This is a rant. But, I hope you will learn at least something new by reading this.
Also, ever wish someone would at least try to explain things in a way we can all understand? I’ll do my best here, as well by exploding acronyms (at the bottom).
<rant>
Hooking up IoT devices is insane and sad!
The problem
- Most are 2.4Ghz
- Google (and many other companies) make mesh pods (WiFi boosters/extenders).
- Most people just have one Wifi AP — which is also built into the modem provided by the ISP.
- It might not work on the other side of a big house, so you can add a pod that you connect to the AP, and then another pod on the other side of the house. The pods communicate with yet another radio frequency, but it tends to be really good for this and allows you to access it via the Wifi 2.4/5Ghz, and then they talk to each other (and as many as you like) on some dedicated radio, and then back to 2.4/5Ghz at the AP. Hence a mesh.
- Now, the core issue is the applications that run on your phone that help you set these up will end up on 5Ghz because phones prefer that.
- And while it is not directly Google’s fault, they could have made this easy and more importantly AUTOMATED, by noticing what you are trying to do.
How many programmers does Google have? Enough!
Solution
The solu… technically a HACK — is to take your %$*#ing IoT device together with your smartphone about 30–50 meters (100–150 feet) AWAY from the Google mesh, like, as in across the street, thus forcing both to use the 2.4Ghz (as 5GHz won’t tend to stretch that far).
Some people put metal pots over their phones. Think about this; THIS is the state of our technology on this planet!
This is why almost all IoT things will have some negative reviews. It is all a matter of getting this all to work — just right. If everyone suffers, then everyone (companies) need to ‘work together to solve this. This requires teamwork between companies.
There is a word in German that I can’t recall or find from my childhood that basically means ‘to jiggle to make it work.’
I sort of recall it being something like wasserkontakt, or wasserwackeln, as in it has a watery connection or needs to be jiggled to make it work.
[if you know this word, please tell me, I will update this]
Now here are words that we need to make part of our vocabulary:
- Verschlimmbesserung — When you attempt to make something better, but you end up making things worse (Think everything Lucy did in I Love Lucy).
- Sitzfleisch — To honker down, focus, and get a tough mental + perhaps physical job done.
</rant>
- IoT — Internet of Things (WiFi, and often Bluetooth radio-enabled devices like light bulbs, and even coffee makers — you can control with your phone)
- 2.4Ghz/5GHz (Giga (billion) Herz (frequency) radio signals, channels). The lower the frequency, the further it can travel. But, the higher frequencies allow more data, so there is a trade off.
- ISP — Internet Access Provider, like AT&T, or Comcast.
- AP — Access point — To the internet or a Local Area Network (LAN)
Reddit article on this topic is worth reading. You can see people making excuses for Google. It doesn’t matter if it is Google’s fault. What matters is, Google could fix this easily.
If you liked this or learned something, please give a clap. Feel free to ask me anything. Be safe, and have fun, in that order.
