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LRADIKAL
Jun 10, 2001

Fun Shoe
Look up the service manual or YouTube video for that model device. It'll tell you what screws to remove. Put them in cups or something. Don't use incorrect sized screwdrivers or otherwise strip them. Can of air will do you fine once you have exposed the cooling bits.

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DOOMocrat
Oct 2, 2003

My motherboard's M.2 support list doesn't explicitly list larger capacity M.2 PCI-E Gen3 drives, but it hasn't been updated in a while: What are the odds it'll probably work anyway? Trying to hold out on a wholesale board swap before Zen7nm+ but I still want something faster than a SATA SSD.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z170A-SLI-PLUS.html#support-hdd

Wowporn posted:

I was given an old almost functional laptop that I'm trying to get running well again, I replaced the hard drive and was able to get windows running but the next issue is it seems to run really hot even when not really doing anything so the fans are always really loud. Just browsing the internet right now it's saying the hard drive is at 50 degrees and the first two cores on the processor (i5 2410m @2.3ghz, so I think just a dual core with hyper threading??) are both around 60 and the fans sound like they're around 60% sometimes jumping up to 100% for a minute.

It's a Pavilion dv7 from like 2012, it's got switchable graphics so it runs the intel HD3000 most of the time but switches to a Radeon 7450m(that isn't accurate, I know when she first got this thing it said it was an HD6490m but I'm guessing when the 7xxx series came out they just rebranded it as a lower tier from that generation) if it's running a game but I'll probably never use it for that so I don't think I need to worry about the gpu overheating. Would it be a good idea to try undervolting it to 2ghz or less? I feel like I should try taking it apart to clean it out cause it was in an apartment full of cats for 6 years but I'm hesitant cause I don't normally gently caress with laptops, not that I'm really losing much if I destroy it I guess.

It's one of two things: pet hair, or the heatsink is warped/loose. The second is unlikely if it ever worked fine before, but could happen with drops. If you can get the exact model in here, I/we can look for a teardown guide.

DOOMocrat fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Apr 23, 2020

Lambert
Apr 15, 2018

by Fluffdaddy
Fallen Rib

DOOMocrat posted:

My motherboard's M.2 support list doesn't explicitly list larger capacity M.2 PCI-E Gen3 drives, but it hasn't been updated in a while: What are the odds it'll probably work anyway? Trying to hold out on a wholesale board swap before Zen7nm+ but I still want something faster than a SATA SSD.

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z170A-SLI-PLUS.html#support-hdd

100%

Hipster_Doofus
Dec 20, 2003

Lovin' every minute of it.

DOOMocrat posted:

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z170A-SLI-PLUS.html#support-hdd
It's one of two things: pet hair, or the heatsink is warped/loose. The second is unlikely if it ever worked fine before, but could happen with drops. If you can get the exact model in here, I/we can look for a teardown guide.

It’s one fan/vent/etc for the gpu and cpu though, isn't it? Wouldn't the cpu be running hot too?

Wowporn
May 31, 2012

HarumphHarumphHarumph
I ended up finding this teardown vid where he mentions people have had cooling problems with this model.
https://youtu.be/YqsYmxx4eMU

I didn't take it apart nearly as much as he did but just enough that I could stick the straw from the air can in and blow some dust out of the vents and luckily it seemed like it helped, between that and turning the CPU clock speed down to 1.9 and switching all of the fan options in windows to "passive" it's staying at like 25% fan speed without heating up nearly as much as it was before. If it gets worse again I guess I'll have to try going further but I don't smoke or have pets so finger crossed it stays okay

Downside, this laptop has BEATS BY DOCTOR DRE speakers with a loving subwoofer on the bottom but i think they all got blown out long ago cause they sound terrible and I don't think the subwoofers working at all

Wowporn fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Apr 23, 2020

Fat_Cow
Dec 12, 2009

Every time I yank a jawbone from a skull and ram it into an eyesocket, I know I'm building a better future.

What is the best way to do sound nowadays? I currently have two unpowered speakers + an Amp, but that leaves me no room for my headphones. Should I just buy a USB headset w/ Mic or are 3.5mm ones better?

Space Gopher
Jul 31, 2006

BLITHERING IDIOT AND HARDCORE DURIAN APOLOGIST. LET ME TELL YOU WHY THIS SHIT DON'T STINK EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW IT DOES BECAUSE I'M SUPER CULTURED.
Onboard audio is fine for almost everyone. If you have a desktop, just use the front panel input/output for headphones, and the back panel line out for your speakers.

