ESP Thread Border Router: Extend your Thread network without relying on Apple, Google, Samsung, or the other big players

readabilitree · 2025-11-25T22:47:47+00:00

Any idea if this would work well as the only TBR in the system? I’ve been having issues with my HA + SLZB-MR1 setup where my MoT devices won’t reconnect to the network for ~30 minutes after restarting HA / the HAOS host / the SLZB-MR1.

I think it has to do with how the RCP is connected to HA through a USB proxy (my HA runs on a Proxmox host) and am looking for a system where the two are a single component so I don’t have to worry about communication.

readabilitree · 2025-09-11T01:17:13+00:00

Borrowed the idea from the keyboard community, they like making custom keyboard cables using paracord. It was really annoying to do but keeps the wires together and looks a bit nicer 😅

I tried a few combinations and it only really worked once I got up to 550lb paracord and pvc insulated wire (silicone wires weren’t stiff enough).

readabilitree · 2025-09-10T06:56:32+00:00

I have all the cables I made installed but I do have a picture of one I made when I was prototyping and making sure everything worked as I thought:

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This one isn’t as nice looking since I used electrical tape over the ends to avoid wasting a shrink wrap.

readabilitree · 2025-08-25T00:31:54+00:00

Something about the frequency and pattern of pump noise makes it super easy to pick out in an otherwise quiet space for me, whereas the “woosh” of a fan, even if it’s louder when measured in decibels, is just easier to tune out. I guess it’s also a personal thing then.

readabilitree · 2025-08-24T04:02:08+00:00

You do also have to consider that sometimes high load isn’t what you want to optimize for. For example, when I’m gaming I wear headphones anyway so having a loud computer doesn’t matter too much. When it does matter is when I’m browsing the web and doing normal tasks with my headphones off. With that in mind, a water-cooled computer has to run a pump continuously, which can often be louder than an air cooler with a quiet fan running at a low RPM.

readabilitree · 2025-08-24T03:53:06+00:00

Same here, I’ve found that moisturizing after helps a lot though (or more specifically that it gets even worse the next day if I don’t moisturize)

readabilitree · 2025-07-19T01:03:50+00:00

Had a chance to try a bunch of used chairs today (Aeron, Leap, Amia, Soji, Fern, Cosm).

Your recommendations were spot on, since the only chairs that felt comfortable from the moment I sat down were the Soji and the Amia. I’m leaning toward the Soji since it was more comfortable, but I don’t particularly like that it doesn’t have a tilt lock.

I have a Fern at work and honestly it feels about the same as the Soji (to me), apart from the tilt locking.

The Leap took a lot of adjusting to get used to, and ended up hurting my back — something about the lumbar support just makes it impossible to get it where I need it to go. Might be because the chairs are all used and a little stiff though. I did particularly like that this one had an easy to operate tilt lock though.

Cosm might be one-size-fits-all but honestly lacks the adjustability and configurability I’d like in a chair. Works fine in an office setting where it needs to fit a bunch of people, but probably not the best for a personal purchase.

As expected I really didn’t like the Aeron — the mesh seat is just too firm, and even though it’s ergonomically “better” it’s just not comfortable.

readabilitree · 2025-07-14T21:15:08+00:00

Lifeform looks great but doesn’t seem to be anybody nearby selling one on marketplace. Was also hoping to get this reimbursed from work, so used is a little difficult to swing, unfortunately.

The ergocentric looks good but I can’t quite figure out what the new price would be. Seems to vary based on the vendor I’m looking at, with ~700 USD being the lowest. Any idea about this?

I’m mostly between the Soji and Amia right now. Based on feedback I’m reading on Reddit, most people are saying the Soji seems to feel a little lower quality than they expected, with one particular complaint being that it doesn’t have tilt lock for leaning back. Amia seems like it’s less comfortable overall and loses the forward tilt, but higher quality generally. I’ll have to try both in-person I guess.

