networking

Comcast won’t let me be

Comcast Business NotificationWhen the Scientific Atlanta/Cisco CableCard failure occurred on December 1 it was just the push we needed to cut the cord. Since we could not have our beloved Tivo DVR there was no further reason to stay with Comcast. We dropped both Xfinity cable TV and Comcast Business internet access. Both changes were long overdue.

Since then, the company simply won’t stop bothering us. They send us offers in the mail saying how, “they miss us” and, “they want us to come back.” I suppose that’s to be expected. Junk mail.

However, for the past week they’ve been sending me text messages with advice about network upgrade work in the area. We had a Comcast Business account for over a decade and never received anything from them. Now they start sending me messages. A month after we closed the account?!

This is not the sort of thing that inspires. Rather, it highlights just what a senseless and uncoordinated organization they truly are.

As if that’s not annoying enough, they send further text messages asking if the prior messages have been helpful? What sort of idiocy is this? We simply don’t care about a service we no longer use.

Read More

Ubiquiti Unifi UXG-Max Router: The Most Boring Installation in Memory

The transition to AT&T Fiber meant jumping from 60/10 mbps service to 500/500 mbps service. Our old router was SmallWall on a recycled HP T620 Plus thin client. SmallWall is a fork of m0n0wall, which I used for years previously. And a history lesson, m0n0wall was the progenitor of pfsense.

Alas, that little hardware/software combination simply wasn’t up to this new, and much faster, ISP. It could only manage to pass 120 mbps. The CPU tracking in SmallWall didn’t show it to be overburdened. I suspect other aspects of the hardware were the problem. It has a dual-ported Intel NIC. They’re 1G ports, connected to the host via a PCIe x4 connector.

UXG-Max

I could have swapped out the T620 Plus for something newer and faster. However, I decided to extend our installation of Ubiquiti Unifi gear by adding their Unifi UXG Max router. That would allow me to see the ISP/router performance in the Unifi UI, which is handled by the Unifi Controller app running on a local Raspberry Pi400.

We came to use the Unifi line by way of their Wi-Fi access points. That was the end-state of what had been a long-running search to deliver reliable Wi-Fi. When our Ubiquiti PowerAP N died we deployed Unifi AC Pro access points. So began our foray into “software defined networking.”

Read More

Good riddance to Comcast & Xfinity

For many, many years we have been customers of Comcast. We had their consumer cable TV service, which was rebranded Xfinity. We also had Comcast Business Class internet access. We had both services a very long time.

At the time we installed them we were quite happy with both services. As a Tivo household we were compelled to have cable TV service. We adored Tivo. That effectively bound us to Xfinity.

Back in the day (2008-ish) Comcast’s DOCSIS-powered cable internet outperformed the only alternative, which was DSL. It was not without its quirks. We were compelled to switch to business class service because consumer service was badly degraded at certain times of the day. Basically, it slowed to a crawl when the kids got out of school.

In the early days, we’d occasionally hear from some salesperson who claimed to be our new account rep. They came and went. Every time they offered us faster service, it was for way more money. Occasionally they’d have some deal, but the special offer always evaporated if I wanted to use my own cable modem and router. Or if I didn’t want a bundle that included their voice service.

Eventually, they stopped calling on us. We’ve not been bound to a contract since 2012. We’ve just been grandfathered in on a legacy “Deluxe 60/10” service that cost around $100/mo.

Tivo is the glue

We’ve been a Tivo household since 2001. We currently have a Tivo Roamio Pro with 6 tuners. It’s on the main TV in the house. Other TVs are connected to Tivo Mini’s and a Tivo Mini LUX. A total of four TVs can access any content.

Tivo is still the superlative DVR. Nothing else comes even close. Some cable and satellite providers licensed Tivo tech for their own use. Their own DVRs are absolutely lame in comparison. The fact that they could not match Tivo in 25 years is, I think, testament to the fact that they just didn’t care about the user experience.

