It does solve the problem of people who can't remember or want to change
their WiFi password. We have also had people ask to have a Virtual AP set
up for a "guest network" (note that guest network feature on most store
bought routers is worthless). Most residential customers don't have us
customize anything, it happens more with business customers. It does give
us some remote troubleshooting tools whereas normally we can't see into the
customer's network at all.
We use RB951G and it clears up many problems, it's hard to explain the
advantages to customers though. Oddly single band 2.4 GHz seems to work a
lot better than these dual band routers (we are mostly rural and don't have
the problem of seeing 20 neighbors WiFi). The way we explain it is you are
welcome to get your own router at Best Buy, but if you want us to support it
and replace it if it dies, we have a lease program. Most people still
supply their own, but the number of people who don't want the headache seems
to be slowly growing.
A breaking point for me was Lenovo Ultrabooks with Intel AC WiFi and Windows
8.1 that just refused to work with Netgear routers. Lenovo, Intel,
Microsoft, Netgear and the retailer all refused to own the problem.
Customers tried to make it our problem. We needed to draw a line in the
sand. If you had our router, it would be our problem. You went to Best Buy
and bought a Lenovo laptop and a Netgear router, it's their problem.
Cable and DSL companies supply the WiFi modem/router, and we may have to do
this as well. On the other hand, the FCC rules let customers attach their
own devices, not sure where you draw the network demarc and start imposing a
device attachment policy. Does FCC want customer to be able to supply their
own radio? POE? Router? Or does device mean computer, tablet, phone, game
console, etc. In any case, I can see the appeal of something like the
Cambium all-in-one POE, router, WiFi and ATA. But like an all-in-one
printer/scanner/FAX, any weak feature will drag the whole thing down.
-----Original Message-----
From: Caleb Knauer
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 7:26 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Grandstream Cameras
Do these users ever want to change their settings (SSID/WPA key/IP
range etc)? Do you do it for them? Obviously you want to use the MT
b/c it's a better product than the consumer options, is that how you
sell it to them?
--
IgniteNet
ca...@ignitenet.com
www.ignitenet.com
We're hiring! Ping me.
On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 6:15 PM, Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote:
I wonder about that. We’re starting to get more residential takers on
leasing a Mikrotik. We ship them with UPNP disabled and since they are
remotely managed can easily enable it upon request. Have not had to turn
a
single one on yet. Maybe the intersection of people with Xboxes and
people
who lease routers is the null set? Hard to believe.
From: Mathew Howard
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2015 5:00 PM
To: af
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Grandstream Cameras
but... anything that makes me not have to deal with people whining about
their xbox NAT issues can't be all bad.
On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Ken Hohhof <af...@kwisp.com> wrote:
UPNP = evil
Here, cheap piece of crap from China, do whatever you want with my
firewall, and no need to tell me.
From: mailto:p...@believewireless.net
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2015 11:17 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Grandstream Cameras
It's definitely a NAT issue. Does your router support UPNP? Did you
enable
it in Settings->Network Settings->Advanced Settings?
On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 11:19 AM, Chuck McCown <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote:
I could post a pic if I could get into the system. (Not on site most of
the time).
From: mailto:p...@believewireless.net
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2015 9:18 AM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT Grandstream Cameras
Can you post a pic of the camera during the day and of it washed out at
night? We've had to tweek the video settings
on some of the cameras.
If you have an Android phone/tablet, you can download their free app to
view your cameras remotely. We have Apple and use the IP Cam Viewer app
which is nice.
I'll look into the remote DVR issue for you.
On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 10:49 AM, Chuck McCown <ch...@wbmfg.com> wrote:
OK, bought a couple of the more expensive grandstream cameras and their
DVR device.
The cameras are really washed out by our security lights at night. I
got the expensive night IR model hoping to capture traffic at night.
But
the ambient light is too much for the B&W IR mode and not enough for
regular
color daylight mode.
The thing that really bugs me is our inability to see the video
remotely. If on site it works OK but if I log into the DVR it allows
access
but the screen is just black. No camera video is visible. Grandstream
has
not been helpful.
So, shall I try another brand of camera? Have not tried any of the
UBNT
stuff. I have a cheap system from Harbor Freight that while is
extremely
low res and has noise on some of the channels actually works well
enough for
many things. (If nothing more than scaring away bad guys by the
presence of
the cameras.)
