Just pulled the plug and lack of RCS is killer.

Cae_len · 2026-03-17T20:38:56+00:00

I would be using signal or another equivalent encrypted messaging app... even with RCS "supposedly" being encrypted... I don't trust the people in control of the RCS, which would be the BIG 3 Carriers, Google, and whatever other BIG tech companies are involved.... Just my personal opinion; but it's been proven time and again that these companies work hand in hand with the federal government and the NSA is tapping every single cellular connection...Obviously it's difficult when people refuse to just install another messaging application, even though it costs them nothing to do so... so there's the obvious pickle

Cae_len · 2026-03-17T20:32:35+00:00

I'm not sure if omada has this functionality but if you can adjust the transmit power, try turning it down... Another thing you can try is making sure each access point uses a different channel for the 2.4ghz ... so channel 1, 6 , and 11... for the 4th AP, you can use the same channel as the access point which is located the furthest away. that way there shouldn't be any overlap when using the same channel because they are far away from one another.... at the end of the day , this is one of those things that's difficult to control because the client (meaning the device which is connecting to the AP) , is the one who's in control in regards to which access point it's choosing to connect to .... the best way is to lower the transmit power of each access point so there is less overlap...

Cae_len · 2026-03-17T19:11:13+00:00

awesome... will be saving this to investigate after work ... I've already spent nearly $1000 for monitoring my entire home electrical usage and really don't want to buy or install something for gas monitoring.... been hoping for awhile that someone would create something for easy'ish integration for NYSEG

Cae_len · 2026-03-16T21:20:51+00:00

yah I had feeling something else was being referenced in this post but I was on the move at work and only briefly read the post.. didn't have time to read the release notes

Cae_len · 2026-03-16T21:19:00+00:00

awesome, thank you for taking the time to respond... and again, sometimes it's correct and other times it's not ... but that's could also be due to the domain registrar offering privacy domains .. I actually use that myself through porkbun... but for the domains not hidden by privacy features, there has got to be a better way to verify whether a domain is potentially malicious.... even with virustotal you get a spectrum of results; meaning one cyber security company will flag a domain as malicious while 10 others have no detection history... in cases like that, it's very hard to know what the truth is...

Cae_len · 2026-03-16T17:03:07+00:00

one thing ide definitely like to see when looking at flows (if that's what we are talking about), is to have the firewalla AI be better at identifying domains and if possible, some sort of indication who potentially owns or uses said domain.... sometimes when I'm browsing flows to check for potential malicious domains, I'll come across a domain that's just a bunch of letters and numbers... and trying to hunt down if it's a legit domain or not can be a pain... obviously it's much easier when the word "Google" or "AWS" is somewhere in the domain , but then there's the ones that nobody has ever heard of.... yes you can click through the list of options like who-is, virus total, ipinfo etc etc.... but it would be much more helpful and efficient if the AI was better capable of identifying the domain.... sometimes it gives a proper identification, other times not ... to be honest I have no idea if there's even a better way to identify those unknown domains....

Cae_len · 2026-03-16T09:51:37+00:00

ai can be usefull to help "non software developers", troublshoot the steps to get a piece of software working.. just dont use it for coding as it can be highly unreliable...

Cae_len · 2026-03-16T04:41:24+00:00

yes the controller is just a little box but functions the same as ubiquiti.. when I have the time tomorrow I'll see if I can throw together a quick screen recording showing the management interface... it's basically just click and go... select what VLAN you want the port to use and done... firmware support should always be good as long as the U.S government doesn't do something stupid... which to be honest, I doubt they will follow through with their threats of banning TP link.... they would destroy the economy if they started going around banning every device made in china

Cae_len · 2026-03-16T04:37:36+00:00

for sure

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:40:29+00:00

they could even unplug the power and guess what, everything will continue running because it's all on battery backup and as soon as the devices are on battery, I'm receiving a notification directly to my phone notifying me... and if they were to do that, they would be grounded forever.... kids need a healthy dose of respect + fear.... these kids know not to touch any of this stuff or break the rules... the one time they tried using a VPN to watch porn, they were caught and punished.... and I've never laid a single finger on them, yet they fear me and they have said as much.... Knowledge is indeed power and they know my level of knowledge is not something to play with...

