I have a terrible affliction. Whenever there is some minor, but annoying technology glitch in my life, I have to experiment and research in an attempt to fix it, no matter how long it takes. Hopefully, I succeed and don't make things worse. And when I do succeed, all is right in the world as I emerge victorious! 

For the longest time I couldn't get my Kindle to recognize or connect to my WiFi. It had worked on a different WiFI router before so I was fairly sure it wasn't a problem with my Kindle.  

As it turns out, the solution was there, but it was hidden in an Amazon.com forum. All credit goes to user "2fatcats." Whoever you are, I salute you.

EZPZ solution:

1. Change the channel setting on your WiFi router from "automatic" to any channel from 1-11. That's it!

For some reason, the Kindle cannot connect with a router with "automatic" channel selection. 

See the original solution here.

Having access to movies or TV programs when you are traveling is great for families, especially those with children. Having a travel friendly laptop, tablet or a larger phone is great for individual viewing, but doesn't cut it when it comes to enjoying a program together. Plenty of hotels provide a selection of free and paid entertainment through the TV in your room, but there are times when this doesn't cut it.

On your next vacation, expand what you can watch on the hotel TV by using your Chromecast (Roku or Amazon Fire TV stick).

What you Need:
A. Chromecast or similar device (including the power cord)
B. Hotel TV with an open and accessible HDMI port (for your Chromecast to plug into)
C. A wireless travel router (my favorite)

EZPZ steps:
At home
Before you leave, set up your Chromecast to work on the WiFi network that your wireless travel router uses.

At the hotel
1. Plug in your wireless travel router into the ethernet
2. Plug in your Chromecast into the back of the TV and plug in the Chromecast
3. Cast and enjoy Netflix, YouTube, etc!

Note: You might need to manually change the input on your TV. If you need help with this, check out the super secret way to do this with some of the more common TV's.

Finally, an alternative that requires less tech savvy is to bring your own portable DVD player and hook it up to the hotel TV.

The Winter of 2015 was pretty brutal, with record snowfalls, school closings and delays, and general mayhem on the roads. So when I had the opportunity to go to Peru on a business trip, a warm smile formed on my face. We landed at Lima International Airport, picked up our bags and headed outside. The unfamiliar feel of heat and the sunshine on my face was an amazing change. We were headed to the Miraflores district of Lima, which borders the Pacific ocean and is known for its shopping, parks and beaches. Much of the ride to our hotel was along the Circuito de Playas, which is a highway that runs along the coastline and is reminiscent of the California Pacific Coast Highway.

Each of us reached for our phones around the same time to call home and let our families know we had landed. One co-worker using Verizon had no problem. However, the rest of us who used AT&T were not so lucky. We had all coordinated with our company IT and were assured that our phones would work internationally. We called company tech support, who advised us to restart our phones - no joy. We tried fiddling with our iPhone settings - no joy.

The worst part was we could see the building of the main cell phone carrier, CLARO from our hotel and it seemed inconceivable that there wouldn't be a strong signal from were we were standing.

Through a lot of trial and error, a coworker and I finally figured out a sequence to get our phones working again. I believe it had something to do with the LTE setting interfering with the cellular connection. If you ever have problems getting your phone to recognize and KEEP the local cellular signal while traveling internationally, try this!

1. Restart your iPhone
2. In Settings, go to "Carrier" and toggle off "Automatic"
3. Wait a bit, then select a local carrier from the list (CLARO PER)  
4. From Settings, Select "Cellular" then toggle off "Enable LTE"
5. Bask in the glow of a fully working phone

EZPZ and happy travels!