Project #19 - Get the Network back to Normal after the Power Outage

After the power outage that took out the main part of my Network this project is to get the Network back to normal.

Catastrophic Surge Failure in the Network!

I am writing this for others to learn from my mistakes.  On July 23, 2020 at approximately 9:30 pm I experienced a power outage for about 30 seconds.  There was a loud bang followed by the power going out.  I looked up just in time to see some sparks fall from the pole outside my house.  This power outage produced a surge that took out:

1. my Verizon ONT
2. my Cisco RV325 router ($260 used)
3. my Netgear M4100-26G 26 port switch ($260 - $525 new)
4. two Netgear GS108Tv2 ProSafe 8 port switches ($66 - $80 new each)
5. my TiVo Bolt ($175 new)

Unfortunately, I didn't have any surge protectors in the circuit coming into the house.  This was not an electrical surge that took out the equipment, except for the ONT.  The surge came through both the Cable and the Ethernet coming out of the ONT.  Fortunately for me I had some spare router equipment (Edgerouter-X) and some unmanaged switches.  Since I had patch panels it became an easy rerouting of the cabling to get my Media up and running and get connected back to Verizon Fios after the ONT was changed out.

My plan going forward is:

1. put in a Cable surge protector between the ONT and the splitter outside my house
2. put in an Ethernet surge protector between the ONT and the main router
3. at each of the 5 points in my network, put a conditioned power UPS with both Ethernet and COAX surge protectors

Please learn from my mistake, this was expensive to undo.

Project #18 - Setup a RetroPie on the Mac Mini monitor downstairs

I have for a while been wanting to get into games.  Normally, I am quite the nerd, only wanting to do things that have some "merit".  However, as I approach retirement I want to be able to have some down time from my technical activities and woodworking.  I have been looking at RetroPie and have been very interested in getting a system up and running.  Since I already have an RPi4-4GB attached to the Mac Mini monitor and I already have a game controller, I thought it would be a prudent use of resources to put RetroPie on an SD card and use it there.

Project #17 - Add RPi 3D Printer viewer to Network

I find myself more and more wanting to be able to look at what is going on when I am doing a long print on my 3D printer.  I do have a Wyze camera that I installed downstairs, but I would like to be able to see how far along the print is, as well as temp of components, etc.  I can do this by installing any number of packages that are out there.

Update: with the advent of using Wyze Cameras in my network this is now OBE.  I now have a Wyze camera pointed to the 3D Printer when in use.

Tips #6 - Faking an Admin vlan on the Netgear GS108Ev3 and GS116Ev2

My network at home is distributed and I try to minimize the number of wires going throughout the house.  That becomes a problem if you are single switch dependent.  But with judicious use of vlans throughout the house, I can distribute these through the use of trunk lines.  One thing I am very conscious about is security in the network.  I make judicious use of Admin vlans in order to keep the network framework from being changed by someone who has hacked into my system.

I went out and bought a GS108Ev3 thinking it was a good and cheap alternative to the GS108Tv2.  Boy was I wrong.  My focus on security took a nose dive, or so I thought, when I started incorporating this switch into my network.  It was the same thing for the GS116Ev2 when I added this switch.  If you follow a simple set of rules, you can keep your Admin vlan:

1. a normal Netgear managed switch like the GS108Tv2 has an Admin vlan capability.  In fact, you can actually put the vlan number into a field in the web interface.  The switch will use this vlan number to accept DHCP IP addresses for the switch.  If you fix the IP address of the switch, you will need to be in the subnet of the Admin vlan for the switch to work.
2. there is a new class of Netgear switches, like the GS108Ev3 and the GS116Ev2 which are simplified but have much of the capabilities of the GS108Tv2.  One of the capabilities that is missing is the Admin vlan.  There is no field to set it and you are forced to use vlan 1 in some manner to interface to your network.  You do that on a trunk port
3. On GS108Ev3/GS116Ev2: either use DHCP or set the IP address/Gateway to be within the Admin vlan subnet
4. On GS108Ev3/GS116Ev2: set vlan 1 to be untagged on the trunk port; set the Admin vlan to be tagged on the trunk port; set the Admin vlan to be the PVID on the trunk port
5. On GS108Tv2/M4100: set the Admin vlan to be the PVID on the trunk port; set the Admin vlan to be tagged on the trunk port
6. On GS108Ev3/GS116Ev2: no other ports may have vlan 1 as untagged, except the trunk ports

Not a difficult configuration, but as long as you remember the rules you can get an Admin vlan on these GS108Ev3/GS116Ev2 switches.

