We have been informed by our Charter rep that starting today (January 10, 2012), Charter is starting an initiative focused on removing older generation docsis 1 and 1.1 modems from the customer user base that currently subscribes to MAX, PLUS and ULTRA.
The email included the following information:
- This is a company-wide project focused on technically positioning our customer base for advanced HSI products and increased speeds.
- The communication is handled via a browser message that will alert only those customers with older docsis 1 or 1.1 modems and asking them swap.
- Replaced at no cost to the customer, including customer owned modems. See sample screenshot image below…
- The customer will communicate with us via phone at 877.739.0427 or use the browser link to expedite the delivery.
- All modems will be sent via mail to the mailing address on the account. (again, at no cost to the customer)
- The modems will be mailed as a self install kit from a central distribution center.
Here’s the link: https://connect.charter.com/replacemodem/
If you have any questions about Charter internet, phone or television, either home or business, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Satellite internet connections have been around for a while, and if you have used that technology, you have likely been disappointed.
Hughes probably has the highest market penetration, and those using it have been quick to complain about caps and upload speed.
This is where ViaSat comes in. They revealed their home satellite system at CES and Engadget has a pretty good write-up with a video that tells more about the 12 Mbps down/3 Mbps up service that runs $50.oo per month.
What is left out is what types of data caps they may have.
Here’s a sad story… A local (Spartanburg, SC) music store was broken into over the weekend and 40,000 dollars in gear was taken.
The theft doesn’t look like your typical smash and grab either, because the thieve/s appear to have known the layout and went to great lengths to avoid detection. They entered through a skylight, after cutting power to the store, cutting video surveillance wires and disconnecting the alarm system backup power. A newspaper article about the break in and theft can be found here.
As a small business owner, I know the devastation the proprietor of the music store must be feeling, and I sincerely hope the perpetrator/s is/are caught and the equipment returned, and that there was insurance covering that inventory.
However, as a supplier and consultant in the security field, I have to wonder about a few details and offer some suggestions.
The article states the power was cut. That would not normally matter to an alarm system, as it has a backup battery. Now if the phone lines were cut before the power, then the system could not dial out. UNLESS the alarm system has a cellular backup system as our home and our office both have. This costs a few dollars more, but in the event of a power failure and loss of telephone connectivity, it can make the difference between the system working or not.
Dropping through a skylight SHOULD have been picked up by motion. Was it not functioning? Was the system unable to call out? The alarm should have sounded and strobe lights in equipped should have been flashing. Pulling the battery on the alarm would have then silenced it, but not before it dialed out on the cellular backup system if it used that, or VoIP if the internet were not disabled too.
Which brings us to video surveillance. Obviously, no system is perfect, but many modern systems are capable of alerting staff of intrusion before it happens. If you walk into my yard at my home, or come into the parking lot of our businesses, still shots will be emailed to me. This functionality is easy to configure and helps let you know about sketchy things taking place. If I receive email at 10pm on a Saturday then I am going to be paying special attention to it, watching in real-time.
But what if someone were to manage to disable the internet connections? Wouldn’t that disable the ability to notify anyone? Not necessarily. Businesses can consider secondary internet services, such as wireless broadband internet (3g/4g) for their video surveillance. Total cost, 450/year and doubles as a failover for the business internet.
What if the power were cut to the building? The video surveillance system should be on an UPS (un-interruptable power supply) to keep it running for many hours. Our system is on an inexpensive UPS which will keep the DVR and the cameras functional for about 72 hours. Total cost, 350 dollars.
WHAT IF (Lots of what if’s here!) the bad guys managed to actually get in without being detected… Couldn’t they just take the Digital Video Recorder? Yes, they could, if it were not in a hardened enclosure. But, there are ways to deal with that too. All video up until the time the DVR went offline can be synced to a remote location.
We have opted to sync our video to multiple machines, so if the DVR were physically destroyed or taken, the video would still be elsewhere.
If you would like to discuss how to better protect your Greenville /Upstate SC business or home, give us a call… 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. We offer CCTV, IP Video, Surveillance systems, DVRs and NVRs. We can also help plan for failover systems, such as UPS and cellular / 3g/4g wireless backups.
FCC Test My ISP Study
I have been participating in the SamKnows / Test My ISP program that the FCC has undertaken in an effort to better understand what internet providers are offering, and what consumers are ultimately getting.
The first report has been released and it sure doesn’t look good for DSL technology! If you have DSL based internet (AT&T U-Verse included), then you may want to consider cable because you are very likely NOT getting what you are paying for.
The report can be found here http://www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america
The cable providers did well, in many cases providing better service than you are paying for, and Charter Cable held its own. Verizon fiber was the clear winner, give MORE than 100%!
