Author Archives: John Hagensieker

VPN DNS And Privacy

VPN, DNS And Privacy

In our current world scenario we are being spied on at almost every turn. Home Networks are just not very secure for most people. Solutions to harden those networks require some technical skill and usually involve additional costs. Additionally, most people think they are too boring to be spied on. But the reality is that we all need a VPN, and encrypted DNS.

Increasingly it seems that 1st Amendment laws regarding Free Speech are being tossed aside and so called “Hate Speech” is a crime. Some things you read about on the internet can be cataloged and factor into your Social Credit Score. It is darn near a crime to be a White, Christian, Veteran, and a monogamous person. Refusal to use bizarre pronouns can get you in a world of hurt in some circles.

We’re not quite there yet but things are easing towards that direction. Additionally, your searches, your lifestyle and your opinions may well matter greatly one day.
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GL.iNet Router Review GL-A1300

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GL.iNet Router Review GL-A1300

GL-A1300 Slate Plus

Before I retired I had a job with extensive travel involved. I would sometimes take a full sized router with me to hook up at the hotel. Back then most hotels had an ethernet jack in the room. I’d simply push my own wifi network to my computer, phone, and many times an audio streaming device like a Chromecast or Raspberry Pi. Oh how I wished they would have had a GL.iNet Router back in those days.

I only found out about them recently on a Discord Forum. Some of the guys are using them for all kinds of amazing networking hacks. Even though I barely leave the house these days I wanted to get one just to see what I was missing out on.
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Metronet Static IP On OPNSense

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Metronet Static IP On OPNSense

As luck would have it, fiber internet has made its way to our house out in the boonies. Most cable/internet companies charge an arm and a leg for a static IP and call it a “business account”. When the sales rep came by I asked how much a Metronet Static IP cost. The reply was $10 a month. I was sold on that for sure.

Otherwise, Metronet uses Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (CGNAT) for IP addresses. What that means is that your router or firewall will pull one address, but that your actual IP address is something else.

What that really means is connecting back to your home network via VPN can be a lot more complex. Also, Murphy’s VPN Law, states that you will pull a new DHCP address only while you are away on vacation rendering your ability to connect to your network null and void.
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QNAP NAS Review TS-433-4G-US

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QNAP NAS Review TS-433-4G-US

I’ve never bought an off the shelf NAS before and have always opted to build them on my own. There is no better resource for NAS building than this website. I currently have two home brew NAS’s in operation but had a need for a 2.5 GB NAS for a new, faster network I was setting up. I settled on a QNAP NAS for a couple of reasons.

Reason number 1 was that initially my 2.5 GB network was only going to be in the downstairs part of my home. Reason 2 is because since it was downstairs it needed to be somewhat attractive to appease my wife, and something somewhat quieter than my home brew NAS builds.

QNAP NAS

After a considerable amount of research I opted to get the QNAP TS-433-4G-US.($379)

4 bays is enough for me I have four 4TB Western Digital Red drives in a RAID 5 array.

This NAS is simply for file storage and I won’t be asking it to run any media servers or anything else that might overtask it.

I have a super NAS upstairs with a Xeon processor and tons of RAM and storage with Unraid as the OS. It does all that heavy lifting.

I do use the QNAP for Apple Time Machine backups for several Macs I have in the house.

I also run another server which is located in my back yard shed which is a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with a SATA PCIe controller and a couple of 6TB hard drives. It runs OpenMediaVault (OMV).

This will NOT be a technical review. No specs, no stats. Just me talking about whether buying a NAS off the shelf is something a NAS user would want to do or not.
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Monport Laser 80mm Rotary Table

Rotary Table

We typically think of a rotary device being used to laser engrave round items. But did you know that you can set your rotary up on a horizontal plane to engrave multiple flat items? In this example I’ll use my Monport laser, 30 watt fiber with the 80mm rotary chuck to engrave 6 business cards at once.

While this is actually really easy I haven’t found a definitive place that covers all the basics of setup for this operation. And that’s what I try to do here at John’s Tech Blog. Make it simple and include important steps that just aren’t clearly documented elsewhere.
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Email To SMS

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Email To SMS

I’ve been using Home Automation to send SMS messages to me for years. Also for years I have been using a pay service called Twilio to send texts from my home automation software Home Assistant to my cell phone when an automation was triggered. For example. If you ring my doorbell, I get a text. I’ve since discovered that I can send emails to SMS from Home Assistant to my phone for FREE.

