21 July 2020 | Do-It-Yourself, How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
This video is a continuation of Part 3!!
What happens if you want to set up a home network, but you already have existing Ethernet cabling and wall jacks?
While it may seem simple, it turns out that you need to do some investigation first.
In Part 1 of this video, I described the different types of patch panels you may find in your home, how they work, and how you will use them (or not).
In this video, I’ll show exactly how to connect everything!
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14 July 2020 | Do-It-Yourself, How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
What happens if you want to set up a home network, but you already have existing Ethernet cabling and wall jacks?
While it may seem simple, it turns out that you need to do some investigation first.
In this video, I describe the different types of patch panels you may find in your home, how they work, and how you will use them (or not).
It’s worth noting that if you only have twisted-pair phone cabling (often called PTT-298), you CAN use that wiring for 100 Mbps Ethernet – but not for Gigabit+ speeds.
Fortunately, most homes these days have Cat 5e or higher cabling, so that part shouldn’t be a problem…
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28 January 2020 | Do-It-Yourself, Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
There are quite a few smartphone cases, Faraday bags, and other little gizmos out there that claim to protect you from the phones RF waves.
A common method that people use is to line one (or both) sides of their phone case with good old aluminum foil.
So, the question is: Does tin foiling your phone really work? How much? And where exactly should you put the foil?
Watch to find out!
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17 December 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
So you’ve read all the studies about our Wireless Wonderland, and you’d like to go wired.
You’ve also watched my first video, No More WiFi: How to wire your home for internet.
You’re not big on drilling holes and running cables everywhere, so you decide to use powerline ethernet or ethernet over coax.
Before you go that route, there are a few things you should know about these two home networking solutions.
Not only are they generally more expensive than ethernet cabling, but they’re also usually not as fast or reliable…
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3 September 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, Networking, Video |
So you’ve read all the studies about our Wireless Wonderland, and you’d like to go wired.
But where to even start?
It turns out that wiring up your house or apartment with ethernet cables and switches is WAAAAY easier than most people think.
It’s literally a plug-n-play kind of thing.
There are a few things to keep in mind though before purchasing gigabit ethernet switches and Cat 7 ethernet cable…
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20 August 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, Video |
One day, you flip a light switch and notice a lovely popping sound. The pop might even be accompanied by a brief blue flash of light from within the switch.
What’s going on here?
Well, it turns out that even if the current rating of the switch has NOT been exceeded, you may have a problem related to inrush current due to the use of fluorescent and especially LED light fixtures…
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6 August 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
They’re known as power bricks, wall warts, AC Adapters, AC-DC Converters, and probably 10 other names – and they power many of the gizmos you use every day.
But what happens when a gizmo stops working right?
You may think it’s the gizmo itself, but very often it’s the power brick.
It may look complicated, but it’s actually pretty straightforward to get a universal power brick and set it up to breathe new life into your techie toy.
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26 February 2019 | Do-It-Yourself, Gizmos |
Everyone has a home router, whether they know it or not.
For most of us, our router is the DSL / Cable / Fiber “box” given to us by our ISP.
You can, of course, add your own home router in between your home network and your ISP’s box. This provides an extra level of safety – among other things.
Those of us who are a bit more techie (and crazy) like to roll our own router. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is security.
Unfortunately, not all routers are created equal, even when they’re “created” by you!
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11 December 2018 | Computers, Do-It-Yourself, SuperSaver, Video |
Has your laptop ever started to sound like a vacuum cleaner?
Cooling fans start spinning like crazy. If things get bad enough, your CPU can even overheat, halting the laptop and giving you a scary-looking error message.
To avoid such mayhem, you should dust inside your laptop twice a year.
It’s pretty easy. Should your laptop be REALLY clogged up inside, you may need to get a little crazy and start opening things up.
But don’t panic! YouTube will save you…
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4 December 2018 | Computers, Do-It-Yourself, SuperSaver, Video |
We all know what happens when your puter gets all dusty inside: it gets noisy!
Cooling fans start spinning like crazy. If things get bad enough, your CPU can even overheat, halting the system.
To avoid this mayhem, you should dust inside your computer twice a year.
But what to use? Dishwasher? Washing machine? Garden hose? Hydrochloric acid?
Just kidding!
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This video is a continuation of Part 3!!
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