* Posts by Roland6

10619 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Apr 2010

The coming of Wi-Fi 6 does not mean it's time to ditch your cabled LAN. Here's why

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Easy peezy, lemon squeezy

>Just need to decide how much future-proofing I need - 6a worth the extra at the mo?

Yes, I would go with Cat6a, although buy it by the roll rather than as pre-terminated lengths.

Need to be careful about Cat6a patch panels (if you need them), from an installers viewpoint, there are some really good ones around and some really bad ones, cost doesn't seem to be a factor.

As for future proofing, I would only cable the essentials initially and install more as and when required.

>conduit?

Yes, separate to the electricity and with capacity for a couple of additional runs. Basically, rewire in a structured way and give yourself access so you can access ceiling/under floor voids once the carpets have been laid.

Also make sure you have vertical conduit from lowest floor to attic and a power circuit (other than lights) to the attic.

If you make all your power outlets double socket, you will then be able to change them from double power to single power plus 1 or 2 data as required. Obviously, some places such as behind the TV/media centre will require additional sockets.

It will be expensive (compared to standard cabling) but enjoy the journey and the results!

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Maybe, yet...

>It is very hard to imagine a situation, ...where wireless is capable of delivering better throughput than wires.

In reading this and the "Data Center" comment threads, I think I can see a scenario where you could use wire-less, however, for this use case the caveat "good enough throughput" applies.

Given the deployment of array antenna for 5G cells, it seems reasonable to ask if fitting an array antenna to the door of a standard datacenter cabinet (or even a few feet away) directly attached to/integrated with a network switch backplane might be possible and have uses, namely removing the need for physical data cabling between a rack-mounted device and the switch.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: What really grinds my gears.

>Er, that would be the mobile phone networks and they exist already and convergence, at some point, is very likely.

And we've been here before with LTE home cells; great if you want to pay your mobile provider for all your internal 'WiFi' traffic.

Funny how the fun and games of finding and then freeing up of increasing amounts of spectrum for mobile phones (most recent round was the transferring of spectrum reserved for TV to the mobile operators for 5G) seems to have passed by many people. Finding decent chunks of spectrum and getting international agreement on their reassignment etc. is not a quick process.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: This months of work from home showed too....

> cut an access hatch in the chipboard.

Had to do that under the bath, only problem the location and size needed destroyed the strength of the floorboard, a surveyor friend confirmed my suspicion - the remaining floor due to the location of the bath feet in relaton to the joists was insufficient to support a bath full of water. Fortunately, together we were able to workout how to strengthen the remaining load bearing floor and remove the point loads on the floor caused by the bath feet.

Also got laughed at by the central heating installer as I insisted on the under the floor pipe runs from the boiler to hot water tank and radiators being insulated.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: This months of work from home showed too....

>Building standards do seem to be so last millennium.

I thought similar back in 1985, but then the regulations aren't intended to facilitate maintenance; a bit like consumer tech: mobile phones, laptops, cars etc.

Roland6 Silver badge

Will someone think about the client device!

I find it amusing that no has mentioned the other problem with WiFi - client device support. WiFi6 sound great on paper, but if your WiFi6 compatible laptop only has a single antenna, or even two antenna (relatively common these days) then don't expect it to be able to utilise more than a fraction the capacity of a decent WiFi6 AP.

However, that same laptop is likely to have a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port which it is capable of transferringdata at speeds in excess of the WiFi adaptor(*)...

In the main WiFi is good enough for many use cases, but if you really need the throughput then a cable connection is likely to be the superior solution.

(*) From memory, tests show that whilst many adaptors support 1000Mbps signalling, they will effectively top out at between 600~800Mbps effective data rate.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: WiFi it's the future honest!

>So see which wired sockets have not been used for a year and then disable them.

...

This one could be fun when people return to work.

Sounds great until in preparing the office for a return to work under CoViD conventions, the furniture gets moved around...

Refreshing: An Office update that won't frighten the horses

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: How liberating it was when Microsoft introduced the ribbon!

@Falmari - the tool tip only displays if you hover; something I don't do very often and if I do its more to confirm what the action is.

The alt key is interesting, I suspect if we didn't have mice then we would continue to access the menus via the alt key and so see and learn the shortcut codes. As it is, by using the mouse, I never get to see the shortcut codes and thus get familiar with them...

Roland6 Silver badge

I bet those who came up with this and supported its adoption weren't using 1,280 by 720 pixel screens; which is fewer pixels than the netbooks (1366 x 768) that Windows 7 didn't properly support - too many dialog boxes that were too long to be displayed and accessible via the mouse...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: How liberating it was when Microsoft introduced the ribbon!

