PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

JonHoneyball

OpiniononWindows,Appleand

everythinginbetween–p 110

SteveCassidy

Thewidervisiononcloudand

infrastructure–p120

PaulOckenden

Uniqueinsightintomobile

andwirelesstech–p 113

DaveyWinder

Keepingsmallbusinessessafe

safesince 1997 –p 118

LeeGrant

Talesfromthefrontlineof

computerrepair–p 116

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Realworldcomputing

waysofblockingwholecountries
(suchasRussiaandChina).
SoIplacedanorder,aroundfive
grand’sworth.Whatcamelooked
verystrongindeed–boxdesigns
similartoApple,goodsetupguides
andsoforth.However,whenIfired
upthefirewall,amusinglycalled
DreamMachinePro,Idiscoveredthat
itwasn’tpossibletouseitwithoutit
runningNATitself.Itcouldn’tactasa
platformfabriccontrolleranddothe
analyticsonanon-NATconnection.
MyintentionhadbeentorunDMPas
afabriccontrollerandthenfeed
everythingthroughthepfSense.
Undeterred,Idecidedtofollowmy
rulesaboutkeepingtheproblemina
controlledsizeandshape,sodecided
toupgradethenetworkcomponents
atmyhousefirst.Thisispartofthe
samecoreLANbecauseitisincredibly
usefultomyparticularusecaseto
haveoneunifiedIPspace.Outwent
theoldandtiredunmanagedswitch,
inwenta24-portPoEUbiquitiswitch.
IstartedplugginginthecoreEthernet
andfibrebridgefeedsthatcriss-cross
thehouseandoutbuildings,onlyto
discoverthattheconnectionbackto
thecorepfSenserouterwasgoingup
anddownatarapidrate.
Ipulledeverythingoutand
discovereditwasthe1GbEfeedtothe
kitchenthatwasresponsible.Iwent
intothehouseandreplacedthetwo
oldandtiredswitchestherewith
Ubiquitidevices,addingtheminto
theUIfabric.Finally,Inailedthe
problemdowntotheSkyQ2TBmain
boxundertheTV.IconnectmySkyQ
mainandremoteboxesbyEthernet,
stronglybelievingthatfixed
infrastructureshouldneverbeon
Wi-Fiunlessitisabsolutely
unavoidable.UnplugtheSkyQbox,
andthenetworkreturnedtonormal.
Plugitin,anditdiedimmediately.
AquicksearchfoundthatSkyQ
boxescanbealittle,shallwesay,
overenthusiasticwhenitcomesto
spanningtreeprotocol.Andits
engineershavemadeabunchof
assumptionsthattheywillonlybe
connectedtodumbinfrastructure,
preferablesuppliedbySky.
Icouldhavecontinuedtodig,andI
foundIcoulddisablespanningtree
protocolontherelevantnetwork
ports,buttimewasrunningout–I
hadtogetthisworkingbecauseIwas
goingonholidayforaweekonthe

ingday. theend,Igrittedmy

teeth,wiredthemainSkyQboxtomy

SkyADSLline,thenenabledWi-Fion

theSkyQboxtoallowaWi-Fibridge

tocomefromtheupstairsbedroom’s

Skybox.I’lltrytoworkoutwhat’s

goingonwhenIgetthetime,butthis

sortofnetworknonsenseand

rampanttribalismannoysme.

However,allofthisdetectivework

allowedmetolookatthesomewhat

comprehensivenetworktreeviewfor

theconnectedswitches. tethere

beingnonon-UIswitchesintheway,

it’sclearthatthediagramwasquite

wrongaboutwhichdevicewas

connectedtoagivenportonagiven

switch.Ilookedinvainfora“flush

thisdataandrebuildthetree”option.

SoIrevertedtoGoogleagain,and

discoveredthetreeviewisknownfor

beingrandomlywrong,andthere’s

nothingyoucandotofixit.Thiscame

assomethingofadisappointment.

Finally,Ifireduponeofthenew

Ubiquitilong-rangeWi-Fi6discsI’d

alsopurchased.Thissetupwasn’tas

simpleasitshouldhavebeen,and

therewasaninsistencethatthere

shouldbeaDHCPserveronthe

192.168range.Inukedthatfrom

orbit,setuptheappropriateSSIDs

andtriedsomethroughputtesting.

Whichwasn’timpressiveatall,asall

mydeviceswouldonlyconnectat

2.4GHz.Icouldn’tforcemydevicesto

goto5GHzunlessIreprogrammed

theaccesspointtobe5GHzonly,at

whichpointIgotgoodthroughput.

Annoyed,andrunningoutoftime,

Ipulledtheplugontheaccesspoint

andrevertedtotheNetgearAX200.

SofarmyexperiencewithUbiquiti

hasbeenoneof“nicehardware,

shameaboutthesoftware”.It’squite

inconsistent,withtheconfiguration

pagesbeinginblackfornoapparently

goodreason.Thetreeviewseems

buggyandincomplete,andtheaccess

pointwasn’tdoingwhatIexpected.

Becauseofthis,I’mholdingfire

onanythoughtsofdeployingthe

DreamMachineProinsteadofthe

offers

a comprehensiveset

ofnetworkproducts,

fromhometobusiness

BELOWThenetwork

topologydiagram

looksprettybutsadly

doesn’treflectreality