If you just want a headphone output, and your system's onboard sound picks up bad interference or doesn't work for whatever reason, a random $10ish USB audio interface is usually fine. You don't want anything fancy, just cheap commodity hardware wired up to a USB plug and a couple of audio jacks, that's supported without external drivers in any modern OS.

USB headsets are that same $10 interface, pre-packaged into an ordinary analog headset, maybe with some extra sound processing added on. You can do better audio processing in software on your computer; it's built into Windows now. There's no harm in buying USB headphones, but there's not really much reason to, either.

If you want to drive fancy headphones, or are obsessed with mostly-inaudible sound quality differences, separate headphone amps are easy enough to find. This end of the market goes crazy - you can go down the rabbit hole of USB DACs, audiophile preamps, and high-power headphone amps, spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to hook your computer up to old Soviet vacuum tubes and deliberately inefficient amplifiers. Or you can spend $50-100 on a basic DAC/amp setup from Fiio or Schiit, or go trawl Reddit's headphone forums looking for their advice on the best ultra-cheap AliExpress options and rolling the dice.

If you want to record music and need low-latency monitoring, mic preamps, phantom power, and so on, then $100-200 can get you a basic recording interface like a Focusrite Scarlett. There's no reason for that unless you specifically want to record on fancier hardware than a basic desktop mic, though.

Lambert
Apr 15, 2018

by Fluffdaddy
Fallen Rib
Also note that if you're running a regular 3.5 mm audio cable along other cables it will pick up interference - which is why I went for a USB solution that puts the 3.5 mm part closer to where I sit. Running the audio cable along my cable canal to my desktop would make the microphone pick up tons of interference, which isn't a problem with USB.

Now I use my onboard audio for my active speakers and the USB headphones - that way, I can easily switch using the Windows sound icon.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
When GeForce Now tells me that I'm on a 2.4 Ghz network, and that I should be on 5 Ghz instead, what does mean, and how would I resolve or improve that? Is that a thing with my router? With my computer's NIC?

Party Boat
Nov 1, 2007

where did that other dog come from

who is he


Potentially both. Modern networking hardware should have support for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wifi - 5Ghz allows for faster data transfer (which is what Geforce is nagging you about) but has worse range. Most routers will show them as two separate networks e.g. Network and Network-5Ghz, but some give them the same name and password so that devices that support both can switch between them as needed.

If you don't have the obvious tell of a network with 5Ghz in the name, check in your router settings.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Party Boat posted:

Potentially both. Modern networking hardware should have support for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wifi - 5Ghz allows for faster data transfer (which is what Geforce is nagging you about) but has worse range. Most routers will show them as two separate networks e.g. Network and Network-5Ghz, but some give them the same name and password so that devices that support both can switch between them as needed.

If you don't have the obvious tell of a network with 5Ghz in the name, check in your router settings.

Thank you.

Also, this 2.4 / 5 Ghz thing only applies if I'm using wifi, right? If I connected to the router via a LAN cable, then that doesn't matter at all?

EssOEss
Oct 23, 2006
128-bit approved
Yeah, it's just a wifi thing.

Hipster_Doofus
Dec 20, 2003

Lovin' every minute of it.
You almost always want to stick with 5GHz as long as it's not dropping out on you, because what it lacks in range, it usually makes up for in lack of interference because that frequency range isn't horribly overcrowded (yet) like 2.4 is. A weakish 5GHz connection, say, -75db, is frequently head and shoulders above a solid -55db 2.4GHz connection with all else being equal. Also, set the protocol to 802.11ac only, if possible. It's a lot better than a or n. If that's not possible, be aware that n is not necessarily 5GHz (n@2.4 existed first), but a is 5GHz only.

At a place I used to live, I was getting my internet via "xfinitywifi" hotspots (a friend of mine made me a secondary on his Comcast account). I was getting triple the throughput from an ac hotspot across the street (a rather wide street at that), than I could get from 2.4 anything at much closer range, and this was with a simple dual band USB dongle in the window. Even using an internal pcie wifi card with a big honkin' antenna, 2.4 just couldn't compete at all. It couldn't even stay connected!

