In the last couple of days I have ordered a new printer and a new router.
My trusty HP 8500g printer decided on its own to stop printing in a draft mode. It can still print somewhat readable from the front panel (e.g., the network report) but from a remote connection it doesn't come up correctly. This was driving me to drink while I was trying to get some resume's printed. I finally gave up in disgust and ordered a HP OfficeJet Pro 8620 All-in-One Color Photo Printer with Wireless. Like my HP 8500g, it has Ethernet connectivity and wireless connection (I usually don't use the wireless). But there are some new bells and whistles like the AirPrint capability built in (working with my Apple products) and the legal size scan bed. I also noticed that there are some newer software drivers and the printing is much faster. The scanning seems to be more reliable. It had a 4.3 out of 5 rating for 1102 respondents, which is very high.
The new router is an Cisco RV325. The RV220W that I have has reached the end of life and will only be supported with patches until 2020. I got the RV325 because it has a fall-over mode to 3G/4G enabled cell usb adapter. In addition, it has 14 usable ports which may be setup to use VLANs. The additional 2 ports are used for dual WAN connections (one being a fall-over). Looking at the throughput it was around 800Mbps with about 50 Mbps for IPSec connections. Since I am planning on setting up an IPSec VPN to the house, this seemed like a good purchase. It has a 3.8 out of 5 rating for 50 respondents. Update: response time is very quick on this router, much faster than my RV220W. I will probably push the RV220W into service as a WAP only box.
This is a blog mostly about techie things, what I am doing to my apartment network on the cheap, IOT, 3D Printing, Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, ESP32, ESP8266, Home Automation, Personal Weather Stations, Things That Go Bump in the Night, and some side issues that need discussing. Remember, sometimes the journey to an end is as much fun as the goal achieved!
Friday, March 25, 2016
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Bought a 16 port Netgear Switch
So I have bought a 16 port Netgear GS116E Switch to use in the place of the TP-Link switch that didn't give me what I wanted. Since the user interface was similar, I had no difficulty in setting up the vlan ports on the GS116E the exact same way as the 8 port GS108T. The footprint is slightly larger in width than the GS108T but seems to be able to fit in the space that I have. I will need to move some mounting screws higher in order to have enough room over the power outlet to put cables. There might be some additional things that I can do like mount it lengthwise to remove that limitation. I need to further investigate.
I have not put the switch into position yet and I will report back this weekend as to how it went. I am crossing my fingers that it comes off without a hitch since my media is flowing through it.
Update: the GS116E switch is in place of the GS108T switch and I couldn't be happier with its performance. Install went without a hitch and by simply rebooting devices around it all connections are working flawlessly. Good job Netgear! This was way better than my experience with the TP-Link switch.
I have not put the switch into position yet and I will report back this weekend as to how it went. I am crossing my fingers that it comes off without a hitch since my media is flowing through it.
Update: the GS116E switch is in place of the GS108T switch and I couldn't be happier with its performance. Install went without a hitch and by simply rebooting devices around it all connections are working flawlessly. Good job Netgear! This was way better than my experience with the TP-Link switch.
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