Checkers With Bigfoot

Finally upgraded my wifi network. My favorite router to this point, my Dlink DIR-655 had to be taken offline. Too many issues with the little amt of wifi I use. So, off to Fry’s electronics last week for a shopping excursion.

I ended up buying the ASUS RT-AC66U. 4 Gigabit ports, 2 USB ports, 2 Wireless Networks (2Ghz and 5Ghz), VPN, and other stuff that I will never use – cloud options, etc. The setup was a pain due to me being a moron. I ended up disconnecting a cable and had it looped back into my TP Link 16 port Gigabit switch, which caused a broadcast storm, and nothing was happening. Once I removed that cable and verified the rest of the cabling…

What a difference! The Dlink, while a great router, was the 1st N generation router, and it only ran on 2Ghz spectrum. Granted, right now i’m only using the 2ghz spectrum on the new one, but it is the latest N wifi spec capable in theory up to 450Mb wireless – and while I will never get close to that, it is much, much faster than my previous router. iPad wifi use is actually enjoyable now, and is very responsive. While expensive, I think it’s a good investment as the 5Ghz network i’m not using at the moment is AC – Capable of speeds up to 1.3Gb wireless. Very Nice indeed!

I decided over the weekend that the lure to upgrade to MS’ latest OS for $40 was too much to resist, so I dove in… And here are my assessments of the new upgrade:

Pros

1. First and foremost, the upgrade (when completed) was “perfect”. Perfect that all my settings came over in upgrade with no problems. More important, perfect in that my external devices (USB flatbed scanner and wifi laser printer) drivers worked and all my equipment works with Windows 8 pro.

2. This second positive mention is just my opinion, and other people’s mileage may vary, but I’m getting used to the new desktop and Start window, and I like it. I like the live updates/notifications for Start window tiles, so it’s a plus for me.

Cons:

1. The upgrade path was ugly. Ugly in the sense of Microsoft’s communication (or lack of it) during the upgrade path. My computer advised of 2 items that were incompatible – Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. I removed Microsoft Security Essentials prior to 1st upgrade attempt via USB flash drive  (which was no small feat in itself, the uninstall option in windows programs didn’t do the trick; instead, I had to use a Microsoft Fix it now app) went quite a ways into the upgrade process before it returned a vague reason as to why it didn’t upgrade and reverted back to Windows 7. Having supported MS Windows since 3.1, I read between the lines and came up w/the reason that I had to remove Virtual PC 2007 as well. I initially thought the incompatibility report was advising me that the app just wouldn’t work with Windows 8, I had no idea it meant it wouldn’t let me upgrade my OS because of it. Once I removed MS Virtual PC 2007 and ran the upgrade, it upgraded my OS from Windows 7 to Windows 8 with no problems (just took longer than what I was expecting, but no big deal).

A friend of mine had even worse luck – it took 2- 3 hours per upgrade attempt, and all he had received during the upgrade process was very generic errors that the upgrade didn’t work. I helped him after my system was upgraded and we were able to get his system upgraded. Shame on Microsoft for an absolute painful upgrade process on existing systems, this was the worst upgrade to an OS for an existing system I’ve had EVER. I would *assume* that installing Windows 8 on a new drive or even one that’s been reformatted as a new install would go perfect, as there is no preexisting conditions for the upgrade process to meet except for hw spec requirements, but upgrading an existing pc that is capable of running your latest OS shouldn’t be painful or time consuming. I can only imagine people who have no idea how to use a computer trying to upgrade an existing computer – good luck with that…

And give my honest review of Mountain Lion Server.

Pros:

1. only 19.99

2. Server functionality for OS X

3. Good for home and small business use (for the most part)

Cons:

1. Did away with server administration program

2. Did away with server admin tools with Mountain Lion – System Image Utility now buried in server.app and can download Workgroup Manager as an add on (should have been included in my opinion)

3. Was reading no DHCP service configuration for server.app

4. Pretty much a joke because of 1-3 above for medium –  large businesses, which the servers I have configured for work would classify under.

I’m disappointed by Apple’s decision to move their server functions to this route, they are making it apparent they are getting away from enterprise/business serving needs, they are forcing companies to go to other means for this function. For home, I probably will buy it since it’s so cheap and configure it for my needs.