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Running is pretty much the healthiest things you can do with a spare half-hour. The exercise and cardio you get from going out for a jog can help you to stay in shape and stave off all kinds of diseases related to a sedentary lifestyle. There’s only one issue: it’s kind of boring. Well, running alone and without any music going, at least, is kind of boring.

The best way to fight this, of course, is to get a good pair of Bluetooth headphones and listen to some tunes or podcasts while you go for your daily run. Today we’re looking at some of the best Bluetooth headphones out there for running to help you narrow down your choices. Let’s look at the cream of the crop. We’re selecting our picks based mainly on sound quality, battery life and cost relative to performance.

Jabra Elite Active 65t

Jabra’s earned a name for themselves as makers of top-quality Bluetooth headphones. Their Elite series, in particular, has impressed us, and the Elite Active is no exception. The sportier upgrade to the Elite 65t, the Elite Active 65t offers better sweat resistance and they fit well in the ear. You’re not going to be worried about these popping out while you’re jogging.

The sound quality on these earbuds is excellent, with clear mid tones, deep base and excellent high-end. Unlike some lesser earbuds, these don’t compress the sound or try to squeeze it into a smaller profile for the smaller drivers. You can find the Jabra Elite Active 65t earbuds online for around $190, and they’re well-worth the price.

Apple Air Pods

Apple’s Air Pods are great for runners, on one condition: if they fit well in your ears. Not everyone’s ears are shaped as such that the Air Pods fit in snugly and don’t jostle while they run. If your ears are shaped so that the Air Pods stay in snugly, then they’re amazing for running. The Air Pods are light, they sound great, and they’re incredibly convenient for taking calls and sending messages.

The Air Pods aren’t without a few drawbacks, though. Notably, they’re very small, so if one falls out of your ear, you might just lose it altogether. For a pair of earbuds that cost upwards of $150, the last thing you want to do is lose one. That said, if you can keep up with them and you’re not worried about them falling out while you run, then the Air Pods make a great companion for any runner or jogger.

Beats Powerbeats Pro

The Beats by Dre line of audio hardware has been hit-and-miss over the years, but the Powerbeats Pro have certainly impressed us. These on-ear Bluetooth headphones actually share a lot of their DNA with their cousins, the Air Pods, but are tooled more specifically for active users. The sound is much fuller on these headphones than in the Air Pods, and the battery life is notably better.

Another huge point in the favor of the Powerbeats Pro is that their over-the-ear design makes them much less likely to fall out of your ears while you’re jogging or running. This allows you to not feel quite as anxious when you’re out and about with them. As any Air Pods owner will tell you, losing one feels like a punch to the gut. You can get your own Powerbeats Pro online for $250 from Apple’s website.

Nintendo recently unveiled their newest hardware lineup, the Nintendo Switch Lite. The smaller, cheaper version of their incredibly popular Nintendo Switch system is due out September 20th, coinciding with the release of the updated Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The Switch Lite is shaping up to be one of the best dedicated handheld gaming devices on the market: let’s see how it stacks up.

Nintendo Switch Lite

The Device

The Switch Light is notably smaller and lighter than the original Switch. It sports a 5.5-inch touchscreen, as opposed to the original Switch’s 6.2-inch display. Rather than having detachable Joy Con controllers, the Lite is just a solid unit, not dissimilar from a giant Game Boy Advance. Notably, the Lite won’t be able to connect to TVs to send out a higher-resolution image: it’s locked in at 720p on its small screen.

Humorously, this means the Switch Lite is a Switch that can’t switch between handheld and TV modes. Its most notable feature, however, is the price tag. Since the system is smaller, doesn’t include a dock and doesn’t ship with Joy Con controllers, it’s only $200, making it $100 cheaper than the mainline Switch.

The Competition

Handheld gaming in the year 2019 is very different than it was even a decade ago. Where once the Nintendo DS went up against the PlayStation Portable, Nintendo is really the only dedicated game maker in the handheld space these days. While some have noted similarities between the Switch Lite and the ill-fated PlayStation Vita, the PSP’s successor, the Vita hasn’t been on sale in North America for years.

