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Bye, Bye Google Fi: Choosing My New Cell Phone Service

Google Fi: Value Lost

I have been a Google Fi user for years. When it started, then ‘Project’ Fi was innovative. A flat rate $20 for text and voice, plus $10/gb. You could switch between multiple providers to expand coverage. But that is still what it is for their base plan. They do offer Simply Unlimited($50 a month for a single person), and Unlimited Plus($65 a person). But their unlimited plans only work if you have multiple people. You need 4 or more people to pay $25 a person. They do have a limited time promotion for new customers going on, but I’m only looking at what I’d ultimately end up paying.

Fi used to offer more, even with that plan. The occasional gift, a vending machine at the airport, good deals on hardware. But the deals only seem to be for new customers now. Long standing customers like me got nothing. You had full integration with Google Hangouts…which is An innovative little carrier has stagnated. Fi is also unique in that it has the top level of network prioritization on T-Mobile. It also offers extra data only SIMs on several plans. MVNOs usually, in congested areas, fall behind the provider’s service.

In the end, the price hasn’t gone done, and it is still $10 a GB when everyone else is reducing that cost.

So I started shopping around. I’m not including taxes by default below, so consider that on top of this. Also, unless I mention otherwise, unlimited text and voice and I’m not mentioning hotspotting at this time. For those of you outside the US, I’m only looking for myself. Apologies. For those Americans who travel outside the country, I did factor that in, but I’ll address that in a separate post.

 

Mint Mobile

Mint is very popular, however, its plans are most economical when bought in annual increments. So, we’re going to look at their annual plans. I’m willing to plop down 100% to start with.

  • $15 a month for 5GB
  • $20 a month for 15GB
  • $25 a month for 20GB
  • $30 a month for unlimited

Ting

I’m not sure I would have looked at Ting if they hadn’t been the first prepaid carrier I switched to when I left my parent’s family share plan. Ting isn’t who it once was. Ting was once the leader in ala carte pricing. Now their plans are more conventional and unimpressive.

  • Set 5 – $25/month for 5GB
  • Set 12 – $35/month for 12GB
  • Unlimited – $45/month for 22GB

After you reach your limit, you’ll be slowed to a crawl. Any unused data carries over to the next month

MobileX

MobileX is the first MVNO I’ve mentioned that is running on Verizon, not T-Mobile. It has top priority on Verizon.

  • Unlimited 10 – $14.88/month for 10GB
  • Unlimited – $24.88 for unlimited

US Mobile

US Mobile offers a discount if you prepay annually. It is a bit more month to month

  • Unlimited Flex – $17.50/month for annual, not available month to month
  • Unlimited Started – $22.50/month for annual, $25 month to month
  • Unlimited Premium – $32.50/month for annual, $35 month to month

The differences are in hotspot data, Starter includes International data, and Premium offers a free smartwatch plan and network transfers(which otherwise cost $2 each). Network transfers are interesting. They offer service on different major networks…without naming them. If you want to switch which one, you pay the $2 to change.

Either way, $210 for a year of unlimited isn’t bad.

Visible

Visible is actually a prepaid carrier owner by Verizon. But don’t call Verizon.

  • Visible – $25/month for unlimited data on 5G/LTE, throttled video.
  • Visible+ $45/month for unlimited at premium speed on their wideband network

 

Tello Mobile

I ended up giving Tello a chance. Tello offers ala carte plans like Ting once did, as well as unlimited.

  • 1GB – $9/month
  • 2GB – $10/month
  • 5GB – $14/month
  • 10GB – $25/month
  • Unlimited Data(Really 35GB)/Minutes – $25 a month

You also don’t have to do unlimited phone/text, for example, $5/month gets you 1GB of data, and an extra $1 gets you 100 minutes and unlimited texts.

Conclusion

Picking a wireless carrier is extremely hard. There are a lot of good choices. And I only covered the ones that I considered because they fit my needs. I don’t stream video regularly. Since I got more data, I have been streaming music more, but I prefer my own music collection stored locally.

