Apple Guide Podcast

https://youtu.be/h80_aozAHac

Picture this, you’re sitting at your desk browsing the web, and suddenly your internet just stops working all because your WiFi disconnected? Why continue fighting your WiFi when you have the option to plug your computer directly into the internet and journey through the web with no problems. Here's how to do it!

First, let’s examine WiFi’s downfalls that out-way its conveniences. First, you have to deal with variable speeds caused by wireless interference and opsticals like a thick wall. That alone can take away a good chunk of performance. Or, maybe you have a budget router that doesn't have the best antennas. WiFi makes accessing the internet from your mobile devices convenient but may leave more to desire on your desktop.

By plugging your network devices directly into your router, you can bypass some of these issues. It will also give more WiFi bandwidth to your mobile devices.

Now, let's take an in-depth look at how to plug a device into the internet.

First, you will want to look for an ethernet port. It's a rather large square port with space for a clip to keep it in place. If you have a laptop, you might not have an ethernet port since it's too big to fit in such a small form factor. Instead, you will need an adapter, ether a USB-A to ethernet to USB-C to ethernet. If you run into this dilemma, you may want to consider getting a USB docking station to reduce the clutter of multiple adapters.

In that ethernet port, snaps in an ethernet cable. These can come in a large array of lengths, colors, etc. This is the cable you will need to run from the back of your WiFi router into your computer. Now, this may be a simple task if your router is right next to your computer. Otherwise, you may need to run some cables through your house. This can be difficult depending on your structure and may be more tedious than it's worth.

On the other hand, you can try a PowerLine adapter. With a PowerLine adapter, you can inject your internet into your existing electrical cables, which I think is a pretty neat idea.

So here's how it works. A package comes with one or more adapters. You plug one directly into the wall by your WiFi router. Then, plug that adapter into your router using an ethernet cable. Now, plug the other adapter somewhere else in your house. You can get the internet out of this adapter by plugging your device into its ethernet port. However, you can even find PowerLine adapters that come with range extenders built-in, so they will also double as a WiFi access point. You can learn more about those in last week's video.

And there you go, the internet is going in through one adapter and out of the other. Just remember, you can't plug the adapter into a surge protector because it will just filter out the internet connection. It needs to be plugged directly into the wall. Another thing, this option will not work in every home. There could be unseen things behind your wall that could kill your connection.

Now, I'm going to give it a try in my house. For today's example, I'm going to use this Netgear PowerLine 200 Mini adapter. It may be a bit old and slow, at 100mbps, but it should be enough to see how the tech works. So, let's take a look!

We are going to start by plugging in the parent powerline adapter into the outlet under my desk in the basement. Remember, you can't plug the powerline adapter into a power switch because it will filter out the internet connection. You need to plug the adapter directly into the wall. Next, I'm going to attach an ethernet cable to the adapter. Now, there we should see a solid green power LED and a solid green ethernet LED.

Do you find that your WiFi doesn't reach all of the corners of your home? Maybe you have your WiFi router set up in your den, and when you walk to your bedroom down the hall, you compliantly lose connection. A WiFi extender may be an affordable solution for you. Keep watching to learn more and see how to set one up.

https://youtu.be/YvhhtDg6bCI

First, what is a WiFi extender? Well, it expands your WiFi connection. Simply plug the extender into a neutral area where it can get a good internet connection from your main wireless router, while also rebroadcasting to places that are less covered, therefore eliminating those annoying dead zones.

Next question, how is an extender different from a Mesh network I talked about previously? Well, a mesh network initials a whole network overhaul with all new routers spread across your home that all broadcast the same WiFi network. A WiFi range extender, on the other hand, can easily integrate into your existing WiFi network while also being much cheaper. However, your range extenders will broadcast separately from your main router. So, when you want to connect to your main router, you have to go into your WiFi settings and select it. When you want to switch to your WiFi extender, you have to go back into your WiFi settings and change your WiFi network again. With a mesh router, one network is broadcasted, and in the background, the software will handle which node you're connected too. That being said, if you have the budget to upgrade to a mesh network, do it. It will be a way more robust and consumer-friendly solution, unlike a patch job with a range extender.

