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    Spotty Wi-Fi? Hear How a Detroit Couple Fixed the Problem in their New House

    Just a reprint from Electronic House Magazine (trade magazine) (kind of an advertisement for the eero system)

    July 25, 2017 EH Contributor

    Eileen and Chris recently moved to Detroit, and their eero system was one of the first steps in making their new house a home. After suffering from spotty WiFi in their small bungalow in Venice, Calif., they were concerned that their much larger in Detroit home would only compound the problem. Both are work at home, and enjoy hosting dance parties and movie nights, so coverage and reliability were crucial.

    The New Home Layout—A Lot of Wi-Fi Ground to Cover

    Eileen and Chris live in a Victorian home built in 1895 that’s been restored and slightly renovated – “a great mix of new and old” says Eileen. At 2,200 square feet, with two floors and a basement in progress, there’s a lot of house to cover. Their home features beautiful hardwood floors throughout, with tile in the kitchen and dining rooms. The first floor includes a Vinyl DJ Setup/dance room, perfect for Chris to practice his craft, while hosting friends. This area is connected to the dining room, a kitchen, living room, TV room, and half bathroom. The second floor includes a master bedroom with a creative studio space for Eileen, a guest bedroom, Chris’s music studio, their “vintage store” room, and a full bathroom.

    The home’s exterior is all brick with wood accents and large wrap around front porch, perfect for a warm evening. They are currently in the process of planting and gardening in the front and backyard now that it’s finally warming, and potentially putting their “1960s canned ham trailer” to become an AirBnB ( “very @ShelterSocialClub inspired” per Eileen) in the backyard.

    Favorite Past times—Greater Enjoyment from Better Wi-Fi

    Eileen and Chris are a family of creatives. Eileen works as a digital marketer for a company that creates craft kits. This lends itself to some of her many hobbies, which include textile arts (macrame, weaving, indigo dying, etc.) Chris is a DJ and also manages the couple’s vintage business. When living in L.A., they sold items at flea markets, even running a flea market in Venice. “We love hunting for and giving old, storied objects new life!” They share three pets – Cats Victor and Truman, and Rusty the dog.

    Since Chris is a Vinyl DJ, the couple can often be found listening to music – with a whole room dedicated to records and hanging out…”partying if you will.” They watch movies on their Smart TV, which Eileen says was a total upgrade as part of their move. Eileen also loves to cook. Both also work from home occasionally, love to garden, and still find time to run their vintage business out of the home.

    Life pre-eero Wi-Fi

    Many of Chris and Eileen’s devices use Wi-Fi, whether as cord cutters watching Netflix or Amazon Prime or working from home. Eileen also says “Wi-Fi is so necessary for me when I’m cooking,” from looking up a recipe or referencing cooking techniques online.

    With a home constructed mostly of brick and wood, they worried about Internet signals getting lost. Prior to eero in their L.A. home, they relied on a basic single Wi-Fi router – the signal was terrible, and at the time they were only living in about 500-600 square feet. The couple experienced constant buffering when they watched movies, dead zones, and intermittent disconnection altogether.

    A New Way to Wi-Fi

    Once the couple was settled into their new Detroit home, it was time to install and configure eero. “Setup was super easy and painless. I think it took me all of maybe 10 minutes at most,” says Eileen. The house has three eeros – one connected to the modem in the ballroom as they call it (aka the record/hangout area), one in the bedroom, and one in Chris’s home music studio.

    Now with their network up and running, they have all their devices hooked up (TV, laptops, smartphones, iPad) and have no need to disconnect to reduce strain on the bandwidth as they’d often done before “which is great,” Eileen says “it’s so much easier to work without having the Internet be slow because another device is sucking up the Wi-Fi. I didn’t think it would be possible for Chris to be watching TV in one room, and then me working on my laptop and phone in another. It’s amazing!”

    Happy Wi-Fi, Happy Life

    Whether asked about their Wi-Fi when guests are over or recommending to friends and family lamenting over Wi-Fi problems, Eileen simply tells them to get eero: “It will change your life.” Eileen and Chris appreciate the peace of mind in being able to rely on their technology. “I love that my Wi-Fi at home is now stable and consistent no matter what room I am in,” says Eileen.

