Blomstrom.Tech Blog: December 2020

Rob Blomstrom, owner of Blomstrom.Tech

I am a Sienna, TX resident and I have spent my career in, around and designing the technology that defines our modern life. I have experience not only in the actual technology itself, but the marketing strategies (games and misleading advertising) that companies use to boost product sales and differentiate "consumer" products from "business" products.

Today, the home and small business networks have become more critical. There is no shortage of bad advice and misunderstood products competing for your hard earned $. There is nothing worse than spending money on technology that leaves you disappointed.

Before I continue, you are invited to see my professional LinkedIn page HERE. In brief, in my early career, I helped design the Palm Pilot, the U.S. Robotics 56K & Courier modems, and the first DOCSIS 1.0 Cable modems. Some of those iconic products of the past are shown below. I worked for 3COM - they invented the ethernet protocol. I have also designed for enterprise telecom and MIL products - like GPS3 satellites currently launching.

Palm Pilot m505

U.S Robotics 56K "consumer" & Courier "business" Modems

USR / 3COM DOCSIS 1.0 Cable modem and board inside

These experiences taught me that companies use very different components inside devices depending on whether the end user is expected to be a "consumer" or a "business". That translates to consumers getting cheap parts to reach price targets. This will affect performance and reliability. With rare exceptions, the products you buy at local stores or online will be "consumer" grade. It will also be marketed as being easy to install.

This ease of install and lower price is one strategy of consumer WiFi call Mesh and home Routers.

Typical WiFi Router

Typical Mesh and Extender

The majority of my business comes from frustrated people who thought these were the answer - instead I need to remove them.

Sadly, these are not the answer. In general, mesh relies on plugging a parent main unit "base station" into the modem and then radio signals connect to the children units. So, by design, the children need to be close to the base-station or they have weak signals. In our large homes, this is not a practical approach. Next, if the radios are busy talking amongst the other mesh units, there is less available signal for your devices!

An even worse scenario is when folks have multiple device families competing for WiFi names and control.

The solution is what business IT does - build a "Wired-WiFi"

A "Wired-WiFi" builds a fundamental ethernet network and then each individual access point is wired back to the main wire closet. Each individual wire connection is at least 1Gbps. Each individual access point is 4x4 MU-MIMO to connect to your devices. They aren't wasting valuable WiFi signal getting back to the internet.

Additionally, where possible, it is best to wire stationary devices (like TV's) to reduce WiFi traffic for your mobile and IoT devices

In my business, I prefer products from ui.com

Ubiquiti's Unifi line has an ecosystem of products that are perfect for the home or small business. PLUS - they are "enterprise" grade which tells me they use better component parts in their devices. The company also provides their software & firmware at no additional costs and there are no contracts required. Below are shown examples of the Unifi line of products I have installed in Sienna!