

The original page on http://kikuyumoja.de/avigo has been offline for quite some time now, but I just copied everything into a PDF.

I btw still have this PDA at home. Compared to my friends who owned stupid Palm PDAs, the Avigo10 was a bit cheaper and not as popular as a Palm Pilot PDA, hence less software being available for this product. It also lacked the marketing backup from TI who quickly dropped this product from their product line for unknown reasons. Kinda sad, especially since this PDA came with a serial connector and could be hooked up to a modem which turned it into a great telnet device among other cool hacks.

Actually, it’s kinda worrying to see that even now in 2009, most mobile devices still lack such basic services (telnet, ssh, etc.) and charge you extra for a comfort we already had in 1999. As for the issue of power consumption, I think that we’ll also need to have a revolution on the energy side: something where we will not only see more efficient and energy-saving devices with smaller CPUs, but instead also devices that generate the energy the moment you need it and thus reduce our needs for stronger batteries.

@T.H.User: FFM, 1999, Nordi, MediaMarkt! Erinnerst Du Dich noch? Das Gerät hatten wir damals zusammen gekauft! :-)

I obviously had to do the same with this lovely little netbook – an Asus eeePC 901 – which I had managed to secure (2nd hand) for a relatively low price via eBay (!) last week and which arrived today.

It comes with WinXP Home edition, Intel Atom 1,6Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM, 12GB SSD HDD (4 GB + 8 GB), an SD card reader (= even more flexiboool memory), Bluetooth (!!!), WiFi b/g/n (!), an 8,9″ matt display, an 1,3mpx webcam and lots of room for future case mods. Oh, and it has a 6cell battery which equals to 5-7h battery runtime. Ain’t that cool?

So….yes, I eventually did it and decided to go for such a tiny 8,9″ netbook. The initial idea was to have a (smaller) 12,1″ notebook for everyday use which would substitute my 15,4″ notebook in the long run. There are in fact quite a few older HP business laptops @ 12,1″ on sale – albeit with a 1024×768 resolution, and if you want to go for a wide-screen 12,1″ @ 1280×800 notebook instead, you’ll really have to cough up more than I am currently able to spend on a new computer + it would be too much “competition” to my existing 15,4″ machine. The other idea was to go for a 10,2″ Samsung NC10 netbook that comes with a much better keyboard than most eeePCs.

Also, since I am still to find THE most perfect syncing solution which keeps all my files on all computers in sync, I realized that all I need for “on the road” is a small, light-weight machine that does basic stuff and actually doesn’t allow me to store too much data on it (as to avoid double files – I like to maintain some discipline on my data).

I disassembled it in order to clean it – the previous owner apparently has a cat – and to fix a few small issues like a faulty key on the keyboard (which is why it was a bit cheaper :-).

Next thing I’ll do is print out my Gadgetimoja logo or even one of those new AfriGadget stickers and “pimp” the cover accordingly. And I’ll also look for an upgrade to the RAM module – 2GB should be much better – and install another OS…

@Ministry-of-Finance: That’s 2kg less to carry! Besides, a man has his needs… :-)

[UPDATE:]

Had to decide between these two versions, so I twitpiced it and came to the conclusion to use the “Kompyuta imara kama tembo” version.

Grafix designers pls beware that my DTP tool here is rather old fashioned, hence it’s not 100% in line. But than – pretty much Kenyan, if I may say so.

Which resulted in the following netbook vanity:

And yes, I know that this is just a beautiful waste of time when you’re actually busy and supposed to do other (more important) work. Sigh.

Wem das jetzt alles zu kompliziert ist und wer einfach nur telefonisch über eine Festnetznummer erreichbar sein möchte, kann sich entweder einen Telefonanschluss legen lassen, einen entbündelten DSL Anschluss mit VoIP Telefonnummer beantragen oder einen O2 Handyvertrag mit zusätzlicher Festnetznummer für den Bereich im Umkreis des Wohnortes klarmachen. All diese Varianten gelten aber nur für einen festen Wohnsitz.

Wer wie ich öfters umzieht, mobil bleiben muss aber trotzdem auf den Komfort einer Festnetznummer nicht verzichten möchte, dem sei folgende Alternative ans Herz gelegt, die ich nach 4 Jahren Gebrauch wirklich nur empfehlen kann:

Sipgate.de

Bei Sipgate.de gibt es nach der Registrierung & Verifizierung durch ein Ausweisdokument eine kostenlose Festnetznummer (sofern verfügbar), über die man dann erreichbar ist.

Und zwar weltweit.

Früher hatte ich hierfür immer eine Bremer Telefonnummer, mittlerweile habe ich eine Frankfurter Nummer beantragt – der Wechsel fand innerhalb von 2 Werktagen statt! Neben Sipgate gibt es in Dland natürlich noch ein paar andere Anbieter, allerdings gibt es nicht überall eine lokale Festnetznummer. Lokal bedeutet hier: eine 069 Vorwahl für Frankfurt am Main (statt bundesweit einheitlicher 0180er Nummer).

