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Internet of things causing you Grief?

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So you decided to try the new Internet of things also known as Alexa to help in how to train your Pandora, or tame your Spotify account to play your favorite playlist. But now you find out that it can do more than that. Alexa Let us take a step back and ask the question, what is the Internet of Things,  or IoT for those of you that love acronyms. Simply put, it is any device that has an ON and and OFF switch that can now be part of the internet. For example, your smart TV,  light switches, alarm panel, garage door opener, coffee pot and the list goes on and on.

Now that the internet is streaming everything is possible through your smartphone, and smart tablets you now have control just an app away. And with the expansion of seamless WiFi available, this is the perfect storm for the Internet of Things to blossom and become part of your every day routine.

Having problems with your Internet of things a.k.a Alexa or Google Home?

google homeWhen Alexa and her evil counterpart Google home work as intended, they are amazing with the things they can do for you without having to handle your smartphone, or tablet. All can be accomplished by simply speaking to them. That is when the Internet of things are working harmoniously turning on your lights, changing your favorite music and setting the right temperature.

Got WiFi connectivity issues?

But what happens when you discover that your Wireless router that you have stashed in your office doesn’t reach all of the devices that were intended to work with Alexa or Google home? According to Cnet who is a reputable company that reviews all consumer electronics gave the following advice. First reset your (Iot) device, then your modem and finally the router. If that does not work then relocate your wireless router to a central location in the house.

That is all fine and dandy if you are tech savvy and live in a condo, or guest house. But most of us live in modest homes that exceed the range of your wireless router. Most homes we work on range from 1,500 to 25,000 square feet with 2 or 3 stories. The poor router from Cox or Time Warner (Spectrum)  doesn’t stand a chance

Look at this picture! You can see the possibilities of how many devices can actually reside and be dependent on your WiFi to communicate and be controlled by the different Internet of things that were once just dummy devices. Not to mention, this is only one room!

The unfortunate thing that the companies don’t tell you when you buy into the Internet of things is that they all do not play well together. The reason is that certain companies only want you to use only their smart devices.

In addition, each device is competing with each other for the attention of your WiFi speed. Especially those cameras that are streaming directly to your smartphone, or tablet.

What is the solution for your (Iot) Internet of things?

Google home can throw that favorite Youtube videos on your flat screen wirelessly, or turn on your pretty lights and fancy thermostats with a touch of a button. So the answer to all your WiFi and internet issues is simple.

You pick up the phone, shoot us a text message at 858-764-2648, or schedule an appointment using the BOOK NOW button TODAY   to schedule a complimentary appointment to see how we will be able to seamlessly and effectively cover your entire house with a reliable wireless system.

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Top 5 Mistakes in Wireless Networking

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Top 5 Mistakes in Wireless NetworkingWireless networking router

Let’s face it. Wireless networking is a part of our everyday life whether we like it, or not. Now that we have that out of the way, let us get into some of the mistakes we uncover when a client invites us to their home to unravel some of their problems with their existing wireless and why it doesn’t work as promised.

1. Don’t ever use the router that your internet provider issued you.

More times than not, we discover that this is one to be a common issue. Think of it to having multiple meetings going on in the same board room. The problem is that the router can only pay attention to one meeting at time. The minute you have more than one device requesting access to the internet, guess what? Your internet quality goes down. Unfortunately, the internet providers never tell you this because they just don’t want to. We will leave it at that. In most households what is required is a router that can multi-task. So look for a router with the MU-MIMO stamped on it. It simply means that it is a multi user router for mulitiple devices. Here is a link if you would like more info from Amazon

2. Why is the antenna lying flat?

Too often we see a router, or wireless access point that has 2 antennas laying flat in a one-floor home. If we can visualize the antenna holding on to the center of a delicious glazed donut that just came out of the oven. And the smell of that donut has a radiating smell of the sweet glazing trying to reach you nose. Since the antenna is laying flat, the smell is only going up to the ceiling and down to the ground. Its never going to reach your nose.