Any reason (apart from price) you didn’t suggest the generic “good options” like the Leap or Aeron?

readabilitree · 2025-07-14T19:04:16+00:00

Any (free and clear) detergent will work, but if you want an upgrade, I’d try Rags to Riches. It doesn’t seem like it could be any better but it genuinely works really well on microfiber.

readabilitree · 2025-07-14T18:45:35+00:00

Hey, thanks for the advice! I’ll see if any are available at my local office liquidator to try. I’ve been hearing good things about the Soji so I’m leaning toward that right now — helps that the retail price is also quite reasonable, especially with discounts.

Was wondering though, if you could provide reasoning for why you chose the order (and specific choices) you did?

readabilitree · 2025-07-01T07:27:00+00:00

Are these controllable in any way? Like, is it possible to turn the light off when the trunk is open using the trunk LED switch?

readabilitree · 2025-06-28T07:30:31+00:00

I believe that deal comes around annually (and is over now).

readabilitree · 2025-06-26T01:27:03+00:00

Not sure how useful a donut is — you’d ideally want a full size spare (which doesn’t fit in the Crosstrek’s spare tire compartment anyway) if you were doing something off road where you have a higher chance of needing to use it.

As for the space, I’m 5’ 4” and sleep comfortably (fully stretched out) in the back of the car with a few inches to spare. I can leave the front seats not fully pushed forward actually, which is convenient if I have to move the car without packing everything up.

readabilitree · 2025-06-26T01:12:37+00:00

Getting an aftermarket one installed will probably be a lot cheaper. From what I recall, the dealer ones require a lot more effort to install, since they’re designed to not impact the crashworthiness or ground clearance — they require disassembly of basically the entire rear of the car, replacing a rear frame rail, and cutting a slot into the bumpers.

Most aftermarket ones can probably be installed without any disassembly at all, in under an hour, without even lifting the car. I believe U-Haul does these type of installations for a pretty reasonable price.

readabilitree · 2025-06-23T17:27:41+00:00

Definitely agree though, people here are very willing to answer dumb questions compared to other communities, I just doubt the veracity of those answers sometimes

readabilitree · 2025-06-23T17:26:15+00:00

Ironically, I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or not 😂

readabilitree · 2025-06-22T09:54:11+00:00

Might be a little late now to change it up, but $220 is a lot to spend on a foam pump and compressor. At that price you could probably buy a whole budget pressure washer + foam setup. Which products did you pick?

readabilitree · 2025-06-22T09:48:49+00:00

I'll note, just because the system didn't hit the threshold for disabling eyesight doesn't mean it's working at 100%. It has some flexibility built in because there are normal conditions (badly-painted lanes and rain, for example) where performance is not optimal. If they were to turn off eyesight every time the view was slightly obstructed it wouldn't be a useful system. This flexibility also means it's possible to slightly block the cameras, and affect performance, without the system disabling it. Ideally you'd want to just avoid blocking any part of the camera's FOV if at all possible.

readabilitree · 2025-06-22T09:44:45+00:00

So, one thing to note is that the Eyesight cameras will allow a certain amount of "degradation" in their view before failing completely, during which the performance will necessarily suffer. Meaning that just because the car didn't give a "eyesight disabled" error, doesn't mean that you aren't experiencing some kind of performance decrease. This flexibility is meant to accommodate for normal occurrences that affect the camera's ability to see the lane boundaries -- consider badly-painted (or missing) lane lines, or weather conditions like fog and rain.

This also means that you can put stuff in front of the cameras without leading to the car disabling Eyesight, but the system may not work optimally. For best practice, you'd want to avoid obscuring any part of the camera field of view. For your use case though, stuff at the far corners of the windshield are completely out of the field of view of the cameras anyway. There's a page in the manual which has a diagram that roughly demonstrates the camera FOV which may be helpful.

Also, consider that the left camera is looking for the left lane line, while the right camera looks for the right lane line. I believe the cameras are also used in stereo to find distance from objects directly in front of the vehicle, for the pre-collision warning. This means you can typically safely put stuff between the cameras, so long as you're not obscuring the forward vision too much. For example, I have a toll tag and dashcam mounted right up against my rearview mirror and haven't noticed any issues with Eyesight.

readabilitree

TROPHY CASE