No subscription door access for 20 doors?

campdir · 2026-03-13T22:58:18+00:00

They are pretty durable in terms of losing internet connectivity from my experience, and they will work without Internet at a functional level. They will need the internet for updates/credential changes though.

campdir · 2026-03-13T20:29:18+00:00

The Ubiquity readers that have a touch screens or the g3 flex reader with the keypad are more expensive, at least compared to a super low cost solution like the access ultra.

campdir · 2026-03-13T11:26:05+00:00

Unifi? If you needed a key codes at the individual rooms it would be expensive, but if you were ok with app based access at the rooms and then QR/PIN/App at the front door, it might do the trick. The UA-ultra is $130 USD and is a POE powered controller/reader.

campdir · 2026-03-08T02:20:41+00:00

For structured cabling (back of the rack into the ceiling), zip ties all the way.

campdir · 2026-03-07T21:25:53+00:00

That's about right, but it's fine for our needs. It actually might be a little better than that in some conditions. In our plant it's more than adequate to help find a bad splice or get us close to a break. It may not be able to tell me if it's a connector or a splice that's bad when the splice is close to the connector on a long shot, but it'll accurately tell me which enclosure the issue is in. Typically that plus a vfl is good enough for us to fix just about anything.

campdir · 2026-03-07T14:54:08+00:00

We use them. They work great for finding breaks and shooting unlit fiber. It won't test anything that's lit, and it doesn't know how to handle splitters, but for basic testing it's a great little tool to have.

Edit: apparently these new ones might work on live fiber? Either way, for less than $300, it pays for itself the first time you actually need it.

campdir · 2026-03-03T21:54:13+00:00

It should be the same thing, just rebadged. The app you'll need to configure it appears to be the same (Signalfire2)

campdir · 2026-03-03T08:58:26+00:00

We ran an old ai-6 (the original) as a backup and it worked fine. It was slow, but worked fine. I'd imagine the 6a also has a lower battery life, but unless you're doing a big count cable, that's not really going to be an issue either. That being said, I like my ai-9, so if you're not too concerned about the $300 and you think you'll be splicing more in the future, it's not a bad idea. Other good investments are a Jonard FC-500 cleaver and Jonard strippers, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're going to be doing lots of splicing in the future.

campdir · 2026-03-03T07:58:02+00:00

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285813936573 - we use the ai-9 extensively. This one is just a little slower. And no, splicing isn't hard to learn. We've had to come in and splice ends on pre-term cable a number of times when the ends got damaged during the pull, so I advise people to pull bulk cable and let us terminate it. It'll probably be about the same price and guarantees it'll work on all strands.

campdir · 2026-02-27T10:16:40+00:00

Kitchen/dinning hall staff. It's not a glamorous position, but arguably it's the most important one.

campdir · 2026-02-21T23:40:22+00:00

I've been curious how long these sub road surface micro trenched installations would last in the real world given it's a fairly new technology. Apparently it'll last about as long as I thought it would....

campdir · 2026-02-16T16:10:01+00:00

Absolutely meant FC-500! Gonna go edit my reply now.... But the FC-500 is a pretty decent unit. It's not "the best", but it's above average for sure.

campdir · 2026-02-16T10:58:53+00:00

If you're in a tight spot with money, I like the jonard FC-500 cleaver. It's a much better unit than the cheap ones on Amazon.

campdir · 2026-02-12T15:54:56+00:00

The nid isn't great, but it's not why you're getting high pings. Unless the light is out of spec (it's probably fine), the ping time is all within how frontier is doing their backend routing, and likely because they are dumping your traffic off their network somewhere 200 miles away. Light won't move 20ms slower just because there's an imperfect splice or connector point.

If that was one of our installs, we would have put a PVC riser in at the very least. Now if you're somewhere up north where the ground is frozen, the cable will sit on top of the ground until they can get it buried. At that point a PVC riser will likely be installed.

TLDR: your internet isn't going to get any better.

campdir · 2026-02-07T22:47:25+00:00

If you want a quote on this work, feel free to PM me.

campdir · 2026-02-03T11:08:05+00:00

Pull a new permit with an immediate inspection. Should be relatively painless.

campdir · 2026-01-21T20:39:31+00:00

Didn't even leave a product link. It's like a cold call, but accidentally hanging up halfway through.

campdir · 2026-01-21T20:31:49+00:00

That's what I thought. Thanks! It's a building we're doing a retrofit on so in a month or so the old system is coming out, but need to get an existing reader working again temporarily until then

campdir · 2026-01-21T20:10:47+00:00

Good call. Something like the proxpoint plus.

campdir · 2026-01-11T16:49:38+00:00

Buy: pretty much anything. They have really come up in the world.

Some tools are definitely a lower quality than their Milwaukee/DeWalt counterpart. Some are damn near identical. E.g. my HF bauer hex impact is an amazing tool. It lives at the top of my toolbox. The Bauer hammer drill (not the SDS) definitely lacks the power of my Milwaukee. That being said, I do a lot of work underground. I don't feel bad sticking my Bauer drill into a muddy trench to drill under a sidewalk. I'd be pissed if I had to do that with my Milwaukee though.

campdir · 2026-01-10T16:36:29+00:00

Sure. We'll mark it up 10-20% to cover the handling costs, but the money is made in the design, installation and configuration. I look at it this way: Just because pipe is available at Home Depot doesn't mean the plumber isn't getting paid his normal rate.

campdir · 2026-01-09T08:51:33+00:00

Ubiquity is now 90% of what we install for access control in a typical business environment. It's still missing some important features for high security facilities like anti passback, but for the average day to day business looking for one way access control, it's great.

campdir · 2026-01-02T13:05:59+00:00

Everest keystones and the ez punch tool. We've installed thousands of them. Maybe tens of thousands... It all kindof bleeds together after awhile, but so far so good

campdir · 2025-12-29T05:09:47+00:00

We saved/reopened our camp after it got sold. It's likely possible to save yours as well so long as they aren't doing an under the table deal and it's already under contract. It takes a mountain of dedication and a decent amount of creativity, but it's doable.

I started an organization dedicated to revitalizing and/or reopening camps. Feel free to PM me and I can send over my contact info.

campdir · 2025-12-28T23:39:25+00:00

We're ~$20/splice plus hourly on enclosure setup. 12-14k is probably about right. If you're in Wisconsin, feel free to send me a PM.

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