Time flies when you’re no longer troubleshooting your WiFi. Last February I made the decision to upgrade away from my Linksys Velop WiFi system and take the advice of so many, and move over to Unifi from Ubiquiti. At the time, I came to grips with the fact that I had outgrown consumer networking equipment and needed something more robust and could handle the sheer number of devices I had in my home. My switch to Unifi solved all my networking issues, and honestly, I’m back to not thinking about it anymore (as it should be).
Unifi is like a drug
Although I started with just the Dream Machine Special Edition, U6 Enterprise and U6 LR Access Points, I have added a significant amount of new switches and access points since last February.
Like anything that works and makes life easier, you tend to want more of it. While my initial investment in a Unifi Dream Machine SE (router) and two Unifi Access Points solved all my WiFi woes, I couldn’t stop there. I started looking at everything that made up my network and wondering if replacing those items would be even better.
When you sign up for an internet plan with your ISP (Internet Service Provider), you typically sign up for the speeds you need to work and/or cover your entertainment streaming/gaming. However, if you run a speed test right now, chances are the results will be lower than what you signed up for.
I’m on the fastest internet plan available in my area.
This means that my internet speeds can be as high as 1200 Mbps down and 35 Mbps up (geez, this upload speed really needs to be improved). However, up until recently, I never saw that download speed. Like never!
There can be many factors affecting your internet speed. I’m going to cover the top three reasons:
Now that my network upgrade is complete (see my Networking gear guide here to see every item I put into my new server racks), it’s time to focus on something I’ve been putting off for way too long. It was time to replace my 2012 Mac mini Server and Drobo 5D. During the COVID-19 pandemic Drobo went M.I.A. They had no products in stock, and it was reported that calls were largely unanswered.
While my Drobo and Mac mini running Mac OS X Server Sierra 10.12 was working fine, I knew I was living on borrowed time. I feared that getting a replacement would be difficult or impossible if my Drobo had some mechanical failure.
Time to upgrade to a NAS (Network Attached Storage)
I had been researching solutions from Synology and QNAP. As much as I pride myself on being tech-savvy, it wasn’t easy trying to distinguish which one was better and which product in their respective product lines would be best for me.
I have 1GB Internet (1200Mbps down/35Mbps up), and when everything went downhill, this was the AWFUL WiFi speed I started getting.
I’m not an IT guy. I have had to learn about networking out of necessity, not out of desire or fascination. I view a home network as something that should just work, and you shouldn’t have to think about it day-to-day, just like your refrigerator. You open it and expect things to be cold. You close it and forget about it. You don’t spend hours trying to optimize it. You don’t look for Facebook groups looking for support because it either works or doesn’t. There isn’t much in-between. If it doesn’t work, you get it repaired, replace it, and then forget about it again. In my opinion, a WiFi network should be the same way. You never know how much you depend on your WiFi and internet until it dies!
I can’t believe that it has been almost two years since I moved away from my Apple AirPort Extreme WiFi routers. You can see my original Linksys Velop review from May 2018 here. I grew my original three node Tri-band Linksys Velop network to five nodes that year and it worked pretty well for me. However, I’m a speed freak. I want the fastest possible network speeds that I can get and I zero tolerance for dead spots. I have a fairly large network with anywhere from 110 to 130 devices connected at any given time. I also have a smart home and stable fast WiFi is a must for a smart home to function successfully. This need for speed lead me to look at the NEW Linksys Velop WiFi 6 Mesh Router.
The Linksys Velop WiFi 6 Mesh Router is a BEAST!
It’s not only significantly larger in size, but it also improves upon the Velop Tri-band Mesh Router in every way. The specs are mouth-watering.
It was just one month ago that I wrote a review of SimpliSafe. While I do still stand by that review and everything I said, I have actually switched to Ring Alarm! It’s rare that after I do my research and make a tech decision that I end up switching to something else so soon after, but this is one of those cases.
There are several security web cameras and video doorbells on the market right now. Each as you would expect has its advantages and disadvantages over the other one. While there are several viable options out there, today I’m going to focus on three that I use regularly. All of these webcams connect to your home/office network via Wi-Fi. By no means should you walk away thinking that these are the only three options. However, these are the three that I’ve had the most direct experience with.
