CentOS - May 2011 - OT: wifi, phone, power in India and Malaysia

A not so technical friend in India is shopping for a laptop.  He often
travels and stays months in Malaysia and so needs to be able to use the
laptop there as well.  He typically connects to the internet via wifi,
but sometimes must use a telephone line (yes, with a modem).  And of
course there will be times when he has to plug into mains power to
recharge the battery.  So to be able to fully use his future laptop in
both India and Malaysia, I need to know:

Are the wifi standards the same in both India and Malaysia?  And will
the same wifi card work in both countries?

Similarly, will the modem work in both countries?

And, too, is the mains power the same in India and Malaysia?

If there is an incompatibility in any of these, what is the simplest
resolution?

I should probably get him an extended warranty also.  Is there such a
warranty which would allow him to have the laptop fixed in either
country, depending upon where he happens to be?

Am I overlooking any considerations?


Thanks in advance for your sage experience.

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 05:48:16AM -0400, ken wrote:

Off-topic content trimmed.

While I commend you on the use of the OT tag in the message's Subject I
feel I have to ask... _why_ would you choose to post this here?  I
didn't see a single item that was even remotely on-topic for this list.

Can't you locate a more appropriate list for this query?





							John

-- 
The machine has got to be accepted, but it is probably better to accept it
rather as one accepts a drug -- that is, grudgingly and suspiciously.  Like
a drug, the machine is useful, dangerous, and habit-forming.  The oftener
one surrenders to it the tighter its grip becomes.

-- George Orwell (1903-1950), novelist
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On 05/24/2011 06:17 AM John R. Dennison wrote:
> On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 05:48:16AM -0400, ken wrote:
> 
> ....
> 
> While I commend you on the use of the OT tag in the message's
Subject...
Thank you.

> I didn't see a single item that was even remotely on-topic for this
list.
Which is why it was labeled off-topic (OT:).  Difficult to understand?

Rather than getting your undies in a bunch, why not just hit the Delete
button when you see a Subject line starting with "OT:"?

Alternatively, there are a variety of ways to filter mail by the
contents of the Subject line (and other parameters) programmatically.
Do this and you'd never have to see an "OT:" labeled message again
in
your entire life.

Judging from past experience, I guess we're now to enjoy three or four
days of posts about OT posts (as opposed to perhaps four replies
actually relevant to the original post).

Finally, I'd suggest a list convention whereby if someone wishes to
discuss/dispute tangential issues of this kind, they should prepend the
words "[Thread Cop]" to the Subject line.

On 05/24/2011 10:48 AM, ken wrote:
> A not so technical friend in India is shopping for a laptop.
try the iLUG mailing lists, there are some very clued up people there 
who would be able to give you better feedback than this list. I 
recommend the ilugc ( chennai ) list and the ilugd ( delhi ) lists.

- KB

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 05:48:16AM -0400, ken wrote:
> A not so technical friend in India is shopping for a laptop.  He often
> travels and stays months in Malaysia and so needs to be able to use the
> laptop there as well.  He typically connects to the internet via wifi,
> but sometimes must use a telephone line (yes, with a modem).  And of
> course there will be times when he has to plug into mains power to
> recharge the battery.  So to be able to fully use his future laptop in
> both India and Malaysia, I need to know:
Just to be radical and actually offer some response to the OP:
> 
> Are the wifi standards the same in both India and Malaysia?  And will
> the same wifi card work in both countries?
Although WIFI standards have progressed through a number of phases
over recent years, I think most WIFI cards will handle most standards.
Look for a card that handled a bunch of them.   You should also be
able to do a few searches and find out what standards are the latest, etc.
I do not think WIFI standards are country specific, although some
countries might be a little more up-to-date than others.
> 
> Similarly, will the modem work in both countries?
Telephone modems are more basic and as long as the dial-up handshake
signals are reasonably modern, there should be no problem - other
than the slow speed and higher tendancy to drop out.   If you want
to do anything like web searching over the modem you need to be able
to do IP over PPP.  But, that is pretty standard everywhere.
> 
> And, too, is the mains power the same in India and Malaysia?
Most chargers/power supplies on laptops nowdays can handle any
power condition that you might encounter around the world - other
than no power at all.
Most will handle 110-240 volts and 50-60 Hz.   Just make sure you
get a charger that does that and there is no problem.  You may need
to have a couple of adapters for the plugs to make them match.
Most travel stores in any of the countries I have been in sell
those adapters for not too much.
> 
> If there is an incompatibility in any of these, what is the simplest
> resolution?
Google is your friend.   Do some searches.

