Allscoop Technology » hardware

New Network Setup

allscoop — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:03:33 +0000

network setup before

I’ve been meaning to move around my basement “network” setup for sometime. All my equipment has just been sitting on a table in the back room. I used to actually sit at the table and work at the server, but I rarely ever need to be “on” the server. (love remote desktop!)

So finally changed it up. I think the new setup creates more space, makes for easier access, and probably a little better cooling too.

Setup: Cable comes into the house, and into the Linksys cable modem (a very old cable modem, running software 1.1.5 r2) . From there it goes into my Linksys N router. The router goes to a network printer (Brother HL-2070), and into my 2004 “Server”, which is a Dell Dimension 2400 Celeron 2.4 GhzÂ (I just upgraded the RAM to 1GB from 512!). There is also a Fantom external USB drive connected to the server.

Another network cable goes up to the Kitchen PC. And the rest of the home feeds from the wireless signal, this includes 3 laptops, a Wii, and a Dell Axim.

Now everything is easy to get to and with the vents in the shelving, the air flow is much better too.

network setup after

My New Sawhorse Office Desk

allscoop — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:55:26 +0000

Free desktop
$35 pair of sawhorses from Lowe’s

Equals NEW DESK!

Low Tech Wireless Security

allscoop — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:03:00 +0000

Here is a low tech way to minimize your risk to wireless problems.

Simply plug your router power into a timer, so for those hours you know you won’t be using it (night time?), it will be 100% secured, because it will be off.

The specific timer used was from amazon.com.

Timex Electronic 7-Day Timer

Evoluent Vertical Mouse Review

allscoop — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:01:19 +0000

I’ve been using the Evoluent vertical mouse for well over 6 months now. I have to say, this is the best mouse I’ve used. Very comfortable and effortless to move around. It does take about 2 days to get fully used to it, but stick and out and you will be glad you did. My wrist is never sore any more after a full day of computing.

UPDATE: 7/20/2009. Still using this very same mouse, and over the longer term, the mouse still feels great. I would definitely buy this mouse again if I needed to. It feels 100% natural to me now. I would highly recommend one to anyone who is on the computer more than a few hours per day.