Kibbles & Bytes Blog

You’ve probably heard the most about virtual reality, or VR. It’s the technology that has seen big consumer releases within the last few years, in devices like the Oculus Rift, GearVR and many others. People also tend to know VR better because of the attempts to market the technology back in the 90’s when we just didn’t have the technology to make it effective yet.

In VR, you wear something on your head — currently, a “head-mounted display” or HMD that can look like a boxy set of goggles or a space helmet — that holds a screen in front of your eyes, which in turn is powered by a computer, gaming console or mobile phone. Thanks to specialized software and sensors, the experience becomes your reality, filling your vision; at the high end, this is often accompanied by 3-D audio that feels like a personal surround-sound system on your head, or controllers that let you reach out and interact with this artificial world in an intuitive way.

What distinguishes VR from adjacent technologies is the level of immersion it promises. When VR users look around — or, in more advanced setups, walk around — their view of that world adjusts the same way it would if they were looking or moving in real reality.

The main focus here is technology and content that can fool the brain into thinking it is somewhere it’s not. When you flinch at a virtual dinosaur, or don’t want to step off an imaginary ledge, that’s the effect you’re looking for.

Augmented reality, or AR, is similar to VR in that it is either delivered through a sensor-packed device that gives you a window with which to view both your actual surroundings and also the augmentations to your surroundings. Since it was first announced at WWDC, Apple’s ARKit has been open to developers to get a feel for the new platform. Now that iOS 11 is finally here, ARKit is available for anyone with an iPhone 6S or later, the iPad Pro, and the latest 9.7-inch iPad.

The key term for AR is utility. A typical augmented-reality experience will probably be a lot less exciting than meeting a dinosaur or riding a roller coaster, but analysts have argued that the potential market for AR applications is actually much larger than VR’s.

The whole point of that ugly word, augmented, is that AR takes your view of the real world and adds digital information and/or data on top of it. This might be as simple as numbers or text notifications, or as complex as a simulated TV screen. AR lets you see both synthetic objects as well as objects in the real world simultaneously.

AR makes it possible to get that sort of digital information without checking another device, leaving both of the user’s hands free for other tasks. You may see this technology in use today in the form of a heads-up display projecting your speed and direction onto the windshield of your car as you drive.

An extension of augmented reality is what is known as mixed reality. It tries to combine the best aspects of both VR and AR, wrapped up in a marketable term that sounds marginally less geeky than its cousins.

In theory, mixed reality lets the user see the real world (like AR) while also seeing believable, virtual objects (like VR). And then it anchors those virtual objects to a point in real space, making it possible to treat them as “real,” at least from the perspective of the person who can see the MR experience.

With mixed reality, the illusion is harder to break. As you move, the virtual objects in your display may react to your surroundings by keeping position in relation to a real-world object or react in a realistic way to changes in lighting. With this sort of interaction you could see how a new living room set would look in your house or virtually try on clothes while looking into a MR mirror.

It’s only a matter of time before we’re all wearing MR-enabled contact lenses and the line between virtual space and reality is blurred forever.

With the “B-52s song”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRuRKirloQ8 in my head I recently installed the Linksys Velop Mesh network at my house up on Prickly Mountain. I already had the Eero mesh network installed so I had some familiarity with this modern networking configuration. The Eero was working well but since we were considering offering the Velop at our stores too, I figured I had better get some experience.

Mesh networking is your “whole house” solution. A single access point will broadcast a Wi-Fi signal for about 100-150 feet depending upon walls and obstacles. The one your internet provider is leasing you probably is not even that good. With the proliferation of smart devices in just about every room of your house, having a strong network has become essential.

My house is very multi-leveled and with a single Apple AirPort Extreme I had poor signal way up in the bedroom or way down in my shop. We also have poor cell service so keeping in touch means we use Wi-Fi calling. Adding some AirPort Express extenders helped but I still kept losing signal on my Sonos and Apple TV in my bedroom. With this unusually hot weather, Grace and I have also taken advantage of our trailer to cool off with its AC, and I would like to have connectivity there, too.

The folks at Linksys sent me a three node tri-band system to try out. Velop comes in either dual-band or tri-band configurations. The difference is that the tri-band has a 2.4GHz band and two 5GHz bands while the dual-band only has one 2.4GHZ and one 5Ghz band. With two radio freeways for your 5 GHz data to travel on, tri-band routers reduce signal interference even more than dual-band devices. Using automated features like Linksys Smart Connect, tri-band routers “steer” devices to the optimal 5 GHz band (or the applicable 2.4 GHz band, for older devices).

It’s kind of like adding an extra lane to the interstate, or a bike lane to downtown roads—this makes tri-brand routers a handy tool for environments with a lot of continuously connected 5 GHz devices, and a worthy investment if you’re currently on the market for a new router and want to future-proof your Wi-Fi for at least a few years.

*Tri-Band Pros*

*More connected devices are less likely to negatively affect Wi-Fi speeds (I just looked at my Linksys Dashboard and I have 23 devices connected and I am not even at home!)

*Three separate Wi-Fi bands means three times the bandwidth

*You can dedicate each band to devices in the home or office

*More bands equals less interference

*High CPU speeds make faster file transfers and smoother handling of multiple Wi-Fi-connected devices

*Tri-Band Cons*

*Significantly higher cost than dual-band models

*If you don’t have a lot of 5 GHz-compatible Wi-Fi devices, the upgrade might not be too noticeable

Take note of that last bit—if you’re in a studio apartment an iPad, an iPhone, and a gaming console, sticking with the dual-band router is probably a safe bet. But if you plan on streaming 4K movies downstairs while your partner streams recipe videos from an iPad in the kitchen, your kid’s Pandora station never stops, and your guest has a World of Warcraft addiction, it might just be time to add that third traffic lane to your home’s Wi-Fi freeway.