But if you stand the antenna straight up, then the glazing smell with permeate from side to side. Therefore, covering a lot more distance of an area.

3. Don’t put a router, or wireless access point on the back of a TV

This one is a doosey. There are times where we cant find the router, or access point. So we end up doing a site survey to find it. Since the invention of Smart TV’s the convenience of accessing Netflix, Pandora and other streaming services, we are finding the wireless networking routers and wireless access points stuck behind the TV. Guess what? Not a good place.

You want to avoid lighting fixtures, power lines, A/C units, elevators, fish tanks, and anything else that with lots of metal or water. The reason is that these items will block your signal from getting through.

Ideally we end up relocating the router, or wireless access points at least a couple of meters away from any possible RF interference and in line of sight what they’re to be connected to. What this does, is it give the signal the clearest path possible. So we want to mount them as high as possible.

4. Don’t use your name, or last name as your SSID

This is like broadcasting to the world, “Hey! Come hack me because this is my wireless network.” There is no realistic reason on earth to do this. Also avoid using WEP encryption at all costs, since it can be hacked within a few minutes these days. If for some strange reason a device requires WEP encryption, because it can’t handle anything else, then we go to Plan “B”

In plan “B” we use the MAC address filtering and put it on a secure VLAN that allows routing only to the device it needs to talk to.

5. Don’t use just one device to test the signal strength

Do yourself a favor. Use the actual devices that you are going to use everyday to make sure you have adequate coverage. Believe it or not, each device has its own power requirements, antennas and other nuances I won’t bore you with. One of the best tests is to use an iPhone to connect. Apple hand-held devices are notorious for having extremely poor signal strength. This is the reason why Apple removed all of the wireless signal strength meters from their app store.

We hope this article was informative and useful to you in the case that you are struggling with your wireless networking around the house.

On the other hand, if you feel that you just don’t want to mess with your wireless network anymore and would like someone to simply take care of it, then pick up the phone and give us a call today, or send us a text message at 858-764-2648 to rid yourself of this thorn at your side.

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Mirror Your iPad On Apple TV

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How To Enable Your iPad To Mirror Your Apple TV On Your Flat Screen

Here are some simplified instructions on using the feature called Mirroring on your iPad along with the use of the Apple TV. As part of our commitment to customer service at Rancho Santa Fe Home Theater. We will post frequently asked questions about our products and services that we have installed, serviced, or programmed. So lets get started….

1. On your iPhone or iPad, if you DO NOT HAVE iOs 7, then double-click the Home Button which is the round one that is on the lower front of your display. This will bring up all of the Apps you just used on your iPad and will shift your entire display up and grey it out for a moment. This is normal and everything will resume back to normal once we are finished mirroring.

If you have the latest iOs7 operating system, then using your finger swipe up from the bottom of your screen to access the Control Center like the image here.

Airplay image

2. Now you will see the AirPlay icon as shown below in grey.

iPad Airplay icon

3. Tap the AirPlay icon to display a list of available AirPlay devices. Upon doing this, the icon will turn to a blue color instead of the grey color. The change in color will indicate that the Airplay is active.

4. Enable AirPlay Mirroring* from this menu by tapping the name of your Apple TV, then toggle the on/off slider to ON. Some of you may have multiple Apple TV’s in different rooms. So pick the one that you are in front of.iPad airplay display

5. AirPlay menu with Mirroring option ON and the icon has turned blue in color indicates that you should see an exact mirror of whatever is happening on your iPhone, or iPad.

6. Now Tap on the Home button and select the Apple App that you want to see on your television. For example if you want to surf the internet, Tap on the Safari icon to enable this.Safari iconIf you are still having issues enabling it, then why not give us a call at 858-764-2648 to ensure that your WiFi system may not have the range it should to enable this powerful, yet easy system.

Many times, we find that the current WiFi system that the cable companies, AT&T just does not have the distance to travel to every room that you live. Therefore, it reduces the practical use of this feature.

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