With winter’s shorter days and colder temperatures, it’s common for many people to experience the “winter blues,” an often heavy feeling of malaise, tiredness, and moodiness that too frequently comes around this time of year—especially after the holidays have passed. Indeed, some of us even suffer from Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), an officially recognized condition affecting millions of people worldwide during the winter months.
SAD often leaves individuals feeling lethargic, depressed, and disconnected this time of year, making winter all but unbearable. Fortunately, modern technology offers a range of devices designed to help combat these feelings and improve mental well-being during the darker, chillier months. From light therapy to digital fitness, below we highlight some of FPUAnet Communications’ top tech suggestions to help beat SAD and the winter blues!
1. Light Therapy Devices to Combat Winter’s Diminished Sunlight
One of the main contributors to the winter blues is the reduced exposure to sunlight. To help alleviate this seasonal astronomical reality, medical professionals have long since recommended light therapy as a treatment for SAD—and thankfully, there’s technology to make it easier for anyone to increase their light exposure.
Light therapy boxes, which mimic natural sunlight, are designed to be used for 20-30 minutes per day, typically in the morning. These devices use bright white light, often around 10,000 lux, which is much stronger than regular indoor lighting. The exposure helps regulate melatonin and serotonin levels in the brain, improving mood and energy levels. We particularly like the Carex Day-Light Classic Plus for its adjustability to optimize light exposure, larger size to improve overall effectiveness, and strong durability.
2. Wearable Light Therapy Outside the Home
Light therapy doesn’t have to be confined to a light therapy box or lamp around the home or office. For a more portable solution, wearable light therapy devices, such as light therapy visors or glasses, are becoming increasingly popular. These devices allow you to go about your day while still benefiting from the therapeutic effects of light exposure.
Check out the Premium Blue Light Therapy Glasses from AYO. They work by gently exposing your eyes to blue light, helping to stimulate retinal cells. Many users report considerable improvement in their overall wellness, including better sleep, increased energy, and improved mood, all while being away from the desk or couch and out and about.
3. Smart Lighting to Create a Warm Ambience in Your Home
In addition to light therapy boxes to specifically target SAD, technology now lets you brighten your whole home—and your mood—at all times of the year. Smart lighting systems and devices help you create an inviting and uplifting atmosphere, which can be especially beneficial during the winter months. Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Bulbs are a top pick for many smart homes. One of the most well-known brands for smart lighting, Philips offers Hue bulbs in thousands of colors and hues, including seemingly countless shades of white, allowing you to adjust the light to suit any mood.
They can be controlled via the Philips Hue app (also available for Android-based devices) or through voice commands on smart home devices like Alexa or Apple HomeKit. Smart lighting allows you to adjust the color palette and intensity of your lights throughout the day. By replicating natural, brighter daylight during the morning and softer, warm lighting in the evening, you can help regulate your circadian rhythm and improve your sleep quality, as well as your mood and sense of well-being.
4. Smart Thermometers for a Cozy and Energy-Efficient Home
Of course, it isn’t just the reduced daylight and sunshine that brings people down during the depths of winter. Winter’s chill can become overbearing, contributing to a sense of feeling stuck and uncomfortable. Smart thermostats, such as the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium or the Google Nest Thermostat, can ensure your home remains at a comfortable temperature through the colder weather season.
Taking full advantage of the stronger Wi-Fi signal found in more homes today (thanks to advances in broadband technology such as FPUAnet Communications’ sophisticated fiber network), these devices can be controlled from your smartphone or tablet, so you can adjust settings before you even walk through the door. In this way, smart thermostats ensure you’ll receive a warm welcome when you come home while helping to keep energy costs low and your home more efficient.
5. Fitness and Activity Trackers: Stay Active Indoors
Science has demonstrated that exercise is a powerful tool for combatting depression and boosting mood during winter. But when the weather outside is cold and uninviting, it can be challenging to stay motivated to exercise. To help keep you moving, fitness trackers, such as the Fitbit Versa 4 or Garmin Forerunner 55, can help by offering reminders to stay active throughout the day.
These devices include features like step counting, heart rate monitoring, and activity goals, which can help you stay on track with your fitness routine even when the winter chill is telling you to stay indoors or under a blanket. Many fitness trackers also sync with apps that provide guided workouts, such as yoga, stretching, or bodyweight exercises, all of which can be done from the comfort of your home.
Winter may bring colder temperatures and shorter days, but with the right tech tools and devices, you can boost your mood, stay active, and improve your overall mental health. By incorporating these devices into your daily routine, you can maintain a positive outlook and stay energized, no matter how bleak the winter weather may seem. And for more tech recommendations any time of the year, follow FPUAnet Communications’ social pages!
