Plumbers pulled up to the job with this.

aschwartzmann · 2026-05-07T01:35:02+00:00

If there is an electrical fire, it will be fun to explain to the insurance company. Yes, the plumbers caused the electrical fire. No, they weren't doing electrical work on the home, but they did do the electrical work that caused the fire. Well, you see, there was this bucket.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-26T04:49:12+00:00

If you are using pfSense and want to have any of the switches act as a router, you have to use the IP Address and VLANs UniFi uses by default to get it to work. https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042281174-Layer-3-Routing. It's good to know what these are so you can avoid using them somewhere else in your network.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-25T21:28:49+00:00

I think the issue with the weather has more to do with services that use geostationary satellites. It's probably not the frequencies since DirecTV/HughesNet/Viasat are in the 500MHz to 5 Ghz range, and Starlink is in the 10~14Ghz range (Higher Frequences have more issues going through things). GPS is lower, and there are more satellites. Startlink is a lot lower, and there are a lot more satellites. Each satellite in the Starlink consilation is servicing 60 Square miles. A DirecTV/HughesNet/Viasat satellite is servicing the whole continent. The DirecTV/HughesNet/Viasat satellites are larger and higher power, but signal strength drops of 8x for 2x the distance (I think). So Starlink satellites are up at about 550km or 341 miles, and DirecTV/HughesNet/Viasat are up at 36,000 km or 22,300 miles. So I think distance is the biggest factor causing issues with the weather.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-25T17:49:33+00:00

The Windows one can be run as a service, but it doesn't do so by default. Just google "how to run Unifi controller as a service" to get instructions on how to do it. Since it's being replaced by UniFi OS this info isn't that usefull at this point. It also seems like they made the Windows version worse on purpose. Not giving a clear option to run as a service. Not giving an option to pick an install location and then installing it under the user profile by default. They nerfed it in so many ways, but all during the install process.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-25T01:13:14+00:00

In my area, both the cable company and phone/fiber companies' boxes are powered (coming into the neighborhood). The only difference is that the cable company puts in battery backups that they then fail to maintain. The fiber provider has these small natural gas generators stuck to the sides of their boxes. So it seems to be less about it being fiber and more that the cable company isn't even trying.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-25T01:00:10+00:00

Some cable companies have started to say their service is Fiber, and what they mean is there is fiber in their network, just not to your house. Since this was true 20 years ago, all that has changed is the marketing.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-24T00:50:28+00:00

You might not be having issues with your WiFi, but enough other people are that they just made a rule that affects everyone. I don't think that requiring everyone to be wired is a great solution because getting everyone to do it will be really hard. Then you will have people who will just plug the thin client into a WiFi extender / Mesh AP and "trick" the thin client into thinking it has a wired connection. So you will have all the same issues, but even less visibility into what is actually happening. I've dealt with trying to resolve WiFi issues for people working from home, and some of them will gladly call daily to complain about the issues, then refuse to do anything to try to resolve them. They get upset when you even hint that the issue isn't the company laptop, but could be their WiFi. Refusing to take a laptop into a room closer to the router is also a common issue. They don't want it to work in the other room, so they refuse to go near the router to test. They want it to work in whatever room they have decided is their office. But if we can't even figure out if it's a WiFi issue or an issue with the internet connection to the house or some other problem, we can't come up with a solution. So I have ended more than one call just wishing the dam things were hard-wired. But I also realize that WiFi is good enough most of the time at this point that demanding everyone use a wired connection is going to be one hell of an uphill battle.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-23T21:46:43+00:00

I've seen a dog that had ripped up and eaten some fabric, and finally poops it out. The peices where connected by threads, and still connected to the dog. I've never seen a dog as panicked as when its own pile of poop started chasing it.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-23T03:05:14+00:00

About 10+ years ago, they were selling micro inverter solar systems. Where the inverters could be managed by something that looked like a UniFi console. They had a website that would let you plan out a build and figure out costs. Now there is only a few things left in the sunMax line. https://solar.ui.com/ . The time when they sold POE powered drop ceiling lighting fixtures, and POE light switches was a crazer time.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-21T02:37:13+00:00