Hipster_Doofus fucked around with this message at 09:51 on May 2, 2020

Artelier
Jan 23, 2015


Audio question: Does it matter if my speaker is plugged into the monitor audio out instead of directly to my computer?

Currently, I have my speaker connected to my monitor. Then my PC and my Switch connect to the monitor and gets audio. It works fine, I don't have to keep unplugging or anything when switching between the two.

But today, I wanted to share a song I was listening to so I was setting up Stereo Mix, and I was like "Why isn't it capturing anything?" Before going oh, right, nothing's actually connected to the PC, it's just getting audio from DisplayPort. And then it got me wondering if there's any other disadvantage besides that.

Hipster_Doofus
Dec 20, 2003

Lovin' every minute of it.
Actually I think stereo mix should still work? It's all internal anyway. I just got up though so I might be having a brain fart.

Lambert
Apr 15, 2018

by Fluffdaddy
Fallen Rib
The "Stereo Mix" device is part of a hardware's sound driver, so it will only output sound played through that specific device.

There's no other disadvantage to using your monitor's audio out, with the exception of a higher noise floor with most of them - which you're unlikely to notice with speakers.

Artelier
Jan 23, 2015


Awesome, thank you! Reverted to my speaker to monitor setup then and will only unplug for the rare stereo mix occasions

CyberPingu
Sep 15, 2013


If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.
Im looking at moving some parts around my case for "reasons"

Currenlty ive got a Corsair Carbide 400C midi tower with a coolermaster Netptom 240M watercooler block for the CPU. At the moment this is above the mobo mounted to the roof of the case.

If i was to rearrange and move it to the front, where there are currently 2x 140mm fans (these would then go on the roof). What setup would i need for the front of the case? Would it be:

Front > intake fans > radiator > radiator fans

Or

Front > Radiator fans > radiator

CyberPingu fucked around with this message at 11:38 on May 4, 2020

Dalaram
Jun 6, 2002

Marshall/Kirtaner 8/24 nevar forget! (omg pedo)
Question on KVM’s -

I have two DisplayPort monitors I want to use with a desktop and a docking station. I also want to use one usb mouse and one usb keyboard to control both.

When I connect the DisplayPort connectors from KVM to computers, are they carrying mouse/keyboard signals from the KVM? I’m really confused if the KVM’s I’m looking at will work with my current setup, as most have USB-B connectors, which neither of my devices has.

EssOEss
Oct 23, 2006
128-bit approved
I have a PC that keeps waking from sleep every 10 minutes for no reason. "powercfg -lastwake" says the reason is "Type: Fixed Feature; Power Button". But no, there is no ghost pressing the power button in the middle of the night. How do I even troubleshoot this? I suppose I could yank the power button cable out while running to see if it is physical but I doubt it is.

Shaocaholica
Oct 29, 2002

Fig. 5E

Dalaram posted:

Question on KVM’s -

I have two DisplayPort monitors I want to use with a desktop and a docking station. I also want to use one usb mouse and one usb keyboard to control both.

When I connect the DisplayPort connectors from KVM to computers, are they carrying mouse/keyboard signals from the KVM? I’m really confused if the KVM’s I’m looking at will work with my current setup, as most have USB-B connectors, which neither of my devices has.

USB-B goes into the KVM. The USB-A side goes into the computer. Pretty sure DisplayPort doesn’t carry keyboard mouse signals over some usb side band thing. You need a usb A-B cable along with DisplayPort to each computer. Also if you want to KVM 2 displays you need a dual KVM or just get 2 KVMs and tape them together.

Dalaram
Jun 6, 2002

Marshall/Kirtaner 8/24 nevar forget! (omg pedo)

Shaocaholica posted:

USB-B goes into the KVM. The USB-A side goes into the computer. Pretty sure DisplayPort doesn’t carry keyboard mouse signals over some usb side band thing. You need a usb A-B cable along with DisplayPort to each computer. Also if you want to KVM 2 displays you need a dual KVM or just get 2 KVMs and tape them together.

Thanks!

GnarlyCharlie4u
Sep 23, 2007

I have an unhealthy obsession with motorcycles.

Proof
Recommend me a good card reader.
Something that can do everything and will last for a while.

There's so many weird brands on Amazon I don't even know what I'm looking at.