Trouble is the ribbon (and Windows 8 onwards) MS have largely removed the visual cues as to what the shortcuts are.

Likewise gone are the handy keyboard overlays that MS supplied with their office products up to Office 4.2.

From the screen shots it seems MS haven't extended the Edge option to switch between vertical and horizontal tabs/menus.

BT to phase out 3G in UK by 2023 for EE, Plusnet, BT Mobile subscribers

Roland6 Silver badge

The Public Digital Telephone Network (PDTN).

Remember BT are moving all customers off the analogue PSTN onto a digital network.

What doesn't seem to be clear is just what this actually means, given currently, BT gets a regular flow of monies from all those fixed-line phones...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Shame, but inevitable

Depends on your use case.

But I basically avoid having multiple per device SIMs as they work out more expensive than one SIM with a decent tethering/shared data allowance.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Not that simple - some 4G/5G devices and/or SIMs currently use 3G and 2G for voice!

>Note their reference to "a compatible handset", you'd expect that all 4G handsets would work.

I wonder if it has been extended, previously it was only handsets with EE branded firmware. Thus my Huawei P30 purchased from an approved EE reseller supports VoLTE out-of-the-box (on EE), whereas one that was originally locked to another network doesn't support VoLTE.

Mind you had slightly different problem with a bunch of alcatel 3T8 tablets donated by EE to a charity last April: according to Alcatel tech specifications they support VoLTE, however the EE variant doesn't...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: 2G network

Alternatively annoy PlusNet: Good honest mobile from Yorkshire.

It had to happen: Microsoft's cloudy Windows 365 desktops are due to land next month

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Umm...

>No, it's SO/HO and small business.

Bet it doesn't support QuickBooks or Sage...

Roland6 Silver badge

>You can run a perfectly performant Windows VM in 2GB RAM and 64GB disk space.

Depends on your definition of 'Windows', 'performant' and whether you actually want to do anything with it, like run applications.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Umm...

However, it needs to be able to run whatever the Windows 365 client is going to be - we can be sure that it won't be compatible with existing RDP clients...

Cyberlaw experts: Take back control. No, we're not talking about Brexit. It's Automated Lane Keeping Systems

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: slow mowing motorway traffic, without any pedestrian nearby

Who would have thought that the workhouse would get a modern makeover and that the only 'crime' needed to be committed to earn a stay in one would be to have arrived from a 'red list' country.

Roland6 Silver badge

Readability

We also know that when confronted with instructions and information via digital interface, that users of technology tend to skim over what is being communicated [see here].

Much work was done on the comparative readability of on-screen text with hardcopy in the 1990's. Not able to grab the paper I was looking for but in general on-screen documents were significantly less readable. So not only do people skim or ignore the Ts&Cs, even those who do skim them are likely to not have correctly read what they did read.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: I Have A Lane Awareness System

I drove one of these cars on an 'empty' motorway, the car will slowly oscillate within the lane. However, depending on where it is in its oscillation when you hit a change in road markings you can find yourself going up the exit ramp instead of remaining on the road...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: slow mowing motorway traffic, without any pedestrian nearby

>and the development team right the way up to the CEO and the major share holder all get to stand in the dock

No, they should be forced to stay in an isolation unit/hotel until the case gets to court, using a system similar to CoViD track and trace. I expect their appetite for mass deployment of unproven tech will be considerably abated.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: It's the driver. get your hands off!

I think they were starting from a slightly different place.

If you believe self-driving cars are the future then that means removing the driving seat and controls.

For this to happen we need "the world's most experienced driver taking you everywhere".

However, as you note ML (and AI) isn't all it is hyped up to be, thus true self-driving cars aren't going to be a reality anytime soon.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: No

>The current situation where children are taught metric right through school, then have to self teach imperial, ..., is absurd

Totally agree, but then my early education was all imperial until 'decimalisation' at which point we all learnt the metric system and how to convert between systems.

In later life when I starting working with my older brother on cars and motorbikes, it was a small step to understand the difference between AF, BSF/Whitworth etc. This also prepared me for DIY plumbing, where it is important (if you want a water tight fit) to know whether you are dealing with metric, imperial or metric equivalent to imperial...

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: And it is not always the car's fault

For a few years I regularly drove rental cars, whilst it was fun playing with the new toys, what quickly became clear, there were significant differences between systems that would lead to the sorts of results related here about the J3 > J5 section of the M3.

One of the simplest systems that vendors seem to consistently get wrong, is the automatic windscreen wipers. My current car just can't do intermittent or detect when the rain/spray has stopped and windsreen is dry. It also has problems with cloud bursts/motorway spray, deciding that a leisurely sweep is better than full speed - it is at times like this I yearn for the full manual control that I enjoyed on various cars up to circa 2010.

