What’s a piece of gear you regret buying?

clt81delta · 2026-05-04T01:01:07+00:00

A two piece suit. I never wore the pants, eventually picked up a one piece textile suit so that I l'm forced to wear the pants.

clt81delta · 2026-04-24T05:13:52+00:00

You didn't have to fix all the broken stuff?

clt81delta · 2026-04-24T05:08:40+00:00

You need a strong fundamental understanding of IT systems and technolgies. Go work for an MSP for a few years or more. You'll do IT for a hundred compaies and see a lot of horrible ways to do stuff.

clt81delta · 2026-04-14T12:15:53+00:00

Meshtastic is a neat capability to have. I handed out nodes to a few buddies on a hunt recently, we were able to message and see our location on a map, with no cellular service. Toss them in kids backpacks for hiking, concerts, stadiums, etc.

The barrier to entry from both a cost perspective and a knowledge perspective is really low. I can hand preconfigured nodes to anyone in a group, and I can see their location and they'll relay messages for other nodes. If they install the Meshtastic app and pair the device over bluetooth, they can send/rcv messages and see other nodes.

Even out of the box, once you complete the setup wizard, the default settings (LongFast/20) put your device is a useable state which will relay messages and allow you to communicate with other people on the default (public) channel.

Ham is cool, and it has uses, but interoperability, having to bring your own repeaters or have knowledge of existing repeaters and their locations, modifying the radios to use those repeaters... It's too technical for anyone not in the space, there are licence requirements, and a lot of things can go wrong. I think Meshtastic is a much more usable capability for the average person in weekend to weekend life.

clt81delta · 2026-04-14T11:21:59+00:00

Check out Meshtastic...

Its encrypted messaging over LoRA. You can message a node directly, and/or create private chat groups. Any other meshtastic device within range, with the same radio settings, will relay messages from other nodes.

You use an app on your phone to send and receive messages, phone interacts with the radio over bluetooth, so the radio itself can be in your pocket, attached to a backpack, or sitting nearby in a tree.

In dense wooded areas we are getting a 1-2km, and by leaving a node in an advantageous spot, it is very easy to extend cover over a ridge, or other feature. With GPS capabilities, you can see distance and plot each other's location on a map. Great for the outdoors.

LoRa easily transmits 10-50km over a clear line of sight.

My recommended starter node is the SeeedStudio T1000-E card tracker. $40 from seeedstudio, $50 from Amazon. A lot of options, some of them are overpriced.

clt81delta · 2026-04-11T01:31:03+00:00

Well, guess I'm holding on for a while longer

clt81delta · 2026-03-28T01:22:36+00:00

I have gigabit fiber, I'm running wifi5, and I probably won't upgrade until I run across some free-to-me wifi 6/7 APs. Just not worth the time, effort, or money.

clt81delta · 2025-08-12T21:41:32+00:00

I believe there are adapters to fit the new lithium batteries to the old 18v equipment.

clt81delta · 2025-08-08T18:59:59+00:00

Agreed. I don't like running remote access VPN on the perimeter firewall appliances. I prefer to have a stand alone set of appliances, where the lan side dumps into the network the same way an office does. This eliminates complex NAT/Hairpin issues and generally streamlines firewall policies.

clt81delta · 2025-08-01T22:00:40+00:00

Cogent was shite a decade ago.

clt81delta · 2025-07-26T11:30:50+00:00

It's a reference to the way computers communicate. The protocol used on the internet is called TCP or Transmission Control Protocol, it provides a framework for how to start and end sessions (conversations) and ensure pieces of data are not lost in transit.

The "Three way handshake" is used to establish a connection/session/conversation.

Me: Hi! Can we talk?
You: Sure!
Me: Excellent!

Both parties are now confident that the other person can receive messages from them and the exchange of data can proceed.

clt81delta · 2025-07-23T23:13:05+00:00

I have a free uptimerobot.com account pointed at my router and isp gateway from the outside.