I was paying $20 a month for 2GB just to read and browse on my phone. That used to take less than 1GB…but all these sites are not concerned about data savings anymore. They are embedding autoplay videos, precaching resources, etc. So, without my behavior changing, I was using more data.

Ultimately, Tello won for the fact that I could justify the $25 a month(especially with a promo for 3 months at $15), but I could also switch down to 5GB a month which is still well above what I’m using on average. They made it extremely easy to set up and use an eSIM for a month in parallel with Fi as my phone supports that, then port my number over in 20 minutes. And even if I leave…I can still, thanks to the Pixel 9, try out anything for a month just to see what the experience is during my daily routine.

I did lose international included, but I’ll talk about that separately.

 

 

 

 

Published on April 8, 2025
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Exploring Jellyfin As Media Server Options Dwindle

MythTV- My Longtime Media Server

I’ve been running a MythTV server for over 15 years. MythTV is a DVR…and I use it to record television. Increasingly though, companies are locking down the ability for you to time-shift your own television forcing you to use their often less good hardware and software experiences. I still have a cable card, but the government no longer mandates cable companies to offer them. Several companies have already stopped supporting them, and most others will let you keep them until the day they can’t.

I could stick to broadcast TV, except…guess what? The new standard for broadcast, ATSC3, are starting to become encrypted and implement DRM. So, the future isn’t too bright there either.

MythTV does do personal media as well, but its way of doing it has remained largely unchanged for years. It might be the worst time to pivot to ripping to physical media. Last year, I commented on how sales of physical video media are tanking while physical audio media are rising. Since that time, I’ve been working on upgrading how I use the digital versions of my physical media.

I am foreseeing a future where I have to just watch the same classic shows over and over again because I can’t get anything new because they won’t sell them to me anymore. Remember, buying something on a streaming site is actually paying for a license they can revoke at any time without consequence. Which is not fine with me. But, rewatching classics I can get behind. I also found out I can raid the Walmart $5 DVD bin from their website. Time to finally watch the Shawshank Redemption.

What I’m happy with software wise is a moving target.

Plex

I set up Plex a few years ago to solve this. But Plex no longer seems to call itself a Personal Media Server. If you visit their website, it starts… “Meet your TV concierge. Need something to watch? We’re on it. Plex combines free movies & TV with the best free streaming services, so there’s always more to discover.”

Under the Question of what Plex is, they say, “A one-stop destination to stream movies, TV shows, and music, Plex is the most comprehensive entertainment platform available today. Available on almost any device, Plex is the first-and-only streaming platform to offer free ad-supported movies, shows, and live TV together with the ability to easily search—and add to your Watchlist—any title ever made, no matter which streaming service it lives on. Using the platform as their entertainment concierge, 17 million (and growing!) monthly active users count on Plex for new discoveries and recommendations from all their favorite streaming apps, personal media libraries, and beyond.”

It isn’t until the last few words that they even mention personal media library. It makes me worry about their priorities, especially after they added social features and made some of them opt out by default, including for existing customers.

Jellyfin- A New Option Emerges

By comparison, Jellyfin describes itself by saying that, “Jellyfin enables you to collect, manage, and stream your media.” It is a volunteer run open source project.

I like fully open projects and Jellyfin is pretty full functioning already. Some things I had to work a bit more to set up that happened automatically in Plex, but it still didn’t take that long to do.

Conclusion

I’m running both Jellyfin and Plex in parallel on the same library, to decide what I’ll use ultimately. Expect me to write more on this. Comment if you have any advice.

 

Published on February 24, 2025
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My Mechanical Keyboard Obsession- Too Much?

Picture of keyboard to illustrate point of postToo Many Keyboards?

Last night, I happened across an article by Tanveer Singh over at XDA Developers. I don’t know the author personally, but XDA Developers started as a mobile development forum and did pivot into many other things, and I have followed them for some time. More recently, they have been posting a lot of mechnical keyboard themed articles.

