I recently returned from a trip to El Salvador with my Church to do some mission work.  The last time I was there I relied on wireless calling, and messaging protocols.  Due to less than ideal infrastructure, the experience was not great.  This trip I decided to take advantage of google’s Project Fi, mostly out of curiosity.  The basic premise is you purchase a phone which they support, and the service is based on actual data usage.  They use local providers in around 135 countries including the U.S.

Before I go further, I do need to be clear, I have been an iPhone user since 2009, this was my first android device, other than a brief period with a 7″ android tablet.

Device

I chose the cheapest device I could, the Nexus 5x.  I liked the touch id being on the back of the phone.  It was far more accurate than my iPhone touch id, and the positioning was much better for my use.  The metal case was nice, and felt like a quality design.

The android operating system itself was interesting.  I liked that the phone comes with a pretty clean android image, most of the applications that were installed were the native google apps as one would expect with android.  The setup was pretty quick and painless.

Apps

The applications on android were a little disappointing when compared to my iPhone.  While I could get most of the same applications as I had, they felt like cheap knockoffs.  There were some basic functionality issues, and the look and feel was not quite the same as my iOS apps.

I was surprised however by the number of applications for testing wireless signal.  For tools, it seems that android has done a much better job, or perhaps just has a more open policy on applications.

Calling & Data

The calling and data is where the phone really fell down.  In the U.S., it seemed to send me to the lowest quality carrier wherever I was.  The call quality was pretty low, although the data was pretty reasonable from a performance and latency perspective.  The biggest issue was when I was in airplane mode while flying.  Picking up a cell signal took several restarts and 5-10 min of waiting for the system to pickup.  It was highly frustrating.

When I landed in El Salvador, it was even worse.  Waiting on the system to pickup a local cell signal was painful.  Unfortunately it seemed to continue as I traveled around the city of San Salvador.  I would randomly lose signal, and the carriers were intermittent at best.  When I was trying to make calls from Wifi it would often kick me over to cellular and charge me $.20/min.

As an apple user in almost every aspect, I am probably the worst person to review this project.  If the sim would work with my iPhone, I would likely have been more forgiving of the lack of functionality on the calling side of things.  The lack of cell & data quality was really the nail in the coffin though.  I chose Project Fi to support international trips, and I have to say it was not a great experience.  I will continue to use it during international travel with the hope it improves however, the fact that I can turn it on and off, and port my google voice number back and forth is the one true saving grace.  I would not recommend it as a replacement phone, but it is not a terrible secondary phone for traveling to foreign countries.

As a child I remember going to my grandparents home.  They had cable television, which was a big deal at the time since we had 1-3 channels depending on the weather and the placement of our homemade antenna.  I remember the box that sat on top, you would push down the buttons for the channel you wanted, it was amazing to have so much to watch.  I loved Saturday morning cartoons, and occasionally talking my mother into an evening cop show when we visited.

Apple TV

For our purposes assume this refers to the Apple TV Gen 4, the first with an app ecosystem.  With the exception of Amazon Video, thanks to a rumored disagreement between Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos, this is probably one of the more comprehensive ecosystems in the space, with new apps released fairly regularly.  From a user experience perspective, this is likely one of the better systems, in typical apple fashion, with an ecosystem of streaming services and games.  The biggest complaint on this device is the remote.  While it is larger than previous remotes, the touch remote features, while intuitive, it is tends to get bumped, and can be a pain to use with precision.

Roku

The latest Roku models are quite well done.  With a number of form factors, and quality levels, Roku strives to be all things to all people.  The comprehensive app store experience is good, as is the remote.  It is the right size for your hand, with a minimalist feel on the buttons.  One of the biggest features that made me really like this device is the headphone port on the remote.  On the subject of the remote, these generally use a proprietary wireless technology for the remote paring rather than IR, which is great if you want to hide the device, or just don’t have great line of site.  My biggest concern with the Roku is they are not backed by a large content company such as Amazon, Apple, or Google.  They do seem like an easy acquisition target, or possibly a company which could evaporate in the shifting ecosystem.

Smart Televisions

I want to like smart televisions, I really do.  I even purchased one, with a Roku built in.  My biggest concern is the processor speed.  In the several systems I have tested, my experience has been a little laggy.  Of course we are stuffing a mini computer inside an already thin TV system, but the user experience is critical to solidify adoption.  For most users this is probably a technology which is good enough, but still has a bit to go.

