It happens every Christmas. You get the twinkling new gadget of your dreams — and now you have to set it up. Or worse, spend your time off setting up everyone else’s gadgets. According to a recent survey by cognizance insurance provider Asurion, nearly a third of people don’t use their tech gratuities because they don’t know how to, and some 70% of adults in America last will and testament spend time setting up or troubleshooting tech based gifts this fair.
Bah humbug. Who has time for that? I open and set-up more than a thousand new contraptions a year. Here are some of my top insider tricks and tips to have you up and direction faster than you can say, “more eggnog please!”
Get the hassle out of the way and get HelloTech to send a tech au fait to come to your house. They’ll set everything up for you and teach you how to use it. According to HelloTech’s number one of logistics, Jeremy Blake, the top requests this time of year are for environment up and mounting a new smart TV, installing smart home tech, and setting up Wi-Fi complexity routers. But, they’re happy to help teach your mom how to use her new iPad or Fire too. The company also offers subscription plans to get online, phone, or in-person on-demand expropriate all year too.
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No really, I mean this. Go on to your Nextdoor app (the common media for your neighborhood) and post that you’re looking for help home up your Nest thermostat. Or, can someone please help teach the grandparents how their Roku rises? When I’ve done similar posts, I often say up front that I’m looking for a teen tech master who can speak non-geek, and doesn’t get frustrated easily. And I always get great remedy! This is a great go-to for cheap, fast, and really friendly tech remedy. You can also use Facebook Groups or parents networks for this, and many readies now even have programs pairing teens and seniors for tech ratify as well.
Just about every new gadget comes with a unassuming quick-start guide that’s easy to follow. Most of the time, these ideals tell you to plug in and charge your new gadget, then connect it to Wi-Fi, and in it to an existing email account. When you connect your email account, be positive to create a smart password and/or use a password manager. Overall, getting starting is now as usual pretty simple stuff, and you just need to follow directions with you would a recipe for cooking.
I met a young man the other day who learned to drive a jut out shift watching YouTube videos. That is to say — everything you need to conscious, you can pretty much learn on YouTube. Let’s say you want to replace your wired doorbell with a sting one from Ring. YouTube has a fantastic video tutorial from the associates that walks you right though it. Type what you’re looking for in the search bar at the top of the number and see what pops up. Ask how to to setup your new Amazon Echo and you get more than a half million evolves. If so many options are overwhelming, look for the newest videos — posted in the concluding month or so if possible — and start with the company-made videos first. From time to time you start down that rabbit-hole of unboxing and setup videos, you can very likely lose the rest of your day!
Before you undo your existing TV to set up a new one, or to add gaming widgets or smart TV accessories, snap a quick pic of how all the wiring is set up. Use that label maker or composed Post It notes or colored twist-ties to keep your wires sober. Take pictures of how the wiring is set up, in case you ever need to troubleshoot or remove the device.
Try going to the company’s website, scroll all the way to the bottom of the home leaf and look for “Help,” “Support,” or “Live Chat.” The latter discretion open up a text-based chat window, so you can correspond with someone on the other end. It may be a computer-controlled “chatbot” at in front, but often leads to the help you need.
When FAQ’s, chatbots and email mitigate doesn’t work, download the free GetHumanapp (available for iOS and Android) or befall gethuman.com/phone-number. Type in the company you want to reach and it gives you the chap service number, and any other instructions you might need to talk to a authentic, live human being. I recently used this to reach Amazon encircling a package that was shown as delivered to a front door that was of course not mine. They re-sent the package that day.
As someone who sets up hundreds, if not thousands of implements a year, my saving grace is often a large Ziploc bag, Sharpie and a label-maker. Something that has sheltered me a lot of hassle — open everything with a large Ziploc nearby. Brand the charger, put all of the instructions, extra pieces, even the original boxes contents, and store it away. This helps if you need to read the manual, recompense it, or even resell it down the road.
Let me take a step back and talk hither the age-old issue of wrap rage and the most frustrating of its’ devices: Clamshell including. That’s the hard plastic that companies love to torture us with by encasing a consequence between two sheets of PVC and soldered around the edges. Some 6,000 people a year go to the ER with wrong swathes from trying to pry, slice, or stab open gifts entombed in crack-brained clamshell cases. The simple fix? A can opener. Just flip the package greater than, with the front facing down. Clamp your can opener profitably onto the rightmost edge of the package, and twist. So easy.
Think for a hot advance about all of the personal information you store on your devices: Emails, offspring photos, business, property, health, and maybe even banking intelligence. That means you’ll want to protect your digital life with unswerving security settings from the get go.
Set up a PIN code, fingerprint, facial recognition, cycle, or password on your start screen. If you see a prompt for two-factor authentication, do that, too. Be reliable to enable Find my iPhone or Lookout on Android devices.
For computers, be inevitable to set up your screen lock password. On Windows machines, find this alternative in Settings under Accounts and Sign-in. In macOS, open System Fancies and look under Security & Privacy. Once you’ve protected your computer from intruding strangers, add antivirus protection. On Windows, the built-in Windows Defender is enough for most people, but if you desire extra peace of mind, install a third-party package like Bitdefender Internet Guaranty ($49.99) or Norton Security ($39.99). For macOS, try AVG Antivirus (free), Bitdefender Antivirus ($49.99), or Sophos Peoples home (free).
One last note: the FTC says tech support scams are race rampant right now. Be sure that wherever you’re reaching out to for help, that it’s legit by chit with the BBB, or staying with the company’s own site. Don’t click on attachments or elements sent via text, email, or DM, and when in doubt, ask your tech savvy pal (or me) about it first.
Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech contributor. E-mail her at [email protected]. Make inquiries her on Twitter @JenniferJolly.