The only real competition in the handheld gaming space comes from tablets and small netbooks. Of these, the only one position itself as a gaming device is likely the 2019 iPad, which coincidentally also comes in at $200. Between the two, however, the iPad isn’t exactly a dedicated piece of gaming hardware.

Control Schemes

One of the strengths of the Switch over a touchscreen-only gaming option is the control schemes. The Switch sports physical face buttons and two analog sticks, making it a comfortable and responsive device for dedicated gaming. Touch screens, like the one on the iPad, aren’t exactly responsive or well-geared for intense gaming.

While you could get a Bluetooth controller to connect to your iPad, that’s yet another purchase you’ll need to make. Beyond that, the point of a handheld gaming device is to be portable. Lugging a controller and a tablet around isn’t exactly convenient. Meanwhile, the Switch essentially has its controller built-in, and it slides neatly into a bag or pocket.

The Games

Another notable mark in the Switch’ favor is the large library of first- and third-party games you can play on the device. Nintendo staples like Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon are all well-represented on the system. Third-party favorites like Skyrim, Doom and Wolfenstein are all playable in handheld mode on the Switch, too.

Meanwhile, tablets like the iPad offer mainly upscaled renditions of mobile games. While these may be fun for short bursts of play, they’re hardly enough to scratch the itch of a serious gaming session. If you’re looking for a good gaming device for a kid for the holiday season, the Switch is an easy choice: kids love Pokemon and Mario!

Bottom Line

The Switch Lite is hitting store shelves just in time for the holiday season. Shortly after it goes on sale, the newest version of Pokemon will be hitting stores, which is sure to be high on every kid’s wish list this Christmas.

At its $200 price point, it’s hard to deny how perfect the Switch Lite is as a portable gaming device. Whether you’re buying one for a kiddo for the holidays, or just one for yourself so you can play Mario Kart, it’s a hard deal to pass up.

After a long eight-year hiatus, the Ford Ranger is back on the market. The 2019 iteration of the vehicle comes in a bit bigger and meaner than some prior builds, which reflects modern trends towards overall larger vehicles, even among compacts. Today we’re looking at the Ford Ranger to get a feel for its features and whether it’s a worthy successor to the name. Let’s talk about compact pickups!

2019 Ford Ranger

Styling

The vehicle is stylish, to be sure. Fans of Ford’s trucks, like the F-150, will be pleased by the smooth curves and stylish creases found along the body. The grille is narrow and sleek, and the truck has an overall feeling of elegance and stylishness not found in some competitors’ compact trucks. It’s hard to mistake this vehicle for anything but a Ford, with its telltale body lines and iconic styling.

Interior

One of the weak spots for this new Ford Ranger is the interior. While far from “bad,” it’s not quite up to par with a lot of the competition. The build quality of some of the plastics, such as on the door and in the center console, is lower quality than we’d expect. Despite being a brand-new model for 2019, the Ranger’s interior feels straight out of 2009.

On the positive side, the infotainment system is stellar and quite user-friendly. It’s not hard to get your music going, to navigate through unfamiliar regions, and to handle all of your setting through the big touch screen.

Engine

What the Ranger is missing in the interior it more than makes up for under the hood. This is where that Ford name really means something: the engine can put out some serious torque, coming in at 310 pound-feet. It’s sporting 270 horses, and it puts out that satisfying rumble when you gun it. Interestingly, the same four-cylinder engine is present at all trim levels.

While the Ford Ranger’s base trim offers a better engine than most other compact trucks, the lack of options to upgrade to a V6 or diesel engine is notable. Most competitors’ compact pickups offer these as options, though this doesn’t mean that the Ranger’s engine is bad. It’s just an odd design decision.

Towing

Arguably the most important thing for a pickup is its ability to tow and haul. Thankfully, the Ranger has that area covered. The truck comes standard with a 6-foot bed, and can carry upwards of 1,560 pounds of payload. This makes it, far and away, the best pickup in the class for hauling cargo in the bed.

Meanwhile, it can tow up to 7,500 pounds, putting it near the top of the heap among compact pickups. Really, the only truck in the compact class beating the Ranger in terms of towing is the Chevy Colorado, which tows 7,700. A difference of 200 pounds isn’t enough to be notable for most uses.