Chrome Cast, Fire TV, and open source

There are always other options, Google’s Chrome Cast is probably one of the more popular choices.  It is great except that it is simply a receiver.  A phone or computer becomes the remote control for the device, although content is streamed directly from the internet.  Amazon’s Fire TV is a good product as well, but it is very amazon centric.  As an Amazon Prime subscriber, I love all things Amazon, but this just doesn’t quite get my attention.  Kodi, and other open source systems promise to enable you to build your own, with their TV style interfaces, using a Raspberry Pi, or even a PC.  Again not bad, but this is probably one of the few areas I do not want to do it myself on.

The biggest issue with most of these devices is a lack of standards.  Developers have to choose what platforms to write apps for, and consumers may end up with several interfaces.  It really comes down to use case, and what apps do you anticipate using over the long term.  It will be interesting to see how many of these devices become a part of televisions, how many become a centralized device that streams to all screens in the house, and whether the television survives a generation more and more inclined to watch on phones, tablets, and computers.

In Geoffrey Moore’s book, crossing the chasm, he refers to those who jump on new technologies before the mainstream markets as innovators and early adopters.

For many products and services I a solid Pragmatist, waiting until there is significant adoption of the technology before I jump on board.  When it came to getting rid of cable television, I was absolutely a market innovator.  It wasn’t so much of a drive for new technology as my hatred of paying Comcast for something I could stream over the internet.  In this series I wanted to go through some of the choices I made on the way to cutting the cord, including services, streaming devices, and others.

Netflix

I was an early adopter of the Netflix DVD service, and an immediate adopter of their streaming service.  A number of the devices I purchased early in this process were because they supported Netflix Streaming.  In the past few years I have noticed significant decreases in the quality of the content available from legacy networks.  Fortunately the original content has been more entertaining, with apparent investment in new content becoming a priority.  The biggest advantage of Netflix is the number of devices available to stream it, and their recent introduction of offline viewing.

Amazon Prime Video

As a current subscriber to Amazon prime, I occasionally watch Amazon prime video.   The main advantage to Amazon prime is the original content, it’s inclusion in my subscription, and their pioneering offline viewing of content.  As someone who travels regularly this is a necessity.  My biggest complaint outside the lack of content is the limit on devices.  Due to apparent licensing disagreements there is no Amazon Video app for the Apple TV, a minor issue, but frustrating.

Hulu

I wanted to like Hulu, I really did, and at times I have used it to catch up on shows.  When they released their paid model for the Apple TV I tried it for a month or so.  My biggest complaint is they are essentially aggregating content from networks, much of which is accessible through separate apps, and the paid service still has commercials.  Hulu is good in concept, with some good original content, but is lost in the plethora of streaming services.

Streaming services are the future of television there is no doubt about it.  Live television is inconvenient, and for the next generation will likely be a forgotten relic, much like the cassette tape.  My biggest complaint is the lack of an aggregator, I use Plex media server for my personally owned content.  Unfortunately this means I need to select what I want to watch across several services, with more coming regularly.  While Apple is working on resolving this with the “TV” app on iOS and TVOS, this is proprietary, and limited.  The future of television and entertainment must come from fewer apps with more content, not the reverse.  It is an exciting time, as long as you don’t make your living providing cable television services.

With Comcast rolling out the 1TB datacap in several new markets, including my own in Oregon, I have decided to end my long term relationship with their internet service.

I have been a comcast customer almost continuously since retiring from the U.S. Army in 2003, I even spent a year working for the company managing datacenters and infrastructure.  Over time I have shifted my services to internet only opting for more and more streaming services,  using more and more bandwidth.  During that time, my internet only bill has increased from $30/mo – $95/mo with some increase in speed.  When I called to lower my bill I was informed that the only way Comcast would consider lowering my bill was if I bundled with their television product.  The net cost to me would be similar, which didn’t solve my problem.

I received numerous notifications about the cap, looking at the cost increase, which would put me around $145/mo based on my current usage.  Unfortunately I only have one other choice for internet service, Frontier Communications, which is not ideal, but it is Fiber.  Looking at my options, I found that I could trade my 105/10 for a 30/30 connection for $40/mo.  While it was much slower I opted to try it out.  So far 4 weeks in, no one seems to notice the speed decrease.

I waited about a week with the new service before canceling Comcast, I was braced for a fight.  Fortunately I was able to handle the disconnection through online chat.  It took about 15 min, there was a bit of back and forth with the rep trying to keep me as a customer, but when I held my ground he was surprisingly professional and courteous.

The overall transition has been mostly seamless, but the data caps still do not sit well.  I can only hope the public outcry will be enough to drive change, or better yet, maybe we will finally see more local ISP’s again.

