[AFMUG] Alabamans beware of yellow jacket supernests

2019-06-30 Thread Ken Hohhof 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/officials-warn-of-wasp-super-nests-in-alab
ama/ar-AADExYC

 

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Re: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

2019-06-30 Thread Chuck McCown 
I hear that Tony Clifton is in exile there.  

From: Ken Hohhof 
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 10:56 AM
To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' 
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

Yes, but I’m trying to support the Latvian economy.  Make Latvia Great Again!

 

From: AF  On Behalf Of Chuck McCown
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 10:04 AM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group 
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

 

Calix has made this very easy to do.  

 

From: Ken Hohhof 

Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 8:36 AM

To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' 

Subject: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

 

My brain is kind of full and so I’ve avoided learning how to do WiFi mesh 
systems.  But with everybody and their brother selling home WiFi systems, and 
customers wanting WiFi everywhere and too lazy to use a cable even 1 foot away, 
mesh WiFi now seems impossible to avoid.  But many of these systems have 
limited configuration options, want to be controlled via the cloud from an app 
on your phone, and don’t seem to play nice with a 5 GHz connection from a WISP. 
 Adding in things like FireSticks that use WiFi for the remote seems to 
aggravate this whole situation.

 

So looking at roll-your-own-mesh using Mikrotik, I’m reluctant to use WDS.  
Reading threads on the Mikrotik forums tends to confirm my unease with this 
approach.  My clear preference is a wired mesh, but customers just flat out 
refuse to have any cables.  Everything must be wireless and work automagically, 
which I assume is why they will pay $300 for a 3-pack of Google WiFi hockey 
pucks.

 

So here’s my question:  what’s wrong with a main router that uses both 2.4 and 
5 GHz, and then satellites with a 2.4 GHz AP bridged to a 5 GHz client that 
connects to the main router.  Is the problem that now you have a hub-and-spoke 
design not a true mesh?  Do people need a system that can hopscotch from A to B 
to C to D in order to get to the far reaches of their house?  Is there a way to 
run a backbone between nodes that none of the customer devices connect to?  I 
thought I read that Netgear’s Orbi worked that way.




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Re: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

2019-06-30 Thread Ken Hohhof 
Yes, but I’m trying to support the Latvian economy.  Make Latvia Great Again!

 

From: AF  On Behalf Of Chuck McCown
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 10:04 AM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group 
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

 

Calix has made this very easy to do.  

 

From: Ken Hohhof 

Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 8:36 AM

To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' 

Subject: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

 

My brain is kind of full and so I’ve avoided learning how to do WiFi mesh 
systems.  But with everybody and their brother selling home WiFi systems, and 
customers wanting WiFi everywhere and too lazy to use a cable even 1 foot away, 
mesh WiFi now seems impossible to avoid.  But many of these systems have 
limited configuration options, want to be controlled via the cloud from an app 
on your phone, and don’t seem to play nice with a 5 GHz connection from a WISP. 
 Adding in things like FireSticks that use WiFi for the remote seems to 
aggravate this whole situation.

 

So looking at roll-your-own-mesh using Mikrotik, I’m reluctant to use WDS.  
Reading threads on the Mikrotik forums tends to confirm my unease with this 
approach.  My clear preference is a wired mesh, but customers just flat out 
refuse to have any cables.  Everything must be wireless and work automagically, 
which I assume is why they will pay $300 for a 3-pack of Google WiFi hockey 
pucks.

 

So here’s my question:  what’s wrong with a main router that uses both 2.4 and 
5 GHz, and then satellites with a 2.4 GHz AP bridged to a 5 GHz client that 
connects to the main router.  Is the problem that now you have a hub-and-spoke 
design not a true mesh?  Do people need a system that can hopscotch from A to B 
to C to D in order to get to the far reaches of their house?  Is there a way to 
run a backbone between nodes that none of the customer devices connect to?  I 
thought I read that Netgear’s Orbi worked that way.

  _  

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Re: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

2019-06-30 Thread Chuck McCown 
Calix has made this very easy to do.  

