Put an end to dead spots and slow internet in your home with the AmpliFi HD mesh network (review)

There’s a battle going on for control of your home. It’s not just for control of smart devices like the Google Home or Amazon Echo. It’s for everything in your home that’s related to technology.

Arguably the most important battle is over your Wi-Fi network. While wireless routers have stayed relatively unchanged for the past decade, we are quickly seeing rapid development in mesh network technology. Google even entered the mix this year but still has people waiting on its waitlist for the next generation networking hardware.

It makes a whole lot of sense to fight for our networks. We rely more now on our Wi-Fi than ever. We watch videos on Netflix, Youtube, Hulu. We stream endless hours of music to our computers, tablets, smartphones and wireless speakers. Smart home products like the Nest, Google Home, Amazon Echo, and security cameras all rely on a powerful Wi-Fi signal.

When using the internet at home, there’s nothing worse than a dead spot, or laggy speeds when you move further away from your router.

Wi-Fi problems are more noticeable now because of our heavy dependance on the internet. Decade old technology just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Walls, electrical signals, competing networks, microwaves, and a wide variety of things can slow your internet down. Consumers have attempted to solve their networking problems with extenders or repeaters, but most have found those to be nothing short of inadequate.

That’s where AmpliFi aims to solve your Wi-Fi problems.

How does AmpliFi work?

AmpliFi uses enterprise networking technology for the home. It uses multiple radios and access points to amplify your wireless signal.

Basically plug in the AmpliFi wireless router into your existing modem, and then connect mesh points around your home to create a network as large as you like.

You no longer need to be an IT expert in home networking with next generation Wi-Fi technology. AmpliFi has an app in the Apple App Store for iOS devices and an Android app in the Google Play Store.

It walks you through the entire setup. Novices can set up this network in no more than five minutes. That’s if they’re slow. I’m a novice and it literally took me three minutes.

Once the main router is setup, you simply plug in the two piece boosters into any standard wall outlets. Depending on how many you purchase will determine the size of your mesh network. The three piece system I have is designed to work on home up to 20000 square feet. My home isn’t that big even in my dreams!

What’s nice about the boosters are the two-piece magnetic construction. You can point them in any direction based on your plug.

It creates on heck of a reliable and fast network

I used the AmpliFI HD (high-density) system for over a month and absolutely loved it. Admittedly it was a bit of overkill for my 1500 square foot town home, but every single room had 100mbps download which is what I would get if I sat within 10 feet of the original modem. My place has cement walls which really make my wireless a challenge to use in places like my bedroom which is the furthest room from the base station.

I would frequently get Netflix buffering or skipping and dropping on my Wi-Fi speakers in my office and bedroom in the past. The AmpliFi HD home system fixed all of those problems.

I also take my dog outside several times a day and can walk up to 50 yards away while still maintaing a usable Wi-Fi signal. Normally without the AmpliFi HD, I could walk maybe one tenth of that distance and lose signal.

It’s ridiculously easy to use

The days of needing to know your IP address or crazy password provided by your internet company are over with next generation systems. Through the app is where you set up your password, monitor the mesh points, and even control the devices that are connected. You can pause the internet on your entire home. It shows every single device connected to your network so you can keep track of your internet security. The last thing you want is a rogue device that is attempting to break into your personal files.

You can create a separate network for guests too. That way you can limit what they have access to in your home. Turning the guest network on and off literally takes seconds. You also have the ability to set the guest network to shut off after a predetermined time.

I have an embarrassing amount of devices connected to my network at peak times. I have an Android TV, several laptops, five Wi-Fi high-definition speakers, three Google Homes, three Amazon Dots and one Echo, too many smartphones to count, and several tablets. With AmpliFi I never once experienced slow internet except for the time that Time Warner went down.

I opened the AmpliFi app and it showed I had no internet connection. To verify there wasn’t a problem with my home network, I called Time Warner and they confirmed that a switch went down a block away from me.

Once it was back on, my network came right back on.

The AmpliFi next generation Wi-Fi solution also updates itself with new firmware and software. It’s a great solution for those who are looking to get the most out of their internet.

It’s a great investment

The AmpliFi HD system I tested is designed for homes over 20000 square feet. You certainly don’t need that much horsepower if you live in a home as small as mine. If you ever plan on moving or expanding your home, you can rest easy knowing that the AmpliFi starter system can be expanded at anytime and it is listed at $149.99. All you need to purchase is an additional router to expand your mesh network.

The wireless router even has a gorgeous look to it that will fit anywhere in your home. It has a touch screen that offers real-time status, and even offers a clock.

The HD system isn’t cheap at $349.99 but it is an investment in your home, but it’s one of the best you can make. Wireless internet is almost as essential as electricity these days.

You can order the AmpliFi HD at Amazon for $349.99 or at http://www.amplifi.com.

Product description:

• Wi-Fi Mesh Technology for Complete Home Coverage
• Plug and Play High-Density Mesh Points to Eliminate Dead Spots
• Dual-Band 802.11ac Wi-Fi System Delivers Up to 5.25 Gbps Aggregate Speed
• Convenient Smart-Touch Display for Real-Time Status
• Easy Setup and Powerful Wi-Fi Management using the AmpliFi App
• Secure WPA2-PSK AES/TKIP Wi-Fi Encryption; (5) Gigabit Ethernet Ports (1 WAN and 4 LAN)
• System Includes: AmpliFi Router HD, (2) AmpliFi Mesh Points HD, Ethernet Cable, Power Adapter, Quick Start Guide

Oodles: A solid e-book reader, if you can ignore its looks (review)

It’s amusing to know that, even with the rise of e-books, tablets, and Amazon’s Kindle services and devices, recent studies show that Americans are reading less than in previous years. The media probably blames millennials, as they always do, but what are you going to do? I figure people can’t stop scrolling through their Facebook timelines in search of memes.