Now, let's try setting up a range extender for ourselves.

Today's example is a Netgear EX6100, which can operate as both a WiFi extender and access point thanks to its included ethernet port. But, more on that in a minute.

First, we need to find the best place to put your WiFi extender. The best way to start is to know where your dead zones are by traveling to every corner of your home taking Speedtest. Once you find the areas that need coverage, you can walk from that space to your main WiFi router, continually taking Speedtest on the way. You're trying to see how far out you can go but still have a really good connection. Once you find the place, you can plug in the extender and start the setup process.

This extender has two configuration options, either as a range extender or an access point. In an access point configuration, you run an ethernet cable from your router to the extender. This way, the extender is broadcasting the full speeds of your network and is very stable. To learn more about running ethernet cables and such, get subscribed and hit the bell icon to be notified of our next video. Alternatively, configuring it as a WiFi Range extender will rebroadcast the WiFi signal it's receiving. Just note, wireless solutions will almost always be less stable.

Now, let's dive into the software side of things.

To test out my WiFi extender, I'm going to plug it into an outlet in my living room on the second floor. I'm hoping this extender can take the WiFi connection broadcasting on the third floor and forward it to me in the basement below.

I start off by plugging the extender into the wall and waiting for it to boot up. With the power LED green, it's time to get started on the setup. So, with the mode set to extender, I'm going to click the WPS button. Then, I'm going to "click" the WPS button on my main WiFi router. In my case, it's not a physical button on the router but instead a button within its management app. The WPS feature allows you to connect your WiFi device to your network without entering the WiFi password.

The other week I upgraded my home entertainment setup with the latest AppleTV 4K and two HomePod Minis. For obvious reasons, the HomePods didn't make the cut. So, I went on a quest for the best soundbar system for the same price or less than the HomePod Minis. Here's what I came up with.

https://youtu.be/s40kJfeQJik

Before getting into my soundbar, why should one get a soundbar? Well, take a look at your TV's speakers. Can you see them in the front? Most likely not. That's because they are hidden on the backside of the TV, firing towards the wall. Now, look at how thin your TV is. As with your iPhone or HomePod Minis, your TV's internal speakers are too small to provide any audio of loudness or quality.

So, if you want to take your content consumption to the next level, you're going to need an external speaker. When you get to this realization, you have two solutions, an audio receiver or soundbar.

First, let's look at the audio receiver option, which will give you a pure theatre-like experience. An audio receiver is a box dedicated to managing audio. It's where you plug in all of your speakers and input devices like a TV or Xbox. All of this modularity is what opens the door to a higher-quality listening experience. You can get a receiver that meets all of your audio specifications then mix and match any speakers. With all of this modularity also comes the expensive price of entry. You have the audio receiver itself, which starts at around $400. Then, you're looking at about $100 per speaker. As you can see, the price adds up quickly.

A soundbar, on the other hand, is a much cheaper and more consumer-friendly solution. For $100 plus, you can get a pretty good soundbar that can surly outpace your TV's internal speakers.

Now, let's take a look at my soundbar system.

Meet the Samsung HW-S50A, a soundbar with three speakers (3.0) built-in. In the rear, you will find two more speakers that wirelessly connect to the soundbar. More on those later. All of this would have cost $400, which is $200 more than the HomePods at $100 each. In reality, I only spent $262, making it $62 more than the HomePods. How did I get such a good deal, you may ask? Easy, I took advantage of Best Buy's Open Box program. You see, while other companies, like Amazon, throw away your returns, Best Buy repackages them and sells them at a steep discount, and honor the standard return policy. Hence the soundbar was $110 off, and the rear speakers were $45 off. So, next time your shopping tech, see if Best Buy has it available as Open Box.