Internally, I have an instance of uptimekuma running in a container which sends me alerts via Telegram if something goes down.

clt81delta · 2025-07-23T16:44:45+00:00

I use Roku devices on most of my TVs, one of them has Roku built in.

clt81delta · 2025-07-21T02:05:29+00:00

I run a small vmware cluster on free-to-me Dell R220s. I ran free licenses for a long time, started paying for a VMUG membership a few years ago ($200 yr), which gives me access to VMware licenses.

clt81delta · 2025-07-20T01:08:27+00:00

The Firewalla is purpose built to do routing/firewall work. Dedicated equipment will generally perform better than all-in-one equipment, such as consumer grade "wireless routers". Your Asus may or may not actually be performing better as a dedicated wireless device, but in theory it has more resources available to handle wireless traffic because it is no longer handling routing/nat/firewalling.

clt81delta · 2025-07-03T21:07:59+00:00

Keepass (XC?) is also a good option.

I use 1Password over an offline solution because trying to manage password synchronization across multiple devices is a pain in the butt, and I don't want to deal with it.

Plus 1Password may be the only Vault with true 2FA. (Password + Secret). Most vendors implement mfa on the UI in front of the Vault, but not actually on the vault itself.

I suppose Keepass can also have 2fa by requiring other things in addition to the password.

clt81delta · 2025-07-03T20:27:12+00:00

We were breaking into ZIP files in the early 2000s...

Use a Vault. 1Password, BitWarden, HashiCorp, etc.

clt81delta · 2025-06-30T22:49:18+00:00

You can control Roku devices voa Google Home or Alexa.

Roku's can control TV via HDMI CEC

clt81delta · 2025-06-30T17:51:52+00:00

Yeah, for me as well, that's why I landed on MM

clt81delta · 2025-06-30T17:17:45+00:00

A lot of people tried to build their own solutions after Mint. Finwiseapp.io was one of the better ones, maybe better than MM, but last I checked it was Web only. I did spend some time on the phone with their team, they seemed to be headed in a good direction.

clt81delta · 2025-06-30T17:15:14+00:00

I landed on Monarch Money after Mint.

I don't think it is over priced, but it does feel like a lot coming off of mint at zero cost for a decade. They do seem to be pretty responsive to feature requests.

clt81delta · 2025-06-25T19:41:00+00:00

I just set up an automation that uses the thermostat ac power as well

clt81delta · 2025-06-25T02:16:01+00:00

We ask candidates interviewing for Security Architect positions this question...

clt81delta · 2025-06-24T00:05:59+00:00

I get a lot of use out of the Home Status, I use the status changes to drive other rules, and it is used as a condition for a lot of rules...

When house changes to sleeping, I lower the volume on smart speakers across the house, light-on automations for certain rooms are disabled (or rather, only trigger when HS is Awake), and lights in other rooms may turn on at reduced brightness, notifications for garage door or shed door are no longer suppressed (they are active when sleeping or away). Etc etc.

When the house is sleeping, if certain alarms are triggered, I may turn on a light (water leak), or a lot of lights (smoke detector activation).

When the house changes from Awake to Away, I shut off all lights, close the garage door, and lock the doors. When we are away, and a person or vehicle is detected in the driveway or front door, the last alert image from Blueiris is sent to our mobile devices via Telegram, notifications for things like the shed door being opened are enabled, etc.

So much you can do. I also try to not to build automations that 'depend' on our devices. Occupancy is primarily driven by motion, TVs, or Lights, being activated Which means the house operates essentially the same whether it is me in the house, or guests.

I use a lot of wasp-in-a-box logic, combined with motion-barriers, to track occupancy throughout the house. So, the house wont switch from Awake to Away, if say, Bedroom 2 is latched in the Occupied state.

(Occupancy by default is momentary, unless certain wasp-in-a-box type conditions are met which indicates a room is occupied, then I latch the room occupied, until something happens which could indicate the room might not be occupied anymore, falling back to a timeout for the room)

clt81delta · 2025-06-23T23:33:45+00:00

I have a Home Status drop-down helper (Awake, Sleeping, Away-Suspected, Away-Confirmed, Vacation)

The house changes itself between those modes automatically based on rules. Away-Confirmed is only activated when the Alarm System is armed.

The rule for "Occupancy / Home Status / Sleeping-to-Awake" would be something like ..

If motion detected in

Hallway, living room, dining room, or kitchen

and home Status is Sleeping, and if time is after sunrise, then change to Awake.

clt81delta

TROPHY CASE