Our cable TV bill was over $200/mo. If it were not for our investment in, and admiration of Tivo, we would have long ago dumped Comcast.

Read More

POE Splitters Revisited

Around here we make significant use of power-over-ethernet. If something can be powered from the network…it is. Sometimes that means the device itself supports POE. Occasionally it means the device is connected to a “POE splitter.” That’s a little device that receives 802.11af standard p.o.e. and breaks out a 5v or 12v DC feed. This is how we power the little IoT hubs from Philips Hue and Lutron, and some Raspberry Pi’s.

Some time ago I did a little exploration of POE extenders. These are like little network switches that receive ethernet with power from one cable, allowing it to be passed onward to 2-3 POE capable devices. The theory here is that a single run of Cat 5E can power 2-3 IP cameras, up to the load limit of the port on the switch. If the switch is capable of POE+ it can readily handle two or three cameras connected to a single port.

Recently I learned of a different kind of POE splitter. These are a wholly passive arrangement. Just some wires and connectors. They leverage the fact that Ethernet does not use all 8 conductors in the cable. So, by shifting which pins use which wires at both ends of the cable, you can effectively turn one cable pull into two Ethernet drops.

POE splitter combiner

At the switch, a combiner component connects two ports to a single cable. At the far end, a splitter component breaks the feeds out to separate Ethernet jacks. Power can be delivered over both connections.

It’s dead common to have a camera position at the peak of a roof gable, or the corner of a house, where you might like to have cameras looking in each direction. This harness makes that possible without pulling two Ethernet cables. And retains the ability to power cycle each camera by cycling power to the associated port.

While not fancy, these wee beasts are simple and cheap. Just $15 a set. That seems quite attractive for some common situations.

Read More

Rewiring the Network Core: Part 2 – Beats, Wi-Fi & Brittle Cables

As was mentioned previously, I’ve been upgrading the network installation in the central hall of our home. The new vertical rack cabinet is now installed.

The paint job is a little splotchy. A contractor we had working for us the other day commented on the “neat cloud effect” I had achieved. I had to admit it wasn’t intentional, but it’ll do for now. It’s mostly hidden from view. At least the color is a good match for the wall.

Vertical Rack

As you can see, power is still being supplied by way of a pigtail out the bottom to a nearby outlet. That’s temporary. It will be replaced by a wire fished through the wall.

You can also see the holes in the floor where network cabled once passed from under the house. I need to get wooden plugs to fill those holes. The cables now run into the wall, onward to the patch bay in the cabinet.

Read More

Rewiring the Network Core: The Tale of a Terrible Terminator

terminatorOccasionally I just have to face facts. There are some things that I don’t do well. That I will likely never do well. Terminating Ethernet cables is one of these things. It’s just not a skill that I’ve been able to develop. I suck at it. I find it frustrating. I try to avoid it. But it’s occasionally unavoidable. So, it’s nice to find something that reduces the frustration of my reality as a terrible Terminator.

We recently did some minor renovation in the central hallway in our home. It got a new attic access ladder in the ceiling and a fresh coat of paint, in a bright new color. Some nice new lights. It’s looking much improved.

The hall is where I have the household portion of my little network installation. Up against one wall there’s a small Ethernet patch panel and 24-port Ubiquiti POE+ switch, and a couple of small IoT hubs. Also, a 1RU UPS for safety.

I’d include a picture, but it’s not a pretty scene. Everything mounted to some prefinished white shelving, screwed flat to the wall, so it take up as little space as possible. It was only meant to be temporary.

I believe that anything that can connected via Ethernet should be connected via Ethernet. Wi-Fi is only for those things that don’t support Ethernet. Ethernet home runs from the various rooms & security cameras end up at the patch field in the hall. A couple of strands of Ethernet run underground in conduit to the garage apartment where they meet the main network core.

Read More
Back To Top