The Lance J. Technoweb

I suddenly have a client that has been having a lot of problems with their Airport Extreme v5 (A1408) router on Comcast, and I aim to get to the bottom of it.   I was remote, my client was pulling the strings.  So I couldn't do a whole ton of diagnostics.  The goal was to get back and running as soon as possible. On the Apple Airport Extreme, "Green means Good".  Until Now. Usually, a solid green LED on the Airport series means that everything is A-OK.  But despite the green,  the Extreme didn't seem to be broadcasting its WiFi SSIDs, and the Extreme didn't seem to be talking to the modem.  It was all very sad.  In fact, both the WiFi and Ethernet of the router were non-functional. A hard (power) restart of the modem and router, connectivity came back and would work perfectly well for 5 to 60 minutes, and then the router would "disappear" again.  The router's LED and the modem lights claimed that everything was A-OK, but the lack of visible...

Today I found a report by the FCC that talks about Internet performance of the most popular US providers.  It is clear that a lot of people are having major issues with Comcast. Here's a clip of the FCC's chart that highlights upload performance by the major providers.  The FCC chart shows that Comcast / Xfinity has some of the WORST performance in the industry: See where Comcast is?  It's in the toilet, and it is not improving.  In some countries Comcast's upload rate would not even be called broadband. Although Cox looks nearly as bad on this chart, in reality Cox's faster upload performance is from 2 times faster up to 100 times faster that Comcast! Comcast and its marketing team loves to ignore the importance of upload speed.  Do you take photos?  Do you use Zoom or Skype or Google Hangouts for school or work?  How about Dropbox or Microsoft Exchange?  Do you use your smartphone on the Internet?   If so, then upload performance is CRITICA...

 I started to spend a bit more money and help things come together. PoE Switch I found a great deal and ended up buying a 10-port PoE switch. First, before we get all excited, only 8 of the 10 ports support PoE.  Secondly, it is "only" a 10/100 switch, so no gigabit for me.  I'm OK with that.  The switch was under $60, and I can always upgrade later. Laying out the Backboard I started to mount items on my backboard, including the new switch.  It took me a long time to figure out where to put the equipment: I wanted enough room to lay it all out neatly and comfortably, but I also want  efficiency.  I also want to be able to connect and disconnect items without a lot of effort.  And of course I want to be able to see status LEDs without resorting to mirrors or uncomfortable behaviors. After much trial and error, I found out that the best starting approach is to place all terminating equipment based on the building cabling.  One reality of my ba...

You likely want to know which Cable Modem you should buy for the fastest performance, lowest latency, and highest reliability.  What does a network expert have to say? But before we begin, here is the deal:  There is no "best" cable modem. Any website that lists the "best" is full of garbage.  Forget them.  They are idiots try to sell you crap. Modems should last for 5 to 10 years and almost never fail.  They do not slow down with time. They do not wear out. Any quality issues are almost always an issue with the cabling in your home and/or from the street.  Modems do go obsolete.  That is how they end up in the garbage heap. With all that out of the way, here are my strict rules in terms of what to buy.  There are NO exceptions to any of my rules. Rule 1: Buy a Modem that is "approved" by YOUR cable company Each  Cable company has a list of "approved" modems that conforms to the standards.  Definitely focus on the approved modem list, as...

My house has a security system with integrated fire alarms.  I knew there was a security alarm there, but only now do I realize that smoke detectors are part of the package. There are redundant battery operated smoke alarms mounted in roughly every location.  The system seems to be 12v or 24v, and all devices seem to be wired into the central panel. The central panel consists of a 12v rechargeable lead acid battery , used to keep the system powered even during a electrical service outage.  In addition, the central station must have all the programming in order to monitor the system and "alert the authorities". All this isn't ideal.  In the modern world, people use TCP/IP networking and wireless devices for security. This is not that.  Instead, this is a lot of complicated and sloppy low-power wiring.   So, now I have to figure out exactly what this is, and if I should keep it or replace it. Happily, the panel does specify the location of active sensors...

People talk about how 5G is here and the how everyone should dream about it. Based on my history with mobile phone tech, I call BS. Industry-driven engineering and deployment finances have nothing to do with the reality of making a service widely available to customers.  It takes many years to deploy to a level where it impacts most customers. I don't have a 5G phone yet, and that's because 5G deployment is in its early infancy, with no mature handsets on the market and ridiculously limited tower deployments.  I'm sure that'll change once the mobile phone companies experience increasing failure of their legacy equipment in the field. The LTE rollout was a mess, with VoLTE maturing years after LTE rolled out.  Let's hope the 5G deployment isn't as awful. My Timeline of Mobile Deployments 2G........: 11 Years, 1997 - 2008 3G........: 04 Years, 2008 - 2012 4G........: 06 Years, 2012 - 2018 4G (VoLTE): 05 Years, 2018 - 2023? 5G........: ?? Years, 2023? - 2034?

A few quick updates. I ended up moving my backboard from a location that was impeded by plumbing to a more accessible spot.  This change does mean extending some cables, but access to my backboard panel and power will be far easier.  It's a big win. Speaking of the backboard, I have an 8 port network switch mounted, along with a PoE injector and a giant amplified cable TV splitter.  I also mounted a power strip, which I might later replace with a UPS.  I don't plan to mount any more equipment in the short term.  I Now that my backboard has moved 8 feet away, I needed a way to drag over a dozen+ cables over 8 feet away, and most need to be extended.  Extending is easy with couplers, and  I figured my best solution for dealing with the extra cabling is to use a cable tray. Cable trays are not inexpensive (they are not free), so instead I have gutted an old light fluorescent light fixture and am using the steel housing as a poor man's cable tray.  I ...