From chestnuts roasting to bells a-jingling, it’s beginning to look a lot like the holiday season! And that means it’s time to start thinking about who’s getting what gift this year. If you’re already scratching your head about what to buy everyone on your list, fear not! Below, we present FPUAnet Communications’ curated list of practical, innovative, or just-plain-fun tech gifts for 2024.
From cutting-edge smart home devices to must-have accessories and quirky stocking stuffers, we’ve got even the pickiest gift recipients covered. Whether your loved ones are into gaming, fitness, productivity, or entertainment, there’s a tech gadget out there for everyone. And with FPUAnet Communications’ advanced fiber network, you can enjoy your gift with ease and lightning-fast speeds.
Smart Home Gadgets
We begin with some of our favorite smart home devices. With these smart home gadgets, connected to the power of FPUAnet Communications’ fiber, your loved ones’ homes will be more comfortable and efficient.
A smart speaker with a rotating screen, the Amazon Echo Show 10 is great for video calls, smart home control, and entertainment. The rotating screen moves to follow you around the room, making multitasking and conversation much easier.
Perfect for those looking to make their home smarter, the Google Nest Hub smart display offers voice controls, video calling, and even sleep tracking. It’s ideal for controlling smart home devices, checking the weather, or streaming videos.
The Philips Hue Ambiance Starter Kit helps transform any ordinary space into a well-lit wonder that’s sure to be the talk of the neighborhood. Its customizable, color-changing smart bulbs from Philips work well with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit.
Streaming Devices
Next, we highlight streaming sticks and similar devices. Perfect to add to non-smart TVs or to enhance options and apps for existing smart TVs, these streaming devices are worth a look.
Apple TV 4K is a streaming box that provides the sleek and sophisticated interface and features that Apple aficionados adore. This third generation from 2022 includes a Siri-Remote, which can be voice-controlled.
Compact but powerful, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max supports 4K Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos audio for streaming all your favorite content.
Fitness and Wearable Tech
Of course, good tech doesn’t need to be confined to the couch at the end of a long day! The wearable tech below can help you track your steps, monitor key health metrics, and stay active throughout the day.
A great option for fitness enthusiasts, this sleek fitness tracker keeps tabs on your overall activity levels, heart rate, and sleep patterns. The new “Health Metrics” dashboard also gives deeper awareness into wellness trends.
Ideal for a subtler but stylish look, this health monitoring ring tracks sleep, heart rate, body temperature, and activity. The Oura Ring offers insights into recovery times and overall wellness, too.
For an all-inclusive smartwatch option, this entry in Apple’s wearable lineup features enhanced health tracking, including heart rate and sleep monitoring, along with a faster chip and improved battery life.
Audio On-the-Go
To stay connected to your favorite music apps or to block out (most of) the sounds of the outside world while out and about, check out these portable audio options.
Sony’s award-winning noise-canceling headphones provide superior sound quality and up to 30 hours of battery life. They’re perfect for commuting, traveling, or deep work sessions.
This portable Bluetooth speaker offers Bose’s signature deep bass and clear sound in a rugged, water-resistant design, perfect for outdoor use.
Gaming Gear
Gamers are always on the lookout for tech that gives them an edge against their opponents! Below are three gifts to help elevate their game and improve their online gaming experience.
A top-tier gaming headset with advanced noise cancellation, hi-fi audio, and dual wireless modes for PCs and consoles, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Headset is a splurge gift that’s sure to please.
A mechanical gaming keyboard that features Razer's new linear optical switches, RGB backlighting, and programmable macro support for peak performance in any game, the BlackWidow V4 is a stellar keyboard.
For PC gamers, Corsair’s gaming mouse is a true game changer, featuring extensive battery life (around 50 hours), eight programmable buttons, and a comfortable textured grip and ergonomic design for long sessions.
Quirky Gadgets and Useful Accessories
Our last set of gift ideas runs the gamut from practical stocking stuffers to eccentric but meaningful surprise gifts.
Combining the power of artificial intelligence (AI) with the ordinary wonder of nature, the Masdio Smart Flowerpot enhances your plant care routine while letting you uniquely engage with your houseplants through its 49 AI-animated expressions.
The Ember Smart Mug 2 keeps your coffee or tea at the perfect temperature, which can be controlled through the Ember app. It’s ideal for fussier folks who like their drinks just right!
Help your loved ones keep track of their keys, bags, or other belongings with this compact Bluetooth tracker. It also syncs well with Samsung’s SmartThings app.
Anker’s 3-in-1 wireless charging station charges your phone, AirPods, and Apple Watch all in one convenient place with a sleek design that fits just about any space.