I have a lexar that's worked pretty well for CF so I'm tempted to just get this guy:
https://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Multi-Card-25-USB-Reader/dp/B008VQ2YUY/ref=sr_1_33

But this also looks legit: https://www.amazon.com/Reader-GIKERSY-Memory-Adapter-Simultaneously/dp/B07L73GK7D/ref=sr_1_26

Shaocaholica
Oct 29, 2002

Fig. 5E
What cards do you need to read? Most people are fine with CF and SD only. You can adapt micro SD to SD with a dummy adapter that usually comes with the micro cards anyway.

GnarlyCharlie4u
Sep 23, 2007

I have an unhealthy obsession with motorcycles.

Proof

Shaocaholica posted:

What cards do you need to read? Most people are fine with CF and SD only. You can adapt micro SD to SD with a dummy adapter that usually comes with the micro cards anyway.

Just a full sized SD and CF slot is fine. Mini/micro slot is just a perk in case I don't have an adapter handy.
It needs to be able to handle SDHC/XC/UC and CF cards.

Geemer
Nov 4, 2010



I got a UGreen USB3 one. It can do all flavors of cards I've got around the house just fine, but I only really actually use it for micro SD cards.

Can you even really go wrong nowadays? Aren't they basically all interchangeable outside of design as long as you don't need the most bleeding edge speeds or scrape from the bottom of the barrel?

Ape Agitator
Feb 19, 2004

Soylent Green is Monkeys
College Slice
Networking question and I've tried a couple of hardware and setup solutions and been experiencing frustrating dropouts.

Two story house with cable source router that kind of limits it to one corner. So the wifi router gets to a place where it doesn't really reach the whole upstairs needs. So I've been using a variety of extenders or repeaters over the years to varying success. The devices in use are a mixture of 2.4 and 5 Ghz so it's always going to need to be dual band. I've updated the firmware on everything involved that I can.

Right now I've got this on the downstairs attached the the cable router, with two networks "Downstairs-2Ghz" and "Downstairs-5Ghz": DLink DIR-859: https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-AC1750-Gigabit-Wi-Fi-Router/dp/B00PVCZI40
And I've got an Extender, connected using those networks and creating new separate networks "Upstairs-2Ghz" and "Upstairs-5Ghz". Using this: Wifi Range Extender: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GT13YH4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's like 98% okay. Slightly annoying to have two networks per floor as you may want to change networks as you go from floor to floor, but really negligible overall. The frustrating thing is that a couple of times a week the upstairs will loose internet but wifi appears to be intact. Just "internet connection may be down". In most cases the downstairs wifi seems to be connectable and working through the internet so it feels like one or both devices just break down and don't work. The Wifi extender is pretty much just plug or unplug so I usually repair it by resetting either or both of the downstairs wifi and/or cable router and letting them reboot.

It's dropped out one too many times during a critical moment of a movie so time to fix it. Would I have better results from similar manufacturer for both extender and router? Would going back to a repeater be more reliable? Powerline didn't seem like a feasible option because our power is a little DIY but maybe I should just try that? I'll throw $100-200 at a solution if I was pretty confident it would be reliable.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Ape Agitator posted:

Networking question and I've tried a couple of hardware and setup solutions and been experiencing frustrating dropouts.

Two story house with cable source router that kind of limits it to one corner. So the wifi router gets to a place where it doesn't really reach the whole upstairs needs. So I've been using a variety of extenders or repeaters over the years to varying success. The devices in use are a mixture of 2.4 and 5 Ghz so it's always going to need to be dual band. I've updated the firmware on everything involved that I can.

Right now I've got this on the downstairs attached the the cable router, with two networks "Downstairs-2Ghz" and "Downstairs-5Ghz": DLink DIR-859: https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-AC1750-Gigabit-Wi-Fi-Router/dp/B00PVCZI40
And I've got an Extender, connected using those networks and creating new separate networks "Upstairs-2Ghz" and "Upstairs-5Ghz". Using this: Wifi Range Extender: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GT13YH4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's like 98% okay. Slightly annoying to have two networks per floor as you may want to change networks as you go from floor to floor, but really negligible overall. The frustrating thing is that a couple of times a week the upstairs will loose internet but wifi appears to be intact. Just "internet connection may be down". In most cases the downstairs wifi seems to be connectable and working through the internet so it feels like one or both devices just break down and don't work. The Wifi extender is pretty much just plug or unplug so I usually repair it by resetting either or both of the downstairs wifi and/or cable router and letting them reboot.