Anyways, getting back to the soundbar. When looking for a soundbar in the $200 range, you will mostly find plain black rectangles. I'm sure they sound good, but I was looking for something that looked and felt higher-end. So, this S50A comes wrapped in this beautiful dark gray fabric that looks and feels really premium. It adds a splash of color in the mists of most entertainment systems' darker tones.

Setup was also really easy. First, power up the soundbar using the included barrel cable. Then, you have two options for connecting the soundbar to your TV. One option is to use optical audio, also known as Toslink, a fiberglass cable that can send a digital audio signal. You may find this on older TVs and other devices like the 3rd Gen AppleTV. The better option is to use the included HDMI cable. Just make sure you plug it into the HDMI port labeled ARC or eARC. Not only does HDMI send the highest quality audio, but it also allows you to control your soundbar from your TV remote, eliminating the nuisance of having multiple remotes. In addition, you can control the soundbar's volume directly from the physical AppleTV remote or the Remote app on your iPhone or iPad.

In 2017, Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 3. And in 2021, Apple decided it would continue selling the Series 3 through 2022 for $199. Here's why you shouldn't buy the six-year-old Series 3 brand new, what Apple should have done instead, and my Apple Watch recommendations.

https://youtu.be/QWKYPy83hGo

My first set of gripes comes down to problems facing developers, of which I am not. But, from what I hear, there are things about the Series 3 that make life so much harder to support. For starters, the Series 3 is sold in 38mm and 42mm screen variants. Meanwhile, the rest of the lineup has moved to larger 40mm and 44mm screens. This means developers have to support and optimize their apps for four different small screen sizes. Then you have the older S3 processor, which isn't slow by any means and works great for what most people use the Series 3 for. However, the older processor is built off of technology that the rest of the Apple Watch lineup has moved on from. Developing for the Apple Watch alone is difficult, and removing consistency isn't doing any favors.

That's not to say the Apple Watch Series 3 is a bad watch. Hey, if you're looking for a simple smartwatch without all the bells and whistles and the fancy health trackers, it sounds like a great option. That is until you run into all the user-facing issues.

The biggest of these is the 8GB of internal storage. In 2017, 8GB may have been enough. Today, that's nothing. Of that 8GB, almost 5GB is taken by WatchOS alone. Then, if you try to install the latest update, watchOS 8, which weighs 1GB, you're now at 6GB. But, typically you can't even install the updates because other things have taken that space, like other installed apps or files. And, there's really no way to delete all that extra data. As crazy as it seems, Apple says if you don't have enough space to update your Series 3, you will need to backup your watch to your iPhone, wipe it to factory settings, install the update, and restore it from a backup. That whole process can take about 2 to 3 hours. Now, image Apple releases a watchOS update about once a month or so. That's a long time to spend updating a watch. It's so much of a hassle that I don't even bother unless the update brings a feature I want to play with, not that ever happens. Most of the new features in watchOS require sensors that come with the higher-end Apple Watches. So, at this point, the Series 3 is really only getting security updates and app redesigns. Then, as updates come along, you will be left with a crippling amount of storage to the point you can only use the built-in apps. Maybe, by that point, 3rd party apps won't matter because even the developers will have moved on, making Apple the only person still supporting the ancient watch.

However, it appears that worrying about the storage capacity may not be as big of an issue thanks to some optimizations Apple has added with iOS 15 and watchOS 8. For starters, I was able to download and install watchOS 8 without having to restore the watch unless Apple hid it in the update process. Also, the Watch app is more transparent on how the limited amount of space is being used. There's now a storage bar that details how much space each category is taking. It even includes the total size of watchOS. However, watchOS is still missing from the list below. Then, each app has a sub-menu detailing how much storage they are using. Other than that, it appears WatchOS 8 did some optimizing to find about 4GB of storage which is probably enough to do what you need to do.