Perfect for writers, students, or those who love taking notes, the Rocketbook makes a thoughtful gift. This reusable notebook syncs with cloud services and lets you wipe it clean with a damp cloth.
Whether you’re shopping for someone who’s always on the cutting edge of tech or someone who loves practical, everyday gadgets—or even looking to indulge yourself—these gift ideas are sure to bring joy this holiday season. And for more tech suggestions this season or any time of the year, be sure to follow FPUAnet Communications’ social pages!
Consumers today face an abundance of choices for high-speed internet. And since you're already paying for a data plan with your cell phone service provider, you may also wonder if you should use that company for your internet service.
In this article, we explain what cellular internet is and why fiber is far and away the better choice for most consumers.
Your neighbors at FPUAnet Communications are proud to have the fastest and most reliable internet you can get. And we're especially thrilled that our internet speeds can keep up with major metropolitan areas around the country, helping our communities compete in the global economy.
With all the high-speed internet options available today, it's not surprising that customers need clarification when choosing an internet provider.
And it's not only the technology that's complicated—even the names of different internet-related products and services can be so similar and complicate things further!
So what is cellular or wireless/5G internet? Let's start with what cellular or wireless internet is not. First, wireless internet is not the same thing as Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi disperses internet signal throughout a home or office so that all your devices—smart TVs, laptops, tablets, cell phones, smart speakers, etc.—can be connected to the internet without a wired connection.
Thus, just like other kinds of internet (cable, satellite, or fiber), cellular or wireless internet enters the home or business and is distributed by Wi-Fi through the Wi-Fi router or related technology. Most customers will still use Wi-Fi and a router unless they plan to hardwire every connection to every device, which is highly uncommon.
Cellular or wireless internet, also known as 4G or 5G internet, is delivered by cell phone towers. Instead of being delivered by a hardwired connection like coaxial cable or fiber, cellular or wireless internet is transmitted “through the air.”
While it can often deliver decent speeds, wireless or 5G internet is notorious for service interruptions due to obstructions from other structures. And because cellular/wireless or 5G internet is totally dependent on the number of cell phone towers dispersing signal—and even more crucially, the distance a customer is from a cell phone tower—their speeds and quality of the connection can greatly vary.
What is Fiber Internet?
Fiber internet's advanced materials and technology make it the fastest and most reliable form of internet on the market today. Short for “fiber optic” internet, fiber utilizes fiber optic cable, which consists of hundreds of densely packed strands of glass inside the cord.
The fiber optic cable connects directly to your home or business before being dispersed to your devices. Pulses of light transmit internet data along these glass hairs at near light speed!
Due to fiber's impressive components and infrastructure, it has a vastly greater capacity to handle and transmit all the online data that you use daily—from social media, documents, and emails to music, gaming, and television.
Fiber also has higher upload speeds, which is used when your device sends information back to the server (or other internet users). Higher upload speeds are essential for stable and clear video calls and conferences.
Only fiber can power a household full of devices at once without causing slowdowns on any of them—making it the #1 choice for modern households.
So, What's the Difference Between Fiber Internet and Cellular/Wireless (5G) Internet?
The connection-type is the first key distinction between fiber and cellular/wireless internet.
Importantly, fiber is “hardwired.” Its internet signal enters your premises through physical wiring, not cellular or wireless 5G signal sent through the air.
This distinction means that obstructions like trees and other buildings can't stop fiber's excellent speeds from delivering internet to your home or business. Fiber internet also has far greater bandwidth capacity than cellular/wireless internet because its materials can carry much more information than wireless signal can.
There are other significant disadvantages to cellular/wireless/5G internet service.
Remember that cellular service prioritizes its originally intended purpose—providing mobile phone service. That one function takes up most of cellular's capacity to transmit data. Thus, cellular internet services lack the power to consistently provide the data you need to enjoy the online activities you love, like streaming movies and TV, video calling and conferences, online gaming and so much more.
But it gets even worse. To deal with the ever-growing demand for data, cellular companies reduce the speed and quality of their internet service to prevent internet users from gobbling up too much of their data capacity.
That's why cellular companies enforce data caps on their internet services, which significantly limit or even outright prevent you from doing the online activities you've come to enjoy.
They also employ “throttling,” another annoying practice that slows down bandwidth—and your entire internet performance.
While some companies only do this after you've reached a certain pre-determined amount of data usage each month, others throttle your broadband anytime and for any reason. For countless customers, these restrictions are extremely frustrating.
On the other hand, fiber internet never has data caps or bandwidth throttling because its superior technology doesn't get overwhelmed like cellular/wireless internet. Fiber's high bandwidth capacity and fast upload (as well as download) speeds can handle just about everything online without data caps, throttling, or other intentional slowdowns.