Twilio began using a verification method called A2P 10DLC to make sure you aren’t a phone spammer or something. For whatever reason I simply could not get my phone registered. I’ve been trying for months and have engaged Twilio support a number of times and I’m right at the cutoff with no luck.

So I dumped Twilio today after I learned this neat trick

sent in an email sends an SMS text to Verizon subscribers. Check with your carrier for their specific addressing requirements.
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Monport Fiber 30 Watt Deeper Dive

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Monport Fiber 30 Watt Raycus Laser Deeper Dive

I have had my Monport Fiber laser (30 watt Raycus) for a couple of weeks now. After using it a couple of days I published my initial impressions here. Since that time I’ve learned a ton more about this remarkable laser. I have been having a ton of fun and making a few dollars in the process. Since my last review didn’t really include the 80mm rotary device, I will lead with that.

Also a good time to mention that my readers can get 10% off all Monport laser machines by using the code John10 at checkout. Or by using this short code link
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Monport Laser 30 Watt Fiber Review

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Monport Laser 30 Watt Fiber Initial Impressions

Probably the most common question to someone with a side hustle laser is, “Can you engrave metal with that?”. For the most part, with a diode or CO2 laser, the answer is “No”. Or the answer is “you can lightly mark some metals but not engrave them”. To truly engrave on metal surfaces you need a Fiber laser. It is way past time that I get a fiber laser for my shop. And the one I chose was the Monport Laser 30 Watt Fiber Laser. $2999,99. Monport has provided my readers a 10% discount on all machines. Use John10 at checkout.

Monport Laser 30 watt

Full Disclosure: While I purchased this machine with my own funds, I was provided a nice discount in return for a short series of reviews. At no time has any pressure been applied to me from Monport to provide a positive review.

What you’ll read below is my honest opinion of the machine. This blog will generally be a “First Impressions” entry.

And while I have only owned the machine for a few days at the time of this writing I have already formed a strong opinion. And that opinion is “Where have you been all my life, fiber laser?”. Continue reading →

xTool F1 Review And Thoughts

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Tool F1 Review And Thoughts

xTool F1 Review

I’ll be completely 100% honest here. When xTool first previewed the xTool F1 last year I had my doubts about it. Not about the machine, but whether it was a good fit for me. Yes, it looked cool. But it also looked very SPECIFIC. In my mind I could only visualize using it as a vendor at a Craft Fair or Flea Market. I had decided that I probably wouldn’t be getting the F1 Laser.

Boy was I wrong.

Now that I have one, courtesy of xTool, I can see just how wrong my initial assessment of the F1 laser was. xTool provided me an F1 and a Slide Extension, however at no time have they attempted to influence my reviews. When someone provides you gear to review and they don’t try to influence you, that means THEY TRUST THEMSELVES.

I did an initial review here, and man was I impressed. That should teach me to not form an opinion until I actually test the equipment. My initial belief that a 115 x 115 mm working area just was only good for small items produced rapidly at a vendor table. Now that I have one of these, it is apparent to me that most of the things that I do with a laser FIT ON THE F1! And I can do them way faster on the galvo laser.
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xTool F1 Slide Extension

Recently, the laser company xTool began shipping their F1 machine. I was fortunate enough to receive one from them and did an initial impressions review here. They are now providing a great accessory, the xTool F1 Slide Extension ($199) and it is available now for purchase.

The F1 is a galvo laser, which is fast, but galvo lasers generally have a very small working area. Because galvo lasers have a mirror system which directs the laser beam and the lens is fixed focal length, the further the beam gets from the lens, the more out of focus it becomes. So that keeps the working area fairly small.

The Engineers at xTool have designed a BRILLIANT method of expanding the engraving length along the X axis (right to left) by UP TO 4X’s.

This creates ample room to engrave longer items, make signage, and to create templates to engrave more than one item at a time.

I’ve said this before, but xTool is the most innovative laser manufacturer out there. They are providing engineering solutions to overcome machine limitations in ways that I have not seen before.
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