It's dropped out one too many times during a critical moment of a movie so time to fix it. Would I have better results from similar manufacturer for both extender and router? Would going back to a repeater be more reliable? Powerline didn't seem like a feasible option because our power is a little DIY but maybe I should just try that? I'll throw $100-200 at a solution if I was pretty confident it would be reliable.

Thoughts or suggestions?

It's definitely a post more for the home networking thread but this thread does end up as a bit of a catchall so no big deal. The main thing will be that all extenders and repeaters are bad. They essentially halve the bandwidth of any radio by repeating everything the base station says. If you want to improve wifi in an area you should either run a cable there and put another wireless access point in (running a cable could be replaced with using something like powerline network adapters if you don't want to use ethernet), or going with a system that has mesh capability. The mesh systems use the radio as a backhaul to all of the mesh units, giving you better coverage where you put those units without wiring. The main downside to mesh systems is that you're looking at $300 for a basic one.

So it will depend on your budget and comfort level with running cables. If you don't want to spend much you can run an ethernet cable from your router to the other floor and set up a new wireless access point there. If you use the same network SSID and passphrase your devices should switch between them mostly seamlessly. If you don't want to run a cable, powerline adapters are $40-80 a set. If you don't want any wires you can get a mesh system.

GnarlyCharlie4u
Sep 23, 2007

I have an unhealthy obsession with motorcycles.

Proof

Geemer posted:

I got a UGreen USB3 one. It can do all flavors of cards I've got around the house just fine, but I only really actually use it for micro SD cards.

Can you even really go wrong nowadays? Aren't they basically all interchangeable outside of design as long as you don't need the most bleeding edge speeds or scrape from the bottom of the barrel?

I guess I'm more worried about compatibility/longevity than anything else. I've got a Sandisk Mobilemate SD+ that just REFUSES to read cards on Windows 10 of any type/size.

Party Boat
Nov 1, 2007

where did that other dog come from

who is he


I currently use powerline and reliability is not its strong suit. It might work great or might be barely usable depending on the quality of your home wiring, and there are lots of other interfering factors that you may or may not be able to control.

For example, we eventually found that the smart electricity meter provided by our energy company sent out signals a couple of times a day that introduced enough noise that devices could fully lose connection for several minutes. Fortunately we were due to switch suppliers and the one we moved to didn't use smart meters, and since then it's been reliable. Other people have reported interference from microwaves and baby monitors. It's a total dice roll.

The only really reliable solution is to run ethernet cables from the router to various parts of your house, but I'm guessing that's not an option for you.

Ramrod Hotshot
May 30, 2003

I've got a Optiplex 3060 micro tower and I'd like to put a video card in it for some light gaming. Obviously my options are limited because of space as well as a small power supply. My best bet looks like a GT 1030 (making sure I get the GDDR5 version). However it's not clear that even this or anything else will actually work. I tried looking up builds on userbenchmark.com with an Optiplex 3060 motherboard and 8500T CPU (Optiplex 3060 mini-towers use a 8500, so I looked up 8500T to ensure these were micro-towers). Every one of them used the default built in graphics unit. So maybe it's not upgradeable. Does anyone know?

If it is, any suggestions on which video card to use?

ryangs
Jul 11, 2001

Yo vivo en una furgoneta abajo cerca del río!

Ramrod Hotshot posted:

I've got a Optiplex 3060 micro tower and I'd like to put a video card in it for some light gaming. Obviously my options are limited because of space as well as a small power supply. My best bet looks like a GT 1030 (making sure I get the GDDR5 version). However it's not clear that even this or anything else will actually work. I tried looking up builds on userbenchmark.com with an Optiplex 3060 motherboard and 8500T CPU (Optiplex 3060 mini-towers use a 8500, so I looked up 8500T to ensure these were micro-towers). Every one of them used the default built in graphics unit. So maybe it's not upgradeable. Does anyone know?

If it is, any suggestions on which video card to use?

Which version do you have, the "micro" that appears on your NewEgg link, or the "small form factor" on this Dell page?

If it's the micro, you're out of luck. There is no room for any add-on cards.

The SFF can accommodate half-height/low profile cards, which the GT 1030 is available as. Any low profile card should work, as long as the power supply is up to the task. Those Dell systems come in so many configurations (even with the same model number) it's hard to say. Get something with a flexible return policy and just try it.

