Author Archives: John Hagensieker

Mikrotik Router hap ax3 Mini Review

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Mikrotik Router hap ax3 Mini Review

Mikrotek router

Mikrotek hap ax3

I’m a sucker for a challenge.  I spent the last week or so shifting from a pfSense firewall to an OPNsense firewall appliance.  Since I was on a networking kick I decided to try my hand with a new Mikrotik Router.  The Mikrotik hap ax3.

Mikrotik has a reputation for making highly configurable routers but they also have a higher degree of difficultly in that configuration.   Setting a router up for the first time can be a bit intimidating if you have never seen anything like this before.

One of the best things about this router is the price.  Go to BestBuy or Walmart and the so called Top Of The Line gear costs 3x’s as much as this router.  I’m not kidding either.  So called “Fast” or “Gaming” routers cost from $300 up to the moon.  These routers are probably not as good or as fast and for sure not as secure as the hap ax3 at $139.

The average home networking user has NOT ever seen anything like this before.  The reason I call this a Mini-Review is because there is just too many steps to document in setting one of these things up.  In fact I won’t talk much about configuration at all.

Rather I will point you to the resources I used to get where I got.   I should also mention that my router is configured as a wifi access point and is located behind an OPNsense firewall on a VLAN port.  My whole point was to make a guest network that cannot communicate with my primary network.   And I have succeeded in that endeavor.

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Verizon Apple Watch – Piece Of Shit Award 2023

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Verizon and Apple Watch – Piece Of Fucking Shit

Verizon Apple Watch

POS Award

It isn’t often that I confer my coveted “Piece Of Fucking Shit” Award on something.  Today I give that award to Verizon Apple Watch.

I save it for those really special tech items that defy all logical reasoning.  This is one such case.

My wife and I got married about a year and a half ago but still were on separate cell phone carriers.  I finally got around to getting us on one bill.

She was on Verizon and I had T-mobile.  I moved my phone and an existing Apple Watch Series 5 over to Verizon.  I upgraded my iPhone SE2 to an iPhone 13 which was “free”.

Let’s not get me started on that.  I don’t know what they think “free” means, but it’s not free.

Since I’m moving over and getting a new phone I figure out I might as well get a new Apple Watch Series 8 cellular version.  A lot of people can’t justify the cellular Apple Watch, but I feel like I can.  Even my wife agrees.  I ride a bicycle, generally on 20-25 mile rides and having a cell phone attached to your wrist is a safety feature.  It just is.

The Fun With Verizon Apple Watch Begins

So now I have 2 Apple Watches.  The first one comes with a piece of paper that tells me what the phone number of the watch is.  I pair the watch to my cell phone and during installation it sets it up “as a new device”.  I set it up the only way the prompts allowed me to set it up.

Then I notice it has a new phone number.  I get on a chat with Verizon support and they assure me this is fine.  The watch works. I’m happy.

UNTIL THE NEXT DAY WHEN I LOG IN MY ACCOUNT AND SEE THAT BOTH PHONE LINES ARE ACTIVE AND I’M PAYING FOR BOTH OF THEM.

I contact Verizon and ask them to delete the first line.  And they tell me that if I delete the original number that I have to pay the watch off immediately.  $500.

I swear I should have done this.  After trying to swap the numbers with Verizon my watch showed that it had no eSIM installed.  What followed was 2 tech support sessions about 8 hours in length total.  Keep reading…………..

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pfSense vs OPNsense Hardware Firewall

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pfSense vs OPNsense

I don’t think most people give home network security much thought.  Essentially you buy internet from a provider who gives you a modem of some sort.  Then you attach a wifi router to it that you bought from Walmart or Target or even worse, one that the internet provider gives you.  There is only one real way to have any semblance of home network security, and that is to have a hardware firewall.  In this blog I’ll be discussing pfSense vs OPNsense.  Both are free operating systems based on FreeBSD Unix.  Don’t let that scare you though.

Anyway, your Walmart router sits on the shelf near the TV and never gets updated.  Not that it would matter anyway because its security is roughly as porous as Swiss Cheese.  If you don’t believe me take a few minutes to peruse routersecurity.org.  If you dig around that site a bit you might even see my name there in a place or two!

Full Disclosure

Some years ago I discovered hardware firewalls and have not looked back since.  Before i get started here I need to make some clarifying statements.  Firewalls are not bulletproof.  And the success of them depends a lot on them being configured correctly.   Configuring both pfSense or OPNsense requires some level of geekiness and a bit of research to give yourself some modest amount of security.  Even if you are a network security specialist, there are people out there or nation states capable of getting inside your network.
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Cheap Label Printer

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Cheap Label Printer

Cheap Label Printer

Zebra LP 2844-Z

So, you have decided to become a re-seller or open your own home business.  Shipping items can be a challenging, and expensive part of your start up costs.   You will soon find out you need a label printer.  A cheap label printer.

A brand new, shiny label printer can cost you upwards of $200.  Some being considerably more expensive than that.  They also may take proprietary paper which drives the costs up even more.

What if I told you there was a cheap label printer out there that could be had for a fraction of the price?  And then what if I told you it could use less expensive, 3rd party, or generic labels?