The title of this article was, “5 Signs My Mechanical Keyboard Obsession is out of Hand.” Singh isuses a warning that is a good one for any hobby. Don’t let something you enjoy become something compulsive or obsessive.

Like him, I worry I may be acquiring too many keyboards because I also like to try things. I’ve had to make some compromises.

  • I’ve tried to scale down purchases in certain categories
  • I sold off some inventory to others(contact me if you want to buy anything)
  • I’m trying to find unique designs, not just new versions of the same thing.
  • I want to have some aluminum cases, but that is where the money is. Either I’m buying discounted metal cased boards, or I’m going with other materials. I found a keyboard layout I wanted to try…the circuit board is on sale for $33, the case is $165.
  • I’ve printed my own cases(from other people’s designs) and am trying to get better at that. I’m printing one as I type.
  • I’ve experimented with printing my own keycaps as well. Over $100 for keycaps when all the other parts are $50 seems wrong to me.
  • I’ve turned my collection into wall art. Sitting above my work desk is an adjustable wall of keyboard in a multicolor display. I regular swap and take them off their hooks when I feel like something different.

Keyboard Construction As A Hobby

The ones I soldered together and built the cases for are akin to someone who does woodworking and keeps building bird houses. It is the activity of construction. Singh misses that aspect of it. Even if you just go for simple assembly of a hotswap keyboard(adding switches and keycaps), I have boards that turned out to be poor decisions that I have either been purging or trying to modify so they sound better. I have projects I’ve been tweaking.

When I restarted 3d printing after being turned off by my lemon of an Ender, I got the A1 Mini on the theory most of what I’d printed before was less than 180mm square. But when I started with keyboard cases a few months later, I quickly needed something larger to be able to print entire cases. I still didn’t spring for a printer that could do anything larger than a 65…maybe a 75 if I stretch it, in a single piece.

I haven’t tried designing my own case or handwiring yet. Handwiring would be designing a case and wiring it without a circuit board, instead wiring the switches directly to a controller. Credit to the keyboard community for being very supportive of my questions and encouraging me to try new things.

However, despite the fact I’ve pivoted to try to pick more interesting pieces…like collecting southpaw keyboards(southpaw is where there is a number pad on the left side as opposed to the right), there are still a lot of opportunities for diversion. I always wanted to have a crafting hobby. i’ve done many project over the years, but this is probably the most craft-like of them.

Published on February 17, 2025
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Pictures of sub-60% keyboards
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Happy 40s Day 2025

The Keyboard community is an interesting collection of people and contains many sub-communities. One of those is the 40s community…individuals who like smaller keyboards, specifically 40% layouts or smaller. On the 40th day of the year, in 2025, February 9th, they celebrate by posting pictures of their collections. Here is my submission for 40s day.Picture of 40s keyboards mounted on a wall display

 

Pictured you can see several different design variants in this area. Three smaller Vault35 keyboards with differing layouts,  three 50% keyboards(one split), a Minivan layout in 3d printed blue, a Monorail in yellow with a handle.

40s keyboards are often individually made, with parts often designed and produced in small batches. The community is full of creative designers, many of which designs layouts and boards from scratch.

They come in ortholinear variants, for example. Ortholinear would be where the keys are all the same size. There are split models, where the keyboard separates into two pieces.

There are many advantages to them I’ve mentioned before. There are also disadvantages. I initially thought I couldn’t use anything that small, but learned to do so over time and enjoy it. A smaller keyboard minimizes the movement of your fingers, even if you have to use combinations of keys to produce the keys that have no dedicated key on the board.

In addition to some people preferring them, their size makes them ideal for travel.

The problem is, with it being such a niche market, if you don’t want to construct them yourself, even with buying the circuit board pre-made, they can be expensive…although there are some more budget options. Even keycaps often lack an inexpensive option due the fact that unless you use blank keycaps, you might not be able to find a 1U Enter Key, or one of the other keys that don’t come in standard sets.