Ramrod Hotshot
May 30, 2003

ryangs posted:

Which version do you have, the "micro" that appears on your NewEgg link, or the "small form factor" on this Dell page?

If it's the micro, you're out of luck. There is no room for any add-on cards.

The SFF can accommodate half-height/low profile cards, which the GT 1030 is available as. Any low profile card should work, as long as the power supply is up to the task. Those Dell systems come in so many configurations (even with the same model number) it's hard to say. Get something with a flexible return policy and just try it.

Micro :(

Oh well, at least that's my answer. Thanks.

EssOEss
Oct 23, 2006
128-bit approved

EssOEss posted:

I have a PC that keeps waking from sleep every 10 minutes for no reason. "powercfg -lastwake" says the reason is "Type: Fixed Feature; Power Button". But no, there is no ghost pressing the power button in the middle of the night. How do I even troubleshoot this? I suppose I could yank the power button cable out while running to see if it is physical but I doubt it is.

Ubuntu live boot did not have the issue, so had to be software. gently caress it, format & reinstall and problem solved. I figure it had to be some lovely driver causing it, so I just left it on Windows builtin drivers for now not to risk it.

Edit: gently caress now it's just randomly hard rebooting for no reason. I hate computers.

EssOEss fucked around with this message at 16:09 on May 8, 2020

dragonshardz
May 2, 2017

CyberPingu posted:

Im looking at moving some parts around my case for "reasons"

Currenlty ive got a Corsair Carbide 400C midi tower with a coolermaster Netptom 240M watercooler block for the CPU. At the moment this is above the mobo mounted to the roof of the case.

If i was to rearrange and move it to the front, where there are currently 2x 140mm fans (these would then go on the roof). What setup would i need for the front of the case? Would it be:

Front > intake fans > radiator > radiator fans

Or

Front > Radiator fans > radiator

The short answer is "it doesn't really matter, just do what you have physical space for."

The longer answer is: You don't really get much better or worse cooling performance from fan/rad/fan vs rad/fan or fan/rad. The real determining factor in radiator performance is the static pressure the fans are able to make, as that impacts how quickly air can actually move through the radiator.

The main argument against F/R/F or F/R setups is they're slightly more work to clean, if you don't have a dust filter ahead of the cooler. R/F you can generally just unscrew the radiator from the case, give it a quick dust, and you're done.

Ape Agitator
Feb 19, 2004

Soylent Green is Monkeys
College Slice

Rexxed posted:

It's definitely a post more for the home networking thread but this thread does end up as a bit of a catchall so no big deal. The main thing will be that all extenders and repeaters are bad. They essentially halve the bandwidth of any radio by repeating everything the base station says. If you want to improve wifi in an area you should either run a cable there and put another wireless access point in (running a cable could be replaced with using something like powerline network adapters if you don't want to use ethernet), or going with a system that has mesh capability. The mesh systems use the radio as a backhaul to all of the mesh units, giving you better coverage where you put those units without wiring. The main downside to mesh systems is that you're looking at $300 for a basic one.

So it will depend on your budget and comfort level with running cables. If you don't want to spend much you can run an ethernet cable from your router to the other floor and set up a new wireless access point there. If you use the same network SSID and passphrase your devices should switch between them mostly seamlessly. If you don't want to run a cable, powerline adapters are $40-80 a set. If you don't want any wires you can get a mesh system.

Sounds like a try with a mesh network will be my next stop. Looks like there's some $200 sets so I can fit that in my budget. And the idea of a unified SSID is something to look forward to. Thanks!

Party Boat posted:

I currently use powerline and reliability is not its strong suit. It might work great or might be barely usable depending on the quality of your home wiring, and there are lots of other interfering factors that you may or may not be able to control.

For example, we eventually found that the smart electricity meter provided by our energy company sent out signals a couple of times a day that introduced enough noise that devices could fully lose connection for several minutes. Fortunately we were due to switch suppliers and the one we moved to didn't use smart meters, and since then it's been reliable. Other people have reported interference from microwaves and baby monitors. It's a total dice roll.

The only really reliable solution is to run ethernet cables from the router to various parts of your house, but I'm guessing that's not an option for you.

Definitely appreciate the feedback on powerline systems. Thanks!

