WiFi installation with Araknis and OVRC

WiFi Installation

Eero vs Google WiFi

Eero vs Google WiFi - Whar's the best mesh WiFi?

When it comes to good WiFi...you ain't got time to mess around! The Google Mesh WiFi product has gotten very popular lately buuuuuuuuuuuuut...we don't recommend it. As this just came up 30 seconds ago at one of our clients' homes, here's another reason to pass on Google WiFi and to go with Eero mesh systems...the pioneer in the WiFi mesh category.

Conan was wrong when he said the greatest things in llife are to "Crush your enemies, drive them before you and hear the lamentations of their women." We think the greatest things are:

Seeing a 70 yard football throw
Knowing how to get better WiFi 

Eero WiFi review - Eero Pro 6e, Eero Pro 6 and Eero mesh extenders

See our latest video review that details the Eero WiFi line-up including mentions of the Eero Pro 6e, Eero Pro 6 and others. In this video, we go over the pros and cons of Eero, Eero vs Ubiquiti and other elements to consider that may help you decide whether Eero is right for you.

Eero Pro 6e video review

2021…it looks like we're coming around the corner here from the nightmare that was last year. If you saw our "Best TV of 2020" article from a year ago, you'll notice that it looks very similar to this list. This isn't a cop-out...we promise! There wasn't much product build and introduction with Covid so there wasn't a ton that changed. We’re listing below our own personal “Best of 2021” list for televisions, surround sound receivers, home speakers, WiFi products, universal remote controls and more.

Want better WiFi San Diego? Eero PRO 6E is the best WiFi from Eero so far!

We love Eero! Without getting too far into the weeds, check out some of our old articles below, including our "Best WiFi of 2020" winner.

Need better WiFi?

Best WiFi of 2020

Eero won't work with DIY devices

2020…well, that was horrible. Although there were about 432 things wrong with last year, there were some great elements, particularly with audio/video products. We’re listing below our own personal “Best of 2020” list for televisions, surround sound receivers, home speakers, WiFi products, universal remote controls and more.

Best TV for 2020: Sony A9G OLED TV. This TV is the best set that we’ve ever seen at the consumer level. You may have read our prior articles about OLED technology and why it is awesome (SEE LINK HERE).

Sony has taken this OLED technology and overlaid it with their world-class color and motion processing. The end result…a picture that in our opinion, is unparalleled. P.S. You can buy Sony’s A8H OLED set for a lot less $$$ and get most of the features and performance of the A9.

Best surround sound receiver for 2020: Marantz SR8015 surround sound receiver. In the past, you would normally choose a separate pre-amp and amplifier combo when you want HIGH-PERFORMANCE out of your audio and video system. With Marantz’s new receiver option, there may be no need for this added expense. This 11.2 channel X 140 watt having, Dolby Atmos providing, 8K processing, multi-room sending, toroidal transformer possessing, 38.4 pound weighing BEAST is unbelievable. Sonos vs. Heos? It’s got Heos built-in which saves you $$$ over buying a separate music streamer. The best surround sound receiver we’ve installed.

Best tower speaker for 2020: Martin Logan XTi60. We love when we get a new product and are blown away…especially when they are speakers. Home audio speakers and audio in general have an emotional component that you don’t get out of wireless routers, TVs, etc. These speakers sound SOOOOOOOO good! This 66 pound monolith features 2 X 8” drivers, 1 X 6.5” mid-range speaker and Martin Logan’s reference 2.4” Folded Motion tweeter. More importantly, they provide a presence and presentation of music that made one of our in-house listeners simultaneously want to cry and then fight, depending on the content being played. That emotional response is what great audio and speakers can provide. We like these so much we got a pair for our San Diego showroom.

Best WiFi for 2020: Eero Pro 6. With WiFi, we have a couple features that we see as very important. 1^st, it’s just got to work. We’ve worked with other WiFi companies (we’ll omit the names so we don’t get sued) where every other job is a nightmare of slow speeds, devices not working and that have no concrete resolution from the manufacturer’s tech team. Eero just works with no nonsense. We’ve got hundreds of Eero and Eero Pro 6 mesh WiFi extenders in the field that attest to this. 2^nd, Eero gives us a way to “see” your WiFi network remotely so we can tell you if it is up or down, if your connected device is misbehaving, if an Eero mesh extender is unpluggged, etc. This is VERY important for us to be able to service our clients in a quick and efficient manner. See link HERE. Want better WiFi San Diego? Eero Pro 6 is the answer!

Best universal remote for 2020: URC universal remote. In this category, we are picking a universal remote company instead of a specific product. URC is the best universal remote company for 2020 in our opinion because: 1) Things just work. We get calls frequently from people that have universal remotes from other companies and they HATE them because their systems aren’t intuitive and their home automation products get out of sync constantly. This doesn’t happen with URC. 2) Multiple solutions: URC has universal remotes that can “talk” to your WiFi network and ones that don’t. Want a universal remote for your 93 year old grandparent to watch TV? You DON’T want something that relies on the Internet. When the Internet or WiFi is down, Grandpa can’t watch TV. URC has remotes for Grandpa and for someone that wants an Elon Musk-level of technology.