Now, if you got the cellular option while the Series 3 was still top of the line, you're in good shape with 16GB of internal storage. This would become the standard storage capacity with the Series 4. And, starting with Series 5,

https://youtu.be/WhvfOVBr-Hk

Links:

What is Mesh?

* Wikipedia: “Mesh networking” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking* Tom’s Guide: “What is a mesh Wi-Fi router, and do you need one?” - https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-is-mesh-wifi-router,news-24580.html* How to Geek: “What Are Mesh WiFi Systems, and How Do They Work?” - https://www.howtogeek.com/290418/what-are-mesh-wi-fi-systems-and-how-do-they-work/

Featured Mesh Router:

Linksys - Velop AC2200 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System (2-pack) - White @ Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/linksys-velop-ac2200-tri-band-mesh-wi-fi-5-system-2-pack-white/5709448.p?skuId=5709448

Best Mesh Routers of 2021:

* Cnet: “Best mesh Routers for 2021” - https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/best-mesh-wi-fi-router/* Tom’s Guide: “Best mesh Wi-Fi systems for 2021: Mesh WiFi Routers and points” - https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-mesh-router,review-5191.html* PC Mag: “The Best Wi-Fi Mesh Network Systems for 2021” - https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-wi-fi-mesh-network-systems* TechRadar: “Best Mesh WiFi Routers 2021: the best wireless mesh routers for large homes” - https://www.techradar.com/news/best-wireless-mesh-routers

Best Mesh Routers of 2021

* Wikipedia: “Mesh networking” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking* Tom’s Guide: “What is a mesh Wi-Fi router, and do you need one?” - https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-is-mesh-wifi-router,news-24580.html* How to Geek: “What Are Mesh WiFi Systems, and How Do They Work?” - https://www.howtogeek.com/290418/what-are-mesh-wi-fi-systems-and-how-do-they-work/

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It's so important to back up your iPhone, the most portable and breakable piece of technology we own. Anything can happen to it, like forgetting it on the bus or shattering the screen beyond repair. In an instant, all of your data can vanish. Those family photos and important text messages are all gone. Once again, this is why it's so important to back up your data! On one hand, you can create a local backup using iTunes if you still have a computer. On the other, you can purchase iCloud storage at a monthly rate, which adds up quickly. So, there needs to be an alternative for making local iPhone and iPad backups. Could the SanDisk iXpand be the solution?

https://youtu.be/tUy9Z8eIxB8

The simple solution to creating a local backup would be to plug a USB thumb drive into your iPhone. However, at the moment, Apple refuses to migrate to the new universal standard of USB-C, so we are still stuck with the proprietary Lightning connector. And that's what SanDisk brings to the table with their iXpand. It's simply a USB drive with a USB-A port on one side and a Lightning port on the other. This allows you to plug it into your iPhone or low-end iPad, or your computer and access the same files.

Now, let's take a deeper look at the iExpand by installing the SanDisk iXpand app from the App Store, which is needed to interact with the flash drive. 

When you open the app for the first time, a wizard directs you through setting up the flash drive's backup options. For now, I'm going to bypass this so I can get to the full app. 

There are two ways to use your iPhone's external drive. The first way is to use it as a backup of your phone. To configure this click "Backup & Restore" from the bottom of the main menu. Then, choose "Back Up & Restore Photo Library" to backup your photo library. In the settings, you can enable automatic backup, then click backup to make your first backup. Once the backup is finished, you are clear to start deleting the photos off of your phone, knowing they are safe on your flash drive. Just make sure you're plugging in your drive often, and the iXpand app is working as intended. If you need to retrieve photos you deleted, you can click the restore button, which will copy the photos from the flash drive back to your phone. 

Now, let's go back and back up our contacts and calendar. On the first tab, I can back up my contacts and enable automatic backup. On the second tab, I can back up my calendars and enable automatic backup.

And, that's it.

