Charter Telephone reviews, boylston?
by John Stoffel
Hi,
Anyone on here using Charter Telephone VOIP service? I've currently
got Verizon, but the wife hates it because our phone lines get flaky
all the time, esp when it rains.
So I'm thinking to save money and combine all my stuff onto Charter.
I've already got High Speed internet and regular old cable. Not wild
about Digital Cable since I'm happy with Tivo and I don't want yet
another set top box to have to deal with...
So, any horror stories about Charter Phone VOIP quality and service?
Thanks,
John
4 months, 3 weeks
Free Non-working Older Dell Server - For parts
by joel d
Please contact me direct (off list) if you would like this for parts.
Non working server is a Dell 1600SC
Problem with server's motherboard giving boot eror "No timer tick
interrupt" also beeps 4-2-1 pattern.
Server has no hard disks, and motherboard not working/booting.
Offered for it's likely good parts (case, power supply, some ECC RAM, etc.).
Contact me joelgroup(a)gmail.com if you have any interest.
(If not it goes to elect recycling in a few days.)
Thank you,
Joel
5 years, 3 months
Upgrade
by Clint Moyer
My main PC is long overdue for an update. I dual boot Win7 and Linux Mint. Light use, no gaming or heavy graphics. A few questions:
Are there any gotchas using a CPU with integrated GPU? Not talking about mobo chipset graphic, but something like an AMD CPU with embedded ATI graphic.
I haven't yet dealt with any motherboard with UEFI bios. I know there was a big uproar over Secure Boot. Is this going to give me any headache installing Linux? Is there any specific manufacturer that implements it more properly than others? Asus has been my goto brand.
I'll retain my current HDDs for storage but would like to use an SSD for the OSes. I'd assume that's pretty transparent as far as installing Linux goes? Anything I need to worry about here?
Any specific advice or recommendations will be appreciated. Thanks.
Clint
5 years, 3 months
Re: [Wlug] Wlug Digest, Vol 121, Issue 5
by David Hardy
When I got three new machines over this past year, they all came with
Windows 8 (HP Pavilions) and Atheros ethernet controllers.
I had to disable Secure Boot on the machines where I installed Linux and it
was also a royal PITA dealing with the Atheros drivers.
Ubuntu and Mint did not want to work with Atheros, and the one machine I
finally put Linux on ended up working nicely with Fedora 19. One machine
remains Windows 8 (and I had gotten stung pretty badly doing the Beta 8.1
"upgrade" so am keeping it at the 8 level.) Because of pending job stuff I
have to, for now, keep a second machine running Windows Server 2012R2,
which works fine with the Atheros (Windows 2008R2 did not). And my
remaining machine runs Fedora 19 with a hardened Virtual Box running a
Whonix vm running Tor and an offshore mail client.
Good luck; YMMV, obviously, but I think the disabling of Secure Boot may
be your first order of business.
Regards from northern Vermont (and 1980s denizen of Woostah)
Dave
On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 12:00 PM, <wlug-request(a)mail.wlug.org> wrote:
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> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 10:57:22 -0500
> From: Clint Moyer <cdmoyer(a)charter.net>
> Subject: [Wlug] Upgrade
> To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org>
> Message-ID: <C42E30DF-37B2-4081-B5F9-946E50BC2D71(a)charter.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> My main PC is long overdue for an update. I dual boot Win7 and Linux Mint.
> Light use, no gaming or heavy graphics. A few questions:
>
> Are there any gotchas using a CPU with integrated GPU? Not talking about
> mobo chipset graphic, but something like an AMD CPU with embedded ATI
> graphic.
>
> I haven't yet dealt with any motherboard with UEFI bios. I know there was
> a big uproar over Secure Boot. Is this going to give me any headache
> installing Linux? Is there any specific manufacturer that implements it
> more properly than others? Asus has been my goto brand.
>
> I'll retain my current HDDs for storage but would like to use an SSD for
> the OSes. I'd assume that's pretty transparent as far as installing Linux
> goes? Anything I need to worry about here?
>
> Any specific advice or recommendations will be appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Clint
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> End of Wlug Digest, Vol 121, Issue 5
> ************************************
>
5 years, 3 months
OPENING - Embedded Linux, Open WRT contract in northern MA
by John Spencer
We have a client in northern MA looking for a Sr or Prin level consultant for a new project
They are looking for experience with embedded Linux and OpenWRT.
If you or anyone you know may be qualified and interested, please let me know. I would be happy to share additional details.
Please send a Word version of your resume with any questions.
Please Note, your resume will not be sent anywhere without your prior approval.