Safety Features

Another important factor of any vehicle is the safety features. The Ranger offers a number of features standard, from the rearview camera to the forward collision warning. Automatic emergency breaking accompanies the pre-collision system, making the vehicle safer for many drivers.

Another huge safety features is the Ford MyKey system, which allows the primary driver to set volume level maximums and top speed limits for secondary drivers. This means you don’t have to worry about a teen driver cranking up the music and flying down the road!

Pricing

The base trim for the Ford Ranger comes in at $24,000, making it a rather affordable purchase for most people. Higher trim levels can get up to $38,000 or more, depending on the options you want to add to the vehicle. Either way, this is a solid compact pickup, and a good choice for anyone who needs to tow cargo.

Who couldn’t use an extra couple of bucks before payday? We’ve all been there: you want to hit a movie with your pals but you’re short the cash. Or, you see a new outfit or video game that you really wish you could squeeze into the budget, but you’ve got to pay rent this pay period. If you know that feeling, you could use a side hustle!

Whether you’re just starting out at your job and trying to make ends meet or you’re just trying to some extra scratch for a fun expense, there are a number of options to fatten your wallet a bit. Most importantly, creativity and a can-do attitude are a great help for anyone looking to make some extra dough.

Important Notes

Before you start a side hustle, make sure it doesn’t include any conflict of interest with your day job. This goes double if your day job pays the bills and your side job is just for spending money. For instance, make sure that your side hustle isn’t directly competing with your day job, or is something that is causing you to prevent your employer from getting business.

On that same note, make sure you don’t spend too much time or energy on your side hustle. You want to make sure that you’re devoting your all to your day job when it’s what keeps food on your table. Unless you’re making enough from your side hustle to convert it into full-time work, you’ll want to keep your day job!

Freelance Writing

If you have a knack for the written word but your day job doesn’t involve writing, you could turn your skills into a lucrative side hustle. Freelance writing lets you trade in some of your free time for extra cash. If you draw up a contract with your clients, you can accurately predict how much your side hustle will make you.

Writers can make around $500 to $3000 extra per month, depending on the contract, how many articles they’re writing and what their limit is. Typically, you can find work as a freelance writer through sites like Craigslist, Upwork and Fiverr.

Creative Freelance

You can extend this to most creative fields, beyond just writing. For instance, if you’re a great painter, illustrator or designer, these are also fields you can freelance in to make some side money. Creative freelancers can set their own hours, work from home, and can use their passions to shore up some extra cash.

Common ways for creative freelancers to find work is through sites like Patreon, DeviantArt, Tumblr and the like. Commissions for their work can vary dramatically in price, though it pays to do some research and ensure your rate is competitive with others in the field.

Gig Work

Gig work is a mixed bag. Some people have noted that gig work isn’t great as full-time employment, though many enjoy it as a way to make some side money. While it likely won’t be replacing your main job, it’s a great way to turn your free time into some extra cash. For instance, if you find it difficult to hit bills some months, you might want to drive for Lyft or Uber a few nights and make some extra money.

There are a number of apps you can use to work as a gig worker. Examples like Uber and Lyft are common, as are delivery apps like GrubHub and DoorDash. Postmates is another common delivery app, though there are many others in this same vein. You’ll often find that working with gig apps is a bit taxing, so make sure you don’t burn yourself out so much that you’re tired at your day job.

While some people find themselves falling asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, others find it nearly impossible to get to sleep. Maybe you’re laying there for an hour or more just wishing you could fall asleep. Your mind races and you can’t seem to doze off. However, in all of these cases, you simply can’t seem to get to sleep easily.

While there are a number of over-the-counter and prescription medicines that are designed to help people sleep, today we’re focusing on non-medical ways to get to sleep and stay asleep. Let’s talk about counting some sheep and sawing some logs.

Get Tons of Sunlight

This might sound counterintuitive but trust us. Getting tons of sunlight exposure during the day is a great way to encourage your body’s natural circadian rhythms. While you might have an indoor job, or work nights, there are still ways to simulate the experience of sunlight. You could, for instance, get a sun lamp for your desk or workspace.