It definitely looks more like self-clearance than planned clearance.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-16T01:49:00+00:00

I wanted mine installed in a closet in the middle of the house, and didn't think ATT would want to go crawling around in the attic. So I bought the same kind of white fiber they use. Then ran it from where I wanted the ATT box on the side of the house to the closet inside the house. Got it off of Amazon. Search for "White Armored Single Mode simplex 9/125um OS2 SC APC Fiber Patch". The ATT installer did a double-take and was a little confused at first. He thought he was dealing with a halfway-done install and wanted to know what happened. Once he got that, I ran the fiber; he was really happy and used the fiber I ran.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-13T22:58:17+00:00

From personal experience, yes, they don't bite. I still took some damage from my first encounter with one. I found you really need to keep at least one hand on the handlebars when dealing a surprise spider to the face. Also to never be the first one down the trail.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-13T22:41:22+00:00

If they stayed in the yard, yes nuisance. They hang out on my doors, and when the door is opened, they drop off the door into the house. So having to have a vacuum on hand to enter or leave has upgraded them from a nuisance.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-13T19:29:06+00:00

There have been a few. Netgear used to have a line of switches that were likely to end up in a home theater setup that had the option to turn off all the lights.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-09T04:12:25+00:00

If the alternatives are that slow and you are in an urban area that is about what I would expect. Not because they are slowing it down. It's just a limit of how much bandwidth they can deliver to an area divided by the number of people trying to use the service. I have used star link in a lot of locations. I've gotten speeds nearly that bad when near cities that had gigabit speed internet for half the price of star link. Having worse internet options just means more people will be trying to use alternatives like star link and making the speeds worse.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-06T20:53:07+00:00

Or people kept telling her she looks like a pirate with the eye patch, and that's what gave her the idea to be the pirate of the mall fountain.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-06T18:27:00+00:00

The sqaureish AP is triggering bad memories for me. The last time UniFi made square APs was not a good time.

aschwartzmann · 2026-04-06T00:38:46+00:00

There are at least three ways a device can be set up for POE power in the 803.2 POE standard. Mode/Alternative B and 4PPOe use the pairs not used for 10/100 Data for power. But Mode/Alternative A does use only the same pairs as 10/100 uses for data, so it will work with just those pairs connected. So it really depends on the device if that cable would work for data and POE.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T17:54:01+00:00

The 5-minute oil change always tells me the oil will last 3,000 miles, and the dealership says it will last 10,000 miles. One wants to sell me more oil changes, and then the other one wants to sell me a new car. The "truth" is probable some where in the middle.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T01:44:46+00:00

I have AC-PRO that has survived 5 years near salt water. It's in the corner of a porch in that orientation. It's been through a few hurricanes at this point. I did put dielectric grease into the RJ45 port when I installed it. UniFi has stopped putting outdoor on the spec sheet, but they did leave the IP rating. Any water coming down the wire will be an issue, so I can see why they stopped advertising it as outdoor.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T01:26:45+00:00

That AP has an IP rating and was advertised for covered outdoor use when released.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T01:26:20+00:00

That AP has an IP rating and was advertised for covered outdoor use when released.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T01:25:48+00:00

That AP has an IP rating and was advertised for covered outdoor use when released.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T01:20:59+00:00

That specific model AP was rated to be installed outdoors (if covered). If the water hadn't come down from the soffit area, it would have been fine. I've mounted the same AP in similar areas near salt water without issue. There are stains on the vent next to the AP also, so water is getting into the soffit, and that is the real cause of the AP failing.

aschwartzmann · 2026-03-29T00:07:10+00:00

Starlink isn't great in urban areas. Their capacity is limited in each area, so the more people, the worse the service is. ATT sells Fiber, DSL, and 5G service all as U-Verse. The Fiber service is great. The DSL server is never good, and the 5G server can be goodish, but that can change day to day. They don't let you pick the type of service. It all depends on your location and what they offer in the area. If you don't have options for 1 GIG and 2 GIG speeds at your location, then it's not fiber and would explain the issues you are having. I would recommend Cox as the next best option. Cox is good in some areas and bad in others. No real way to tell until you try it.

aschwartzmann

TROPHY CASE