NO PAKING

This and other images that I have taken with my cell phone has led me to create a photo blog. You can view FunnyCellPix.blogspot.com by clicking HERE 

This is painted on the curb in front of the Brooklyn Public Library located on 86th street by the Municipal parking lot at the corner of 18th ave.

Netgear N300 - WNR2000 Repeater mode installation

EDIT:This installation was completed, and post made when the older firmware was on the routers. A recent firmware update for these Netgear routers has changed the entire GUI that Netgear has used for the last few years. I have not played around with the wireless repeater functions under the new firmware as I only have 1 of these devices in my home and the routers that I wanted to use the repeater mode are connected as APs that I wired with CAT5. I do not know if the newer firmware solves any of the difficulties, or problems that I had when I installed these. 


Today I am installing WiFi in 3 restaurants in NYC. The customer wants 2 APs at each location, because they claim that a single AP will not be enough to cover the entire area that they want covered. While I feel that with proper placement of the APs a single AP should be enough to cover the area that they need, adding an second AP to each location should provide more than enough coverage for all of their patrons.

I choose these routers because I recently purchased one for my own LAN and have so far been satisfied with its performance (other than losing the SSID broadcast if the channel is set to AUTO), and the fact that they have a wireless repeater function. Unfortunately the wireless repeater function is not well documented in the manual, so it took nearly 5 hours, including over an hour on the phone with tech support (from India) just to get the first set programmed as BASE and REPEATER. Then another 2 hours or so to get the other 2 pairs set up as BASE and REPEATER.

Setting routers up as BASE and REPEATER in the home office.

Several hundred dollars worth WNR2000v3 routers ready to go.

N300 - WNR2000v3 programmed and ready to install. 

Now all that is left is to install them at the locations. Some settings are going to have to wait until the devices are on site, such as setting up the WAN side of things.

These routers have a wireless isolation feature, which is great for a hotspot router, because it will prevent wireless devices from accessing the LAN devices, as well as other wireless devices, preventing anyone from attempting to hack the LAN or other wireless devices connected to the network.

I will update this post once everything is installed.

UPDATE 8.7.11 9pm:
Completed 1 of 3 installations.
Everything worked fine, until the customer decided that he wanted to secure the wireless. This was installed for customers, so was designed with WiFi being open, and wireless isolation turned on, so that wireless devices could not access any devices on the LAN including the APs web configuration. The documentation states that WEP is the only security option that is compatible, enabling WEP does not allow me to access the SSID that the repeater has been assigned.

I would not recommend setting this up as a wireless repeater unless you want to run your WiFi open. You CAN set MAC filtering if you have a list of devices you want to allow, but that is not a good security policy in general, especially not for a restaurant where you do not know the MAC addresses of the devices that are going to connect ahead of time.

I will be returning to the location that I completed, and will be moving the "repeater" router from the main floor where the base router has sufficient coverage, and pulling a CAT5 from the main floor, to the basement where there is an office, and changing the settings on the router. I will likely be setting the SSID to the same as on the main floor, with the same WEP key, so that anyone who has a device that connects to the 1st floor AP can access the device in the basement AP.

I will likely set up the other 2 locations the same way, and forget about this whole repeater mode that I spent so much time configuring..

UPDATE:
All 3 locations have been installed. I had to use them as regular APs and do away with the whole repeater mode feature of the routers. Once WEP (which is the only security supported in repeater mode) was enabled I was unable to see both SSIDs, so each router is wired to a CAT5 and is set up as a regular AP.

I will probably not ever use Netgear APs again for a commercial installation. 

Chase bank sucks!

[UPDATE 8/5/11 7:40pm - response was received today, further info added to end of this post] 

I was banking at Bank of America for the last few years. I opened an account there because my employer at the time had his payroll checks drafted off of a Bank of America account.

Recently my current employer switched banks to Chase, so I followed and opened a Chase account.