Just remember that many people - millions - travel between countries
with their laptop computers nowdays and have no serious compatibility
problems.   India is a very computer literate country - at least in
the urban areas.  Malaysia, at least in Kuala Lumpur is quite up-to-date
as well.  I don't know about outlying areas.
> 
> I should probably get him an extended warranty also.  Is there such a
> warranty which would allow him to have the laptop fixed in either
> country, depending upon where he happens to be?
That may well exist, but probably would be quite expensive relative
to just buying a new machine.   Fixing a laptop anywhere may also
take a long time.  He might be switching countries before he got
it back.
> 
> Am I overlooking any considerations?
> 
Backups.   Make sure he does backups of his useful data to some 
reliable media.   Don't worry about the OS, or any standard files
from the company or other standard source.  Those can be reinstalled.

Keep the working files in a separate directory tree and back that
directory tree up frequently, maybe even daily if the data is 
important.  Depending on quantity of data, burn a CD, use a USB 
stick or an external USB hard drive.   If you use a stick or an
external drive, I would suggest at least a 3 unit rotation - maybe
even a few more so your new backup doesn't overwrite a too recent
one.   Note that backups are not infallible and it is good to
have several in case something is wrong with a couple of them.

Run a good OS on it such as FreeBSD or CentOS, at least dual-booted
with your MS-xxx.   Even if he still mostly uses MS-xxx, one of those 
can help you out of situations.   

(By 'at least dual-booted with MS-xxx' I mean even if you still keep MS 
 on the machine and don't completely turn it over to FreeBSD or CentOS.
 maybe use 1/3 or 1/2 of the disk for FreeBSD or CentOS and the rest
 for MS, or whatever.)
> 
> Thanks in advance for your sage experience.
Sage is really good in roasted poultry such as turkey or chicken.

////jerry
> 
> _______________________________________________
> CentOS mailing list
> CentOS at centos.org
> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

--- On Tue, 5/24/11, ken <gebser at mousecar.com> wrote:
> From: ken <gebser at mousecar.com>
> Subject: [CentOS] OT: wifi, phone, power in India and Malaysia
> To: "CentOS Mailing List" <centos at centos.org>
> Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 5:48 AM
> A not so technical friend in India is
> shopping for a laptop.? He often
> travels and stays months in Malaysia and so needs to be
> able to use the
> laptop there as well.? He typically connects to the
> internet via wifi,
> but sometimes must use a telephone line (yes, with a
> modem).? And of
> course there will be times when he has to plug into mains
> power to
> recharge the battery.? So to be able to fully use his
> future laptop in
> both India and Malaysia, I need to know:
> 
> Are the wifi standards the same in both India and
> Malaysia?? And will
> the same wifi card work in both countries?
Wifi is wifi, never heard of a wifi A or B.
> 
> Similarly, will the modem work in both countries?
see above...
> 
> And, too, is the mains power the same in India and
> Malaysia?
All laptops I have thus far encountered, have power adapters that take in
anywhere from 100-250V. You should be covered worldwide if your meets those
requirements.
This friend might have used a phone-charger or hair-dryer, what voltage were
those?
> 
> If there is an incompatibility in any of these, what is the
> simplest
> resolution?
> 
> I should probably get him an extended warranty also.?
> Is there such a
> warranty which would allow him to have the laptop fixed in
> either
> country, depending upon where he happens to be?
Extended warranties :-) for a laptop purchased in the U.S.? Try Toshiba or
Samsung, but again, only your friend can tell you whether he has ever seen a
Toshiba shop or Samsung shop. If he goes to rural areas, chances are none of
those would be present anyways. 
> 
> Am I overlooking any considerations?
YES. A big one for foreign travel people is a GSM modem, whereby one would use a
SIM card from their phone for internet access. I really doubt that part of the
world would have any dial-up access as you claim. They never caught up to it,
and landline are rarely available. However, GSM 3G access is abundant, even in
the remotest of areas.....
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for your sage experience.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> CentOS mailing list
> CentOS at centos.org
> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
>

ken wrote:
> Similarly, will the modem work in both countries?
You better make sure your Linux distro has drivers for the modem. for 
connexant modem there as no free driver (at least for CentOS 5.x)

Ljubomir