When the keycaps cost more than the keyboard they are in, that can be a choice or merely an indication of lack of choice in the market. On two in the image above, I tried 3d printing my own keycaps. Not perfect. They have the legends on them…though you might have to zoom to see them clearly.

The reason I’ve grown to love the 40s community is because of the creativity and excitement they display. And the reason I started 3d printing parts of them is not just because there are dozens of designs out there, but because it is a way of saving money on this hobby, which can be expensive.

 

 

Published on February 9, 2025
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Gridfinity: Solving Your Messy Drawer Problem With 3D Printing

example of gridfinity in a drawerNot long ago, I was talking about wall mounted systems for organization, and the 7 pieces of wallboard I mounted, and the scores of brackets I printed to fill them. So many brackets in fact, I have to replace some parts of the printer. But, walls are not the only organizational opportunity. The next one is drawers. I have a lot of little drawers stuffed full of items I’d like to make organized.

Gridfinity- Your Drawer Organization Solution

And that brings me to Gridfinity. Gridfinity is a 4x4cm grid system you can place on the bottom of drawers. Inserts for the grid can be customized for specific sizes within the grid.  Because of the small size of the grid, you can install it flexibly in different size spaces, and then install bins and organizers of 1×1, 2×1, etc sizes.

When I replaced several drawers about three years ago, I added in some static kitchen organizing trays. They fit the drawers, but none of the bins were exactly the size I needed for what I wanted to put in the drawer. In my first Gridfinity installation, I removed the bamboo dividers and replaced them with custom sized gridfinity. The drawer now has bins for neatly getting everything I want to be able to access in there. And if what I want changes, I can remove, rearrange, and replace bins.

You just have to visit the Gridfinity subreddit to see image after image of unique ways this system is being used for creative organization.

Once you get above a certain size bin, Gridfinity is probably not the system for you. For example, if you wanted to organize a clothing drawer, a 4x4cm grid is probably not the right design. But this is yet another good way to utilize a 3d printer to organize your life.

Published on February 3, 2025
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How To Create Usable Wall Space With Ikea’s SKÅDIS and 3D Printing

Wall space- potentially prime real estate, but, blank, bare and barren, it is limited in its utility. I don’t have that much space in my one bedroom apartment. My bedroom is for sleeping, my kitchen is for cooking, my bathroom…well, you get the point. That leaves my living room for everything else. It is my:

  • Home Office
  • Workshop
  • Homelab
  • Home Theater and Media Consumption location
  • Dining Room
  • 3d Printer Farm
  • Guest Room
  • Etc

That means that organization is a constant struggle, because I always have projects. I built an Ikea hacked 3d printing station, both it and my desk use a restaurant table as their tabletop. In the years I’ve lived here, I have reorganized and reorganized, dumped stuff, acquired new stuff and added complexity, simplified. It’s a struggle.

My most recent organizational attempt was to utilize the wall space. You can line the walls with shelves or bookcases, but again, space constraints…and I do have some of that. Most recently, I decided I wanted to add storage to the wall above my desk. The wall had very little on it. At the top was a photo ledge I have photos on, so this would be the space between the top of the monitor and the photo ledge I need to fill. The other issue is, having a hand crankable standing desk, which I should crank up more often, over the desk, at least, I can’t do shelves of any significant depth for large storage.

That made this a mostly unused space up until now. I could have added some photos, but how many photos can you put on your wall? This made me go with wallboard. And there were a lot of choices.

Pegboard

Wall Control is a traditional metal pegboard design and is fairly popular. It comes in a variety of colors. You can visit their store on Amazon here. I had decided I wanted white or black, because I felt anything else looked too much like a workshop you’d have in a garage. I’m not sure why round holes look worse to me than other choices. I wanted something that looked good in a combined living room setting.

You can also get plastic pegboard for less.

 

 

IKEA SKÅDIS

utilizing wall space The next option is the SKÅDIS Series at IKEA.

