How many devices are connected to your home Wi-Fi?
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Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:5, Insightful)
For everything else, I'll take my solid-as-a-rock Gigabit ethernet thanks. Also, off the lawn please!
Re:Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:5, Informative)
Ditto. I like the old fashion network cables that is stable, secured, and fast. Wireless is only for portable devices and far away.
Re: (Score:2)
Ditto. I like the old fashion network cables that is stable, secured, and fast. Wireless is only for portable devices and far away.
I've never had a wireless cord get unplugged from moving my PC. However, your point is well taken.
Re:Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:4, Insightful)
Absolutely!
I'm so glad that I wired our house for ethernet. Granted, WiFi wasn't quite up to speed fifteen years ago, but ethernet is rock solid.
Wired on ethernet, we have:
*) My laptop docking station
*) My wife's iMac
*) network laser printer
*) game console
*) MythTV DVR
*) Blu-Ray player
*) HDHR Prime TV tuner
*) OBI100 phone adapter
The WiFi has just one phone and one tablet except when we have guests, though I also have an ethernet outlet in the guest bedroom.
It was interesting to retrofit the house's wiring for ethernet. Mostly it was a matter of using existing phone or coax cables to pull new cables and converting the old single-purpose outlets into multi-outlets. Most place I put in two ethernet, one phone, and one coax. The coax has been a complete waste, but otherwise it was a great plan.
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. I ran CAT5e all over the place when I built my house in 2005.
Re:Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:4, Interesting)
I went one better....
Dry-pipe conduit to each bedroom - (3/4") stubbed in the basement just below the sill plate to a deep 4x4 box (single gang mud-ring) in the bedroom wall. That way I can pull in what I need, then rip it out and pull in the next level (fiber?) when I want/need to. Similar boxes installed on main floor. In family room - had low (outlet level) and high (18" off ceiling) boxes installed in the four corners for speaker, coax, network, etc.
3/4" conduit will easily handle two Coax, two Cat5/6's, and two cat 3 (6-pair POTS). It's also large enough to slide a HDMI connector through (if necessary). make that your first cable, though.
I also had a 1" conduit between the basement and attic area installed along with a similar one in the chimney chase (think Dish/DirectTV) stubbed in the basement.
Network terminates to two 24-port Cat 5e 568B Panduit panels work was pitching from a network upgrade. Main switch is a 24 port Netgear (10/100) w/ a dozen of those being PoE. Picked up two dozen color coded 3' (1m) patch cables to keep things looking spiffy and easy to trace back.
Builder thought I was nuts... made adding two cat 5/6's to each BR a 1/2 day weekend project rather than a week long one. Also, I know my cables are encased in a steel pipe in the wall and final work looks neat an tidy at both ends. Which keeps the wife happy - a very important thing.
Finally, always check with local codes, plug holes for fires with suitable material, label BOTH ends (several times) when pulling, leave a generous amount for neat and tidy termination, and never install mains power in the same pipe as low-voltage (e.g. coax, CAT, speaker, HDMI, etc.). Generally against code and just asking for trouble.
FredInIT
Re:Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:5, Informative)
Very wise. I agree that it's best to use cable whenever you can - faster, more secure, more reliable. Wireless is trendy but relatively insecure; and, in houses like mine, radically unreliable. One stone wall stops it cold, so there are very few working geometric configurations.
I also use powerline networking to complement the Ethernet cables. It's faster and more secure than wireless, and far more reliable. And it's available from every power point in the house.
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly, wifi is for devices that can't be wired. I actually miscounted when I voted apparently though, I forgot about a gaming system which is wireless only because some idiot engineer somewhere decided that a stationary device, designed to connect to the internet, should be built without an ethernet port!
