Technology


ecobee4 with Amazon Alexa Voice Service 4
Today is the official launch of the ecobee4 smart thermostat: the latest in what’s now a long(ish) line of WiFi thermostats from the eponymous Toronto-based ecobee Inc. Whenever ecobee releases an even “smarter” version of their smart thermostat, you can pretty much guarantee I’m gonna be all over that product […]

ecobee4 Smart Thermostat Review


Google Fiber speed test of EdgeRouter Lite 7
Many moons ago, I replaced my Google Fiber Network Box with a UBNT EdgeRouter Lite router at our house in Provo, Utah… and never looked back! With a street price of under $90, the ER-Lite was a tough act to beat for the money. But later, when Ubiquiti Networks released the newer EdgeRouter […]

EdgeRouter X vs. EdgeRouter Lite Google Fiber Speed Tests


ecobee3 Lite calibration mode 1
Are you wanting to get on the smart thermostat bandwagon, but aren’t sure if it’s worth the $249 price tag of the full-featured models like the ecobee3 and Nest? Then has ecobee got a deal for you. They recently added the ecobee3 Lite to their line-up with a very tempting MSRP of […]

Review: ecobee3 Lite



Kernel Version vs Firmware Version 6
In March of last year, I published this article claiming that the latest (at the time) DD-WRT builds based on the Linux 2.6 kernel (K2.6) ran faster on a Linksys/Cisco E4200 router than their K3.x counterparts. Since then, I’ve heard apocryphal stories from some in the DD-WRT forums that the […]

DD-WRT K2.6 vs K3.x vs Tomato Router Firmware Head to ...


AC Infinity S3 fan
If you’re like most homeowners, you probably keep your receiver, amplifier, router, network switch, or any other electronic equipment inside a cabinet… which means you have a heat problem. Heat is the enemy of electronics, and circulating air through and around anything electronic is vital to its performance and longevity. This is the cabinet […]

Review: AC Infinity Airplate Cabinet Fan


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UPDATE: Since most modern browsers yanked their trust for StartSSL certificates due to some funny business from StartCom, I no longer recommend StartSSL certs. I’ve switched all my certs over to LetsEncrypt (using the excellent Dehydrated script for easy setup and renewal). The article below remains here for historical purposes only. […]

Create a Free SSL Certificate with StartSSL



"Forget" your access point(s) on your existing UniFi Controller before adopting it on your hosted controller
After writing the post on how to quickly upgrade your Ubiquiti UniFi Controller on non-Debian Linux boxes (I run mine on CentOS), I decided that it still wasn’t quick enough. So I threw together a script called upgrade_unifi.sh that does the following: Stops the existing UniFi Controller Makes a backup of your old UniFi […]

Automated Script for UniFi Controller Upgrade on Linux/Unix Systems


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If you’re running the Ubiquiti UniFi Controller on a Linux box (I run mine on CentOS), the default instructions from UBNT walk you through building a simple SysV init script to run the Java .jar file as a service. I was in a tinkering mood, so I re-wrote the SysV startup script on my […]

Improved Startup Script for Ubiquiti UniFi Controller on Unix / ...


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UPDATE: I’ve written an automated script that performs all the steps in this article in less than 60 seconds. Feel free to follow the steps below if you want full manual control, or download my script to make your life even easier. 🙂 Ubiquiti Networks’ Java-based UniFi Controller software has a […]

Upgrade Your Linux UniFi Controller Version in 5 Minutes



"Forget" your access point(s) on your existing UniFi Controller before adopting it on your hosted controller 4
If you’ve ever set up a Ubiquiti UniFi access point, such as the UBNT UAP, UBNT UAP-PRO, or UBNT UAP-AC-PRO, you’ve had to run UniFi Controller software required to adopt, configure, and manage your UniFi devices. When I set up a UAP-PRO in our house (see my install guide) I ran the UniFi Controller software full-time on […]

DIY Cloud-Hosting a Ubiquiti (UBNT) UniFi Controller



LanmanServer now dependent on Drobo Dashboard 1
I’ve had a problem with my Windows 2008 R2 server for over a year that I could never figure out. After every reboot (which I only do after a Windows Update), shared folders were no longer available to network clients. My initial workaround was to RDC to the server, right-click on […]