Want the best home technology in 2020? We sell all of these products. Come to Aire Theater Designs for the best TV, stereo and WiFi that you can buy. P.S. Stay tuned for our "Best Outdoor TV of 2020" and "Best Outdoor Speaker of 2020" blog...coming soon!

During this strange time, we’re understandably getting more questions about computer and network health than ever before. We wanted to provide you with some technology health elements and troubleshooting tips. These are points that may help to cut down on frustration and make you more productive. This is somewhat of a long read but please check it out as we’re confident this can help now and in the future. See below:

Got an important Zoom or video call tomorrow on your computer?

• PREPARE: If your meeting is at 8 AM, don’t start doing updates and tweaks at 7:50 AM. If you do, you’re not going to make that meeting. Do these updates the day before DURING TECH SUPPORT HOURS and go onto the needed web platform to ensure that you can connect. Updates can cause certain functions to stop working so you want to make sure that tech departments are open in the event that you need to call to get support.

• DON’T USE THE INTERNET FOR OTHER THINGS: While you’re on your call, tell your children to stop playing video games, no Facebook Live, etc. These types of activities can slow up your network drastically and can contribute to glitching, delays, etc.

• DON’T CALL THE CABLE COMPANY IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO: With everything that is currently going on, the cable companies are more taxed than they have ever been. This is not the time to raise your Internet speed (see our point below about the Gigabit lie/Internet speed and why it isn’t that important), attempt to change providers, get new services, etc. We would recommend waiting on any non-essential tweaks until things get back to normal. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

• CHECK YOUR BACKGROUND PROCESSES: If you have anything going on such as Carbonite back-ups, Dropbox syncing, iCloud uploads, etc. these services can all cut down on your Internet bandwidth and can cause issues with video conferencing. Turn these off if you have important video calls that need to be perfect. NOTE: If you do turn these off, make sure you turn them back on.

Want Healthy web browsing?

• RESTART YOUR MODEM AND ROUTER REGULARLY: This will help to prevent lock-ups and disruptions in your Internet service.

• RESTART YOUR LAPTOPS, TABLETS, PHONES, ETC: Restarting your devices regularly (turn off power, wait 30 seconds and then power them back up) will help to keep your electronics working properly.

• CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE: Another phrase for this is “Don’t have 57 windows open on your laptop”. Close these unused browser windows and history for better surfing performance.

• MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BROWSER AND OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE UPDATED REGULARLY.

Random tips and opinions

• DON’T WORRY ABOUT INTERNET SPEED: The cable companies have been advertising their Gigabit service very frequently. Don’t believe the hype as you don’t need 1 Gbps for quality Internet connections. Here’s why Gigabit is good and bad:

• Most of our clients that have “gigabit” service are receiving 250-400 Mbps (25-40% of Gigabit speeds). Based on speed solely, ANYTHING in the house will run perfectly with this. Typically, most networks at 100 Mbps+ will allow household networked devices to run properly. Another point about this is that ALL of your devices, wallplates, connections and cables need to be Gigabit to theoretically get Gigabit speeds. Unfortunately, they almost never are. Our recommendation is not to get hung up on the idea of getting specifically Gigabit speed but just to know that having a Gigabit package will allow you to get GREAT speeds that should work with anything in your home.
• Throughput vs. speed: Throughput is how much network information (packets) gets to a location successfully. Elements such as using wired connections when possible, being in rooms/areas close to your WiFi routers and practicing good device health (see points above) will do more for your throughput than just concentrating on speed alone.

• ONE DEVICE WON’T CONNECT: If you have 1 device that won’t connect but 39 others that do, focus on the device that won’t connect as opposed to working on the other 39. If everything else works aside from one component, do the potential updates, resets, etc. on the device that won’t connect before you start resetting everything else.

• “IT AIN’T GOT NO GAS IN IT”: In the movie “Sling Blade”, this is one of Carl’s iconic lines. The point being made in this movie is that Carl looks for the simplest solution first. If your lawn mower doesn’t work, don’t take it completely apart and starting oiling the motor…check the gas first. Getting back to networks, if you have something that isn’t working, think about what might be the simplest thing first. This picture is of an Ethernet cable.

My computer stopped connecting to the Internet the other day. All of my other wired devices were working as well as my WiFi devices. Therefore, the simplest thing was to replace my Ethernet cable. TA-DA! My computer was working again! There was no reason that the cable should have gone defective…but it did. The point is that most problems are fixed by doing the simple stuff first.

We hope that this information helps you to become more Internet-savvy and that your devices behave. Need further help in San Diego with WiFi, computer troubleshooting or electronics...give us a call! NOTE: LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to our Youtube page below for future tips, reviews and information.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9T427K3ZMta3YAa6um_rsg/featured

Eero won't work with your new device? We've solved that one before.

Does Eero not work with your new:

Smart Bulb?

Solar system?

Security system?

Baby monitor or pet cameras?

Smart home technology?

Here's why it doesn't work and how to fix it.

UPDATE as of 2/3/2022: See our latest video HERE that illustrates this process.