2 person household
Wireless: 2 laptops, 4 phones, 1 Wii
Wired: 1 desktop PC, 2 NAS devices, 1 printer, 1 media streaming device, 1 Blu-ray player
As a side note, if you want people off your lawn, you shouldn
Re: (Score:2)
I forgot about a gaming system which is wireless only because some idiot engineer somewhere decided that a stationary device, designed to connect to the internet, should be built without an ethernet port!
Cost savings. Our first Blu-ray player (which died 4 days after the 3 year (extended) warrantee expired) had an Ethernet port and 2 USB ports. The 2nd USB was designated for the optional ($80) WiFi adapter. While researching a replacement, I noticed that most reviews for the one that just died complained about the lack of WiFi and how hard it was to get Ethernet to it (interesting how old reviews stay around). The replacement has WiFi, no Ethernet and only 1 USB (we bought it 2 years ago).
Re: (Score:2)
I did say "or earlier"...
I'm not that old, and even I was trained on thinnet, thicknet, and token ring. Hearing someone talking about using gigabit with the "off my lawn" meme is frankly a little depressing...
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I prefer thicknet. Adding a device is as simple as drilling a new hole.
Re: (Score:2)
Right idea, but we have two tabs, two laptops, two phones, etc. Everything that is fixed, yes, hardwired.
Re: (Score:2)
Desktops and the laser printer are all hard-wired. But we have two laptops, two phones, two tablets, and the Blu-ray player that are all wireless. Sometimes a third laptop. That puts me squarely in 7-8 territory.
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Bah. I forgot the gaming consoles when I did the count in my head, that changes my vote from 7-8 to 10+. It's a 2 person household.
Re:Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:5, Funny)
Two phones, two tablets, two Kindles, three laptops, a printer, a TV, two consoles, a few dozen squirrels, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Re: (Score:2)
4 tablets, 2 laptops, 1 netbook, printer, TV, Blu-ray, 3 cats and a cat-food (and water) dispenser. (No squirrels nor birds)
Gigabit has my PC plus a second PC (dedicated to Flightgear [flightgear.org]).
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4 tablets, 2 laptops, 1 netbook, printer, TV, Blu-ray, 3 cats and a cat-food (and water) dispenser. (No squirrels nor birds)
You really should get 3 more cats. Granted, it's twice as many but it will give you 3 orders of magnitude more bandwidth.
Re: (Score:3)
I've got the same problem, 10 years ago I had one device hooked right to the modem, now my basement looks like something out of The Matrix.
Re:Phones + 1 laptop. (Score:5, Funny)
I've got the same problem, 10 years ago I had one device hooked right to the modem, now my basement looks like something out of The Matrix.
You're farming humans for power?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It's not the bodies in the tanks that are the problem, it's the dude who tries to make my kids choose between some pills, and keeps rambling about rabbits or something.
Re: (Score:3)
...now my basement looks like something out of The Matrix.
You're farming humans for power?
Isn't that why we have kids?
No, I'm pretty sure my kid is somehow actively draining energy from me.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd add in my phillips hue lights and nest thermostat.
Re: (Score:2)
The only PC on Gigabit in my house now is mine. I won't give it up. Wife and kids PCs are all wireless, as are the printers, phones, gaming consoles, tablets, TVs, and DVR devices.
So you can get a gigabit fast connection to ... nobody!
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None (Score:5, Informative)
I don't have home wi-fi. (You insensitive clod.)
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Re: (Score:2)
I paid someone to go into my cramped upper attic (during a hot summer day) and run a cable from my wife's PC to our router, which is located in our lower attic on the other side of the wall from my own PC. He then ran a cable from the TV cable to our modem. This latter involved removing several cable splices in favor of just 1 or 2 in order to improve the quality of the signal.
Although I had subscribed to Time Warner Cable for Internet service, the system did not work. TWC had to come to my house and lay
Re: (Score:2)
Yup, I have no need for home Wifi, but then I don't have a laptop. Just a wired desktop. Quaint in this day and age.
Re: (Score:2)
So how do you connect your cell phone, Nintendo 3DS, or bathroom scale to the Internet?