Zebra LP 2844 Series

The Zebra LP 2844 printer has been around for a while.   The best timeline I can find for a release date is around October 2002 as a replacement for the Bravo 4 printer.   How many electronic devices do you own that have been viable for 21 years?
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Best Thermal Printer For Home Shipping

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The Best Thermal Printer For Home Shipping Needs

Introduction

I have noticed a disturbing trend in review sites.  Google up “Best Thermal Printer” and you’ll find a bunch of pages that say “The Ten Best Thermal Printers You Can Buy in 2023”.  Those pages are full of only stock photos and cherry picked pros and cons from other review sites.

In other words, these people MAY NOT ACTUALLY OWN these printers.   But they will provide you an affiliate link to buy one of “THE BEST THERMAL PRINTERS FOR 2023”.  They get paid, you get bad advice.

You should ALWAYS strive to read reviews from people who actually own, and have used the thermal printers that they write about.

Shipping labels can also be printed from ANY printer on plain paper.  You can put clear tape over your labels.  The only problem here is the continual cost of ink cartridge refills.  This is why thermal printing is so popular for shipping labels.   There is no ink and thermal print heads last for decades most of the time.

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Thermal Printer Selection And Shipping

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Selecting A Thermal Printer For Home Shipping

i decided to add shipping from home to my bag of tricks.  That requires having a Thermal Printer.  There are several excellent ones to choose from and lots of comparison and review sites out there.  But all they seem to cover is the printer specs.  That’s good from some aspects but then you get that printer home and realize it doesn’t do all the things you thought it might do.

Thermal Printer

Dymo 5XL

For example, I have a Dymo 5XL.  If I go to the USPS site and create a label the only way to print it on a 4″x6″ label is to download the label as a PDF file, Then take a screenshot of it, and then print from Mac Preview.   It makes no sense to me why I can’t print directly from the USPS website but I can’t.

Then if you go to UPS they have a list of recommended printers that work with their system.  Ditto for FedEx.  There simply isn’t a printer where you can log into any shipping service, make your label and simply hit print.  What works seamlessly at one site will not work at the other without workarounds.

Actually that is kind of inaccurate as you can print with any printer to 8.5″x11″ paper.  But ultimately I want to print on a 4″x6″ adhesive backed label.  This seems to be the standard for shipping boxes.
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Dymo 5XL LabelWriter Review

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Dymo 5XL LabelWriter Review

Dymo 5XLI have a Dymo 5XL and I figured it was time to do a blog about it.  I am kind of a Dymo Fanboy and own several Dymo Label Makers.  Here is my harem:

  • Dymo LabelManager 160
  • Dymo LabelManager 280
  • Dymo LabelWriter Duo
  • Dymo XTL 300
  • Dymo Rhino 6000+ kit

I like them all but will concede the 160 wasn’t a great value.   The Dymo 5XL falls into that category as well.  Normally, I’d ease into my assessment but I can already tell the Dymo 5XL falls short of my expectations.

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Intelligent Mail Barcode Part Deux

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How To Make And Use a Free USPS IMB Barcode

In my last blog I discussed Intelligent Mail Barcodes. In this blog I’ll show you how to make on your own Intelligent Mail Barcode for free and apply it to a mailing label or envelope.

Business Customer Gateway Account

First you need a USPS Mailer ID.  This is really simple.  Just create an account on the Business Customer Gateway.  Once you have verified your account you’ll be assigned a 9 digit Mailer ID.  Having this ID is crucial to encoding your barcode.

Zip Code

Next you’ll need the 9 digit zip code for the address you want to ship to.  You can look that up here.

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Intelligent Mail Barcode

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Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB)

What is it?

The Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) is a 65 bar barcode used in domestic mail delivery.  Also, it can be used to track progress of First Class Mail through the system.  It makes sorting easier for the post office bubbas and presumably speeds up your mail as well.

My IMB Experience

A whole lot of years ago I was stationed in Iwakuni Japan as a US Government Employee.  I had lots of time and money to buy toys.  Also back in the 1990’s real mail was more of a thing than it is now.  Now we send emails.

I bought a Dymo Label printer back then and started using Stamps.com. It would add the barcode which I believe was called POSTNET back then.   Did I need to add barcodes to my outgoing mail back then?  No.  But if you’re reading this I have long been a geek and a techie. I do things most other folks don’t.  if there is some kind of tech system in place, I try to use or exploit it.

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HDHomeRun Issues on Roku

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HDHomeRun Issues

I have an HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US which i reviewed, and I generally love it.  However, about a year ago I moved to a “new” house and the previous owner left all the TV’s that were wall mounted.  All were fairly old TV’s and none of them smart.  I hooked Roku’s to all of them.

That is when the trouble began.   I installed an attic antenna and got good signal strength, and symbol quality on the channels that were important to me.  I could watch those channels WITH NO ISSUES on my phone or on my laptop.  The old Roku connected TV’s were another issue altogether.   The channels would pixelate horribly and the stream would fail frequently.  I have super fast internet and the TV’s are all close to the wifi router as well with great signal.

I really believe it is a transcoding issue with Roku.  Or rather the fact that Roku does not transcode.   Again, it works on my computer, phone, and Firestick devices work fine.

LG TV

So, to mitigate the problem I bought a new TV for the Bedroom.  An LG 43UQ7590PUB from BestBuy.  Before I bought it I confirmed the LG WebOS had an HDHomeRun app.  However, when I got home there was no app in the LG store. Previous WebOS versions had it available.  I contacted LG Support and they told me to hook up a Roku!

Yougottabeshittingme!

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