Category: Network

eero – A Love Story

First Look, Network, Opinion, Review, Wi-Fi 0

Then I heard about eero. eero isn’t a router; rather, each unit connects together to create a single wireless mesh network throughout your home. This means users get WiFi anywhere in their home—seamlessly. Could it be true?

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Tenda Powerline Adapters – Review

Adapter, Network, Review 0

I live in an older home and WiFi just does not seem to get from one side of the house to the other. I have tried many products in the past, including HPNA (HomePlug network adapters) and 802.11 wireless extenders. Most wireless extenders I tried were useless. In fact, they usually make the WiFi signal worse. As for AC adapters, until this product, they have not worked very well at all. Either they are incredibly slow, or they fail to pair across the home reliably. So I was thrilled when these units arrived, as I was yet again swearing at my lousy home network and was desperate to try something new.

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Travel Tips for Techies (And Everyone Else) – Nemo Memo

Adapter, Apps, Audio, Back Pack, Battery, Bluetooth, Camera, Clothing, Earphones, Hard Drive, Headphones, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Macintosh, Music, Navigation, Nemo Memo, Network, Opinion, Photography, Review, Security, Speakers, Special Report 3

I just returned from my fourth weekend trip taken during the past two months. Two journeys were by car and two were by airplane. I live in Tucson in southern Arizona. One trip each was to Nevada and northern Arizona, and two were to Marin County, north of San Francisco, California. The California flights were for family occasions, and both Nevada and northern Arizona were for sightseeing. Only the Arizona trip included other people: daughter and son-in-law. We took our small family dog with us on the sightseeing trips and also on the first California flights.

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Tenda AC15 Smart Dual-band Gigabit AC1900 WiFi Router – Nemo Memo

Macintosh, Nemo Memo, Network, Opinion, printer, Review, Security 0

This new WiFi and Ethernet router has excellent performance at an affordable price. The physical unit is attractive, and the setup process is the quickest I’ve ever done. An included paper instruction sheet will be easy to understand for techies, and somewhat less so for ordinary people. Phone support is available, and the product carries a generous three-year warranty.

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Lantronix xPrintServer Office – Review

Android, iOS, iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, Mac, Network, printer, Review, Wi-Fi 0

With all the mobile devices surrounding us, the need to print documents is lower than what it used to be, as we can read on our device. But printing is still required, and sometimes you may want to print directly from your mobile device. Here is the issue: is your printer compatible with mobile and wireless printing? If not, the Lantronix xPrintServer Office may be what you’re looking for.

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Macally WIFISD2 Wireless iOS Media Hub and Travel Router – Review

Adapter, Apps, Audio, Battery, Battery Packs, Hard Drive, Hub, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Macintosh, Music, Network, Photography, Review, Wi-Fi, Wireless 0

Macally’s new WIFISD2 is the perfect gift for someone who has almost everything. Not enough space on your iPhone or iPad for your movies, photos, music, games, and more? No problem! This Wireless iOS Media Hub and Travel Router can handle infinite SD cards, USB flash drives, USB external drives, with either network Wi-Fi pass through or an Ethernet cable connection. Even better: WIFISD2 has an internal battery that can both power it and charge an external USB device.

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OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock – Review

Audio, Camcorder, Camera, Headphones, Network, OWC, Review 0

Thunderbolt is probably the most interesting technology that came to our Macintoshes in recent years. Since I bought a 15″ MacBook Pro with retina display, I have been following the market for Thunderbolt docks. In the first years, they were slow to come to market. Then, with Thunderbolt 2 released, they removed some ports. OWC has a new accessory that has Thunderbolt 2 connectivity with a FireWire port: the OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock.

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Universal USB 3.0 4K Laptop Docking Station w/4K DisplayPort – Review

Macbook, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, Network, Review, Speakers 1

Portable computers are very popular, sometimes more popular than their desktop equivalent. The counterpart of using a portable computer is that you are limited in number of ports and extensibility. Thanks to USB 3.0 and StarTech Universal USB 3.0 4K Laptop Docking Station w/4K DisplayPort you can eliminate some of those limitations.

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BitTorrent Sync file transfer software – Review

Network, Review 0

Commonly abbreviated to BTSync, BitTorrent Sync is software that implements file sharing across computer networks using the peer-to-peer protocol. This means each computer doing the sharing can act as a server for the others, allowing shared access to files without the need for a cloud computing central server.

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Amped Wireless RTA15 High Power 700mW Dual Band AC Wi-Fi Router and REA20 WI-FI Range Extender – Review

Adapter, Audio, Features, Macintosh, Modem, Network, Review 0

The Amped Wireless RTA15 High Power 700mW Dual Band AC Wi-Fi Router is blazingly fast, easy to set up, and broadcasts a powerful Wi-Fi signal that enables you to stream HD programs smoothly and without interruption. There are many similar products on the market for a lower price. Some are equal to or faster than this one, but for ease of use, reliability and coverage, the RTA15 is a strong competitor and highly recommended.

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Take Control of Networking & Security in iOS 6 – Book Review

Book Review, Features, iOS, iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, iPod Touch, Network, Review, Security 0

Did you ever wonder how to set up a mobile hotspot? Maybe you don’t understand the difference between WPA2 and WEP security. What’s the big deal about having a secure password for a home WiFi network? If you ever had any of these question, Glenn Fleishman answers all these questions, and more, in his latest book, Take Control of Networking & Security in iOS 6.

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HP OfficeJet 6700 Premium e-All-in-One – Review

Features, Macs at Work, Network, printer, Review, Scanner, Wireless 0

Hewlett Packard (HP) is the granddaddy of the consumer inkjet printer business, manufacturing the first DeskJets in the mid-1980s. My first decent printer was an HP DeskWriter (specially configured for Macintosh computers), which I bought in the late 1980s, around the time HP did their first big price reduction (for the DeskWriter) from around $1200 down to $800.

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Interesting, but Ultimately Flawed Audio Player – Review

Audio, Features, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iPod Classic, Music, NAS, Network, Review 1

Pioneer, a venerable name in home audio, has come up with a pair of interesting devices to better integrate the audio part of the internet and your own digital music library into your home audio system, the N-30 and N-50 Networked Audio Players. The Networked Audio Players are part of Pioneer’s Elite product line, noted for their excellent construction and superb audio quality. Pioneer foolishly loaned me an N-30 to evaluate. I say foolishly only because I seem to attract products for review that have fundamental flaws that cause me to write far too many negative reviews. Sadly, this is one of them.

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