Shortly before leaving the U.S. Army, I was assigned to an administrative role due to an injury.  I was a Military Policeman, and dreamed of being recognized for my exceptional performance in law enforcement.  I was frustrated about the administrative role, preferring to lead my law enforcement team. While my attitude was terrible, I made the role my own and created a number of systems to organize my section, gaining recognition of leadership several levels above mine.  For this work I received a coveted Challenge Coin, a token for a job well done, from a leader I highly respected; a humbling experience to say the least.  

There is no time like the present

“Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.”  I have heard this quote so many times, but it misses an important factor of success.  We should always be preparing for our next role by being exceptional in our current role.  It is easy to spend too much time time thinking about the future, and how great things will be when we just get to the next level.

Some of the best career advice I have ever received was during a new hire training.  “Be awesome at your day job, and pursue your passion.”  This is easier said than done, but when we focus on the task at hand, opportunities to pursue our passion tend to present themselves.  This can then give us an opportunity to pursue the job we want.

Positive attitude beats talent alone

“With great power comes great responsibility.”  Ben Parker left us with this wisdom in the Spiderman series.  Peter, of course, is too wise for his uncle, until it is too late.  Ah the wisdom of youth; it is amazing how much we know when we are young and how much less we know as we age.  Pride is a tough thing, thinking you know better than those who have walked the same path is dangerous.

“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”  My mother used this line with my brother and I so many times, and all these years later it is more true than it was then.  Sometimes our attitudes are the only thing holding us back.  Realizing that we can learn from everyone we encounter, having a humble attitude, and putting a smile on our face when we are ready to give up goes a long way.  Always looking for the good and positive in people and situations can help us grow and learn.

Seek outside perspectives

Writer Kahlil GIbran said, “When we turn to one another for counsel we reduce the number of our enemies.”  It can be simple to look at our leaders, or those we work with and think of them as the problem.  Going to them and asking for their advice, in a humble and honest way, is almost always a growth opportunity for us, and a way to remove a potential roadblock to our dreams.

King Solomon of Israel reminds us, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”  Those who truly care about us, whether a spouse, a manager, or just a friend, will be willing to share the truth with us, but we must be willing to accept what they are telling us and act upon it.  We should all have people in our lives who will give us perspective, who care enough to help us work through our shortcomings, and who will keep us on our path to success.

I am thankful for the time I spent in the military, but as I reflect, I wish that I had been more present.  I spent too much time focused on things that were not important and I missed so many amazing opportunities.  My attitude was one of entitlement, they were lucky to have me.  I was frustrating to my leadership in many ways, challenging them when I should have realized they had my best interests in mind.  My biggest mistake though, by far, was thinking I had the answers.  Looking to those who were more experienced would have saved me so many arguments, and set my early career on a different path.

I carry the challenge coin with me now each day to remind me that I am where I need to be, and what I am doing is leading me to where I am needed next.  It is a small token, but we should all have something which reminds us that we are here to learn today, and we could all be a little more humble in our endeavors.

Previously I talked about my Unifi wireless configuration.  A critical part of ubiquity’s wireless is the controller.  In a traditional home wireless configuration, the router, wireless access point, controller, and often a small switch are all built into the same device.  This makes the system simpler, but far less powerful and flexible.

As I was exploring my options, I originally put the controller software on my mac mini we use as a media server.  This caused some issues with port mapping since it uses port 8080 and 8443.  One of my other media management products used port 8080 so I started looking for another solution.  I tried following the documentation, which entailed building MongoDB, a painstaking process on an arm processor, so I opted to install the Debian package from the Ubiquity website.  Pretty simple, but here are my lessons learned, and some quick shortcuts to get it done.  As a side note, this seems to work on a Raspberry pi B+, but the performance is pretty spotty.  The Raspberry pi 3 B+ is much more suited to the task.

The first step is to install the latest version of raspian.  I opted for the “lite” version since I have no need for the desktop interface.  Once you boot up and go through the basic setup, including the wifi configuration, you will need to grab the latest package from the the Ubiquity site, https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi/.  Make sure you grab the debian package as noted here.

Installing the package is pretty straight forward.  SSH into the Raspberry PI and run the following after you download the software.

sudo dpkg -i unifi_sysvinit_all.deb

This should return several errors.  To fix this, run the following commands.

sudo apt-get install -f

sudo dpkg -i unifi_sysvinit_all.deb

The second run of dpkg may or may not be necessary, but I like to be thorough.

Once that is done, simply open a browser on your computer and go to http://<raspberry pi ip>:8080.  It will walk you through a pretty simple setup, and voila, you are done.

I did look at the cloud key, but for the extra cost, the reviews didn’t seem positive.  At the cost of the Raspberry PI it is a simple and cost effective controller with minimal setup/maintenance.