As opposed to the traditional round pegholes, these are slits. The pegboards are made out of acrylic and fiberboard as opposed to metal.This is probably the cheapest material you can buy…but that’s Ikea for you. But not only do they offer this product at a reasonable rate, but they have a variety of accessories, and more importantly for someone with a 3d printer, there are hundreds of accessories you can print yourself. You can even print Skadis compatible boards in different sizes using a 3d printer.

 

Honeycomb Storage Wall(HSW)

Honeycomb Storage Wall, credit RostaP

The Honeycomb Storage Wall is one popular 3d printed solution, with a variety of accessories people have designed for it. It was created by user RostaP on Printables. Being honeycomb, it uses less filament to cover a space than trying to print Pegboard or a Skadis equivalent.

 

 

 

 

Multiboard

Multiboard is another 3d printed solution. Multiboard has some advantages over HSW.

  • It can hold over 18x the weight
  • It has pegboard holes for pegboard accessories as well
  • Threads for a strong fit
  • Multiple mounting options

Multiboard is free, but has a paid model, unlike HSW. The paid model gives you extra support and early access to the creator’s designs, which he ultimately releases for free later on.

Where I Ended Up

I ended up with the Skadis system to fill the wall space above my desk, and extending behind my television, which is not wall mounted. It now takes up an entire section of my wall, opposite my couch, my shelving, the table I eat at, and my couch.

Why Skadis?

I printed a piece of multiboard, and a piece of honeycomb storage wall, and I do have plans for some small installation of that in a different location. But there were several reasons. To cover the same volume of wall with the printer I have, I would have had to print a minimum of 30 panels, which would be days of printing, not to mention the cost of the filament. I had this up in a day, and I’ve spent days just printing accessories.

What Is Up on the Wall Space?

A section is storing canisters, a large portion is reserved for display space of items that would otherwise not be displayed, and that leaves room for some of the miscellaneous on my desk.

Conclusion

Organization is a constant challenge, because you are constantly changing, your things are changing, and having modular and adaptable storage methods is definitely a way to address that. Tomorrow, after spending a week printing accessories, I could teach down the entire setup down to the bare boards and rearrange it. I can try things. I can print different accessories. I can change course. The wall behind my TV is no longer a dead zone, it is now a storage space. And I have more dead zones I can fill. Behind the monitors, which are on desk mounts. Under the desk. and more.

And ultimately, the black panels fit into the room without making it look like a workshop.

Published on January 27, 2025
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Govee Link Sensors- A Simple Leak Monitoring Solution

In a recent post, my fellow writer on this site wrote about Govee leak sensor for leak monitoringvacation home temperature monitoring. The focus there was temperature and humidity. But there is a more urgent monitoring need. Leak monitoring. There are a lot of choices for leak sensors in various price points and using various technologies. The sensors my fellow writer used were wifi based and require an app.

Going With Govee Leak Sensor

Using an app doesn’t bother me, but it being the only option worries me in terms of longevity. So I opted for Govee Water Leak Sensors. You can buy them by themselves, or with a wifi gateway. These sensors transmit at the common frequency of 433Mhz which means a simple usb dongle can pick it up and integrate it into any system, in addition to using the wifi gateway with app. I’ve since bought and installed them for many relatives.

Govee, however, has a wide range of technology. They offer their Leak Sensor 2s, which use LoRa technology on the 915Mhz band, which is a low power technology with extended range. But for the most part, I can pick up the older version on all around the house. I don’t need the extra range LoRa might offer. Ability to integrate is more important to me.

What can you do with integration? If you have a cutoff switch for your water, you can trigger it to close. You can notify more than one person, very flexibly. Not just phone notifications, sirens, flashing lights…whatever. The hardest part of home automation is designing the automation. The tools have gotten better, but the planning can be the challenge.

In the end, integration or not, the Govee classic Leak Sensor is frequently on sale, it is reliable, and has alerted to water leaks behind toilets and sinks on numerous occasions. Place one anywhere there is running water. Use the wifi option to be alerted when you are far away.  Consider as well a remote water shut off device that will allow you to shut off your water remotely; perhaps we will discuss one in a future post.