From: Ken Hohhof 
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 8:36 AM
To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' 
Subject: [AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

My brain is kind of full and so I’ve avoided learning how to do WiFi mesh 
systems.  But with everybody and their brother selling home WiFi systems, and 
customers wanting WiFi everywhere and too lazy to use a cable even 1 foot away, 
mesh WiFi now seems impossible to avoid.  But many of these systems have 
limited configuration options, want to be controlled via the cloud from an app 
on your phone, and don’t seem to play nice with a 5 GHz connection from a WISP. 
 Adding in things like FireSticks that use WiFi for the remote seems to 
aggravate this whole situation.

 

So looking at roll-your-own-mesh using Mikrotik, I’m reluctant to use WDS.  
Reading threads on the Mikrotik forums tends to confirm my unease with this 
approach.  My clear preference is a wired mesh, but customers just flat out 
refuse to have any cables.  Everything must be wireless and work automagically, 
which I assume is why they will pay $300 for a 3-pack of Google WiFi hockey 
pucks.

 

So here’s my question:  what’s wrong with a main router that uses both 2.4 and 
5 GHz, and then satellites with a 2.4 GHz AP bridged to a 5 GHz client that 
connects to the main router.  Is the problem that now you have a hub-and-spoke 
design not a true mesh?  Do people need a system that can hopscotch from A to B 
to C to D in order to get to the far reaches of their house?  Is there a way to 
run a backbone between nodes that none of the customer devices connect to?  I 
thought I read that Netgear’s Orbi worked that way.




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[AFMUG] WDS mesh vs 5 GHz backbone and 2.4 GHz APs

2019-06-30 Thread Ken Hohhof 
My brain is kind of full and so I've avoided learning how to do WiFi mesh
systems.  But with everybody and their brother selling home WiFi systems,
and customers wanting WiFi everywhere and too lazy to use a cable even 1
foot away, mesh WiFi now seems impossible to avoid.  But many of these
systems have limited configuration options, want to be controlled via the
cloud from an app on your phone, and don't seem to play nice with a 5 GHz
connection from a WISP.  Adding in things like FireSticks that use WiFi for
the remote seems to aggravate this whole situation.

 

So looking at roll-your-own-mesh using Mikrotik, I'm reluctant to use WDS.
Reading threads on the Mikrotik forums tends to confirm my unease with this
approach.  My clear preference is a wired mesh, but customers just flat out
refuse to have any cables.  Everything must be wireless and work
automagically, which I assume is why they will pay $300 for a 3-pack of
Google WiFi hockey pucks.

 

So here's my question:  what's wrong with a main router that uses both 2.4
and 5 GHz, and then satellites with a 2.4 GHz AP bridged to a 5 GHz client
that connects to the main router.  Is the problem that now you have a
hub-and-spoke design not a true mesh?  Do people need a system that can
hopscotch from A to B to C to D in order to get to the far reaches of their
house?  Is there a way to run a backbone between nodes that none of the
customer devices connect to?  I thought I read that Netgear's Orbi worked
that way.

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Re: [AFMUG] ODTR

2019-06-30 Thread fiberrun 
Looks to me like a fiber ranger combined with an optical test set. A fiber 
ranger is a paired down OTDR. It may even be an OTDR in all but name, but with 
simpler software. The price difference between a fiber ranger and an OTDR is 
just a few hundred bucks, so it's practically a way of segmenting the market.

Looks nifty to me. All the "magic" is likely in the software and user 
interface, which is basically EXFO's main selling point. Like all things 
hardware, all that differentiates brand name equipment from commodity hardware 
is the quality of the software.
 

Jared
 

Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 
From: "Ken Hohhof" 
To: "'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group'" 
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ODTR

That looks to me like a power meter, not an OTDR.  We have a Fluke optical 
power meter, it’s a useful piece of equipment, but it’s not an OTDR.
 
Hard to tell for sure, that website has a lot of marketing spin.
 