    As creatives with style to boot, aesthetics matter to them too. “I also love the design – it’s simple and clean, very understated and fits right in with my home decor.” Eileen adds “not an eyesore like old Wi-Fi extenders…”

    Eileen and Chris take pride in their home not only for its beautiful and historic design but the memories they share together. “Home is a place where we can be ourselves, relax and do all the things we enjoy.”

    * Note here just posting an article from a trade magazine. I use Ubiquiti and tinker with all sorts of stuff (mostly microrouters but not so much the wireless pieces of these tiny devices). Many forum wifi users here have posted what they use and what works for them. The common theme is Ubiquiti. Methodologies are so popular you are now seeing many companies starting to sell similar devices.
    Last edited by Pete; July 30, 2017, 04:45 PM.
    - Pete

    Auto mator
    Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
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    HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
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    X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

    #2
    I read that today Pete, and I was just thinking how happy I am with my single Ubiquiti UAC-AC-PRO. I installed it in my top floor hallway yesterday. The coverage is much better than the 3 devices I had previously (apple airport + Netgear wndr4500 + vz G1100) and all from a single device. To put it in perspective, in the basement I am getting 100mb squared from 2 floors above (ISP is 150mb squared) I also have much better coverage outside. I love being able to create multiple networks and the awesome software controller tool.
    cheeryfool

    Comment


      #3
      I also just installed a single UAC-AC-PRO from Ubiquiti and couldn't be happier. Single AP installed on ceiling of great room covers both floors.

      tenholde
      tenholde

      Comment


        #4
        Ubiquiti here too, two AP's in the house and one in my shop out back. Recently added the router, love all the data. The solution above looks nice though for someone that isn't tech savvy.
        HS3 Prod - Win10 - DSC - HVAC-GC-TBZ48 x3 - CurrentCost - BLRadar - RFXCOM/FRXTRX433 -ADIO - HSTOUCH - BLUPS - AB8SS - SONOS - Alexa - 1 wire - BlueIris -MyQ

        Comment


          #5
          Yes the eero home system was made for plug n play installation and an easy install for those that are not tech savy which relates to the price of the system.

          Amazon has the eero home base system at: $263.58

          eero Home WiFi System (1 eero + 1 eero Beacon) - Simple, powerful TrueMesh network technology, Gigabit Speed, WPA2 Encryption, Replaces Wireless Router, works with Alexa (2nd Generation)

          [ATTACH]62579[/ATTACH]

          Amazon has the UAC-AC-PRO base system at: $128.97

          Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US)

          [ATTACH]62580[/ATTACH]
          - Pete

          Auto mator
          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

          Comment


            #6
            If they had spotty Wi-Fi and dance parties in a 500 square foot house I call shenanigans on this whole article.
            https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/de...plifier-plugin

            Comment


              #7
              They moved from Cali to Detroit?!? Why?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by tenholde View Post
                I also just installed a single UAC-AC-PRO from Ubiquiti and couldn't be happier. Single AP installed on ceiling of great room covers both floors.

                tenholde
                My move to Ubiquiti APs is also the single best network upgrade we have done . The coverage, speed, configurability and reliability are amazing. The handoffs between APs are seamless.

                If I had the money I would consider their switches and gateway, to get all of the advanced local monitoring their controller is capable of. Unfortunately, just the two switches I would need would break my bank.

                I currently have 2 Cisco SG200 series switches and a pfSense appliance and 0 network issues. I would be wise to leave it alone while it is happy
                HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

                Comment


                  #9
                  Here over the last few years switched to the TP-Link 24 port managed switches. Smallest one. Redid my Leviton 42" can which originally had a small footprint el cheapo unmanaged 100Mb switch. I installed the TP-Link managed switch inside of the media can and its been doing fine. I have two of the TP-Link managed switch now on the server rack and these too now have done fine for the last couple of years. Network here is a bit under 100 wired devices. Still have a few un managed Gb switches on line.

                  24-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch
                  TL-SG1024DE

                  These switches only have a web based gui and available software to manage all the switches. There is no CLI. The html inteface is very quick.

