Hardware

Netgear WN3000RP and iPhone

Just had a weird experience with my Netgear “Universal WiFi Range Extender WN3000RP”.

It seemed pretty evident I wouldn’t be able to automatically add it to my Airport network, so I whipped out my iPhone and quickly connected to the NETGEAR_EXT network. And I quickly got it connected to my home network. I even told it to use the same password as my home network.

And just as quickly, it was not useable. I could not connect the iPhone to the new network and when I got out an old laptop, it wasn’t working either.

So, I got out my trusty paper clip and reset the Netgear box. And this time, as I was installing, I paid more attention. The issue turned out to be a nasty interaction between the iPhone browser automatically making the first character in the data entry be upper case and the Nethgear being case sensitive for the password. I don’t know that I’ve ever encountered the case sensitivity, but maybe I’m just super cautious with that normally.

I also can’t figure out why with an unobstructed view of my Airport Extreme Base Station I’m loosing 31% connectivity and through one wall, I’m seeing 48% loss.

August 13, 2011 by Admin Hardware Macs Systems 0

Waiting on a Triwing #0

I ordered a 9.5 mm SATA Optical Bay SATA Hard Drive Enclosure from iFixit.com. I should have paid more attention – I had the Torq screwdriver I needed on the older MacBook Pros, but I didn’t have the #0 Triwing I needed with the newer models.

I spent last Saturday afternoon trying to find one in town. I could get down to a #2, but no luck on the #0. So I ordered one from iFixit.com. It wasn’t their fault and they had a speedy turn around. It shipped just quick enough to get caught in the snow storm.

My son said he saw a USPS truck in the nearby apartment complex, but they seem afraid of our cul-de-sac.

February 4, 2011 by Hardware Macs Systems 0

Guruplug server for Xmas

I got a Guruplug Server for Xmas and right away I noticed the noise – the system is loud.

I bought a 8G thumb drive for the filesystem, so once I upgrade the kernel, I’ll have a hot spare sitting there for my dns, nis, mail, etc.

December 25, 2010 by Admin Hardware 0

Need a new computer

Well, need may be strong, I at least want a new one. I’m trying to decide between a Frankenstein micro-ATX from newegg.com and a Mac Mini. I almost went with the new Jetway nettop, but balked when I read one too many review about fat caps with jetway motherboards. I want silent and reliable. I know that the new Mac Mini will meet that criteria, but it almost feels like overkill (web, dns, mail, and NFS testing). I’d also either have to spring for the server version or run a Linux VM.

August 22, 2010 by Hardware 1