Make sure that on your days off you get a ton of sunlight, too. The more direct sunlight hits your eyes, the more likely it is that you’ll get to sleep and stay asleep. While it’s difficult for some people to get as much sun as others, it’s still very much worth trying to get in as much as you can.

Lights Out

Following up on our last tip, make sure that when it’s bed time, your space is dark. Try to limit your blue light exposure in the evenings. Your brain interprets blue light as sunlight in some cases, so it can help to keep you awake even when you should be sleeping. Set a soft time for lights out to cut off the lights in your room and a hard bedtime for a time by which you need to be laying down with your eyes closed.

If need be, get thick curtains to block any light that could come in through your windows. Similarly, you could consider getting earplugs if the space you sleep in is noisy and you find it hard to fall asleep there. Another option would be a white noise machine, something to play soft sounds to drown out nearby noises.

Consistency

Try to get to sleep at a consistent time every day. Even if you get a regular weekend, you should consider getting to bed and waking up at consistent times throughout the week. This also helps to solidify your circadian rhythms and reinforce your normal sleeping schedule.

Along this same tip, you’ll want to try to reduce your consumption of caffeine late in the day. Caffeine is really good at doing its job of stimulating your brain and keeping you awake. As such, you shouldn’t drink it within six hours of the time you want to get to sleep.

Lifestyle

Try to avoid self-medicating in order to get to sleep. This includes doing things like drinking alcohol to make yourself fall asleep and consuming drugs (whether over-the-counter or recreational) that you haven’t been prescribed by a doctor to encourage sleep. These types of activities can reinforce very negative habits, such as drug and alcohol abuse.

Instead, consider positive lifestyle habits that can help you get to sleep more readily. These include exercising in the evenings in order to tire yourself out, watching a movie close to bedtime to make yourself more relaxed, and reading a book in bed to get yourself drowsy. Many people even use things like online videos designed to help them relax and get into a sleepy mindset: consider listening to these while wearing light earbuds that are easy to take out as you nod closer to sleep.

Whether you’re grilling out, spending the day by the pool or just relaxing in the back yard, the last thing you need is a bunch of mosquitoes trying to suck the life out of you. They’re annoying, they’re itchy and they can carry some gnarly diseases. Today we’re going over some of the best ways you can take steps to keep mosquitoes off of you and out of your yard.

Buzz Off, Mosquitoes!

Keeping Your Yard Clear

One of the best ways to deal with the amount of mosquitoes in your yard would be to take care of any potential collectors of standing water. Mosquitoes are naturally drawn to still water as a source of nourishment and as a place to breed. Overturned buckets, birdbaths, dishes and the like are all ample breeding grounds for the blood-suckers. Make sure you clear all of these from your yard, and ask your neighbors to do the same to clear up any mosquito issues in the neighborhood.

Another good strategy for keeping your home mosquito-free naturally is to leave any harmless spiders you see outside alone. Spiders do a great job of controlling local mosquito populations by trapping them in their webs and eating them! As such, if you see any non-harmful spiders spinning webs, or even daddy long-legs spiders, let them be! They’ll help keep your yard bug-free.

Keeping them Off

Of course, this is a good way to reduce their number, but you’ll want a way to deal with them in the moment, too. A mosquito swatter is a great first step in this regard: it’s a bit thicker and heavier than a fly swatter, mounted on a springy wire. These types of swatters help you get momentum to swat any errant mosquitoes that have made the mistake of trying to drink your lifeblood.

Another good way to keep mosquitoes off of you is to wear long-sleeve shirts and long pants that are loose-fitting and breathable. Of course, not everyone wants to wear long clothing during the height of summertime, so this works better if you’re out in the evening when a cooler breeze is blowing through.

Warding Mechanisms

You can ward mosquitoes off with citronella products. For whatever reason, mosquitoes become confused and repelled by the smell of citronella. You can wear citronella oil on your skin as a warding agent, keeping mosquitoes from wanting to land on you. Another method is to use citronella candles, burning them to diffuse the smoke throughout the air, which can confound and repel nearby mosquitoes.