Published on January 16, 2025
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Vacation Home Temperature Monitoring: Ensure All Is OK From Far Away

Vacation Home Temperature Monitoring

Owning a vacation home or a second home is a wonderful luxury, but managing your home when you are far away comes with its own set of challenges—especially when it comes to maintaining proper environmental conditions. This is where the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer Thermometer(Model STH54) becomes an invaluable tool.

With its ability to monitor both temperature and humidity, this smart device allows you to keep an eye on your property remotely, offering peace of mind and helping you avoid costly issues. Here’s how I use this vacation home temperature monitoring solution to protect my distant home.

Safeguarding My Wine Cellar

One of the first places I installed the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer was in my wine cellar. Proper storage conditions are critical for preserving the quality of wine, and even slight fluctuations in temperature or humidity can have a significant impact.

Using the hygrometer, I’m able to track real-time temperature and humidity levels from my phone, no matter where I am. The app’s customizable alarms notify me immediately if conditions deviate from my set parameters, ensuring my wine is always stored in ideal conditions.

Monitoring Plumbing for Burst Pipe Prevention

Another strategic placement for the sensor was near plumbing. In colder climates, pipes are at risk of freezing and bursting when temperatures drop too low, and when gone for months there is no need to keep the house fully heated. Even though I drain my pipes and turn off the main, I want to be sure that these areas of the house don’t drop too low. By positioning the X-Sense hygrometer near vulnerable areas, I can monitor temperatures remotely and receive alerts if they approach freezing. This gives me time to act, whether it’s adjusting the home’s heating system(also remotely) or contacting someone nearby to check on the property.

Simple Setup and Seamless Control

Setting up the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer was surprisingly simple. After unboxing the device, I downloaded the companion app and connected the base station to my home’s Wi-Fi network.  Then I was able to pair each of the three sensors with the base station and place them. Within minutes, I was able to view data, set alarm thresholds, and start monitoring my property. The intuitive app makes it easy to adjust settings and view historical data, providing a comprehensive view of environmental conditions over time.

Peace of Mind, Wherever You Are

With the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer, being far away my second home has become significantly less stressful. Knowing that I’ll be notified of any potential issues gives me peace of mind, whether I’m hundreds of miles away or just down the road. It’s a small investment that has already paid off by helping me maintain optimal conditions for my property and prevent potential disasters.

If you’re looking for a reliable, easy-to-use solution to monitor temperature and humidity at your vacation home, the X-Sense Wi-Fi Hygrometer is a tool worth considering. I have found it to be an indispensable tool for vacation home temperature monitoring.

Published on January 16, 2025
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Exploring Unique Keyboard Layouts: MiniLA, HHKB, and Beyond

I’ve been talking about keyboards as a regular topic for a while. And as I’ve been delving into the topic, I’ve found the idea of unique and different layouts to be something worth experimenting with. That brings us to the MiniLA and the HHKB layouts for keyboards.

MiniLa Keyboard Layout

The MiniLa, or the Minimal Layout, is a 60% layout designed to be as minimal as possible without sacrificing functionality. The left shift is 2U and the right shift is only 1U…1U being a standard key size. The spacebar is 3U, half the size of the standard spacebar, which allows for extra keys to right and left. This allows for full arrow keys, which usually don’t fit in a 60% profile. The left Control is 1.75U…the same size as the Caps Lock key. The default layout has a split backspace, making backspace also a 1U. You can find the original MiniLa keyboard here.

HHKB Keyboard Layout

The other unique layout in the 60% form factor is the HHKB layout, or the Happy Hacker Keyboard. Control replaces the seldom used Caps Lock key, putting it in a more convenient place, The layout also drops the Backspace/Delete key to where the Backslash is, which allows it to be used in touch typing more easily. There really is no practical reason for the backslash to be a 1.5U key. It also makes this primarily a Delete key, with Backspace as a layered functioned. Since the Control Key is missing, the bottom row is reduced down to the spacebar and 2 keys on each side, as opposed to three on a standard layout.  In place of a 2u backspace, the space is occupied by the backslash key and the Backtick/Tilde key, which is normally on the left as that space is where the Escape key is. You can find the original HHKB keyboard wired here, or wireless here.