Re: (Score:2)
My cellphone is the only wireless only device I own, and has its own broadband connection. Everything else is wired (which makes around 3-4 devices).
Re: (Score:3)
Hipsters aren't fat, either.
They can't afford to eat enough to get fat on the artisanal delights, that are in any case, mostly purchased for their ornamental value on the plate next to their ethically conscious coffee.
Only what can't be wired or is inconvenient (Score:2)
4 smart phones
3 tablets
4 laptops
ipod
Chromecast
Wii
Everything else is wired although several could be wireless:
PS3
PS4
2 desktops
Fileserver
Sprinkler controller (Open SprinklerPI)
2 DirecTV HD DVRs
HP B&W laser printer
Ricoh color laser printer (powered down)
DVD player
Re: (Score:2)
And a partridge in a pear tree!
Re: (Score:2)
Don't Have WiFi (Score:5, Funny)
10+ Easily (Score:2)
On the WiFi:
1 Printer
3 Phones
1 iPod
2 Laptops
4 Tablets
Wired in:
1 Server
1 (My) Desktop
1 Encoding Box (movies/cds)
4 DirecTV boxes
1 xBox 360
1 Wii
1 "Smart" TV (not too smart IMHO)
The WiFi count grows / shrinks based on who is over at the house too...
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
1 "Smart" TV (not too smart IMHO)
I've got a "smart" tv too, but it's not smart enough to count to 10 without skipping numbers. Volume control is hdmi-cec to a reciever, start from zero going up 1 increment at a time it's like 1,2,4,5,6,8,10 but the receiver can keep track of #'s...Goes like that all the way up.. by the time the receiver is at 30ish, the tv thinks it's at 50 something...
Re:10+ Easily (Score:4, Funny)
1 "Smart" TV (not too smart IMHO)
I've got a "smart" tv too, but it's not smart enough to count to 10 without skipping numbers. Volume control is hdmi-cec to a reciever, start from zero going up 1 increment at a time it's like 1,2,4,5,6,8,10 but the receiver can keep track of #'s...Goes like that all the way up.. by the time the receiver is at 30ish, the tv thinks it's at 50 something...
Looks like your TV uses Imperial volume, like your receiver, but is displaying metric units.
missing 0 option (Score:2)
Although I have a few devices that COULD be connected to WiFi, I do not have a connection at home. All computers, printers, game consoles (Wii flavors and Xbox360), NAS, and home audio are connected to a wired Gbit network. Makes the Nook tablets unable to connect to the 'net at home, but, at home, I don't need them connected, anyway, since I feed them by SD card.
Re: (Score:2)
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"Makes the Nook tablets unable to connect to the 'net at home, but, at home, I don't need them connected, anyway, since I feed them by SD card."
E-readers gently sip at the battery, until you turn on the wireless radio. By leaving my Paperwhite in airplane mode I get about double the battery life, about 2-3 weeks of heavy reading.
iDevices plus CNC machine (Score:2)
For us it's phones and iPods, laptops and an old P4 2.4GHz in the garage which drives the CNC machine (wifi is the easist way to get gcode files from the main PC to the garage PC).
Too many (Score:2)
Bridge (Score:2)
Chipped Squirrels.... (Score:2)
I never thought about that before... ...but suddenly I want to.
Chipped Squirrels? No; Squirrel Chips instead. (Score:2)
Pfffft, screw chipped squirrels, I want Squirrel Chips! [yummly.com]
Re: (Score:2)
after i wrote "chipped squirrels" i was actually reminded of chipped beef or other foods prepared that way.
sadly squirrels are too likely to be sick around here. wouldn't want to eat one.
Fargo? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If you can't plug it in (Score:2)
If you can't plug it in, you're not getting online here.
One Wifi device with encryption enabled slows down my router so badly that it has trouble resolving domain names. Screw that.