Regards,
John Spencer
Connected Systems Partners
Connecting Top Talent with Top Companies
978-455-5550 x208
978-621-9743 cell
jspencer(a)connectedsp.com
www.connectedsp.com<www.connectedsp.com%20>
GET CONNECTED!
Unless otherwise explicitly instructed by sender, all information in this email is considered confidential and intended for the view and use of the recipient(s) only.
5 years, 3 months
Announce: WLUG Meeting Wed 11/13 7PM: OpenWRT
by Chuck Anderson
Hi folks,
The next Worcester Linux Users' Group (WLUG) meeting will be held NEXT
Wednesday, November 13 at 7PM. The location will be the WPI Campus
Center, Mid-Centry Room 331.
We will have a discussion of people's experiences with OpenWRT, and
perhaps a demo of how to load OpenWRT on a Netgear home wireless
router and configure it for Bufferbloat avoidance/improvement.
Wednesday, November 13, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
WPI Campus Center, Mid-Centry Room 331
Afterwards, we will go out for pizza.
See you there,
Chuck
President, Worcester Linux Users' Group
http://www.wlug.org/
5 years, 3 months
OpenWRT on WNDR3800 home router - my install thoughts
by joel d
Decided to try OpenWRT after Jim Getty's talk and strong recommendation
last month for improved security and reduced local buffer bloat. What
follows is my experience / thoughts from this process. I would happily
bring the hardware to demo at a future meeting if there is interest.
Likely wouldn't be a full meeting but a 10-15 minute filler. More likely
Q&A than anything else.
I decided to go with different router/firewall hardware so I bought a
Netgear WNDR3800 which Jim mentioned and is also a favorite of the OpenWRT
crowd. Mine was used and $50 shipped from e-bay. This model is one model
old and no longer available new. FYI: Netgear website lists it as "out of
support".
My WNDR3800 was used prior, so I needed to do a hard firmware reset on the
bottom of router with a paperclip (didn't know the prior IP used or the
admin password).
Once reset and rebooted, router worked fine and could login to the
"default" Netgear firmware and configuration. Default username & password
is printed under the router.
Downloaded the recommended OpenWRT firmware for this model. Needs to be
full "factory" (instead of partial upgrade) and squashfs is recommended.
Netgear WNDR3800 Firmware download link gets you OpenWRT version 10.X
version which is not latest OpenWRT.
Web browser login to Netgear webpage/firmware and followed "upgrade
firmware" link while pointing to OpenWRT download file on local disk. The
upgrade/re-flash took around 4 minutes and after a reboot worked fine. Set
password and reconfigured router and WIFI with my specifics. Was up and
working on OpenWRT v 10.x.
Next day realized I had OpenWRT, but not latest stable version. Upgrade
firmware link does not go to Internet directly, so first download OpenWRT v
12.4 with "upgrade" and "squashfs" and save to local disk. Second apply
this via upgrade button in OpenWRT web link.
I could likely have saved a step by grabbing the OpenWRT v12.4 for WNDR3800
with factory and squashfs. I bet this would have worked had I tried it
(and saved a step).
General thoughts after use for a week:
OpenWRT does not have an "update direct to mother ship" feature best I can
tell that downloads file and updates it from web interface. Not a show
stopper for me. Instead need to know your version of OpenWRT and download
an "upgrade" file and apply as two steps. This would only matter if router
was used/maintained by a non-geek.
Prior problem occurred with similar hardware WNDR3700 with latest Netgear
firmware (happened with prior Linksys also). A few embedded WIFI devices
in home would disconnect and fail randomly and at least weekly. Thus far
these device annoyances have not occured since swap to WNDR3800 and
OpenWRT. No idea why, but definitely A win!
OpenWRT has transmit power level settings for the WIFI radio transmit. Can
decide to bump up the WIFI radio settings if user chooses. Even if you
melt/destroy them, a cool option if needed & tested.
Firmware update for OpenWRT works from a laptop on WIFI, which in my
experience Netgear & Linksys and other vendors do not support flash without
a cabled ethernet port. So the OpenWRT update scripts the 1) copy file 2)
apply file 3) reboot device.
My Next Steps:
In another week will likely repurpose the WNDR3700 likely as a WIFI gateway
for the "cheap WIFI radio" devices, (mainly TV, roku, DVD, etc.). Not yet
sure if I will use OpenWRT for this.
Look into the option of external antennas for the WNDR3800. I live out in
the country and have few neighbors to notice/know/care. If I can get
there... improved & reliable WIFI signal at my mailbox would rock.
5 years, 3 months