Pablo Bluth
Sep 7, 2007

I've made a huge mistake.

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

Recommend me a good card reader.
Something that can do everything and will last for a while.

There's so many weird brands on Amazon I don't even know what I'm looking at.

I have a lexar that's worked pretty well for CF so I'm tempted to just get this guy:
https://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Multi-Card-25-USB-Reader/dp/B008VQ2YUY/ref=sr_1_33

But this also looks legit: https://www.amazon.com/Reader-GIKERSY-Memory-Adapter-Simultaneously/dp/B07L73GK7D/ref=sr_1_26

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

Just a full sized SD and CF slot is fine. Mini/micro slot is just a perk in case I don't have an adapter handy.
It needs to be able to handle SDHC/XC/UC and CF cards.
About three years ago Lexar was shut down then a Chinese company came in and bought all the IP. Fortunately this doesn't seem to be the 'slap the premium Lexar branding on cheap poo poo' people thought might happen. They've even just announced a new card reader that's too new for reviews.
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/lexar-announces-new-professional-multi-card-3-in-1-reader-34711

A bunch of the Lexar people ended up forming Prograde Digital who are focusing on the high end. So their card reader options aren't the cheapest...
Amazon: CF+SD version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI_uMdvGvHY

Cyril Sneer
Aug 8, 2004

Life would be simple in the forest except for Cyril Sneer. And his life would be simple except for The Raccoons.
What exactly is the difference between a media server, NAS, and external hard drive?

Functionally, I'm looking for ~2 TB of network-accessible storage and I just want it to show up as a drive letter. Don't need any fancy wrapper/interfacing software so probably not a media server? I'll be using it mainly for archival purposes.

GnarlyCharlie4u
Sep 23, 2007

I have an unhealthy obsession with motorcycles.

Proof

Pablo Bluth posted:

About three years ago Lexar was shut down then a Chinese company came in and bought all the IP. Fortunately this doesn't seem to be the 'slap the premium Lexar branding on cheap poo poo' people thought might happen. They've even just announced a new card reader that's too new for reviews.
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/lexar-announces-new-professional-multi-card-3-in-1-reader-34711

A bunch of the Lexar people ended up forming Prograde Digital who are focusing on the high end. So their card reader options aren't the cheapest...
Amazon: CF+SD version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI_uMdvGvHY

This is a fantastic response. Thank you.

Cyril Sneer posted:

What exactly is the difference between a media server, NAS, and external hard drive?

Functionally, I'm looking for ~2 TB of network-accessible storage and I just want it to show up as a drive letter. Don't need any fancy wrapper/interfacing software so probably not a media server? I'll be using it mainly for archival purposes.

A media server is just that; IT serves media, usually audio or video.
It can be a NAS, but it can also just be a desktop with a network share.
It doesn't even have to actually host the data. You can use media server software like Plex to point to shares on the internet.
I like to think of media servers as ways to access data rather than data-hosts.

NAS is short for Network Attached Storage. It is a networked server that hosts file-level storage (as opposed to object, or block-level storage).
This is what you want if you just want an NFS or SMB share to map a network drive to.
If you want to build your own then you can look into FreeNAS or unRAID software that you can install on an old computer and load up with drives.

An external hard drive is just that. It is not network-attached. You need to plug it directly into a computer to access the files. That computer could then share the drive out over the network to other devices.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2801557
Join us!

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Cyril Sneer
Aug 8, 2004

Life would be simple in the forest except for Cyril Sneer. And his life would be simple except for The Raccoons.

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

This is a fantastic response. Thank you.


A media server is just that; IT serves media, usually audio or video.
It can be a NAS, but it can also just be a desktop with a network share.
It doesn't even have to actually host the data. You can use media server software like Plex to point to shares on the internet.
I like to think of media servers as ways to access data rather than data-hosts.

NAS is short for Network Attached Storage. It is a networked server that hosts file-level storage (as opposed to object, or block-level storage).
This is what you want if you just want an NFS or SMB share to map a network drive to.
If you want to build your own then you can look into FreeNAS or unRAID software that you can install on an old computer and load up with drives.

An external hard drive is just that. It is not network-attached. You need to plug it directly into a computer to access the files. That computer could then share the drive out over the network to other devices.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2801557
Join us!

Ah, I somehow didn't notice that thread. Thanks!

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