Essential oil diffusers can also be used to diffuse citronella oil into the air. You don’t need to use just citronella oil, either. Other essential oils, like lavender, catnip and lemon eucalyptus can all have mosquito-warding effects. This makes them ideal for use during outdoor events in the summer, as the oils tend to smell nice while keeping you and your guests free of the annoying little bugs.

Trapping Mosquitoes

If you’re downright sick of mosquitoes coming around your house and just want to kill them off altogether, you can set up mosquito traps. A low-budget option would be a dish of soapy water. Placing it in an otherwise innocuous location can entice passing mosquitoes to stop for a drink. However, the soap bubbles trap them and make their wings heavy, drowning them.

There are also more high-tech solutions, mosquito-trapping machines that use heat and carbon dioxide to lure the bugs inside in order to trap them. These are often preferred over generic electric “zapper” devices that indiscriminately kill any bug that enters your yard. Several species of bug are harmless to you, and, in fact, are good for your neighborhood, so zapping them willy-nilly isn’t a great plan.

Most people who need glasses don’t really think much about their vision. However, if you prefer contacts, you’re likely constantly considering your contacts’ cost, availability, comfort and more. Today we’re going to be looking at some of the more popular contacts brands, and how you can get some of the best deals on them.

Contact Lenses

Why Contacts?

A lot of people who only wear glasses might be wondering what’s so special about contacts anyway. After all, if you wear glasses, you don’t need to worry about putting in contacts, accidentally falling asleep with them in, buying new ones every so often, and all of the other related concerns. However, contacts are great for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, contact lenses allow the wearer to avoid having to keep up with a pair of glasses. If you’re going swimming, riding a roller coaster or some similar activity that has a high likelihood of knocking the glasses off of your face, you’ll likely prefer to have your contacts in. Others prefer contacts because they feel as though they look more attractive when they’re not wearing glasses. Others still simply like to be able to wear sunglasses!

Biofinity

A particularly popular new brand of contacts is Biofinity, from manufacturer CooperVision. The main draw of the Biofinity line of contact lenses is their superior quality of production: they’re made from a proprietary silicone hydrogel that is designed for a combination of superior clarity and comfort. CooperVision advertises that the lenses are safe to wear for up to seven days and six nights, all while offering great clarity of vision.

One of the strengths of the Biofinity lens is that it allows the eye to “breath” and moisturize itself through its natural processes. The material the lenses are made from allows for air to not get caught underneath, and many have noted that you can barely even notice you’re wearing the lens. That’s saying something for a lens that markets itself based on comfort!

Finding Great Deals

When it comes to buying contact lenses, of course, you want to make sure you get the best deals. After all, the best-feeling, premium contacts can be rather expensive. This means that you’ll need to make sure you find the best prices on them! We recommend shopping online to find the best deals, because online offers a number of benefits.

For instance, buying online allows you to check a store’s inventory and prices against other retailers. This allows you to comparison shop without driving all over to compare. Likewise, shopping online allows you to forego driving around town, getting stuck in traffic and just generally dealing with crowds. After you order your contacts, you can rest assured that they’ll be delivered to your home shortly. It’s the definition of a win-win: You get to save money, and you don’t have to deal with shopping!

1-800-Contacts

An example of a great online retailer is 1-800-Contacts, which has been around long enough to have a name that references their phone number. They offer great prices, quick shipping and a great amount of variety for shoppers. Their name is well-trusted, since they’ve been around for years, so you can rest assured you’re shopping quality products.

Contacts Direct

Another example of a great online contact retailer is Contacts Direct, who has a similarly wide selection and great pricing compared to 1-800-Contacts. You can easily compare prices and shipping costs and types, and you’ll be hard-pressed to not find your favorite brand or variety of contact lens among the incredibly wide variety of lenses Contacts Direct has available. Don’t pay more than you have to for lenses: start shopping online today!

The Samsung Galaxy Fold is dead, but its legacy may live on. Following the disastrous prototype phase in April of this year, Samsung indefinitely delayed the release of their purportedly revolutionary folding smartphone. Issues like screen failures, bulges under the plastic screen and serious overheating caused Samsung to go back to the drawing board with the unproven design.

