Joy of Gadgets

For a while now, the family computers were connected to the Internet using a couple of WiFi routers: one was in a WDS Mesh with my router upstairs in my office. The other router was simply a client set up in Client Bridge mode. All of the routers were Linksys WRT54G(S) running DD-WRT 2.4 SP1.

When I first set this up, I spent roughly two weeks diddling with it and finally got something stable. It generally stayed that way, though periodically, I’d experience random dropouts and other weirdness. The past several days, the WDS mesh would simply fail for no reason and despite my best efforts, I could not bring it up again.

I replaced my Linksys in my office with a UTM-1 EDGE W device I picked up from the office. This is an industrial strength firewall with WiFi, anti-virus at the gateway, and a lot of other cool security features in something about the size of a typical Linksys/D-Link router. I’m sure costs more than what most people want to spend on a router, given enterprises buy hundreds of them and manage them centrally. Home users can get a lot of the same functionality in the ZoneAlarm Z100G Secure Wireless Router for $150 shipped to your door (sorry, US and Canada only).

Unfortunately, this didn’t solve my WDS problem since the EDGE gateway does WDS differently than the Linksys boxes. I set both Linksys routers downstairs into Client Bridge mode temporarily, which allowed the Internet to work, albeit a little more slowly. Unfortunately, this is still not reliable as the WiFi periodically cuts out downstairs.

Today, I trekked over to Frys Electronics and picked up some HomePlug AV gear from TRENDnet (specifically the TRENDnet Tpl-302E2K 200Mbps Powerline Av Ethernet Adapter Kit and TRENDnet Tpl-302E 200Mbps Powerline Av Ethernet Adapter B Class). D-Link, Belkin, and Netgear also make this equipment, but I opted for the TRENDnet gear for one simple reason: I could buy a single TRENDNet HomePlug AV receiver. I needed 3 of them and the price for a pair was, at minimum, $120.

Setup was pretty easy, if you follow the included QuickStart guide. The TRENDnet software tool for configuring these devices (which, unfortunately, requires Windows) was able to find all three of my devices right away. It took me almost no time to get the devices connected together and passing traffic. One of the devices is plugged in near my router upstairs, the other two are downstairs in different rooms.

There are, of course, some limitations with these devices:

• The device–which is much larger than our typical wall-wort–partially blocks the other outlet. I found it worked if I used the top outlet and had the “bottom” facing upward.
• The device absolutely must be plugged in directly to the wall for it to work (i.e. no powerstrips).
• A maximum of 16 devices is supported.
• All devices must be on the same circuit breaker. This basically means you can only use these devices within a single dwelling.

While the TRENDnet Utility shows my devices not getting anywhere near the stated 200mb/s maximum throughput–the spec says the max data throughput is actually 150mb/s–I am getting anywhere from 10mb to 30mb/s to and from my locations. It’s at least as good as the WiFi link if not better as it’s more stable. I wish the price would come down a bit, but it’s still cheaper than cutting up drywall and adding in the necessary outlets.

(Crossposted from http://phoneboy.com/3013/ditching-the-wds-mesh-and-going-homeplug-av)

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I was watching my 4 year old watch Pokemon on the computer the other day (pictured here, playing Racquetball), when I had a rather startiling realization: she can figure out how to get the computer to show what she wants, yet can’t operate the televison.

Our televisions at home are relatively simple 19 inch ones from 1991 that cost about $300. They still work good, but the buttons are falling off and we’ve long since lost or replaced the original remotes with universal ones. They are not particularly hard to operate, but that assumes you can read, which my daughter can’t do yet.

Every time I go to someone’s house and attempt to use their TV, I feel like I need to take lessons in how to watch TV. Even with a Universal remote, it still a rather confusing series of steps just to get a picture on the screen. Heaven help you if you want to watch a DVD.

In addition to our old TVs, we opt for cable that came from the 1970s: (mostly) broadcast channels only. The kids can watch PBS and we can watch the few network shows. No Nickelodeon or Disney Channel to infect my brats with High School Musical. The total cost: $15/mo, which is about what I value televison at. It is most certainly not the $100+ a month the cable companies charge for access to all channels in HD.

Even if I had all the channels, who is to say what’s on when you want to watch? Yes, I know you can get on-demand or a Tivo, but that just adds extra cost to something I already consider to be of marginal value anyway. Not to mention the added complexity of owning one of these devices and integrating it into your home audio/video system.

Meanwhile, watching what you want, when you want, is so simple a four year old can figure out how to do it. It’s legal, it doesn’t require complicated TV setups or cost any extra money, beyond the Internet connection I am already paying for. What’s not to like?

I think my kids might like this just for the colors. However, this keyboard from KeyRight isn’t colorful “just because.” The colors tell you what keys your different fingers should hit for the most optimal typing experience and supposedly are 192% more effective than without the colors.

The keyboard along with the included typing tutor program is supposed to increase your typing speeds in as little as 6 hours. PC or Mac compatible. For people who aren’t touch typists and want to be, $39.99 is a small price to pay.

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I tend to be a cheap keyboard guy. I find whatever I can get my hands on for the lowest possible price. Unfortunately, some of the keyboards I’ve bought this way have been real crappy ones in the long run.

Das Keyboard sent me a review unit to try out. I was expecting a “clicky” keyboard, as that’s what their promotional materials promised. Sure enough, it’s clicky.

I’m sure many long-time geeks like myself will remember the first truly clicky keyboard–the original IBM AT keyboard. It was solid and clicked like mad whenever you typed on it. This keyboard is almost like that. Sure, it clicks, but the click isn’t entirely the same, nor do the keys feel as solid as that original.

That being said, this is a very solid keyboard. It weighs at least twice what my other keyboards weigh, and even better, it functions as a two-port USB 2.0 hub. I also like the color.

The Das Keyboard comes in another model–one without markings on the keys. It’s designed to help you learn how to touch-type.

My only misgiving with the keyboard is the price: $129 seems steep for a keyboard. Of course, this comes from someone happy to buy keyboards for a buck a piece from Woot. However, this is one of the best keyboards I’ve used in a long time. It’d be a no-brainer at half the price.

A while ago, I had purchased a Linksys WTR54GS as a travel companion. Not to be confused with the legendary WRT54GS, which is a desktop router, it is a fairly serviceable router that slides into a nice little compact carrying case complete with an Ethernet cable to jack in a computer or to something else.

The main problem I had with the WTR54GS? The firmware. Linksys never bothered to update beyond the initial shipping version, and the firmware is crap. The router’s web interface was slow and frequently experienced weird glitches. A problem with nearly every Linksys router since they switched to using VxWorks instead of Linux.

The folks behind DD-WRT figured out how to liberate this device from a life of running VxWorks. I followed the rather convoluted steps for getting DD-WRT onto the router. One small hitch I ran into was that the referenced Sercomm utility crashes under XP. However, a quick Google search resulted in finding an update to Sercomm that would make it run under XP.

After about 10 minutes, the WTR54GS was running DD-WRT. The web interface worked and was nice and peppy. All the functionality of DD-WRT is now in my travel bag, ready to convert WiFi to Ethernet or vice-versa.

Now if only Linksys would drop this VxWorks crap, their current routers might not suck so bad.