WiFi but no Internet, what now?

You often meet people believing having WiFi also means having Internet connection. I'd like to tell a little story about a case where a client of a hotel couldn't get Internet despite having WiFi connected.

It was in a hotel in the Netherlands and myself also on holiday sitting outside. At the reception there was a woman complaining that she doesn't get Internet connection. As I noticed the situation I went there to find out what's going on.

After telling about my qualification I could take a look at that laptop. It was in French, a language where I'm just familiar with the basics and the user also didn't have admin permissions.

So I checked if the WiFi connection was actually working and also used ipconfig to look for the current IP address.

And it was an address from the 192.168 area. For that hotel it seemed quite unusual to me so I checked the IP address from my phone and it had an address from the 172.16. range. So my conclusion was: The IP address was manually changed on the laptop, but unfortunately I couldn't see it due to not having the needed permissions to see and change the network settings.

I asked for the asked password, but apparently she misunderstood. Language barrier. Finally she logged off and logged in with the admin account and she had the password! Now it was easy: I went to the network settings and I really saw that the network settings where manually changed to a 192.168 IP address.

I made a screenshot of the settings and changed the them to DHCP. The Windows laptop got a new IP address and Internet was working. The woman and the people at the reception were happy.

Obviously her husband made this change because their local network environment made it necessary: Like the laptop had trouble getting an IP address, their DHCP server isn't working or he just wanted to make sure that nobody else gets an IP address except the ones he would chose manually.

Anyway, it was probably too easy and not worth to mention, but these are such cases where basic users don't have any idea at all. It's better to help out if you can instead of people throwing their stuff unnecessarily away.

TheSuperAdmins #004: Catch them all!

Pokémon GO is still unavoidable, even for TheSuperAdmins. Just be aware which Pokémon you approach...

See in big: #4 Catch them all!

See all comics

Read also about Pokémon GO:
- Why Pokémon GO was the best for Pokémon
- Galaxy S3 mini and Pokémon GO

Poll: Your thoughts on the free Windows 10 upgrade

Before the offer for a free upgrade to Windows 10 ended on 28th July 2016 I asked in a poll what people are thinking about. Here's the result:

Windows 10 is free to upgrade until next July - your thoughts?

I already use Windows 10 25% I will upgrade to Windows 10 until then 0% I won't upgrade, will still use Windows 8(.1) 0% I won't upgrade, will still use Windows 7 50% I can't upgrade, I will still use Windows Vista 0% I can't upgrade, I will still use Windows XP 0% I don't care. I don't use Windows 25%

It could have been a better result with more votes, but it still gives the impression that there were people not willing to use the free upgrade. Windows 7 is still a stable system and still ok for a usual user? Why changing a running system.

That's why we still have a 47% market share of Windows 7 systems. At least Windows 10 could jump to 21% in July - most likely due to the free upgrade possibilty...

How to download your pictures from Google Photos

Google Photos is an easy way to put taken pictures from your phone into the cloud - especially because Google offers a bit more basic space than others. But how can you download your pictures again?

While using Google Photos you can select single pictures to download or also from a single day, but there's no option like 'Select all'.

Luckily there's another way you can apply in order to download all your Google Photos.

Use Google Takeout, a tool to download all your data from your Google profile - including Photos. So select Google Photos, the file type you want (like *.zip) and decide where you want your data to have delivered. Options are OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or even as an email link.

Once you've made you decision, an archive of your pictures will be created...

PS: Do you know from which city the pictures above were taken from?

Why Pokémon GO was the best for Pokémon

There was a time where almost everyone had a Gameboy and got addicted to the virtual monsters. Now everyone has a smartphone and the idea of using this platform instead of a classic handheld was a very clever idea...

I think I'm a good example for many current Pokémon GO players: I grew up with the first generation of Pokémon playing the Gameboy games and the TCG, I also know the second generation from the Johto area. I also know a few Pokémon from Hoenn (3rd generation), but what happened afterwards I don't know. Same about watching the anime.

Many other fans now in their mid-20s have a similar background. There are also the kind of people just knowing from the first 151 Pokémon. Anyway, for a lot of people Pokémon was gone for a lot of years even if it was still there with new games and so on.

Not everyone has a current Nintendo console or handheld at home to play these games. But everyone has a smartphone. So the idea of using the Android and iOS platform in combination with a free application was a great way for a revival of Pokémon.

It has a nostalgia effect: Now everybody can walk out and be a real Pokémon trainer. Like a childhood dream becoming reality. It was right thing to do in the current era where we have smartphones, with camera, GPS and mobile data. As an app in an app store it was quite easy to distribute the application to anyone - so easy that the servers where having trouble to face such a big amount of players. People like me having an older phone with and incompatible Android version also found a way...

But it's not just played by people in their 20s. Even small kids from primary school are playing it with their smartphone. At that age I didn't even had a phone at all...

Let's also look at the effect on the media. News sites which probably haven't mentioned Pokémon for more than a decade are also spreading news about the new app. Facebook pages making jokes about people playing GO, lots of memes were created and it's a boost for the whole brand. It had such a huge impact in the world - it also reminded the people that Pokémon still exists.

It also has an effect on the merchandising. I noticed that especially while walking past souvenir shops at places like Santa Monica or Venice Beach in California. Almost every shop selling T-shirts had Pokémon shirts in their assortment.

As mentioned before: That also little kids are playing the game has also an important meaning: It brings the Pokémon to the next generation. The generation of people growing up with a smartphone!

Of course there happened some incidents with people crossing the street without watching for cars or some kids illegally crossed a national border. I think these incidents make people more aware of what's happening - especially in the media. People need to look after themselves, you can't blame a car manufacturer for crashing your car even if it was your own fault.

Now it's going to be interesting if it was just a 2016 summer hype or if people keep playing the game. There'll surely be other augmented reality games in the near future. As long as there won't be a Mario Kart Go, as some made fun of in social media.

And Pokémon GO can be extended any time since they just used the first 151 Pokémon. Just the first generation, so they have way more to offer and they will. Let's see what the future brings.

Anyway: The summer of 2016 will be remembered as the revival of Pokémon.