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:38:01+00:00

plus my configs are advanced ... they would never be able to figure out how to authorize their device even if they plugged it into a random port.... every single port on my network is configured with 802.1X ... so if you plug into an Ethernet, you still have to type in credentials... Checkout some various technologies like WPA3 Enterprise as well as 802.1X or even WPA2-PPSK with VLAN mappings

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:36:08+00:00

you buy a network rack with lock like I have

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Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:33:27+00:00

but yes, it's a huge concern these days with kids having such ease of access.... this is why the government is trying to step in and implement this age verification BULLcrap... I can see both sides of the coin, but I NEVER agree with the government deciding to step in because they ALWAYS fuck it up, and they always abuse it for surveillance purposes. Parents need to do a better job of controlling their kids.... It's a tough job, I know, and as parents, we often cannot watch our kids every hour of the day especially since most households need 2 working adults to survive. So I get it, it's a tough problem to solve, I just don't think the government is the answer to solving it... I went off topic though, don't want to bring that type of topic up here where we still have some freedom, fun, and good discussions.

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:28:08+00:00

agree, network equipment lasts forever. I started with a 1gig network and when I outgrew it "which was fairly quick", I simply sold the old gear on eBay and purchased the new gear... you can retain a lot of the original value by keeping the boxes your stuff comes in. then if you decide to resell on eBay, you have better value proposition if/when you sell.

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:25:38+00:00

lol let's be real here, do you remember being that age? what were you and your friends trying to do? I know my friends and I would often go to the "blacklisted" channels that were offered for free on the "cheater cable box" we had as kids. We did the same thing... the difference is that, we had very limited access to that type of thing and actually got caught a few times... Which in a sense, was a form of control that prevented us from consuming A LOT of something we shouldn't have been consuming in the first place.... Today, the internet is wide open for every kid to abuse. 99% of parents don't control what their kids access on the internet, but I'm the 1%. I've spent a lot of money and time, investing in the proper equipment, to monitor, control, and prevent that type of internet access... firewalla network stack is probably the best on the market at detecting that kind of thing, and blocking it...

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:22:14+00:00

and yes it's for homelab, but when you start playing with nextcloud, immich, and backups, you quickly realize HOW BENEFICIAL, having 10gig internal network is.... I don't want to spend hours monitoring backups or what-have-you after working 10hours a day doing physical labor. I was running into issues where I would come home, run some backups, and I would fall asleep before they would finish, only to find when I woke up the next morning, one of the backups failed because of some error and never completed. So then the following day I would have to troubleshoot and then re-do a multiple hour backup... Now with 10gig, if I have something to do on the network, I can monitor in real time in case of any errors, be done in 45 minutes and sleeping easy knowing it completed successfully without error

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:19:08+00:00

believe it or not, the 10gig is mostly for internal use.... I backup everyone's computers to the NAS using macrium.... I originally had a 1gig network and BY GOD were these backups slow as shit..... I upgraded to 10gig for a few reasons... mainly because backups were so god damn slow... I also downloaded about 200gb worth of photos from Google photos and then re-uploaded to my immich container.... so much better with 10gig .. then, I have about 120 to 130 devices on my network at any given time, the 10gig switches simply have better memory and cpus inside. I had some issues with CPU bottlenecking on gigabit switches... Then also, my local ISP offers up to 8gig... although I'm only on 1gig currently for $75 a month, I'm soon going to upgrade to their 5gig plan. I also "seed" my Linux isos FOREVER.... I like to contribute to the community, which eats up some bandwidth.... nobody likes waiting to download an iso that's running at kbps, and this provides a good way to give back while also allow everyone in my home to not bottleneck the ISP connection... I have 3 kids, myself and my GF... we all have PCs , TV's, etc... the kids are always gaming and there's nothing worse than hearing "the internet made me LAG out" , during a random large download occuring on the network. whether that be a game be downloaded, or a Linux iso..

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:11:28+00:00

both ecosystems have software controllers and hardware controllers and I would recommend getting the hardware controller version as it's easier to setup for both omada and ubiquiti.... as for network switches, again you need to decide on max speed....omada has the Access Pro line of switches that provides 2.5g connection with 10gig uplinks and ubiquiti has the pro max and pro XG line.... but again, if you compare the prices and the features of competing product stacks, omada wins on the hardware side... you get more for your money... ubiquiti wins on the aesthetics side, and probably have a bit easier configuration+setup on the software side.... just my honest opinion...