5G wireless rocks (Score:2)
5G wireless gives me almost 30 megabytes/second which is faster than a 100mbit ethernet connection. Only trouble is not a lot of devices support 5G.
I do have most of my house wired with ethernet, but most of my networked devices are portable. BTW, I recommend the D-Link DIR-868L wireless router - great performance, reliability, and range.
Re: (Score:2)
Ur, look at this plebeian on his 5G wireless. Ours does 5-- Yeah! 5 *thousand* -- don't question it!
No wifi (Score:2)
Why Fy? (Score:5, Funny)
Agree with hooiberg.
Before we moved in, we had the electricians add Ethernet + Coax all over the place.
We now enjoy radiation-free hard-to-tap full-duplex high-speed reliiable connections everywhere. The phones are VoIP models and on that same network, so are our laptops. I don't see the point of making a very simple problem complex and unreliable. I don't see the point of Wifi, in short.
In fact, we went One Step Beyond, shielded our home, and banned all microwave-based devices (except the oven, which is in a well-shielded switched enclosure) from it. Our visitors leave their cell phones etc. in the hallway. A bit like guns in some saloons, back in the days, I guess.
The quality of our social gatherings has certainly improved as well, with people not looking stressed and preoccupied with checking their little screens and allowing these to interrupt face-to-face conversation, and we enjoy 1uW/m2 throughout the home, just to be on the safe side.
What's the point of having a mobile device *in the home* in the first place? I certainly don't see it, and while I personally don't use mobile devices at all, I can sort of see how these can be useful while on the road. But in the home.. That's just plain silly.
-f
Re: (Score:3)
> So you're a crazy person, then?
Now I would be extremely interested to hear why my comments would give you that impression?
Is it
- the fact that we live in a well-wired home?
- the fact that we live in a shielded home?
- the fact that we ask visitors to leave mobile devices in the hallway or switch to airplane mode?
- the fact that I don't see any use for mobile devices in the (well-wired) home?
- the fact that I don't use any mobile device, at all, personally (I have no use for it)?
WKR,
Frank.
Re:Why Fy? (Score:5, Informative)
None of the above reasons, only that you seem to be very concerned with low-level non-ionizing radio frequency fields which are not thought to be a health hazard.
If you want your visitors to leave phones at the door to enhance social interactions and if you don't want to use mobile devices indoors personally for the same reasons, that's perfectly okay though a bit unusual.
You get the crazy label though if you think that low level RF is a safety risk.
Re: (Score:2)
Just we all can be "sure" of things: what is the temperature rise due to ambient 2-5 GHz RF in a human body? After all, microwave ovens cook by exciting water molecules in the cavity. The RF energy is converted to kinetic energy, of which temperature is a measure.
Got a number in some useful frame of reference, such as degrees C per kilogram per milliwatt?
Re: (Score:2)
Eternally hiding behind the one effect that has been well-established as non-problematic at low doses: The thermal effect, we're ignoring all the other effects, there is a whole list, these do occur at low doses, are insufficiently researched, and IMHO the preliminary results look very bleak.
See my previous post [slashdot.org]
Re: (Score:2)
IOW, you don't know, but are happy to toss out an AC snarky comment.
I've worked on megawatt RADARs, and the running "joke" was that by the time you found out it hadn't been properly secured and was now transmitting, you were already dead, but had just been informed.
Yes, the RF from electronics is non-ionizing, but we have actual results of exposure to ionizing radiation and some guidelines as to what various agencies around the planet consider "safe". If I'm in a room (for example, a lecture hall), with 10
Re: (Score:2)
> IOW, you don't know, but are happy to toss out an AC snarky comment.
That's right: I don't know, so I rely on research of others. I find serious concerns, compare the potential but likely health hazards to the cost and inconvienience of shielding, and conclude it's worth shielding, in our case.
BTW: Cool job, on the radars!
> What amount of that RF is being converted to heat in my body?
