Off to College

Many parents have or will begin soon heading off to that land of higher education, setting forth into the land of unknown tech. But here is a short list of what will happen from the geeks' side.

You’ll pack up clothes and all those related needed dorm items (fridge, coffee pot, and microwave), all too standard today in college life. OK, so that stuff is handled, but now comes the fun part: the missing tech stuff the college people always forget. Here is my mini list:

Laptop (plus software)

Cat 5e patch cable (2)

Printer, printer USB cable, extra toner, paper

TV HDMI cable and TV, and coaxial cable

Power strip (3)

Extension cords (three different lengths, and one heavy duty)

Wireless router with access point setup

All right, so that seems logical, but then comes the twist. The school does have broadband, but no wireles, so you’ll need a wireless router for the dorm. Why a wireless router? Kids tend to move around the room(s), and can you see multiple cables flung around the floor to get that Facebook fix? Make sure your router can function as an access point also, because some school internet services require it.

Next on the list is the HD TV. Yes, I know, they should be hard at study all day and night but they need that MTV fix. You should call the school and find out what you’ll need because many schools are now moving away from cable to DirecTV and boy, that can change your needs quick.

The big thing here, people: even if they went last year, things change. So take a few minutes get that bag of goodies ready above, and also bring a box of tools, because you'll need them!