While the company initially announced that the device would see a wide-release by the end of May, that clearly didn’t happen. Now, months after what was to be its initial release date, it appears as though the Samsung Galaxy Fold is well and truly dead. While the massive 10.5-inch variation may never see the light of day, however, it appears that a more compact version of the design could be coming as early as the beginning of next year.

What Happened?

Three months ago, the tech world was abuzz with anticipation for the Galaxy Fold. To hear it told then, massive, tablet-sized screens that folded down to smartphone size to be pocketed were to be the future of cell phones. Today, the idea of such a massive folding screen being durable or usable as a daily device is laughable. How did this happen?

Well, Samsung sent out a few prototypes of the Galaxy Fold to journalists. And what happened next was a case study in design failure. Several handsets had their screens simply fail altogether when reviewers removed small film protectors from the screen, protectors that apparently were required for the screen to work properly. Other devices developed unsightly bulges under the screens from trapped debris. Others still had odd flickering and partial screen failures just from daily use.

Cancelled?

The most recent word on the Samsung Galaxy Fold came late in June. In an interview with the Korean Herald, a Samsung spokesperson stated that nothing has progressed with the device since the April delay of the wide-release. While Samsung has made no comment as to the device’s cancellation, it seems clear that the version of the phone reviewers saw in April will never see a wide-release.

The true nail in the coffin for the original Galaxy Fold, however, isn’t the news that it’s proving hard to make viable. Instead, the news that Samsung is hard at work on the successor, a smaller, clamshell-like design tells the tale. According to a leak from ET News, the new design will likely see a mass-market release in early 2020.

What This Means

Given that the original Fold has had no updates and there’s not even a release window, we can assume that Samsung’s putting it out to pasture. At the soonest, with no current news, Samsung could announce the original Fold for a Fall or Winter release. However, that would be foolish if they intend to release the device’s successor a short few months later.

Meanwhile, the Fold 2 appears to be a much sounder, more practical design. The screen is a more reasonable 6.7-inch size, making it comparable to some other premium smartphones. When it folds, it becomes a much smaller device with a simple one-inch display for showing notifications.

Why This is Better

This design is much more reasonable for Samsung, if not as exciting or flashy. We’re actually quite disappointed that the original, massive Fold didn’t work out, but it was always too good to be true. A tablet that folds into a phone that you can carry in your pocket is simply technology that’s a few years away.

Meanwhile, the updated design is a more practical and durable application of the existing folding-screen tech, making it something we’re excited to see. Hopefully it’s just the shot in the arm Samsung needs to keep their top spot against competition like Huawei!

Whether it’s mice or rats crawling in your cupboards, you just want them out. No one likes having rodents living in their house unless they’re pets who have their own living space. And, trust us, there’s a big difference between a sweet pet rodent and a serious vermin infestation. Calling out an exterminator can be costly and disruptive, though. What should you do?

There are a few ways to deal with a rodent problem in your home. Today we’re looking at some of the most straightforward solutions, and how they stack up against one another. Let’s get started!

Get a Cat

This incredibly straightforward method is far from fool-proof, but it’s time-tested and has a good chance of fixing your rodent problem. Cats live with humans primarily thanks to their unchallenged mastery of hunting small pests. The average house cat will be delighted to move in with you for the head pats and free food, and you’ll get a sweet little buddy out of the deal. Often, the mere presence of a kitty will be enough to scare savvy rodents away, as your home becomes rather deadly to them.

Meanwhile, your new feline friend will be having a great time snapping up mice and rats and dealing with the problem for you. This is a win-win solution, assuming your kitty is a dedicated enough hunter and you’re not dealing with terribly intelligent rodents. Of course, some cats aren’t great hunters, so if your kitty doesn’t manage to fix the problem, don’t get rid of her! She’ll still make a great little companion, even if she can’t hunt.

Deprive Rats of Food

Well, you have a cat now and the rats are still in your house. Or maybe you just skipped that last step, which is fine, too. In either case, your next step should be to shore up all of the potential food sources in your home that rats are going for. Seal up all foods in airtight containers, clean up your trash and don’t leave any table scraps or crumbs around. This will make the rats hungry and desperate.