Again, DSL fell flat in throughput, both up and down and latency was so high that it would make using VoIP (Voice over IP), and other packet intensive two-way communication means almost unusable.
If you would like to participate in this study, you can sign up at http://www.SamKnows.com.
How does it work? You will be sent a “whitebox”, which is a little router you replace your current router with, and it does tests throughout the day, measuring upload and download speed, latency, etc. You won’t even know it is there. For the paranoid types, yes, it COULD be sending some of your private data out to some centralized monitoring facility, but, that is highly unlikely. I did some packet captures on mine and didn’t see much data being sent at all.
If you are in the Greenville or Upstate SC area and would like to discuss how your business or even your home can use Charter home or Charter Business to save money and get faster internet speeds, phone and cable TV, then please email us at info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748
Motion CL900 Windows 7 Tablet
I can hardly contain myself! One of our favorite vendors, Seneca Data, just announced a new line of ruggedized tablet computers that they will be offering in the coming months!
The Android and iPad tablet wars are going full strength, but it looks like Microsoft’s Windows 7 isn’t out of the running just yet.
Oh I already hear what you are saying, “Why Windows!??!?!” The Samsung Galaxy S tablet running Google’s Android OS, the well established Apple iPad and coming 2nd generation iPad are all fun machines, but fall flat when it comes to business applications. Don’t get me wrong, there ARE people using them for business, and there are a growing number of applications for both platforms. However, Microsoft Windows 7 is the cock of the walk when it comes to business use. Over 90% of the applications our clients use are written specifically for Windows, with no support for Apple Mac OS X or mobile / tablet operating systems at all. Most of these Windows applications do not even have comparable or competing applications on other platforms.
That brings us to just why I am excited about the Seneca Data Motion CL900. ALL these Windows applications will run on it because it is running a full Windows 7 Professional OS. That means, our clients who have legal, medical or other proprietary software will no longer have to use a remote desktop application to run the program on a server, they can run it directly on their tablet.
While you would not want to use this type of device for AV editing (I would say Photoshop is out for sure…) it should offer plenty of power to run typical suites of applications, from Microsoft Office, to Prevail, and certainly all cloud computing / SaaS solutions.
Possibly of more importance to many people, this tablet, unlike the current Android and iPad devices, is a ruggedized! It can survive a 4 foot drop as well as being water, dust and splash resistant!
The CL900 allows the use of optional external devices. Currently, the list of devices includes a magnetic stripe readers and a biometric / finger print reader that mount securely to the side of the unit to expand the capabilities.
There is also an optional docking station that permits easy docking for charging, and more comfortable desktop usage…
Some specifications of the CL900 are:
- Intel Atom 1.2Ghz processor designed for tablet computers
- Connectivity via Mobile Broadband, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
- Ruggedized case. Display features Corning Gorilla Glass
- 10.1” screen featuring HD 1366 X 768 resolution
- Multitouch & active stylus capable
- 10.9″ x 7.06″ x 0.61″
- 2.1 lbs
- Up to 8 hours battery life
- Expandable
- Quick charging
We should have one in our hot little hands to test as soon as it is available and will report back here our thoughts. Until then, we will hang back and wait.
If you would like more information or would like to be notified when the Motion CL900 becomes available, you can reply to this post, or email info@homelandsecureit.com
The FCC wants you to signup to shape the future of broadband in America
The FCC is looking for about 10,000 good men and women to help test their broadband connections in certain markets and from certain providers by installing a piece of equipment to meter the throughput at their home.
If you are interested in participating, you can go to https://www.testmyisp.com/ and fill out the application. You must meet certain requirements, such as having a high speed / broadband connection like cable or DSL from prividers such as Charter, AT&T, Cable One, Cablevision, CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell, Clearwire, Comcast, Cox, Fairpoint, Frontier, Hughes, Insight, Mediacom, Qwest, RCN, Time Warner Cable (Roadrunner), Verizon, WildBlue/ViaSat, Windstream, or “other”, which will allow you to write in your broadband provider.
Apparently, they will place a simple device onto your LAN, and you must agree to the terms of usage, such as leaving it on 24/7, not trying to reverse engineer the device, etc.
Conspiracy theories are already out there that this device will be doing more than watching your throughput, such as watching your browsing habits. Possible, but unlikely. The company that has partnered with the FCC would probably not want to get that kind of bad press if this were found to be true.
I signed up our home and will let you know if we are selected…
Found out about www.Broadband.gov and tested our speed. Only 21MB down and 1.5MB up. Feeling a little slooooooooooow =)
