Earlier I wrote an article about my uncommon residential network setup consisting of many homes connected and managed through the use of enterprise hardware. As this network grew, so too did the need to keep everything online 24/7 and low maintenance. Monitoring software sends alerts …

Opening up the Arduino libraries and sketching an ESP8266 concept for hours sounds like a lot of fun, and sometimes is, however we have reached an era of IoT where it makes sense to only spend a few minutes as opposed to hours on something …

Generally speaking, one of the most undervalued servers I host is an Asterisk PBX build.  This VoIP server is home to roughly 15 active extensions, 10 DID phone numbers, and three conference lines spaced across several locations. On average the server processes 80-100 inbound and …

I’m not in the field as much as I used to be, but I certainly understand the value of having every tool imaginable around me at all times. The most frustrating thing is knowing that you needed that one extra USB dongle or device that …

Being a network or system administrator is an around the clock job. Family reunions can sometimes involve an unending line of questions about personal computers, phones, and other consumer level challenges. I think of the similarities to owning a pickup truck and getting calls from …

I’ve been able to do some pretty miraculous things with 3G/4G cellular links over the past decade. Technical challenges many said were impossible to solve at the time. Years ago the main challenge was not only signal strength and coverage, but also identifying ways to …

A few years ago I started to scratch the surface of smart home automation and Internet controlled “things”. I first explored the basics of board relays and how to customize ON/OFF control based on web browser actions. **On a side note, the first time you …

Scenario: You or an organization you work with is putting together an event at a conference space or outdoor park. Consider such possibilities like a concert or festival, weekend long sporting event, or even something as timely as a temporary remote office. There is a …

Not too long ago I found myself discussing electrical trends with a commercial engineer. I made a bold prediction about the rise of DC usage suggesting something to the effect of entire rooms being powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE). The engineer nodded enthusiastically and …

I will begin this post with the same sentiment that I’ve been pushing for years: If you’re in IT and you haven’t been playing with low-tech, you’re doing something wrong.  I’ve spent years working in data centers and colocations full of multi-million dollar toys for …