Tuesday, July 29, 2014

TECHIE TALK FROM ME - WHAT A SHOCK!

     Sitting at the meeting on Sunday and seeing all the interest and yet confusion over how to wire up, I decided to do a little bit of research myself. Now if there is anything I hate to do, pretty high on that list would be to research something techie and/or have to read a manual. But I figured if I can find out the info necessary, then anyone can do it. So research I did and found it relatively easy in this case.
     My premise was that I do not have to understand the how of it working, just that it does and if it would be appropriate to our associations here. I went looking for extenders, which is what would be needed after Comcast or At&T would put in the original device in the common area (i.e. laundry room, storage room, office, whatever the building has).I quickly found the RE6500 from Linksys, called officially the Linksys Range Extender Max. It extends the range of the existing WIRELESS (no muss, no fuss) router 10,000 feet and creates a strong Wi Fi signal that all your devices can pick up. In a large building such as Wellington  I believe that an extender on both ends of the building would do the trick and perhaps in buildings such as Dover, perhaps three.  THE COST - $99.99 per each extender. Cost of installation - either zero, if you have a person in the building who knows how to set it up (my live in techie says it is not difficult) or pay someone and it will not be a costly payment as there is no drilling, no wires, no antennae, nothing but installing the extender using the quick installation guide. The minimum it needs for a range extender setup is a wireless router (check), or access point along with a Wi Fi enabled computer that has an Ethernet port and runs on fairly common systems. (check)
     Each user in the building, I repeat, each user in the building, could get its own access code and own password and the security is fine. That would allow you to do your banking or whatever on line, hoping, of course, that your bank hasn't been hacked! Remember, even the Pentagon has been hacked.The system supports up to 128 bit encryption  and has a Wi Fi Protected Setup button. It is a quick and easy installation setup (provided you use the manual).
     And there you go, wireless, secured and fast Wi Fi in your building for way less than it would cost via Village wide installation and NO EXTERIOR STRUCTURES TO BREAK OR GET HIT BY LIGHTNING OR DAMAGE THE ROOF WHEN BLOWN OVER IN A HURRICANE.

This is my estimate for total cost, but of course it can vary with a different extender, how many needed, etc., but this is a good ballpark figure or estimate.

Cost - Comcast installation charge - anywhere from $49.99 to $99.99 depending on length of contract - 2 or 3 years.
      Add in the cost of the extenders, depending on how many are needed (if any, in the smaller buildings) at $99.99 apiece using the one in this article).
       Payment to installer of extenders - from Zero to $100, estimated, depending if you have to actually pay someone.
      A router for each individual user, which is their cost - buy their own, rent thru Comcast, whatever they choose.
     BA - DA BING, BA - DA BOOM - AND THERE YA' GO!!!

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