Weltweit bedeutet: überall wo ich einen (breitbandigen) Internetzugang habe, bin ich über meine Frankfurter Telefonnummer erreichbar. Wenn ich also über die Weihnachtsfeiertage nach Bremen fahre, kann ich mein Telefon dort anschließen und bin weiterhin über die Frankfurter Nummer erreichbar. Gut für mich, gut fürs Geschäft. Weil: eine Festnetznummer ruft man schnell mal an, eine Mobilfunkrufnummer dagegen rufen nur diejenigen ungehemmt an, die keine andere Möglichkeit haben oder für die ein Anruf netzunabhängig gleichteuer ist. Anrufe ins Festnetz sind also oft günstiger – daher möchte ich auch übers Festznetz günstig erreichbar sein.

Hier in FFM habe ich ein Targa VoIP Telefon direkt über LAN an den DSL Anschluss des Vermieters angeschlossen. Wer kein eigenständiges VoIP Telefon hat (gibts bei eBay ab 30,- EUR), das so wie mein Telefon ohne den Umweg eines aktiven Computers direkt an den DSL Anschluss angeschlossen werden kann, greift alternativ zu seinem besseren Nokia Handy, dem iPhone oder anderen Handys, für die es eine Softwarelösung gibt. Um die ganze Funktionalität auszureizen, habe ich den Sipgate Anschluss natürlich auch auf meinem Nokia N95 Handy konfiguriert. Wenn ich jetzt also meine Frankfurt Festnetznummer anrufe, klingelt es gleichzeitig auf meinem VoIP Telefon in Bremen (natürlich grad nicht eingesteckt), auf meinem Targa VoIP Phone in Frankfurt und auf meinem Handy. Ideal!

Zwei weitere Gründe, die für Sipgate sprechen:

a) die Sipgate Website ist komplett personalisiert:
Konfigurationseinstellungen werden pro Endgerät personalisiert dargestellt, d.h., ich sehe eine Seite mit Screenshots für zB mein Handy und den nötigen Einstellungen, die nur für mein Sipgate Konto gelten. Das ist echt super praktisch!

b) Wer lediglich erreichbar sein möchte, zahlt nix.
Erst wenn man selber über Sipgate heraustelefonieren möchte, muss man sein Konto bei Sipgate aufladen. Dies kann später auch automatisch geschehen, zB bei Unterschreitung des Guthabens eines bestimmten Mindestbetrages.

Selbstverständlich gibt es bei Sipgate auch einen netzbasierten Anrufbeantworter, eine Faxfunktionalität (Faxe verschicken & empfangen) und eine eigene (vorkonfigurierte!) Softwarelösung für den PC.

Wer wirklich nur günstig übers Internet telefonieren möchte und wem die Erreichbarkeit über eine Festnetznummer egal ist, fährt natürlich mit InternetCalls besser. InternetCalls gehört zur Betamax GmbH, die auch VoIPStunt , VoipBuster und SIP Discount betreiben. InternetCalls hatte ich vorletztes Jahr auf Empfehlung von TurboDave ausprobiert, eine recht günstige Alternative. Wer eine Fritz!Box am DSL Anschluss betreibt und fürs Sparen ein paar Umstände in Kauf nimmt, kann je nach Bedarf einen günstigen VoIP Anbieter aussuchen (zB Anruf von Dland nach Kenia aufs Handy kostet bei Sipgate 0,35€/min und bei InternetCalls 0,19€/min.).

Für Entwicklungshelfer und andere Exildeutsche ist ein Sipgate Konto + Erreichbarkeit unter einer deutschen Festnetznummer (bei vorhandenem Internetanschluss) meiner Meinung nach die beste Wahl. Vor allem auch deswegen, weil sich die komplette Abwicklung der Buchhaltung und Einstellungen bei Sipgate online erledigen lässt und flexibel genug ist, Änderungswünsche zeitnah umzusetzen.

It’s a normal DECT-based cordless phone which also has a VoIP module for (unfortunately only one) VoIP line. That’s Voice-over-IP, internet telephony, meaning that we now have a local telephone number and do not have to rely on mobile phones only (cheaper and more reliable).

The interesting part and reason why I’m blogging this is that the phone is connected to a very cheap Edimax access point, which amplifies the WiFi network from the basement up to our little flat under the roof and thus acts as a repeater (for techies: without activated WDS!):

incoming DSL line <=> Fritz!Box DSL modem/router <=> Wi-Fi <=> Edimax Repeater <=> LAN <=> base station phone <=> DECT <=> handset

I didn’t have to change any settings on both the Fritz!Box modem/router and the Edimax repeater, but instead only had to type in my VoIP details on the mobile base station via a local IP address and was ready to go within a few minutes. Now that’s extremely cool as it just works out-of-the-box – the way it’s supposed to work.

As mentioned earlier, the initial plan was to obtain a WiFi-based phone but this solution via LAN & DECT is much more elegant. I think that most WiFi connections are not as stable as a dedicated DECT line, even though they operate under similar conditions (yeah, ok, DECT is pulsed + in a better/lower frequency range + max 250mW).
In other words: a dedicated WiFi based VoIP solution (e.g UTStarcom F1000) would probably just be as good as my Nokia N95 – coming with a weak antenna position and WiFi module which imho is the initial reason for the relatively poor WiFi performance of the N95 (as compared to the Nokia E71).

VoIP is one sweet technology. Not perfect – but ideal for technomads like me.