Reply to: Devices/advice supporting elderly & less able to stay connected without home internet

[portseven]

A cheap Tablet plus a Mifi device on a monthly rolling contract??

The Mifi will be easy

Only thing is get it on a network with good coverage in your area

[MonkeysUncle]

Theres an app called Houseparty I set up for my folks are I know zoom or teams would confuse them.

Very easy to use, no long team code to dial in or anything, just click on the persons name and it dials them.

I have found that more than 4 people and the quality drops so it depends on if you are doing group chats or just one on one video chats.

Once in a chat you can also lock the room so no one else can join, this can be done from either side so one of the more tech savvy can control the call.

Not sure if it is available on tablets or just smart phones.

[ladymuck]

Hmm tricky. Knowing the level of competence of my parents I have an inkling of what you're up against. Saying that, my brother did manage to get my Dad up and running on Skype so he could use it for his guitar lessons. It took much swearing though.

[d000hg]

Do they all have landlines?

I wonder if, although it's not as good, you could do some teleconferencing thing? Most have freephone numbers to dial into.

Then they can at least hear the service even if they can't see it?

Zoom doesn't offer free call-in numbers unless you pay (a lot) extra but this IS our back-up. However you have to enter a long meeting number and so far a couple of people are finding even that tricky..

[ladymuck]

Just make sure the priest doesn't do this...

Twitter in stitches after another Italian priest streaming mass doesn't realise he has filters on | Daily Mail Online

[ladymuck]

Do they all have landlines?

I wonder if, although it's not as good, you could do some teleconferencing thing? Most have freephone numbers to dial into.

Then they can at least hear the service even if they can't see it?

[d000hg]

Is there anything you can do with a Raspberry PI setup?

I would be happy to donate a Raspberry Pi II as it's sitting under my telly collecting dust (PM me for it Doogie).

Shoutout to Zigenare or Simonmac - they know their stuff with RPs.

I think this might be pushing it. We started talking about all this a while ago and in hindsight if we'd been able to get in their homes and train people it would be easier. But the speed this all happened caught us out

But thankyou for the offer.

[d000hg]

Does anyone know anything about being able to control a tablet remotely or reduce how much the end user has to do?

e.g: answering a Skype call is much simpler than initiating one (though you shouldn't underestimate the complexity of swiping to answer etc compared to a big button). Making them have to launch Zoom and join a meeting etc so what might we do?

In terms of people we are trying to help, some of them don't know how to do things like clear their voicemail or texts - one chap we periodically clear all this so he doesn't stop losing functionality but that requires physical contact.

Lets not forget how badly web-conferencing goes even amongst people like us sometimes... "UNMUTE DAVE!!" "I can't hear you" etc Just unlocking a screen or adjusting volume can be tricky. All of us who have tried to redeem a laptop/tablet and sat there thinking "how on earth did you even DO that?!" know what it's like so anyway we can take control over the device or lock it down...

We might be able to scare up old phones, this might be a bit easier. We have some cash but can't really afford 4G iPads

[GhostofTarbera]

Amazon fire 7 (£49 a pop) but I’m sure amazon will let you have them cheaper if you call them (29 is the sale price)


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[doconline]

I think the village has fibre so it depends on the neighbours but definitely worth checking. You can't go knocking on doors but we might post letters, or round here people tend to know their neighbours.

Definitely an easy option where possible.
A 4G dongle is another one, plus a cheap tablet, as long as the dongle is reliable. In my experience they sometimes need a kick. We're already thinking we need to just tell people the tablet "needs to be left plugged in all the time" to avoid them going flat, and provide a very long lead. Every possible problem we can avoid is going to make things easier.

It depends on your budget, but I think if you could smart phones it would be better. Will probably be less complicated than a tablet, can have whatsapp for making easy video calls / group chats, plus cost will be lower than tablet and dongle I think. I think Doro phones are aimed at the older market, might be too expensive though?

[northernladuk]

Funnily enough I'm right in the middle of trying to set up an old Galaxy Tab2 10.1 for the MiL to Skype and do yoga at home etc. Tablet is so slow it's driving my nuts but I am sure it will do for MiL.

Any chance you can put a call out to anyone that has very old tablets they think are worthless and re-use? Slow as hell but will suffice I am sure.

Doh. No Internet. Missed that sorry.

[cojak]

I think the village has fibre so it depends on the neighbours but definitely worth checking. You can't go knocking on doors but we might post letters, or round here people tend to know their neighbours.

Definitely an easy option where possible.
A 4G dongle is another one, plus a cheap tablet, as long as the dongle is reliable. In my experience they sometimes need a kick. We're already thinking we need to just tell people the tablet "needs to be left plugged in all the time" to avoid them going flat, and provide a very long lead. Every possible problem we can avoid is going to make things easier.

Is there anything you can do with a Raspberry PI setup?

I would be happy to donate a Raspberry Pi II as it's sitting under my telly collecting dust (PM me for it Doogie).

Shoutout to Zigenare or Simonmac - they know their stuff with RPs.

[d000hg]

What is the internet speed like in your village? Would sharing wireless work with the people that are already connected? Obviously there would need to be a level.of trust there. But if they don't have the internet already, they probably won't be using it a lot anyway and very unlikely to do anything nefarious.

I think the village has fibre so it depends on the neighbours but definitely worth checking. You can't go knocking on doors but we might post letters, or round here people tend to know their neighbours.

Definitely an easy option where possible.
A 4G dongle is another one, plus a cheap tablet, as long as the dongle is reliable. In my experience they sometimes need a kick. We're already thinking we need to just tell people the tablet "needs to be left plugged in all the time" to avoid them going flat, and provide a very long lead. Every possible problem we can avoid is going to make things easier.

[doconline]

What is the internet speed like in your village? Would sharing wireless work with the people that are already connected? Obviously there would need to be a level.of trust there. But if they don't have the internet already, they probably won't be using it a lot anyway and very unlikely to do anything nefarious.

[ladymuck]

Haven't got a scooby but what a great initiative.