Once the rats’ food sources dry up, they’ll start getting desperate to grab a meal. Sometimes this drives them directly into the paws of your cat, if you have one. If so, great! If not, there’s a few other steps you can take.

Rat Traps

Once deprived of food, you can often trick rats into traps with some of their favorite snacks. Some rat traps are deadly, killing the rodent as it enters, leaving you to dispose of the remains. Others are a bit more humane, but then require you to drop the rat somewhere far from your home so they don’t re-enter and restart your problem.

Traps are a preferred method for a few reasons. Poisons can be dangerous to have around children or pets, and also don’t take effect immediately. Often, a rat who ingests poison will go back to their hiding hole, only to die there. Here’s the issue: rats like to hide in your walls. A dead rat in your walls will stink to high heaven, and attracts bugs.

Warding Scents

Another way to deal with rats is using warding aromas. There are many products sold that purport to smell horrible to rats, usually composed of essential oils. Since rodents have such strong senses of smell, it’s not unreasonable that some powerful scents would confuse and repel them.

If you have pets or children and don’t want to deal with rat traps or rat poisons, using these warding scents can be a good way to try to humanely stop the problem from occurring in the first place. If none of these efforts have any effect, however, it’s time to call in a professional exterminator.

The days of businesses not relying on internet services to get work done are long behind us. No matter what field your business is engaged in, you need to have a great internet connection. It needs to be fast, it needs to be reliable, and it needs to fit your budget.

Often, getting all three of these factors to line up is a herculean feat. However, today we’re going to help you narrow it down by pointing out some of the biggest factors that make a business internet plan attractive to a business like yours.

Types of Internet Available

There are a number of different types of internet. If you’re not familiar with anything other than “broadband” and “dial-up,” this section is for you. There are a number of different types of internet available, and they each offer various strengths and weaknesses. Most well-known among modern internet connections is likely DSL, once called just “broadband.” DSL stands for digital subscriber line, and it’s the middle-ground on speed and price. It’s completely fine, nothing to write home about.

Another older, but still popular, solution is cable internet. This is an internet form that literally uses coaxial television cables to send the data to your computer. Introduced in the 90’s, this internet solution is still pretty fast, offering speeds of up to 100 Mbps. The only issues with cable internet are that coaxial cables aren’t nearly as plentiful now as they were in 1998, and it remains relatively expensive. Oh, and it slows down when your neighbors get on the internet.

Less Common Internet Providers

If you want a faster connection via for your internet, you’re not getting DSL or cable. You’ve got a much faster option available, thankfully. Fiber internet uses fiber optic cables to deliver information as pulses of light, offering the fastest internet speeds currently available. In fact, fiber optic cables are the oldest option for sending internet data: they were how the basis of the internet was formed. However, they’re expensive, and they have a decidedly shorter reach than other forms of internet.

Another uncommon internet service is via satellite. Satellite is great for businesses in remote regions that might not have internet wiring readily available. To be fair, satellite internet is rarely as fast as DSL, though it’s typically the only option for remotely located businesses. As such, if it’s all you can get, it’ll get the job done.

Also, dial-up internet technically still exists. Yes, we’re serious. Yes, it’s incredibly slow, and it’s dirt-cheap. You probably do not want dial-up internet in your place of businesses unless you have almost nothing to do with the internet.

Consider Your Needs

Do you need the absolute fastest internet speeds available? Well, that depends on what your business does, and how big it is. Just because you have a big budget for internet doesn’t mean you need to break the bank on the best internet service available. On average, if you’re operating a smaller business with five or so employees, an internet speed of 30 Mbps or so should do the trick.

Meanwhile, if you’re operating with seven to twenty employees, you’re probably going to want an internet speed exceeding 60 Mbps. As such, it follows that with more than twenty employees, you’re going to want 100 Mbps or more, and when you’re getting above that, you’re likely operating a medium-sized business of fifty or more employees.

Other Considerations

Make sure you know what the average yearly downtime for a given ISP is before you sign up with them. Likewise, check what their customer service scores are like. Are other customers satisfied with their internet, and with their customer support? Ask about any data caps, how long the contract is for, and any other spooky fine print that you might want to steer clear of.