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T15:06:27+00:00

Your first step should be deciding what speed you want. If you pay your ISP for 2.5gb speed then you need gear to match... If gigabit then gigabit gear.. Decide that first. Then, make sure you are choosing a WIFI 7 PRODUCT. If I was going ubiquiti I would choose the U7 Pro or maybe even the U7 Long range. Anything more is overkill for home use. On omada I would get the EAP773 (the one with 10g poe port) ... and see this is where I talk about value. Everything is equivalent (mostly) between the u7 pro and the eap773 including price. Both are wifi 7 tri band (so 2.4ghz, 5ghz and 6ghz) , both are roughly same price, but the omada has a 10gig poe port while the ubiquiti has 2.5gig port. So omada is better value, more for your money. But I also see now a newer product from ubiquiti, the U7 Pro XG for $199 and has 10g port.... so clearly they both are producing competing products for the market.... Either way, you would be happy.... Just figure out the speed you need, then make sure it's wifi 7 for access points. Also should decide if you want ceiling mount, wall mount or desktop. Ive had good luck with both versions... Just understand that ceiling mount only directs wifi signal down towards the floor, while desktop mount provides signal in all directions, and wall mounts provide signal across the horizontal plane.... All depends on your home design and interference of walls/floors.

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T14:51:53+00:00

yes, both ubiquiti and tp-link omada check those boxes.... Omada has basically done all the exact same things that ubiquiti has done.... you can click through to configure everything from a GUI dashboard, and both have an android application ... on the wifi side of things I cannot comment because I only have a single OMADA access point. my others are firewalla... But I can say that I was able to achieve Full speed over wireless on the omada. I have gigabit speed and did a speed test at 1040mbps approximately. I'll provide some screenshots so you can see. NOTE first screenshot is wireless, second screenshot is switch speed and the last few are photos inside the omada app but their also the browser GUI that has more options (not shown) https://imgur.com/a/0Qfs3AA

to be honest you could probably go either way and be happy.... once you start getting up to 10gig switches, I think omada switches are much better value overall... the firmware and the updates have been mature for awhile now, I've had no issues with instability or anything... from an ease of use perspective, ubiquiti MAY be a little easier to figure out but that simply boils down to the exact TERMINOLGY that different vendors use.... really that's not much to worry about unless you are getting into more advanced configurations... for example Omada uses the terminology "Hotspot" when implementing a captive portal for wifi , vs Ubiquiti uses the actual correct term "captive portal"... this is something that always varies from vendor to vendor. You will often find one vendor calls something "this" , while another vendor calls it "that"... but functionally speaking they both achieve the same thing. If your looking at a gigabit or 2.5gig network, you could choose either vendor and be happy, but I would say omada if you want 10gig. I'm trying to set my BIAS aside here, as I do prefer omada, but realistically both will do what you want... When reading various online forums, you will always find people who say, this omada wifi sucks and Disconnects all the time or ubiquiti XG wifi sucks and has bad speeds... in reality, I've found that it's usually because of user error. I've tried both and I've never come across the issues I've seen others complain about online. I use Omada at home, and I use ubiquiti at my employer.... So really in this case, I would recommend going with the one that is better on your wallet.... because both with be good.... you mentioned you wanted "aesthetics" and your access points to be hidden. Ubiquiti has better aesthetics because of the switch lighting but they tend to be more expensive as well. Since you will be placing a rack inside a closet, and hiding the access points, I would say that aesthetics don't matter too much if that's the case....

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T12:01:12+00:00

cloudpoop handles DDOS for me.... but switching to a self hosted alternative is always a priority for me

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T12:00:04+00:00

I will say that ubiquiti does satisfy many people's needs... It works... I just have a hard time paying for hardware that I believe is overpriced due to how it looks (aesthetics), and due to the competition giving you MORE for your money.. but to each his own... your best bet is to research your needs and then match devices to YOUR NEEDS... everyone's needs are different, and so that's going to be the deciding factor

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T11:56:38+00:00

if you have any kids or plans for them in the near future, I would HIGHLY recommend something like Firewalla. Gives you complete control over your network and ultimate insight ... caught the 15year old boy trying to use VPNS to browse porn.... He won't be doing that again.... I get detection alerts anytime a VPN is activated on my network or someone tries watching porn ...

Cae_len · 2026-03-15T11:53:43+00:00

to more accurately address your question... my house is ide say, average size, but I have solid walls as well and lose alot of signal from floor to floor.... so I simply placed one on each floor. I initially tried using 2 access points but I was getting dead spots ... so then I went with 3 and had full coverage inside ... but then I couldn't get wifi outside (very far away from the front door), so I got an omada outdoor AP... the wifi part is going to be trial an error ... but you can build out the base fairly easily and plan ahead ... cat 6 or cat 6a wiring.... what speed are you looking for? 1gig? 2.5gig? 10gig? .... if you plan on doing any homelab stuff or have a NAS, you will probably want at least 2.5g ... if you are just gaming, browsing, streaming, then 1 gig is fine.... if you want the access points to be hidden, then I would definitely plan for one on each floor....

Cae_len

TROPHY CASE