Unlike an iCloud Backup or iTunes, both of which create a full copy of your device, the iXpand can only backup your contacts, calendars, and photo library. For some, this may do the trick. After all, almost everything else is probably already configured to sync through a cloud service for free, especially your contacts and calendar. I already have an article that takes a look at the more complete backup options. I will link it below. 

Another use for the iXpand is for transferring files back and forth between your iPhone and computer. Those in the Apple world don't have to worry about this dilemma since you can just AirDrop files between your devices. However, if you add a PC or Android into the mix, you may need something that can transfer files too big for an email. In a perfect world, iXpand could be that device. You could open the Files app and see the iXpand as an external drive or access the files from within the app. However, it's not a perfect world. When you click on the iXpand Drive source, you're taken to the iXpand app, and the drive does not show up as an external device. You would think that the option to navigate the drive would let you download files to your iPhone. But,

Since iOS 7, you could open Control Center and quickly access important device settings. Since then, Control Center had evolved, adding quick access to more device features, keeping you from having to close the app you're in and search through Settings. Here's a guide to everything you can do with Control Center on your iPhone and iPad and how to customize it to make it work for you.

https://youtu.be/rxPf5y8f7sM

Most importantly, how do you access Control Center? Well, if you have an iPhone with a home button, swipe up from the bottom of your screen. If you don't have a home button or have an iPad, swipe down from the top right of your screen. Once in Control Center, you have a whole host of controls.

First, let's look at the network controls, which is the first box to the left. In the outer section, you can toggle Airplane Mode, Cellular Data, WiFi, and Bluetooth. On devices that don't have cellular service, like your iPad or iPod Touch, you will see AirDrop instead of cellular data. One thing to note, tapping on the WiFi or Bluetooth in Control Center will not turn those services off. Instead, the WiFi toggle will temporarily disconnect you from your current WiFi network, and the Bluetooth button will temporarily unpair you from all of your Bluetooth devices. Any temporarily disconnected services will have a white background, enabled services will have a blue background, and disabled services will have a black background.

When you long-press on that box, you will get an expanded list of options, including AirDrop and Personal Hotspot. Behind every button, here are more options. If you long-press on AirDrop, you can limit who can AirDrop things to you, whether only people in your contacts, everyone, or turn the service off. Long-pressing on WiFi will list all of the WiFi networks in your area that you can connect to, and If you're looking for advanced WiFi settings, you can tap the Wi-Fi Settings button, which will take you to the WIFI section in Settings. The same kind of thing happens when you long-press on Bluetooth, you get a list of Bluetooth devices. Then, if you need to add a new device, you can tap the Bluetooth settings button to quickly jump into the Bluetooth section in settings.

Moving on to the next square, you find your audio controls. Here, you can control the playback of videos, podcasts, music, and any other multimedia content. On the surface of the audio controls, you can see the title, the name of the content creator, and a thumbnail of the album artwork. You also get limited audio controls in the form of play/pause and skip buttons. In the top corner is the AirPlay controls, but more on that later. 

Long pressing on the playback controls gives you more options. The album artwork is front and center and links you to the app the content is playing from. Under the artwork is the title and name of the content creator. Below that is the scrubber, where you can skim between different points in the track. You can also play/pause, skip, and control the volume. In some cases, like playing music from a radio station, you will see different playback controls, such as a like button. 

Now, let's reverse a bit and take a look at AirPlay. When you click on the AirPlay button, you're shown a list of AirPlay-compatible TVs and speakers along with paired Bluetooth speakers and headphones, including with your Beats and AirPods. Clicking on one of these devices will send your content to that device, but you will still have full playback controls from your iPhone or iPad. Some devices may even have extra features. For instance, some battery-powered headphones and speakers may show you their current battery percentage. Or, Apple-made headphones,

I've made a couple of videos on smart tech and how confusing it may be to find products that integrate with your current smart home ecosystems like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Apple's HomeKit. I even showed you a complicated workaround to make your smart devices HomeKit compatible. Well, there is a new standard on the horizon that may leave that problem in the past.