                  Many years ago suggested this switch (vlan stuff) for use with PFSense on the PFSense forum.

                  [ATTACH]62586[/ATTACH]

                  Purpose in getting a small footprint nITX box is to install the PFSense box inside of the Leviton media can.
                  Last edited by Pete; July 31, 2017, 11:16 AM.
                  - Pete

                  Auto mator
                  Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                  Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                  HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                  HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                  HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                  X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                  Comment


                    #10
                    They moved from Cali to Detroit?!? Why?

                    The City of Detroit is being rebuilt and they probably got the house for almost nothing as much of Detroit was abandoned property many many years ago.

                    Eileen and Chris probably got the home in Detroit for nothing (literally).

                    Most of the state depended on the automotive industry and the automotive industry left the state in the last 30 or so years and well steel isn't mfg much in this country these days. Last few steel mills were purchased by ArcelorMittal and now closed.

                    Here is the list of top steel producing companies in the world.

                    1 - ArcelorMittal. ...
                    2 - Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) ...
                    3 - Hebei Iron and Steel Group. ...
                    4 - Baosteel. ...
                    5 - Wuhan Iron and Steel Group. ...
                    6 - Posco. ...
                    7 - Jiangsu Shagang. ...
                    8 - Tata Steel Group.

                    From the wiki...

                    The city's financial crisis resulted in the state of Michigan taking over administrative control of its government.The state governor declared a financial emergency in March 2013, appointing Kevyn Orr as emergency manager. On July 18, 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy. It was declared bankrupt by U.S. District Court on December 3, 2013, in light of the city's $18.5 billion debt and its inability to fully repay its thousands of creditors. On November 7, 2014 the city's plan for exiting bankruptcy was approved. The following month on December 11 the city officially exited bankruptcy. The plan allowed the city to eliminate $7 billion in debt and invest $1.7 billion into improved city services.

                    [ATTACH]62587[/ATTACH]

                    Just dealt with a new startup company in the city of Detroit last week. Very pleasant customer service and the prices are just right.
                    Last edited by Pete; July 31, 2017, 11:49 AM.
                    - Pete

                    Auto mator
                    Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                    Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                    HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                    HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                    HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                    X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Spotty Wi-Fi? Hear How a Detroit Couple Fixed the Problem in their New House

                      An Arris SB6190 cable modem, PFSense installed on a Intel 5200U ( I thought it was a 5500U but the interface says differently), an old cheap linksys (after cisco bought them) 24 port switch with 2 x SFPs, a UAP-AC-LITE, and a RPI 1B running as the unifi controller. Literally the best network I have ever had.

                      Currently, I support
                      1. IPv4/IPv6 TCP/IP protocols
                      2. Encrypted DNS service
                      3. Ip firewall blocking tool (recommended by @Pete) setup to block
                      A. blacklisted (ad, malware, compromised, illicit, etc) IP addresses
                      B. DNSBL queries based on blacklist (like Pi-hole).
                      4. Web proxy with a/v built in at L3.
                      5. Private guest network.
                      6. VPN service to access my house
                      7. Reverse proxy to access my publicly available resources
                      8. Radius services to manage network credentials.
                      9. Enterprise encrypted wifi network
                      10. WPA2-AES encrypted guest network
                      11. WPA2-AES encrypted infrastructure network.
                      12. Let's encrypt ssl certificate management
                      13. Snort IDS
                      14. Ntop network traffic monitor
                      15. DDNS client
                      16. NTP
                      17. Network monitor.

                      My next major network upgrades will be
                      1. POE managed switch, to get ready to support security cameras. I am thinking about a Ubiquiti unifi switch.
                      2. Client certificate authentication for my reverse proxy and vpn.
                      3. Move my firewall, all servers and my NAS to an ESX host.
                      4. IPv6 web presence for my reverse proxy.

                      If I ever go to gigabit Comcast bandwidth I will go with a docsis 3.1 modem and switch out for a UAP-AC-HD wireless AP which has a closer throughout (800Mbps MU-MIMO w/ beam forming).

