A reminder that sometimes “too much stuff” can be “just enough stuff” hit me today. Really nice Asus router (just about all the features I want in a router, mid-range price, etc.) had one critical port–the WAN port–die Christmas Eve. Yeh, getting a replacement not happening, and as for contacting Asus support for warranty claim? Nope. And yesterday was taken up with too much to bother with either, so we’ve been down to swapping the ethernet connection to the cable “modem” between devices. . . that have ethernet adapters.
Started seeing my way clear of Xmas stuff (and a break in wood “waste” cleanup) today and was reorganizing some tech equipment. In the Asus router’s box, found a retired cable “modem” (using one that complies with newer standards) and. . . a lil Netgear router that has never been used, a “fell off the back of a truck store” purchase. (Nah, really overstocks and returns place.) Now, I am not a real fan of Netgear routers, and this one is relatively low end, though it does have multiple antennas and two-band radio, so it’s not all that bad.
So, two is one and one is. . . very close to none, but not quite there, yet, and the local network is now fully “WAN-ed up.”
Sometimes, too much stuff is juuuust enough stuff.