https://youtu.be/9BA1bRDoVf0

As a quick review, here's my problem with the smart home industry. You see, each smart home ecosystem has its own certification process. An Alexa-supported device must follow Amazon's guidelines, and Google Home devices must follow Google's guidelines. However, both Google Home and Alexa seem easy to comply with since almost every smart device is compatible with those ecosystems. Lastly, HomeKit supported devices have to follow Apple's much stricter guidelines. For each of these smart home ecosystems, you will need a team of developers and even pay royalty fees. That price adds up quickly. So, when picking up a smart device, you have to make sure it's compatible with the ecosystem you use. But, all of this may be about to change.

At the end of 2021, products that support the Matter specification will start rolling out. When you find the Matter logo, an emblem of three arrows pointing in, you will instantly know that the device supports all the big-name smart home ecosystems, has a simple setup, and follows their privacy guidelines. Plus, it's free for manufactures to implement into their products. The Matter coalition's goal is to have its logo as ubiquitous as the WIFI logo is today. Look for the first Matter-supported devices scheduled to be released by the end of the year, with some current devices receiving updates to support the new standard. With this big update around the corner, I would not recommend diving into any smart home ecosystems or products right now. Instead, wait and see what comes to the market at the end of the year. That is if all of this goes according to the founder's plans.

There is one hiccup that could cause problems. Matter is not here to replace the Alexa, HomeKit, or Google Home specifications. Each of those certification processes will continue as they do today. Matter is just another specification in addition to the rest. So, it will be up to the smart tech manufacturers to decide whether they want to support each ecosystem individually or adopt Matter and automatically support all of them.

But Matter appears to be on a great start. Both Google and Apple are adding Matter support to their smart home management apps by this fall, and Google will be updating their smart devices to support Matter.

With these big names taking action today, hopefully, Matter will become the industry standard. Then, the days of scanning the documentation trying to make sure a piece of smart tech supports your voice assistant is over. You can pick up any smart plug, light, lock, etc., and know it will work with your Alexa, Google Home, or iPhone.

Links:

* Matter* Google The Keyword: 4 Google smart home updates that Matter

I'm sure you've all seen the ads for the latest and greatest 5G cellular service from the likes of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. It boasts super-fast speeds that let you download a whole TV series in seconds and have your Facebook feed load in a blink of an eye. But if you read the fine print and watch some reviews, you will learn the 5G is a joke and has no visual benefit, at least for now. So, let's take a look at what 5G is, where it's at, and where it's going.

https://youtu.be/BvAh6PljgtM

Like 2G, 3G, 4G, and later 4G LTE, 5G is the 5th generation of mobile networking. Within this generational update are a handful of features that will improve the speed, reliability, and capacity of the cellular networks we heavily rely on.

There is a great video from the IEEE ("I" triple "E") on the new technologies bundled with the 5G specification. I will leave a link to that below. But here are the basics.

https://youtu.be/GEx_d0SjvS0

Right now, most cell phone towers cannot send and receive data at the same time. So, data can only go in one direction at a time. If your phone is receiving data, it can't also send data. But, thanks to full-duplex, your phone and the cell tower can now communicate back and forth at the same time. Then, instead of your phone broadcasting over a radius to connect to the tower, beamforming efficiently creates a "direct line" between you and the cell tower. Lastly, there is MIMO, or Multiple Input Multiple Output, which is essentially adding more antennas to cell towers. Put all of these features together and, it can definitely increase your mobile internet speeds.

But now it's time to get into a little bit of science. All wireless technology operates on some level of the electromagnetic spectrum. For instance, when you turn on your radio and tune into 107.5, you're accessing the 107.5 MHz band, which is right here. 2.4GHz Wi-Fi operates here, and 5 GHz Wi-Fi operates here. Beyond just wireless technology, the electromagnetic spectrum also contains visible light, powers our microwaves, and is used for x-rays. But, getting back to cellular, you can find that right here. Now, none of this really matters. The only thing you need to know is the further right you travel, the faster speeds you will get with a more unstable connection. Then, the further left you travel is a wider range of coverage at a much slower speed.