DHCP-DNS on a PiHole

So now is the time to start putting in a PiHole to control DNS access.  All along I have been thinking of constraining the dns connections from the IOT equipment.  There are times when equipment will attempt to get it’s DNS ip addresses through a hard coded IP address.  What I want to do is force the DNS access through the PiHole and have the PiHole get its DNS addresses via DNSSEC to either 1.1.1.1 or 9.9.9.9.  That way I have the PiHole restricting the trackers and the DNSSEC servers to provide restriction from known bad addresses, whether web or ip.  Since I have moved the IOT equipment to one of the Edgerouter-Xs, I should be able to control the DNS access through some judicious ACL setups.  Should be interesting.

First of all the PiHole is put into the IOT lan subnet, and the ER-X then uses the PiHole as both DHCP and DNS services.  I will setup the ER-X to force any DNS service connections to go through the PiHole (https://community.ui.com/questions/Intercepting-and-Re-Directing-DNS-Queries/cd0a248d-ca54-4d16-84c6-a5ade3dc3272 and https://benninger.ca/posts/force-dns-go-through-pihole/ and https://www.myhelpfulguides.com/2018/07/30/redirect-hard-coded-dns-to-pi-hole-using-edgerouter-x/ ).  Since I know all of the equipment in my network, including the IOT network, I will force IP addresses where I want them through Static assignment (TBD).  In addition, I am going to restrict Bonjour access throughout the ER-X lan subnet (TBD).  I will of course restrict changes to the ER-X through my Admin vlan and not through the IOT vlan (TBD).  Anyway that is the idea at the moment.  Time will tell how well this works.

Tips #5 - Alignment 101 on a 3D Printer

After I purchased my Hictop Prusa i3 Clone four years ago, I went through a very trying time attempting to discover what things were going wrong with the printer.  It seemed like I got excellent prints, then there was a disaster, something out of kilter, or even an indication that squares weren't square anymore.  The more I fiddled, the more I discovered some unwritten rules of keeping a 3D printer up to date, at least in alignments.  So here are some tips for making better use of time between issues that arise (note that these items are for Reprap style printers, like the Prusa i3, but the principles are the same with most printers):

Assumptions:

1. Get used to the idea that you will have to re-align the printer every so many prints, even with an auto-leveler
2. Over time the correction adjusters will come loose because of shaking and general acceleration of parts
3. The same shaking will cause corners and cams to come loose
4. Belts do not stay perpetually tight
5. Mechanical stuff will wear out and will need replacing

Rules:

1. Make sure the printer is off, it makes it easier to move things around without having to disable the stepper motors.
2. Start by making sure that all of your 3D printer corners are exactly square.  You may think that you have a 90 degree corner but unless it is measured to be 90 degrees, it is not.  If the corners are not aligned, you will not see a rectangle on prints, you will see a rhomboid, and if it is really bad a trapezoid.
3. First and foremost after squaring the printer, make sure that all bolts are tightened on the printer
4. Make sure that all belts are tight and that the cams are on the stepper motors correctly (usually by having the set screw on the flat portion of the spindle); make sure all cam set screws are tight.
5. Check the movement of the belts as they are moved back and forth.  What you are looking for here is making sure that the belt moves easily without binding, or rubbing on anything; especially important for the X and Y axis belts.
6. Clamp the printer structure to its surface to prevent shaking that might cause the printer to move from its location.
7. Now we start aligning stuff.  Start by making sure the printer structure itself is level in the XY plane, use a level - I prefer a magnetic level and sometimes use a circular level.  You would be surprised to find that most surfaces are not level.  Sometimes some wooden shims are needed to get it level on a table or bench surface.
8. Once the structure is level, level the print bed (moves in the Y axis direction) using the adjustment screws on all four corners.  You need to have it level from corner to corner and diagonally.  I like to start in the middle of the bed checking diagonal level in both diagonals.
9. Apply blue tape if you use it to the bed.
10. Next, check the level of the X axis beam on the metal rods that the print head travels on.  If the metal rod is not level you will need to adjust the Z axis couplers on one side or the other to bring it into a level condition.  If the printer had been on you would need to unlock the stepper motors to do this.
11. Next, check the distance of the print head from the bed by adjusting the Z axis couplers on either side of the bed to bring it up or down as necessary.  I generally find that the width of a separation tool is enough, others like the width of a piece of paper.
12. Recheck the X axis level after changing the Z axis couplers.
13. Turn on the printer.
14. Adjust the auto-leveler so that it just comes on with the present settings.
15. Attempt an auto home. Recheck the distance of the print head from the bed.  If adjustment is needed, unlock the stepper motors prior to moving the Z axis couplers and readjust auto-leveler as per #11 and #14.  Repeat until the distance of the print head is acceptable.
16. At this point you are as aligned as you can be mechanically.
17. To help keep alignment, consider lowering the maximum acceleration level and the xy jerk value; this will also serve to lower the shaking and “walking” that most printers tend to have.
18. Higher temperatures will add to misalignment due to expansion of metal parts.  So recheck alignment of the bed after a high temperature print.