LibreOffice 7.2 release candidate reveals effort to be Microsoft-compatible

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Use early Microsoft formats where possible for interchange

>I don't think this has anything to do with the EU

Yes, MS simply didn't want International Standards - much preferring their own de jure proprietary standard which even then they had problems maintaining consistency across products.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Use early Microsoft formats where possible for interchange

>Microsoft recommends not using the older formats.

That is expected, MS want you to pay for the new products.

>Our policy automatically rejects any attachments with .zip files, .doc, .xls, .ppt etc. and the new formats xlsm, docm etc. New formats, without macros, are the only ones allowed through the filter.

I assume you are applying your filter to both inbound and outbound email...

Bet your business users think IT are a bunch of idiots, plus customers/suppliers can't be happy given the large growth in electronic documents where email is a good enough carrier.

Teen turned away from roller rink after AI wrongly identifies her as banned troublemaker

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Obvious Question

>it's not as if She...

Need to retrain your reading and language processing filters; its not as if the article and news reports weren't clear that the 14-year old was a "her".

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Bit hard to comment without more details

>Looking at the pictures in the linked story - the girls to look pretty similar

Similar in the sense they are both dark skinned and wearing glasses?

I hope this does go to court, but it needs a decent lawyer and legal team to force the vendor of the facial recognition system to attend and explain in full detail how their system arrived at the 97% match figure, ie. strip away the AI cloak mysticism.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: mulling whether it’s worth suing Riverside Arena or not

Live in fear if you want; given the current Black Lives Matter climate, a lawyer/PR comp who does this is being particularly stupid and deserves to have their life, job, housing etc. damaged.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: exhibit ingrained racist assumptions in the design

And they could use AI to detect the skin tone of the person being looked at and set the exposure parameters accordingly...

Lenovo says it’s crammed a workstation into a litre of space – less than three cans of beer

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Motherboard capability only, thought this was a computer savey place ?

>Incidentally, the "SFF" model is over 5kg and 92.5 x 309.7 x 339.5mm, which I think is stretching the "small form factor" definition a bit.

The long-established HP Compaq 6200 Pro SFF is 7.6 Kg and 100 x 338 x 379 mm.

Report: 83% of UK software engineers suffer burnout, COVID-19 made it worse

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: I was fortunate

>3. Where I live is the best in my life, I want to enjoy it.

So not setting up a PC support business then :)

Roland6 Silver badge

Milton Keynes...

Roland6 Silver badge

I suspect some were feeling "left out".

It's a problem in my household.

I spent the first part of lockdown working all hours helping clients to enable their workers to work from home. I spent much of the second lockdown helping clients adapt to the new reality. I'm now helping clients become fully virtual organisations ie. the new business as usual. Additionally, my partner works in a CoViD essential business and also has worked throughout lockdown; therefore we've missed out on the furlough lifestyle...

What I don't get is how the "increases in "digitization" is the main factor." in increasing workload of software developers; with the increased digitization among my clients, we've not had to engage any software developers. Eg. I purchased a bank card reader, I filled out an online form, connect reader to network and ready to process cashless transactions, no software developer involved.

Cellnex and CK Hutchison have just 5 days to prove mass mobile tower sell-off won't harm competition

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: keeping control?

I'm unsure just what 'competition' looks like in the mast site market.

Whilst there will be some potential competition whilst telco's build out their 5G networks and so will be wanting some new mast locations, once a telco has a 5G infrastructure they are unlikely to switch mast sites just because ANO site is cheaper.

If anything Ofcom needs to regulate the market ie. prices site owners can charge.

CentOS Stream: 'I was slow on the uptake, but I get what they are doing now,' says Rocky Linux founder

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "Kurtzer said that Microsoft, which issues the certificates, had delayed things"

>Agreed. Looking now at the government of...

Also leaving the door open to another Trump to instruct MS (a US company) not to issue certificates for OS abc from Chinese company xyz...

That time a startup tried to hire me just to push clients' products in job interviews

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: "Fronking "

I see a marketing opportunity for Fronking filters - browse social media and have all Fronker's blocked just like AdBlock et al.

Focus on the camera, mobile devs: 48MP shooters about to become the sweet spot

Roland6 Silver badge

>Whilst *you* might be surprised, *it* is not surprising.

The surprise isn't so much that the iPhone is being used, but that many film makers are obviously targeting the TV streaming market where (currently) 1080p on a small'ish TV screen (ie. not cinema screen) is the consumption device. No problems with this, but as you note, it does mean the film doesn't scale well to the large screen.