Why use more than one brand?
You can absolutely get good cameras from any of the three vendors I’m reviewing today and use that brand exclusively. However, sticking with a single brand may mean that you’re missing out on other features and uses that you may be interested in. For example, I like my Ring cameras because Ring offers solar powered options that don’t require a power outlet outside the house or having to constantly take them down and charge their internal batteries. Ring also works with Amazon Echo (Alexa) smart speakers with displays so that you can view them in any room without having to fire up the app on your phone.
Amazon Echo 5 Showing the Ring Video Pro Doorbell by saying “Alexa, show me the front door.”
Nest offers both indoor and outdoor cameras that work just as good as the ones from the other two vendors, but I really like that they offer of all things a native Apple TV app so that I can view my cameras on the big screen.
Logitech offers cameras that cost less and have the big advantage of having native HomeKit support. Having HomeKit support means that the cameras can be integrated into HomeKit Automations. For example, if someone walks within range of a camera at night it can trigger lights inside and/or outside the home to come on automatically. Logitech also lets you do more without having to pay for a monthly subscription to store the videos in the cloud. Because Nest cameras are powered via AC they are always recording/streaming whether there is activity or not. This way you can look at any timeframe to see what happened even if there wasn’t a specific event trigger.
I love all of these features and use them daily, but don’t worry, I’ll tell you by the end of this post which camera I’d go with if I could only pick one.
In case you missed it, Apple has officially announced the end of life of AirPort Base Stations. They will continue to sell existing stock, but the product will not get any new features and Apple will no longer develop this product line. What does that mean for existing users? If you have an existing AirPort WiFi network and it’s up and running with no issues, you’re probably fine for a while. I have three of the latest AirPort Extreme Base Stations and haven’t had any issues. They just work! However, I just replaced them. Why? Although I wasn’t having ANY issues with my existing WiFi network, I’m asked for recommendations all the time. I don’t like to recommend products that I haven’t actually used. Also I looked at this time as a opportunity to try something new. Apple AirPort Base Stations haven’t had any real new features in years. Now that they’ll no longer be selling them (once stock clears), I wondered what Apple would be recommending to customers? One of the systems they sell in the Apple Stores and online is the Linksys Velop system.
Linksys Velop has over 4,100 reviews on Amazon.com and has a 4.5 star rating
Any product that has that many reviews on Amazon and manages to still have a 4.5 star rating means that people must really like it. I got mine setup and I could easily give it a 4+ star rating, but it’s not perfect…
This is a follow up to my post back June 17th, 2016. Back then I had just moved to my new home and back then the only wired option for broadband internet was AT&T U-verse. Sadly the maximum speed was only 18Mbps down and a paltry 1.8Mbps up. Although Comcast’s Xfinity was available in my subdivision, they hadn’t run lines yet to the newly developed area.
6 months later I have Xfinity high speed internet again
If you’re an Amazon Prime member then you were probably given the chance to order an Amazon Echo early and for the introductory price of $99. I took them up on their offer and ordered the Amazon Echo a few months back. I wasn’t really sure what it would do for me or if it would be worth it. I received my unit and went through the setup process using the iPhone app. It was pretty easy to setup, connect it to my WiFi network and configure it with my Pandora Radio and iHeart Radio accounts. From that point on I could just say “Alexa” and ask it pretty much anything that I wanted to know. Rather than write about it I decided to give you a video demonstration:
I gotta say that I’m pretty impressed with it and especially the accuracy of the voice recognition. I use it for music the most. It’s cool being able to say play songs by _______ or have it play any of my Pandora Radio stations. I don’t have a daily commute, but if I did it would be great to say “what’s the traffic look like?” and have it give me current traffic conditions from my home to my work place. To answer the question, YES the Amazon Echo was absolutely worth the $99 special price. Now the question is is it worth the current price of $179.99? I would say mostly yes for the music aspect of it and the home automation potential. It’s also cool that new capabilities are being added to it on a regular basis. It works as advertised. One way to justify it is to keep in mind that there are bluetooth speakers out there that cost just as much and do a whole lot less. The sound coming from Amazon Echo is as good if not better than most other “dumb” speakers out there today.