The heat doesn't matter at those doses.. Just about everyone agrees about that. We should stop hiding behind the therm
Why Crazy (was: Why Fy?) (Score:2)
So, if modern research casts serious doubt on both the dose-response and thermal interaction approach, suggests low doses may be dangerous and concludes that much more research is required to declare low level RF safe for humans, my family and I are perfectly fine with a shielded house, why is it crazy to avoid that risk? We're not losing anything (except the investment for the shielded paint and grounding accessories), and we're potentially avoiding a major health hazard to the best of our abilities (we're
Re: (Score:2)
> There is far more radiation outside in sunlight than your pathetic WiFi router could *EVER* bathe you in.
> Go figure.
I sure hope so, or we would be in a bit of a global predicament :-)
But as you might discover when doing a bit of research, there are many types of radiation, and the biological effects are not the same for all these types (go figure :-)).
For sunlight, these have been studied much better than modulated microwaves have ever been, and this has shown some hazards, which is why noone finds
Re: (Score:2)
That is correct. We don't.
(daughter has a GeeksPhone Revolution [geeksphone.com], it lives in the entrance hall)
Re: (Score:2)
:-) it may be STP, but I doubt it does much extra :-)
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> Hey....how else am I supposed to watch football when I poop?
Don't even get me started on ball sports..
> Ever consider someone who works from home, and works on a computer?
Yeah.. because that's what I do 6 days out of 7.
> What's the point of not being in the office if you're still tethered to a location to work
Quiet, fresh air, own music, company, not commuting for hours, etc.. Also the wiring is just about everywhere.. I mean: I don't work on the ceiling, in the toilets, bathroom, entrance hall,
and how many devices on next door's wifi? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
So, how many 'accidentally' use next door's wifi rather than their own?
And how many of next-door's devices are on yours?
Re: (Score:2)
Well I wanted live in a quiet neighborhood and the majority of my retired neighbors fit the stereotype of old people that can't operate a computer... so none.
I do have a co-worker that lives in an apartment who had his internet messed up when someone accessed the main box to steal cable tv.
Oh dear.. (Score:2)
and a few more assorted devices that are rarely on such as a Dell Axim, a spare S2 mini cellphone, an old laptop used for VAG-Com connection to the car, and my telescope mount.
There's a reason why I have 3 SSIDs across 3 channels (1,6,13). I have GigE as well, but it's a rented house so I can't run
Adds up quick! (Score:2)
Damn.
I love non- (Score:2)
Lets see... (Score:2)
Data elaboration for those that care... (Score:2)
Two person home. Two each of cell phones and laptops connected. Two entertainment devices (gaming console and Blu-Ray). I also have another wifi-ready console that I've just never setup for network play. Also one tablet, and one printer. Considering a wifi thermostat.
That's 8 devices without trying, for two users. That's also not counting "sometimes" devices on the whitelist: work laptop, frequent visitors' phones.
In your typical American household (Score:2)
More than I realized (Score:2)
Unusable hereabouts (Score:2)
So many access points, you barely get bandwidth. Cat5e does not have all these issues and it is cheaper and faster as well.
Only 2 on wifi, but .... (Score:2)
Too Many (Score:2)
2 X Cell Phones
4 X XBOX
1 X Wii
1 X Chormecast
3 X Computers
Plus Guests. This reminds me that I ought to upgrade to higher end unit ...
enough (Score:2)
Three phones, two tablets, two laptops, a desktop, xbox1, smart tv, android tv box, printer
Doh! (Score:2)
Voted then realized it said "my". Who uses their own when all your neighbors provide it for you?
Re: (Score:2)
Only for internet access (Score:2)
3 Person household (Score:2)
3 Phones
3 Tablets
2 Notebooks but wireless use is rare
1 roku (1 so wifi only)
1 Xbox 360
1 Printer (Large format inkjet)
Wired
2 R Pi
1 Custom arduiono compatible head end (acts as a bridge for several low speed wireless networks)
3 Desktops
1 Server
3 Roku
1 Laser printer
In total I've got 3 AP's and need 2 more to finish coverage of the house and garage. May add one to a tree fort. One of those AP's and the wired printer are via powerline ethernet as I've not had time to hard wire them.
