I few years ago, Virgin Media sent me their "Intelligent WiFi Plus Pods". They're part of a mesh network which is meant to improve WiFi coverage around your house. They were basically fine, but they are hardcoded to your Virgin Media service so can't be used for anything else. I eventually swapped to a different router and they became useless. Virgin refuse to collect them (despite repeatedly promising to) so I decided to crack one open. I was hoping there would be a reset pin or something in …
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Virgin Media have provided me with a test unit of their new Intelligent WiFi pods to review. They're useful, but come with some annoying limitations. If you have a big home, put a pod in every room and you'll have fast WiFi broadcast everywhere. Well, that's the theory. Limitations The big limitation is that both your 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi SSIDs need to have the same name and password. I usually split the names so that I always know which network I'm connected to. Virgin will remotely log…
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Five years ago, I wrote that I had 30 connected devices at home. How has that changed over the last half-decade? Some of my devices have consolidated. My Eufy security cameras have a hub - so despite having more cameras, They're using fewer IP addresses. Similarly, I've replaced most of my LIFX bulbs with Zigbee which also use a hub-and-spoke model. So these are the devices I currently have connected: Video Doorbell Solar Battery LIFX bulb in external light Security camera EInk display…
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If you have Virgin Media's cable service, you may have been forcibly opted-in to their WiFi Hotspot Sharing service. This allows anyone with a Virgin Media account to connect to your WiFi! Virgin have been moderately sensible with their design of this - users get a separate IP address, so their activity cannot be commingled with yours. But what about your bandwidth? Here, Virgin have been clever / annoying. If you're paying for the 350Mbps service (as I am) your cable modem is actually…
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that the WiFi router supplied by your ISP is crap. It will be slow, buggy, and have an atrocious user interface. This is especially true of Virgin Media. The Arris manufactured router is so bad that they've released a supplemental app to help you manage your Internet connection. The app mostly reflects the options in the web UI - but adds one piece of new functionality. Pause Connection It lets you, the admin, temporarily suspend the Internet access…
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Another day, another data breach. The email addresses and travel details of about 10,000 people who used free wi-fi at UK railway stations have been exposed online. The database, found online by a security researcher, contained 146 million records, including personal contact details and dates of birth. It was not password protected. BBC News There's a really easy way to protect yourself from being a victim. Lie. When a WiFi provider asks for your email address, lie. When…
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I've been sent a couple of Sonoff smarthome gadgets. You can read my review of the S20 WiFi plug socket and the POW in line power controller. Here's a video of me controlling them from my Amazon Alexa: The latency seems a little slow - hard to tell if that's Amazon only relying on US data centres for Alexa skills, or the connection to my home. Once set up, it works well. Oh... but the set up experience... Set Up I'll be honest - configuring a smarthome for voice control is still …
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The good folks at Sonoff have sent me a bunch of kit to review. See my previous review of the S20 WiFi plug. This is the Sonoff Pow - a WiFi enabled in-line power switch. Set Up Wiring up the Pow is relatively easy. The cover to the terminal block is secured with a simple screw. I found the opening a little cramped - but it's easy to open up the entire unit. Which gives us a full view of the circuitry. There's an unpopulated header on the bottom left - yup - this thing is hackable! A …
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The good folks at Sonoff have sent me a bunch of kit to review. First up, the S20 WiFi Plug - an easy way to retrofit IoT smarts to your existing appliances. This fills the same niche as the Belkin WeMo but with one crucial difference - it's about half the price. Direct from Sonoff it's US$13 - from Amazon UK the smartplug is £15. The cost of the WeMo is £40. How does it compare to the Belkin WeMo? Both are compatible with IFTTT, have 2.4GHz WiFi, and have buttons and status LEDs. The …
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Virgin Media are trying to resell your internet access. Worse still, they appear to be doing it without users' permission. A brief recap: Back in 2015, Virgin Media announced plans for a WiFi sharing network. A user's router would broadcast a separate WiFi network and other Virgin customers could roam on to it via an app. By default, all customers were opted-in to this service. Like most of Virgin's plans, it was marred by delays and technical problems. I was on the trial for their new…
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I never tire of telling people how bad my Nest Protect smoke alarm is. It is a buggy box which requires magic batteries and doesn't support some of its advertised features. Still, I've drilled it on to my ceiling now, so have to put up with it. This morning, I glanced bleary-eyed at my phone. OH FUCK! THE HOUSE IS ON FUCKING FIRE AND MY FUCKING NEST ISN'T WORKING! I sniffed the air. I couldn't smell anything strange. Perhaps it is deadly Carbon Monoxide. I frantically clicked the email…
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There has been a terrible natural disaster in Italy. A huge quake has broken a city. Rescue teams race to the scene to try to save lives and stabilise the situation. During the rescue efforts, the Italian Red Cross sends this tweet: Croce Rossa Italiana@crocerossa#Terremoto, per favorire comunicazioni e operazioni di soccorso vi invitiamo a togliere la password della rete wi-fi pic.x.com/u9baz8f7wg❤️ 1,459💬 34♻️ 009:59 - Wed 24 August 2016 It says "To facilitate communications and rescue op…
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