Both of the above use a standard QWERTY layout, with only the modifier keys being shifted around. But as I previously mentioned, another alternative to the Caps Lock key placement is inherent in the Colemak layout, where it provides another backspace, reducing the need to stretch one’s finger to the backspace position.

In all of these layouts, extraneous keys are removed, replacing functionality with layers…key combinations that produce the key, reducing finger travel and allowing for closer placement of the mouse next to the keyboard. Over time, people have come up with even smaller layouts than the 60% variations. The 40%, which drops the number row, and is a 4×12 layout. The QAZ, which removes a column from the left side. 30% drops the keyboard down even further to 3×10. Most people won’t go below 60 though, and some think even that is too small.

Even though most people won’t use the smaller layouts, there is a dedicated group of people who use and love them. But, even with the traditional layouts, there are ways to optimize them to your usage. As I’ve said before, ask yourself…what keys don’t you use very often? Maybe you could have a smaller keyboard, which would take up less space. But some individuals do like the choice.

 

Published on January 15, 2025
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Monitor Ergonomics: Using Taller Monitor Mounts For Better Comfort

In pursuit of the perfect ergonomic desk setup, I’ve added deskmats, tried different keyboards, adjusted many things…and continue to do some. But recently, when I found myself visiting family, I was experiencing some discomfort in my back as I sat at the desk in their guest room and I decided to upgrade the ergonomics of my monitors.

An image of the Wali Dual Monitor Mount
Wali Monitor Mount

I have multiple desks to  configure. Work, home, the guest room at relative’s homes where I sometimes work when I visit. This location is the one I visit the least, so I built a dual monitor setup there out of retired parts from my own desk. Older monitors I’d upgraded but were still good, and a new mount. But it was the mount I sought to replace. It was a standard dual mount monitor mount pole from Wali.

Upgrading Monitor Ergonomics

There are several inexpensive companies that make products I use for this….this one was from Wali. The pole is 16 inches long. That just doesn’t work for a taller individual…and this is not explained by most manufacturers. There is an almost identical one from Vivo.

I mention Vivo as it seems like Vivo and Wali are manufactured by the same factory. Their pole mounts have several features I like in a budget mount. For one, the plate is removable, can be attached to the back of the monitor, then slipped onto the arm and secured with a nut. Many of these arms require you to attach the monitor to the arm, which is definitely more difficult. I previously wrote about the simple Vivo Livestream Device Shelf Mount.

But I found, at my height, I was looking down at the monitor. Ergonomics experts say the top of the screen should be at or slightly below eye level. So, you can get the 32 inch tall version of the Wali. Or in my case, get the pole and reuse the arm. I actually have the 39 inch tall version in my apartment, but I also have more than one thing mounted to the arm, not just the monitor arm.  This height would also allow you to have a second screen on top of, as opposed to next to the first.  You can buy all sorts of accessories from Vivo and Wali…extra arms, laptop mounts for the arms, etc.

People also often use these taller poles to mount monitors in portrait mode…a configuration which has its fans.The idea is that it makes focusing on a part of the screen easier for reading. This is often in a dual monitor system, with one monitor oriented this way. There are also other considerations depending on how large your monitor is. Some have switched from the now ‘quaint’ dual monitor setup to a single ultra wide monitor…where they separate it in a similar way in digital space to the way you handle things when you have separate monitors. And that can also help with ergonomics.

Your monitor is supposed to be about arms length from your eyes, however the larger the viewing area is the farther away you might want to be from the screen. At the same time, your keyboard should be even with your elbows.

In the end, start at the recommended distance and height for your monitors. You may adjust over time as you find what is most comfortable for to get the best ergonomic monitor setup.

 

 

 

Published on December 31, 2024
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