 
From: AF  On Behalf Of Jason McKemie
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2019 5:16 PM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group 
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ODTR
 
I'm curious about these:

 

https://www.exfo.com/en/products/field-network-testing/optical-fiber-multimeter/opticalxplorer/

On Saturday, June 29, 2019, Chuck McCown 
mailto:ch...@wbmfg.com]> wrote:
I really like mine:
https://www.techtoolsupply.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=INNO-MINI2=googleps=a2fd11e1880844dfbe0b89871fd6ef5c=3827B7DC69EA4FE793788CCA9872E170=EAIaIQobChMI0NuRp4-P4wIVkLfsCh3EsgrDEAQYAiABEgLLufD_BwE[https://www.techtoolsupply.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=INNO-MINI2=googleps=a2fd11e1880844dfbe0b89871fd6ef5c=3827B7DC69EA4FE793788CCA9872E170=EAIaIQobChMI0NuRp4-P4wIVkLfsCh3EsgrDEAQYAiABEgLLufD_BwE]

I got it for much less than that from a local rep.

-Original Message- From: Paul McCall
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2019 10:28 AM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ODTR

Yeah, I was looking at the Chinese ones for $ 1K or so.  But, we will need to 
purchase one at some point as we are lighting some 40mile to 70mile dark fiber 
leases in a few months so makes sense to spend a little more and get something 
better

In our NOC, we are terminating 110+  fibers (1:1) to LC Corning cassettes. Was 
looking at the INNO models here.  Like the price on the Mini, but want to make 
sure I can test LC connections properly using an adapter. The spec on the Mini 
only shows "Compatible connector: FC, SC (APC or UPC)". Whereas the 500 shows 
Compatible Connector: APC(FC, SC, LC), UPC(FC, SC, LC, ST). Probably a dumb 
question, but I need to ask.

https://www.balticnetworks.com/inno-instrument-view-mini-2-otdr-kit.html[https://www.balticnetworks.com/inno-instrument-view-mini-2-otdr-kit.html]

https://www.balticnetworks.com/inno-instrument-view500-otdr-kit.html

Are there other factors I should be thinking of or a better brand / model near 
the same price?

Paul

-Original Message-
From: AF mailto:af-boun...@af.afmug.com]> On Behalf Of 
fiber...@mail.com[mailto:fiber...@mail.com]
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2019 2:49 AM
To: af@af.afmug.com[mailto:af@af.afmug.com]
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ODTR

FYI, the weekly rentals are just about what you'd pay for an el cheapo Chinese 
OTDR. Mine works fine for short distances (< ~10 miles). On longer spans the 
sensitivity/noise/dead zones are suboptimal, but it still works. FS has some, 
but haven't tried their models.

In other words, it all depends on what your requirements are. If you are just 
testing short spans, know what you are doing and can live with the limitations, 
go Chinese. If you need to characterize, certify or need something like iOLM 
and/or need it only intermittently, rent.

Jared



Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2019
From: "Tim Withrow via AF" mailto:af@af.afmug.com]>
To: af@af.afmug.com[mailto:af@af.afmug.com]
Cc: "Tim Withrow" mailto:timwith...@aol.com]>
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ODTR
rental is best  I would think if you're not going to put it the full use. 
Here's a couple links that can help you out.
https://www.fiberinstrumentsales.com/otdr-rentals[https://www.fiberinstrumentsales.com/otdr-rentals]
I would say go with the best to rent.

https://www.flukenetworks.com/content/authorized-rental-partners[https://www.flukenetworks.com/content/authorized-rental-partners][https://www.flukenetworks.com/content/authorized-rental-partners%5Bhttps:/www.flukenetworks.com/content/authorized-rental-partners%5D]



On Thursday, June 27, 2019 Paul McCall 
mailto:af@af.afmug.com]> wrote:



We are looking for a cost-effective (cheap) ODTR to test fiber we are putting 
in a business park.  Not looking to have much otherwise.

Any budget friendly gear that works well?   Or maybe rent /borrow one for a 
week?

Paul McCall, President
Florida Broadband / PDMNet
658 Old Dixie Highway
Vero Beach, FL 32962
772-564-6800

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Re: [AFMUG] OT movie review

2019-06-30 Thread CBB - Jay Fuller 

don't want to give anything away, but i'm right there with you.

from queen to elton john to the beatles, interesting twist they've done with 
movies.

no more new ideas, right?  Lol

this was pretty original...


  - Original Message - 
  From: Chuck McCown 
  To: af@af.afmug.com 
  Sent: Friday, June 28, 2019 7:03 PM
  Subject: [AFMUG] OT movie review


  Yesterday 
  Absolutely loved it!!!

  Sent from my iPhone

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