When I used to deposit my payroll checks into a Bank of America ATM machine $300 was made available immediately, and the remainder of the check was available the following day, regardless of what time I put the deposit into the ATM machine, and regardless of if the following day was a weekend or holiday. This includes checks that I deposited that were not drawn on Bank of America accounts.

When I deposit checks into my Chase account using the ATM machine, I need to make the deposit before the end of the banking day for the deposit to count as being deposited on that day, otherwise it is not credited until the following BUSINESS day. Only $100 is immediately made available, and a hold is placed on the remaining amount for several days - INCLUDING my payroll check that is drawn on a Chase account.

This is absolutely unacceptable. On more than one occasion I have had to waste time sitting down with the bank manager, who obviously needs to call some office somewhere to resolve the issue, and clear my funds.

Chase should make more than $100 available immediately upon an ATM deposit, and should NOT place a hold on ANY check drawn from another Chase account - especially not a commercial or business account that is used for payroll.

EDIT: Here is the E-mail that I have sent to the CEO of Chase

I opened a Chase account because my employer had moved his business accounts over to Chase. So I ignorantly assumed that I would have easier access to my money by banking at the same institution as the payroll checks were drawn on. 

I have not been a customer with Chase for very long, but it appears that Chase does not want to retain their customers by treating them the way that I have been subjected to since opening this account. 

Before I go further in this email, I would just like to advise you that I filed a complaint with the Federal Reserve prior to drafting this e-mail. 

Depositing my payroll check into a Chase ATM only makes $100 available immediately. When I was banking at Bank of America $300 was made immediately available.

When I deposit my check in a Chase ATM after banking hours my deposit is not credited until the following day. When I was banking at Bank of America my deposits were credited the same day, regardless of the time that I put the deposit into the ATM machine.

When I deposit my check into a Chase ATM there is a hold of several days - even though the check is drawn on another Chase account. When I was banking at Bank of America ALL checks were made available no later than the following day, regardless of what bank the checks were drawn on.

I have been forced to take time out of my busy schedule to visit a teller to "cash" a check before depositing it to ensure that I have total access to money that I have earned, of which you are NOT entitled to. I have been forced to take time out of my busy schedule several times to have to sit with a bank manager who in turn has to call someone above him to resolve this issue to make my funds available. 

It is HIGHLY unethical, and in my opinion bordering on illegal to place a hold on funds for any check that is drawn on another Chase account, especially a business account. 

I request that you review your hold policies, especially the policies regarding checks that are drawn on other Chase accounts with priority taken for checks drawn on business accounts. 

Let's see if Chase customer service is as good as BoA was when I had to contact the CEO office of BoA for an issue that I had with them once. I actually received 3 follow up calls from BoA from when I wrote to the CEO over there. I only sent this last night, so I will give them a day or two to review it and provide me with some type of response.

UPDATE 8/5/11 7:40pm
The reply that I received had the standard non-disclosure crap at the end of it, so at the current time I will not post the email, or quotes from the reply, however I will say that the email contradicted my experience. It claims that ATM deposits are treated as same day deposits if made by 9pm, my ATM deposit was made about 6pm and treated as it was deposited the following day. It also falsely claims that after July 17th $200 will be made available immeaditely and not $100. My deposit was made on Aug 1 and only $100 was immediately available.

The email also claims that my funds were made availabe the following business day. They sure were, because I had to sit down with a bank manager and have him call some office somewhere to get the funds released.

Stay tuned, I will be making a reply email back to the CEOs office.

Update: Aug. 27, 2011
I received a letter in the mail from the people who regulate banks in regards to my complaint several days ago that they were looking into my complaint, and just today received a letter from Chase stating that they were reviewing my complaint. Any further information will be updated here as it becomes available.

Get $40 credit for signing up with Zip Car

Zip Car is providing a promotion this month where they are offering $40 of driving credit to people who sign up with a referral from a Zip Car member.

If you would like to get this credit please email me at zip@nyphonejacks.com  and I will send you a referral email.

$40 is for AUGUST ONLY!

You will still get driving credit if you apply other months, but there is a special promotion this month offering $40 of free credit!