First, let's compare 5G to a technology you're probably more familiar with, Wi-Fi. Most home Wi-Fi routers can broadcast at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Those are here and here on the spectrum. In some cases, you will have two independent networks set up for each of these bands. Others will automatically and intelligently connect you to whichever band will give you the best connection. But what's the difference? Well, 2.4GHz is lower on the spectrum, which is ideal for providing a solid connection to a very wide area. On the other hand, 5GHz is much higher on the spectrum and supports the fastest speed possible. However, it does get handicapped by anything that could be laying in between your device and the WIFI router, such as walls and furniture.

Now, let's apply this to cellular tech. 2.4GHz Wi-Fi is to 4G mobile as 5GHz is to 5G mobile.

https://youtu.be/9j8G_4FocrA

Now it's time for me to say that 5G isn't that simple. According to the Verge video I have linked below there are three levels to 5G. Low-band 5G provides coverage over a very large area with speeds just a little bit higher than 4G. High-band 5G can cover a city block and give you faster speeds than your home internet. Then there is mid-band, which will cover a large area at speeds between low-...

Think of all the important files on your Mac. Your massive photo collections of your children growing up, that vacation you took a couple of years ago, or that party you went to in your younger days. How about your important documents from work or school. Now think what would happen if all of that disappeared in an instant. Maybe you lose your MacBook, or it's stolen. Maybe something inside your computer fails, like your storage drive. Or, one day, you turn on your computer, and nothing happens. In an instant, all those memories are gone, and all that hard work has vanished. This is why it's so important to back up your computer, and that's what I'm going to show you today.

https://youtu.be/Y-FD1Z_MAl8

When you're backing up your computer, you're making another copy of your treasured information. It can be a full copy of your computer or just important folders and files. Then, if something happens to your computer, you have another copy of your data to fall back on.

Now, there are a couple of places you can save another copy of your data, a local backup with an external drive, and/or an off-site backup with a cloud provider.

First, let's look at the cloud, which may be a more expensive option since it requires a subscription plan from a cloud service like Google Drive, iCloud Drive, DropBox, or Microsoft OneDrive. The way this works, each of these cloud storage solutions has a desktop app. From their app, you can dictate which folders on your computer you want to sync. Anytime you save a file, delete a file, or edit a file in one of those folders, your changes are, more or less, immediately copied to that cloud service, as long as you have an internet connection and are signed in.

In addition, each of these cloud storage providers has an app for Mac and Windows, Android and iOS, and web access. With this, you can access your files saved on the cloud from any device.

The cloud is a good solution if you switch between multiple devices, like a desktop, laptop, and phone. For instance, you use your iMac at home and a MacBook when you're on the go. You can start a document on your laptop and save it to the cloud. Then, once you get home, you can open that file on your iMac and pick up where you left off. It does all of this while also serving as an off-site backup.

So, which service should you use? Well, if you're in the Google ecosystem, then purchase some Google Drive storage. If you're in the Apple ecosystem, get some iCloud Drive storage. And, if you're in the Microsoft ecosystem, get OneDrive storage. But, don't be too quick to jump on OneDrive because you may already be paying for it. If you have a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription, 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage is included with your plan, in addition to the most up-to-date version of Office. But, it also depends on which provider you feel more comfortable with and you think will keep your data private and secure.

If you want to learn more about these cloud solutions, check out the links below.

Cloud services are good for saving your important folders and files then syncing them across your devices. But, it still doesn't capture a full copy of your computer. For that, we will need an external drive and a time machine.

Let's start by looking into external drives. You can get these from almost anywhere, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and, of course, Amazon. When browsing your options, there are two things to consider, its capacity and how it connects to your computer.

My recommendation is to find a drive that is twice the capacity of your computer. If you don't know how much space is in your computer...