Fiber's Superior Security
But fiber's advantages over cellular/wireless internet extend well beyond fiber's superior speed and reliability (as essential as they are). Better data security is another reason to choose fiber.
Because cellular/wireless internet requires a signal to transmit “over the air,” it is susceptible to being intercepted.
Wireless internet is especially prone to a particular cybercrime known as a DDoS Attack—short for “Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack.” DDoS attacks overwhelm servers and slow down traffic, even jeopardizing sensitive data. And DDoS attacks are unfortunately on the rise.
Fiber, on the other hand, is hardwired straight to your walls—its internet flies through fiber optic cable without needing to disperse signal through the air. Thus, fiber's advanced technology provides a layer of protection and security from hackers, scammers, and other criminals that cellular or wireless internet simply cannot.
From faster speeds to more reliable signals, a more secure connection, and greater capacity to carry out more online activities from multiple devices simultaneously, fiber internet stands ahead of cellular/wireless 5G internet.
For more information on fiber internet and why it's your best choice for high-speed internet, feel free to reach out to the knowledgeable support team at FPUAnet Communications. We’re local and here to serve you!
With the days growing shorter and the leaves turning auburn, there are sure signs of autumn in the air—and, of course, the return of football! From exhilarating college ranking upsets to record-setting NFL action, the 2024-2025 football season promises to be one of the most thrilling in years. And as many football games are now available to stream through FPUAnet Communications’ reliable and fast fiber network, it’s easier than ever to catch all the action from the comfort of your home—and with pristine picture quality, too.
But with the dizzying number of streaming apps and channels available today, navigating the various streaming options can get somewhat overwhelming. Our guide will help you find where to stream college and NFL football this season, so you can watch every big play live as it happens!
Selecting a Live TV Streaming Service
Your first step to enjoying live college and NFL football without a cable cord is to choose a live streaming TV service. While there are many apps that will showcase top games or even contests from a particular conference, to watch the most number of games, you’ll first need a service that provides live game coverage.
Of course, there are several live TV streaming services you can pick. Hulu + Live TV and FuboTV are two excellent, all-around live TV options, each with their own perks. However, for reasons we lay out below, die-hard football fans, especially of the NFL, might want to choose YouTube TV.
YouTube TV offers college football coverage through channels like ABC, CBS, FOX, and ESPN. It also comes with an unlimited DVR, giving you all the storage, you need to record games and watch them later. Be sure to check out all the live TV streaming services and pick out the one that best meets your needs—just be sure the app you ultimately decide on offers the major networks in your service area!
Streaming College Football
As the college football season kicks off first, we begin with the apps and channels that stream games this year. You’ll want to make sure to add at least some of these apps to get the most amount of coverage. Apart from a live TV streaming app, the three apps and channels below are particularly useful for college football fans:
ESPN+ streams a variety of college football games, including those from smaller conferences and non-primetime slots. It also has a surprising amount of on-demand content and exclusive shows for thoughtful and entertaining analysis.
Paramount+ is key for fans to watch games broadcasted on CBS. As several marquee games are broadcasted regularly on CBS, Paramount+ may be another essential app for many college football fans.
Peacock livestreams games from NBC, including the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Similar to what Paramount+ does for CBS’s college coverage, having Peacock helps fill-in coverage of network-broadcasted college games.
Streaming the NFL
For NFL fans, selecting a live streaming TV service is critical, as most Sunday day games are broadcast on CBS and Fox. To round out the corners, however, you need other apps.
For example, if you haven’t gotten your fill during the Sunday day games, you’ll need Peacock, home to Sunday Night Football games. Similarly, for Monday Night Football, check out ESPN, which streams most Monday Night Football games (other than certain occasional match-ups available only ESPN+ or ABC). And because fans need football four nights a week, Amazon’s Prime Video hosts Thursday Night Football, as well!
However, by far the most complete coverage of Sunday games is NFL Sunday Ticket, available exclusively on YouTube TV. While on the pricier side, NFL Sunday Ticket lets viewers watch every out-of-market NFL Sunday game of any team. So, if you’ve relocated from your home team’s TV market to another state or region, you’ll be able to enjoy every minute of your team’s Sunday games, just as you did before you moved!
With numerous streaming options available, catching every college or NFL game this fall is easier than ever. By choosing the right package of apps and platforms, you can enjoy all the excitement of football season without missing a single play—or needing to keep a clunky cable box around!
Just contact FPUAnet Communications today to get the reliable internet you need to stream all your favorite games this football season and beyond!
