My Ethernet system is ... complicated. The router box connects to the computer obviously, but also to another Hub next to the smart TV.
This Hub seems to have failed, fortunately I had a spare. It took a lot of plugging, unplugging and restarting to get everything back on speaking terms.
I had an elderly Chinese router, gets hot but worked fine. My ISP is under orders from the government to switch to digital phones, so a new Hub arrived.
It was BT branded with no instructions. Hm. Message found on back lid of box - use the App to set up. Yes, the App had some diagrams.
Plug in, wait for blue light. Connected! Plug in computer, TV, other networked stuff - OK! Wi-Fi required a password, found on a label in tiny print on the bottom of the Hub. Magic happened - the tablet having connected told the phone how to do so as well. By reading a QR code they paired up with the Hub.
The satellite box needed time to reconnect.
I had to search for the Hub Manager address for the PC to display it.
The Hub replaced my fiber connect box as well.
The phone socket on the router activated a couple of days later.
My Tuya Wi-Fi was less cooperative, it took a while playing with settings to get the radiators paired up. The old thermostat refused to connect so I bought a desktop one that did.
Footnote: whilst doing this I changed my payment plan - doubled my speed and reduced by bill by £13 per month. Er, what? It seems that the regulator forced ISPs to unbundle a lot of things such as naff streaming services but didn't insist they tell their customers. Now I'm down to basic plus keeping my old telephone number.
It's been two years since we ventured to buy our own Region in Second Life. 'Wooburn' was intended to be an English village circa 1910, but this is the steamlands so it has ... peculiarities.
Regions are quite small, 256m squares. They can be joined together, ours has a water Region to the South.
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| The Canal |
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| Chateau Trikassi |
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| Clocktower and Trolley |
An adapted San Francisco trolley with Full Self Driving!
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| The Falcon Pub |
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| House on the Hill |
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| Parson's Park |
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| St Barnabas Chapel |
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| The Village Railroad |
Cassie Eldemar makes miniature dollhouses, a train is her latest venture.
After a full year of operation, time for a checkup.
The App that displays data has been updating and improving.
My spreadsheet says the battery is saving me about £840/year. That means the return on my investment is around 20%. This was much better than I expected! Since batteries last around 10 years, this investment was successful.
The system is ~80% efficient.
Purple line - battery charge. Green - battery. Blue - Grid input. Orange - electricity used.
My Sony tablet has been running continuously for 11 years. It's still going strong. Batteries wearing out? Oh no they don't!
However, it's OS is old and won't run new Apps well or not at all. So now I have a Samsung Tab A8, not the expensive one in the adverts but mid-range. I don't play Android games, so no problem.
It has some Samsung bloatware, but that can be suppressed. It needed tweaking, mostly to stop the beeping notifications about everything. The battery isn't as long-lasting, otherwise fine.
Having sat on my Sony phone, I also went Samsung for a replacement, the A23. Same comments really.
I do recommend getting cases for these devices.
