Wi-Fi routers, home servers, virtual private networks, and more.
Networking
Why Can't my Echo Connect?
Episode 1580
Brian fromBrian is having problems with his Amazon Echo. It tells him it's not connected and to try again later. Leo says that is more likely a WiFi failure, not an Echo issue.
Why Can't My Phone Connect to the Network?
Episode 1578
Pria fromPria has her cell service with Verizon and she is having issues connecting to WiFi in her apartment building. Leo says that in her iPhone settings, check the WiFi connection and look for the name of the network. Click on the "i" and look at the network. Make sure there's an IP address in there, starting with either 192 or 10. If it's anything else, she is not getting an internet connection. That would indicate the network is misconfigured. Try to unplug the router and plug it back in to reboot.
Testimonial: Helm eMail Servers Have Great Customer Service
Episode 1579
Paul fromPaul bought a Helm email server, but he's having issues. He called the support service, and they helped him solve the issues. They give good support!
What options do I have for cloud storage over 2TB?
Episode 1567
James fromJames has a large family that records many videos, and he's run out of storage in the cloud. He can't buy anymore iCloud to store everyone's movies and music. Leo says that James has transitioned to the enterprise-grade needs. Especially for backups. Leo says maybe just creating a duplicate Synology NAS off site and have it Sync. That way he can have as much storage he needs, rather than paying for it in the Cloud. It's also far more practical, since it won't take up bandwidth. Carbonite will even send a hard drive to back up and ship to them for storage. But that isn't readily available.
Why is data being corrupted on my NAS?
Episode 1566
Steve fromSteve is a professional photographer and he stores his raw images on a NAS (network attached storage) with Mac File sharing. But he's finding that about 10% of his images are corrupted. Leo says that there's two ways this can happen. 1) the data is corrupted on the disk. Is the file corruption happening locally? Or on the network. It helps to test if it happens the same every time. That means the data is getting corrupted on the NAS itself. If it was a network corruption, it would happen intermittently and randomly.
What MESH router should I buy?
Episode 1562
Matt fromMatt wants to know what mesh router he should buy to control his landscape system. Leo says that Orbi is ideal because it's easy to install, and they have outdoor base stations.
Why can't my laptop connect to the internet?
Episode 1561
Joe fromJoe's laptop won't connect to the internet. Leo says that some laptops have a function key that will set your laptop into Airplane mode. So check that out. Other than that, there may have been a corrupted WiFi driver that's preventing the internet from talking to your router/modem. But Joe erased some "unnecessary files" and Windows told him to do it. Leo says that's not the case here. But Microsoft has a tech note about this same issue.
Will a mesh router work with my VOIP phone service?
Episode 1557
Gwen fromGwen has internet through Spectrum. She's looking at getting a NetGear Orbi mesh router. Will she have issues with her phone service? Leo says that she will because Spectrum requires their router to use their phone service. But she can hook them up in tandem and have them coexist. It works with Comcast in a similar fashion. Leo says this is why you don't want to bundle services. It causes issues like this.
Can network switches work with mesh routers?
Episode 1555
Greg fromGreg wants to know if his mesh router can work with a network switch. Leo says that mesh routers prefer to handle all management on the network. He can use a switch as a hub, though, and the dumber they are, the better. TP-Link makes a 24 port switch that works great with the Eero. The key is to get an "unmanaged switch".
Can I have a static IP with my mesh router?
Episode 1555
Tom fromTom updated his Wi-Fi to an Eero mesh router system, but it changed his static IP address and it's causing problems. How can he fix that? Leo says that all he'll need to do is reserve the IP for those devices. It's in the Eero settings. But the fact that Eero keeps an eye on his network worries him from a security point of view. Leo says that they do that for quality of service, as they are always adjusting the router for the best possible performance. If he doesn't trust Eero to do that securely, then he shouldn't be using it.