Fix missing shares on Windows 2008 Server reboot with Drobo



Lux GEO WiFi Thermost 5
Thermostats have come a long way since the days of the gold-colored round Honeywell dial thermostats at your grandma’s house. Ecobee launched the first “smart” thermostat in 2007, but others like Google’s Nest and Honeywell’s Lyric weren’t far behind. But now even those manufacturers are shipping 2nd or 3rd generation hardware… meaning that […]

Review: Lux GEO WiFi Thermostat


Postfix 2.9 Upgrade
To help reduce the load on my Postfix mail servers, I rely on Postscreen (which is built in to Postfix) to help weed out bot spam and misconfigured mailers. And to reduce the load on Postscreen, one of my tricks is to whitelist the outbound IP addresses of a couple of […]

Postscreen Whitelisting of SMTP Outbound IP Addresses from Large Webmail ...


Setting up multiple WLANs in DD-WRT 24
For the past while, I’ve recommended DD-WRT K2.6 firmware builds for the Linksys E4200 router, as well as other Linksys / Cisco WiFi routers. The builds based on the newer K3.x Linux kernel have now reached a stable enough point where you can run them… but I still recommend the […]

DD-WRT K2.6 Kernel vs. K3.x and How To Upgrade



The Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite can replace the Google Fiber Network Box 64
I’ve been a Google Fiber user (and fan) since the service first hit Provo, Utah. I have a vacation home there, so while I don’t get to benefit from the Gigabit speeds on a daily basis, I certainly take advantage of it while I’m there. Because it’s a vacation home, I rely […]

Replace Your Google Fiber Network Box with a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ...


Bandwidth test as Sender 1
In the top-right corner of the Ubiquiti EdgeMAX EdgeRouter’s GUI interface, you’ll find a Toolbox menu with plenty of goodies inside (assuming you’re running a version of the firmware that has them, such as 1.7.0+). One of the menu items lets you test the Bandwidth to or from your router: Selecting […]

Using the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter’s Built-In Bandwidth Tester


Ubiquiti UAP-PRO access point 27
Getting decent WiFi coverage at my house has always been a challenge. The house is three stories (the bottom floor is a daylight basement) and has a footprint of 50′ x 100′. A four car garage extends the footprint even farther to the south, and because I use WiFi-controller irrigation […]

How to Install a Ubiquiti UniFi Access Point Pro (UAP-PRO)



Linux Uptime 2
If you’re getting permissions errors when trying to update WordPress plugins or themes (or even WordPress itself), it can be a major pain to try and troubleshoot WordPress permissions, and the documentation is unclear on exactly what the optimal WordPress permissions settings are. I recommend these using the following four easy Linux […]

Correct Permissions for WordPress


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I went to update the mod_cloudflare package on a CentOS / RHEL box this morning, and ran unto the following problem: % sudo yum update -y mod_cloudflare Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package mod_cloudflare.x86_64 0:1.2.0-1360806316.el6 will be updated ---> Package mod_cloudflare.x86_64 0:1.3.1-1.el6 will be an update --> Finished Dependency […]

Fixing “Public key for mod_cloudflare-*.rpm is not installed” Error


Relay assembly close-up. 12
Last week, I was working in my back yard when I noticed that the big red light on top of my septic system control box was lit up. That light is triggered when one of two alarm floats (in either the main effluent pump chamber or the clearwell pump chamber) detects that the fluid level in […]

How to Make Your Septic Alarm Smarter



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Last year, when the ecobee3 smart thermostat was announced, I published a preview, then a “first look” and unboxing video, followed soon after by the very first review of the ecobee3. I followed those up with an ecobee3 installation guide for new users, along with an ecobee Smart to ecobee3 upgrade guide for owners migrating […]

Review: ecobee3 HomeKit-enabled Thermostat


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“Smart” home devices don’t only make your life easier, but in many cases can also save you money. Readers of my blog already know I’m a big fan of ecobee’s smart thermostat products. They’re WiFi enabled controllers that use weather data available via the Internet to predicatively (and reactively) minimize HVAC system […]

WiFi Sprinker Controller Review: Rachio Iro vs. RainMachine vs. IrrigationCaddy


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I write lots of product reviews for “geeky” tech stuff (like smart thermostats, automatic toilet flushers, surge protectors, etc.). But when I get a chance to review some tech that also involves one of my other interests (karate in this case), I’m all over it. As a part-time karate instructor at Fairwood Martial Arts, one […]

Product Review: StrikeMeter by Martial Arts Instruments