Roland6 Silver badge

>A lot of the difference in photo quality from phone camera comes down to the software as well as the hardware.

I seem to remember this being the case with some Huaewei phones a few years back.They used the same camera hardware in a couple of phones, but because the phones had different CPU configurations/performance ratings the software was slightly different, giving noticeably different results.

Roland6 Silver badge

>I don't use my camera to make phone calls, any more than I use my phone to take decent photos.

It is surprising just how many commercial films are made using iPhones...

Jackie 'You have no authority here' Weaver: We need more 50-somethings in UK tech

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: It is not skills..

Sorry could you put that into AWK...

Happy with your existing Windows 10 setup? Good, because Windows 11 could turn its nose up at your CPU

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Windows 11 also requires the presence of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) – version 2.0

Remember its not as simple as just checking the motherboard spec's, many modern cpu's support firmware TPM (fTPM), which can be turned on provided the BIOS supports TPM.

Roland6 Silver badge

>Care to bet MS will start crippling W10 as they did to W7?

and XP before it...

But I suppose this time MS are being a little more honest and saying that feature updates will go W11, whereas W10 will only get security updates.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Foot meet bullet

Remember MS want to be Apple...

In some ways this move can be seen to be yet another cack-handed attempt to ape Apple - Apple don't support ancient stuff.

We shouldn't forget that W10 isn't free, the OEMs pay MS so they can install it on their new systems; whilst the OEMs through their volume agreements bundle Windows they and users will be less likely to promote alternatives...

Additionally, most businesses (where MS make their money) will - in the main- be running more recent desktops and laptops.

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: What gen?

Yes I get the Rzyen 9 3900X scores a passmark 32,894, but even the more modest Rzyen CPU's offer a significant performance uplift:

i5-3570 with DDR3 1333/1600 passmark 4,878

Ryzen 5 5600x with X570 chipset and DDR4 3200 passmark 22,181

I don't know about Lightbox, but for 4K video editing, DaVinci utilises the video card, thus careful video card selection paired with a motherboard/CPU that has good PCIE performance can make big difference (as does sensible use of multiple SSD's).

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: What gen?

Works on an i3-2120 system with 8GB RAM (4x2GB SIMMs), only issues with these systems are that they had to be upgraded from W7 to W10; clean install W10 doesn't pickup the correct drivers for the LAN or USB controller...

Roland6 Silver badge

>What benefits might I get ... from an upgrade to a more modern CPU

Depends on what your current CPU is - given you say its coupled with 32GB RAM and runs VMs, I suspect it was a mid to high-end CPU and motherboard in its day.

From my recent experience of putting W10 on a load of desktops and laptops dating back to circa 2010, I suggest anyone who is running a 32-bit only system, or a 64-bit system that supports a maximum of 8GB of RAM would benefit from upgrading. However, as we know there is little point in upgrading if the modern CPU doesn't benchmark any better than your old one (and I've come across plenty of these).

The main benefit of a modern CPU is well... my 2008 dual Xeon workstation (16GB RAM) is still very useable, however it suffers from fan/disk noise and generates rather a lot of heat and there is no comparison between it and the silent Ryzen 5 5600x workstation (32GB RAM) my daughter is using for 4K video editing.

Huawei dev flamed for 'useless' Linux kernel code contributions

Roland6 Silver badge

>It sometimes seems too anal and pedantic to submit bug fixes for typos, but if you do so with FreeBSD you get thanked.

I suspect a reason why this contributor from Huawei is finding all these typo's is because they are not a native English speaker.

Hence they are running the comments through a translation system, where typo's can totally change the meaning of a sentence. Thus this person should in fact be applauded as they are helping to make the source more accessible to a potentially large pool of non-native English speaking maintainers...

Roland6 Silver badge

>Fixes aren't free...

However, incorrectly commented code does carry an increased maintenance cost.

I appreciate that most peopal can read a mispelt word and their brain will substitute the correct word, however a typo in the non-comment parts can have a much bigger impact.

The cost problem arises because the current change tools don't differentiate between code and non-code changes made to the same module. Perhaps this could be mitigated by comparing the compiled binary before and after change output; a comment change would result in no change whereas a code change would result in a change.

However, going back to my first point, the comment revision does need to be reviewed by someone who has some real understanding of a modules functionality, otherwise the code base is open nonsense comment revision attack, ho hum...

‘What are the odds someone will find and exploit this?’ Nice one — you just released an insecure app

Roland6 Silver badge

Re: Shift left? shift right?

It's just a jump to the left <------------------ shift left

And then a step to the right <------------------ shift right

I think (given the left to right convention used in describing the development processs/waterfall) the problem is more of a jump to the right and skipping steps, rather than having the analysts calling the tune....