                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                      Last edited by Kerat; July 31, 2017, 11:51 PM.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Here the home is quiet as there are only two of us here such that there is an acceptance of my hobby requirements but not really needed if that makes sense?

                        I have only 5 designated IPs defined in the DHCP scope of a 127 device IP subnet. Old fashioned a bit turn off cell phones in the house and tablets when not using them. I keep the Ubiquiti wireless main network for use whenever BUT have cat5e (and now cat6) everywhere and still utilize multiple laptops when surfing around the house. (next to the sofas, kitchen table, bathrooms, (not as many as electrical outlets).

                        The tinker side is multiple networks, multiple testing APs, wireless devices which are not used for any dependencies; just play.

                        IE just got my wife an IPhone - she has never texted before and learning. That said she keeps her IPhone off 95% of the time just like her old flip phone.

                        Today the Echo(s) in the house and bit of AI spooks my wife a bit and just recently shut off the master bathroom Echo going back to the touchscreen (well and she never touched the touchscreen for fear of breaking the house automation).

                        Automation for the masses (using iOT) is already here and accepted and cheap. The AI iOT pieces will be interesting to watch and play with.
                        Last edited by Pete; August 1, 2017, 09:04 AM.
                        - Pete

                        Auto mator
                        Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                        Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                        HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                        HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                        HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                        X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Pete View Post
                          Here the home is quiet as there are only two of us here such that there is an acceptance of my hobby requirements but not really needed if that makes sense?


                          Today the Echo(s) in the house and bit of AI spooks my wife a bit and just recently shut off the master bathroom Echo going back to the touchscreen (well and she never touched the touchscreen for fear of breaking the house automation).

                          Automation for the masses (using iOT) is already here and accepted and cheap. The AI iOT pieces will be interesting to watch and play with.

                          Pete, same here. Just the wife and I and some days she should get a medal for her patience with my hobbies.

                          I put an echo in the bathroom expecting to utilize it instead of the touchpad in there. Still working out the coding for the wife. The panel has been dumbed down so much over the years for her and right now it strictly controls the russound speaker and music for her. I am working slowly to just remove it, but still need to control the music. I initially wanted to see what I could do from the russound keypad, but it seems it would be overly complicated for my wife... hence the echo.

                          My wife doesn't really care one way or the other about listening devices like the echo, and I have learned to accept the trend and just fall in line. It's not going away and will only grow.

                          Society slowly has given up the idea of privacy, or they are naive and have a false sense of privacy. Don't get an echo... it's always listening, well so is that cell phone in your hands that you've been holding onto for years. Your smart tv, same thing and also any streaming service knows your habits too. We are all the product these days and the only way to avoid it is not have an internet connection and don't leave the house.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Is anyone having problem making VPN connection back to the house with iphone/T-Mobile/Verizon Fios combination? I can't connect and read about the problem is related to TMO only assigns ipv6 address. Not sure if there is a work around.

                            Here is my setup:

                            iPhone 6 IOS 10.3.3 (IOS 9.3 didn't have this problem)
                            T-Mobile
                            ISP: Verizon Fios
                            VPN server: Synology, running behind verizon router

                            I can connect to some other systems ok (security cameras, VNC to HS etc) but can't connect VPN (and HSTouch no longer connects to HS2 etiher).

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Here use PFSense IPSec VPN with T-Mobile and my laptop running Linux/Windows/touchtablet connected wirelessly to my T-Mobile phone.

                              Historically have tried it on Verizon FIOS but mostly use it on Comcast.

                              Using the combo FIOS box here bridged one port (or put it in a DMZ) and took that port to a firewall. I left the moca television STB's /DVR's connected to the cable stuff so I had two networks running. One for television and one for my internet stuff. With Comcast here utilize a Motorola SB6141 8/4 modem (old now).

                              I also have read that T-Mobile only uses IP6 these days. They also massage the video transport thru some proxying (without a VPN connection).

                              I also read some where that T-Mobile has changed it's tethering speeds now to 3G speeds versus LTE speeds. That said when I tested it last time it seemed to be working at LTE speeds. I left a tabletop Homeseer touch screen connected / tethered to my mobile phone using VPN one night at a hotel.
                              - Pete

                              Auto mator
                              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

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