Books are easier to get and read than ever, thanks to improved channels of distribution and the ubiquity of connected devices. For those who want to read but are on a budget, there are several free alternatives in the Play Store ready for your reading pleasure. One of these options is Oodles, which offers quality e-books and audiobooks for the always-welcome price of zero. Nada!

Developer: Oodles
Price: Free

Setup

The main screen gives you quick access to the available e-books and audiobooks, while also allowing you to access your library.

When you first open the app, it asks you to create an account. Fortunately, for those of us who don’t like to create accounts, especially when the only account creation methods are Google and Facebook, there’s a “Sign-in later” option. It makes you wonder why the app asks you to create an account so early in the first place, especially if it isn’t required at all for the app to work properly. After this, you’re ready to use the app.

Overview

The main screen of Oodles shows two carousel-style sections: one for free e-books and another one for free audiobooks. Clicking on either will yield a grid (or list, it depends on the screen) with the available options. You’ll also have the option to swipe between different views, such as Categories, Top Books, and Top Authors. Think of the way the Play Store is organized and you’ll get an idea of what you will find here. Everything looks neat and works quickly enough.

When you choose a specific book, you’ll be directed to the book’s detail page. This will show the cover at the top, along with detailed information about the book and the option to download it. There’s also suggestions at the bottom, based on the book you chose. Since the available books here are probably not well-known, this is a crucial option and it’s nice that the developer decided to add it.

You can also browse your library of e-books and audiobooks, all neatly organized and with a percentage bar that shows you your current progress on that specific book. You can also import books you already own but are stored in your SD card or internal memory.

E-books

There’s a lot to say about this part of the app, so much that it merits a section of its own. When you finally download your books and are ready to consume them, you are treated with the reading screen.

I have mixed feelings regarding this specific activity, since some things work so well but, on the other hand, it looks outdated and out of place in a world where Android apps have gotten much more beautiful than they were just a couple of years ago.

Gingerbread called. It wanted its interface back.

The screen has a top and a bottom bar, each one with different controls and options. The problem is that these icons look like they were brought in a time machine right from the days of Gingerbread.

Some buttons even have a gradient color, something that is frowned upon in today’s design. Actually making things worse is the fact that not all of them are gradients. There’s no consistency between design languages here.

Anyways, regarding the functionality of the buttons themselves, they all work more or less like you would expect. At the top, you’ll find a list button which will let you browse the chapters of your book and jump to any of them directly. There’s also a button to save bookmarks (actual bookmarks, you know, not the browser-related ones).

Next to it you’ll find a search function that works rather well. There’s also an overflow menu for getting to the app’s settings (I will come back to this later), book information, and increase/decrease font size (even though there’s a dedicated button for that at the bottom).

At the bottom you’ll find more useful stuff, such as brightness control, toggle between day and night modes (awesome), rotation lock, and the aforementioned font size changer. There’s also a slider to move between pages, and a button to return to the page you were reading before acting on this slider.

The book part is invisibly divided in three columns. Hitting the center part will toggle the top and bottom bars, leaving more screen state for reading your book. Touching the right side will take you to the next page, while the left region will take you to the previous page. Swiping will also move you through the pages. These gestures and tap recognitions work swiftly enough, although swiping too fast generates a wonky animation.

Specific book information is available in one click. There’s also the option of browsing similar books.

Just as a Lannister always pays his debts, I am fulfilling my promise of coming back to the settings section. The options available here are actually richer than the options for the app itself. There’s options for changing appearance, margins, page turning, dictionary, colors, text, etc. Possibly every aspect that can be configured has some kind of entry. That’s really cool, but what’s with the design? If the icons weren’t Gingerbread enough, this settings app looks completely out of date.

The whole reading screen looks (and probably is) a library written by other developer and integrated to this app. There’s nothing wrong with that, but at least some additional work could have been made in order to avoid such an inconsistent experience.

Audiobooks

You can download your audiobooks in different parts (as opposed to a single big file) to make it lighter for your internet connection. The player for audiobooks works exactly as expected, with the book cover front and center, and then your regular buttons to play, pause, rewind, and similar events that you expect. There’s very little to say about it other than it works and audio quality is decent enough for an audiobook.

Ads

Being a free app by an independent developer, ads are expected. These come in two different flavors: a banner at the bottom of the screen, and a full-screen ad when you leave the reader screen.

I never hide my hate for full-screen ads, and I won’t start today. It’s really unfortunate that user experience has to be interrupted in such an abrupt manner in order to get the revenue to pay the bills. That’s the way the current market is, however, and there’s nothing in the near future that will change this. At least I haven’t seen a full-screen video ad yet.

Options

Here’s the option screen, where you can configure the two of them.

Touching the gear button at the top of the main screen will take you to the app’s settings screen. Even though it seems full, it’s probably the settings screen with the least amount of options I’ve ever seen.

You can change your language, although it’s limited to English and another language that I can’t understand (sorry for the ignorance).

A kind of cool feature comes in the form of reminders. You can ask the app to remind you at a specific time that you need to stop being lazy and read those books you downloaded. These can be configured for any time of the day, any day of the week.

There’s also the option to remove ads (thankfully) and share the app with your friends. Other than that, there’s no noteworthy aspects to analyze further.

Conclusion

Oodles does a good job in categorizing and providing a nice one-stop place to download e-books and audiobooks. The problems start to show up when you’re reading the books themselves, with a really outdated library to handle the situation.

If you can ignore the fact that the reading interface looks like the apps you used on your Samsung Galaxy S2 back in 2011, then you can use Oodles to satisfy your reading needs.

Download Oodles from the Google Play Store.