10, more than I expected (Score:2)
2 phones
2 tablets
2 Chumbies (yes, still)
1 desktop PC
3 ThinkPads, one in daily use, one being prepped to ship off to my father, one currently only occasional use. I'll get another back from my dad after he switches over to the new one - he's using a loaner from me right now.
Also connected are a second desktop PC, a Linux desktop/backup server, and a printer/multifunction.
Christ, no wonder the local power utility tells me my electricity usage is 25% higher th
Re:Ethernet still the best (Score:4, Insightful)
So, at least two cables to each multimedia area, possibly three or four (computer, Blu-ray player, TV, etc), one or two to each room, six or so to my office, at least two to the workshop, etc. I'm still on the fence about the laundry room and the kitchen for possible future network-connected appliances there, and the same goes for HVAC devices (EMS controllers, etc) and hot water heaters, but the cost is low so it's not exactly much of a burden to do it when I'm doing everything else anyway.
We'll see how motivated I am.
Re: (Score:2)
If you want to future proof, Why don't you run glass?
Re: (Score:2)
I'll probably leave pullstrings in the walls so that if later I need to pull in an armored fiber (no innerduct remember) I'll be able to do so.
Re: (Score:3)
Future proof is one thing, but using it today is useful too. Almost everything has an ethernet port on it, not much is ready for fibre.
Honestly I think it will be a very long time before fibre optics are standard for networks within a single house, too much cost and too much legacy wiring, and that legacy wiring is capable of "good enough" speeds for a while yet (most traffic these days is to/from the internet, and if your internet connection isn't gigabit, what point is there for anything more than gigabit
Re: (Score:2)
The cable cost may not be that much higher, and multiple cables are not that much more work, I agree, but the many-more-port switch to which they all connect seems much more costly than a few distributed 5-8 port near-freebies. Only in two places did I need some serious managed switches ("computer room" and right at the firewall/router). The little ones did have to be able to handle VLAN-tagged packets, of course.
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And much bigger than 3/4ENT and one starts risking compromising the top plates and studs one drills through. My house has a basement and ground floor, and I'm going to have some fun getting down there without having anything exposed. That's contributing to my putting-off doing the work.
Re: (Score:2)
Seriously, unless you plan on having the need to stream uncompressed 4K video to every corner of your house, Cat6A is ridiculous overkill. The average Blu-ray video stream is well under 40Mbit/sec, and that's decent HD for almost anyone. 4K could maybe quadruple that (depends on codec) but you STILL have plenty of bandwidth for something like that in plain Gigabit Ethernet. Hell, you could put perhaps 6-8 4K streams on GigE and still be fine.
And there's really no logic in trying to future-proof your home
Re: (Score:2)
I figure once you've got 5 Gbit, you're good:
http://web.forret.com/tools/vi... [forret.com]
That's 5Gbit for 4K video (the movie size, not the TV size, but at the higher TV frame rate), completely uncompressed...
Re: Ethernet still the best (Score:2, Insightful)
And 15 years ago: ..... Four channels at that.
Seriously, why would run any more than BNC? 10Mb/s is more than enough to stream 480i
Just saying.
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Not to mention how convenient the long wire is to my tablet as I walk around the house....
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No need for Wi Fi when Wired Ethernet is much faster and more secure!
Says the AC with no phone, tablet, or laptop to carry out to the back deck when it's nice or out front while the kids are playing.
While they are important there's much more to data than speed and security!
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Yeah, you'd think I ran a small datacenter...
(And while I do like to joke that to friends, I don't actually.)
A couple machines running multiple VMs don't help the count, either.