Eero is great product and we love it. See the article HERE why it's one of our favorite offerings. HOWEVER, there are some limitations to Eero and it's why we also have better WiFi offerings for certain applications. Eero emits both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wireless networks and the way their product works is that your device will "see" 5Ghz until you get out-of-range. At that point, connected devices "see" the 2.4Ghz WiFi network. As a refresher, 5Ghz is faster than 2.4Ghz but it doesn't propagate as far in space.

Here's the problem, many of today's inexpensive DIY devices are cheaply constructed or engineered and as a result, the initial set-up app (or sometimes the device itself) only operates on the 2.4Ghz band. In most cases when you are trying to set these devices up with Eero, you are in range of the 5Ghz network and not the 2.4Ghz network that the device can attach to. As a result, the app from your smart device may display "no network", "set-up failed", etc. You can fix this in one of two methods:

• Move far enough away from the device so you are in "2.4Ghz land" instead of "5Ghz land". As 2.4Ghz travels farther in space than 5Ghz, moving away from your Eero system will allow the app and device to communicate to the 2.4Ghz band.

• You can call Eero and have them turn off your 5Ghz band for a short period of time. Once you set the app up, you can then call them to turn the 5Ghz band back on. As long as your device can see 5Ghz, you will then be back-in-business. Sometimes just the APP won't work with 5Ghz but the device will. NOTE: If you have a device that only works on 2.4Ghz, you may be out of luck.

This is an issue that has perplexed MANY people. However, this is a simple one for us. Want help from network professionals? Call San Diego's WiFi and Eero experts!

Wattbox IP power piece to provide easy system resets and network monitoring

Luxul WiFi access point, wireless controller and router providing GREAT WiFi

We get calls frequently from clients that haven’t dealt with us before that go something like this:

“Our WiFi only works in certain portions of the house.”

“We seem to have problems all the time with WiFI not working.”

“Our Internet keeps dropping out.”

“Our Netflix keeps pausing.”

We LOVE these calls as it lets us provide these new customers with reliable WiFi and Internet connectivity that just works. Here’s a story from one our recent Projects Of The Day.

A client was referred to us and their long story-short was:

A friend technician had put in a high-end wired/WiFi network for them

The WiFi dropped out constantly and there were areas throughout the property where WiFi just wouldn’t connect.

These issues were a work hindrance when they tried to accomplish tasks from the home and were a nuisance for the family when they all tried to use their gaming systems, iPads and entertainment devices.

We looked at their set-up and recommended and installed 3 components.

• Single WiFi network with tech support and remote compatibility:
• Remote visibility tools:
• IP piece with triggered on-off:

The benefits to these specific components for them and for MANY of our clients are:

Single WiFi network with tech support and remote compatibility: A network that acts as a SINGLE entity is important so you don’t have to change networks on your device as you walk around your house and property. Network product with tech support is important so we can call someone if odd issues come up. Many of today’s solar devices and DIY equipment can act in a strange manner and having a tech department that you can talk to is important in solving many issues that arise from this gear. One of the most popular networking brands out there has literally NO support. This client previously had this brand which is one of the reasons they were never able to uncover some of their issues before they met us.

Remote visibility tools: We see this as the most important element for us and for you in order to ensure reliability and satisfaction. These tools let us “see” in real time if your network is up, down, slow or if certain devices are attached to the network. Ex: With this client, we were able to see remotely that their network had 79 drops in service within 2 days AFTER we put the equipment in. Normally we see 0-10 drops in a 30 day period. This let us know that the issues were from the cable company and we then facilitated getting this handled. This client had dealt with years of bad Internet and we were able to get to the bottom of it right away. Our devices also let us see your connectivity at any given time. Netflix not working? We can let you know if it is a problem with the modem, the router, the switch or the device providing Netflix and take you fixing this quickly and easily. We offer these tools from Domotz and OVRC.

IP piece with triggered on/off: It’s great when you don’t have to deal with problems at all and this piece fixes many issues automatically. Many of today’s devices need to be power-cycled from time-to-time to get them to behave. However, unless you know which electronic gadget to unplug and the order and timing that is needed for this, it can be frustrating to get your Internet working again. Our 3 and 5 port IP piece AUTOMATICALLY resets your modem, router and associated pieces in the correct order any time it can’t get out to the Internet. This gets your Internet working again and in most cases, you wouldn’t even know this happened! We get a notification on our side that lets us know this happened and this ensures that you know there were potentially issues. When Internet pieces are starting to go defective, we see lots of disconnects and this helps us head off any catastrophic drops that might come at inopportune times (Ex: Big presentation due that you need to work on, work meeting on Skype, Friday Movie Night, etc.).

To recap, if you want the best network available that is reliable, covers your property with WiFi and that makes troubleshooting easy or non-existent, you need:

• US!
• WiFi solution from Eero, Araknis or Luxul
• Remote visibility tools
• IP piece with triggered on/off

We supply all of the equipment, provide the design and make it all work so you don’t have to worry about the mumbo-jumbo above. Want the best WiFi available for you and your family? Start with San Diego WiFi experts at Aire Theater Designs!