I am glad I opted for the tri-band set-up with all my home automation gear, Apple TVs, Arlo cameras in addition to a bunch of Apple gear.

*Setting up Velop*

The Velop set-up is very easy. You basically take one of the nodes (it does not matter which one) and plug the ethernet cable from your modem into it, plug it into power and let the Linksys app take over and direct you from there. That is where I ran into a little problem which was my fault. Since I am running Apple’s beta of iOS 12 there were some compatibility issues with the app. The good news is that it revealed something remarkable about Linksys tech support and it was a simple fix.

When the app walks you through the set-up it senses when a task is complete. With iOS 12 the app would not see the completion and would time out. After trying it a few times I called Linksys tech support and got a very friendly and knowledgeable woman on the line. I have done a lot of tech support in my days and I completely understand why you start with the basics – i.e. is your iMac plugged in? The Linksys lady, however, somehow sensed that I knew what I was doing and our conversation was immediately on a higher level, and I didn’t have to go through the basic steps.

Each node is set up one at a time, starting with the primary node plugged into the modem. During setup, the Velop app walks you through the process, first asking if a modem and router or a single modem/router combo is being used. It will then ask you to plug each node in, it will check its location, run an update process, and move on.

As we we trying this and that, I had to restart the node and oops — I lost Wi-Fi calling -doh! So, rather than call in again, I completed the restart and noticed that even though the app was timing out, the setup process was continuing and if I ignored the app prompts everything just worked. So, I set up the node at the modem and confirmed everything was working and went on to set up the other two nodes with no problem.

Once I had Wi-Fi back, I did see that I had a voicemail from the same woman at Linksys to check in on me. I did not call back because everything was working and figured that was it. Well, there I was watching “Queen of the South”:http://www.usanetwork.com/queenofthesouth at about 10pm and who calls me but that same woman from Linksys just to make sure that I had gotten everything working. We had a nice conversation and I am totally sold on Linksys tech support. They truly exceeded my expectations!

*Velop, Ethernet & Time Machine*

The Velop is available in white or black but I like the white. It looks like a mini-AirPort Extreme but a little smaller at about 6-inches tall. It has a couple of ethernet ports and a power port. It also has a nice LED light on top that gives you a Wi-Fi status at a glance – After setup, a blue light signals it is connected to the internet, red means no internet access, blinking red means out of range, and yellow designates weak connection. During set-up the flashing purple light is important.

The power switch and a reset button are located on the bottom, but you won’t need these often. Having only one extra ethernet port is limiting, you will need a standalone ethernet switch for connecting other devices. I complicated my system a bit by leaving my AirPort Extreme in the system so that I could continue to access my attached Time Machine back-up drive and for the AirPort Extreme to act as a gigabit ethernet switch. You can do this by turning off wireless and putting your AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule into Bridge mode. I’ll do an article on this sometime. This was important because I have a few home automation hubs that need a wired connection, i.e. Philips Hue & Arlo.

In the box, Linksys includes a single Ethernet cable, necessary for connecting the first node to the modem. All of the remaining nodes can also be hardwired, though you will have to provide your own cables if you opt to go that route. In most setups, users will opt to keep the other nodes wireless.

*The Linksys App*

The Linksys app provides some added features that are not available for free with other mesh network systems. One of those is Parental Controls. Using the app you can create an internet schedule for each device and block specific sites. Another handy feature is the ability to prioritize up to three devices for your bandwidth. Since Grace and I use Wi-Fi calling our iPhones get priority.

I placed my nodes in the same locations as the Eero system that I was replacing. While I love the Eero system, I have to say that the Linksys Tri-Band has out performed Eero in terms of speed and coverage. I have good signal way down in my shop with its concrete walls and way down at the bottom of my driveway in the trailer. I was having some annoying drops of Wi-Fi with Eero that I was unable to diagnose but they have disappeared with the Linksys Velop system in place.

Most of you will find that the less expensive dual-band Velop system will serve your needs just fine. If you are a heavy user like me you may find that the extra expense of the tri-band Velop system will be a good long-term solution. In either case, the combination of the Velop nodes, the powerful Linksys app and extraordinary Linksys tech support makes the Linksys Velop a great choice for mesh networking.

Dear Friends,

It seems that every year around this time there is a hatch of very tiny no-see-ums – those little biting specks that seem to be able to squeeze through the screens and feast on my flesh. It will last a week or so but in the meantime, I am wearing jammies and hiding under the covers even when it is hot. Fortunately, our friendly frogs, bats and birds will soon eat those guys!

We had our first local sweet corn of the season and lots of organic vegetables are growing in the garden and at the numerous organic farm stands here in Vermont. It is one of the pure pleasures of Vermont in the summer. Non-organic food is the exception, not the rule here.

Jezebel likes this time of year as the immature apples fall from the trees at my house or the big apple tree at our Waitsfield headquarters that we planted when we moved in years ago. Apple-eater likes to grab one each time I take her outside. And if I want to eat an apple, I am forced to share with her or she will slap me with her paw until I do.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special is on the newly discontinued Retina MacBook Pro 15-inch. We were able to snag a few of these before they were gone. It is the last 15-inch MacBook Pro with USB ports and seems to be favored by many of our customers. This 15-inch MacBook Pro has the 2.2GHz Intel i7 processor, 16GB of ram and a 256GB SSD drive. It has the Apple 1-year warranty and this week we are bundling it with AppleCare+ that extends that warranty to 3-years, extends free Apple tech support from 90-days to 3-years and add 2 incidents of accidental damage (after deductible). This week for Kibbles & Bytes readers you can take $80 off this bundle at $2299.99! This is strictly while supply lasts.