324: Update Your Gateway, We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Topics:

-Jerry compares a client to an itchy mosquito bite. He also references one of our old favorite methods of troubleshooting - removing items in the /var/folders directory.

-While working on an iMac, Jerry hears that “pop” sound and immediately knows that it is the stand hinge has snapped. One method of repair is from “The Mac Hack”:
https://themachack.com

-Joe questions the organization and direction of icons on the Mac. Sam compares it to a direct opposite of Windows desktop icons.

-The Ubiquiti UniFi initial splash screen raises unnecessary alarm bells

-Ever since diagnosing the Cloud Key disconnects as being power related, Joe’s team has had major strides in stability of the gen 1 Cloud Key by connecting to power as opposed to relying on POE.

-Sam has some follow up on using his offsite controller and adopting his client devices into sites

-Although discussed before, figuring out how to sell additional services like UniFi monitoring to existing clients is a challenge

-Autofill options in Safari were prompting for Keychain credentials with one of Joe’s clients. After some research, he found similar instances with a laptop in clamshell mode. The odd fix was to disable Touch ID for use in Safari.

-As regular listeners are aware of, Jerry has recently located. He has an odd story of unmarked trucks making deliveries from Amazon. With enough pushback, he was able to push for a change to licensed drivers and companies.

321: Green Acres

Topics:

-Special thanks to Puelle Design in Portland, Maine for hosting Joe's mobile recording studio this week.

-Joe is in the Northeast! He is visiting family for some milestones before heading on the road again

-Jerry is in the midst of a move to a new home and new headquarters of MacWorks.  He calls it the reverse Green Acres.

-After having a car mishap, Jerry discovers CarPlay in his rental car

-A recurring theme for our show has been value based billing and, of course managed services plans.  Joe & Jerry share ideas about their formulas for monthly billing.  Ideas like billing per user or per device, preset hours per month, and services used are among the topics of discussion.

-Prepaid discounts are an enticing way for clients to buy in to ongoing services.  “Monthly check-ins” are also something that clients seem to be drawn to.

-Do you install Watchman Monitoring on client devices for free as a “loss leader” or break even point?  What happens if you end the relationship?

-Jerry has a couple of funny client anecdotes with his classic impersonations

-He also has his fair share of gripes

-Joe's client had an issue in Calendar on her Mac: "The server responded with an error. There is insufficient storage space for "event title" in "calendar name" in account "iCloud". The choices were Try Again, Ignore, or Revert to Server. He removed a calendar she didn't need that only had a few events on it, and it solved the problem. Then we added a few tests, and she seemed to hit the limit again. We then moved a calendar with a lot of events to a local On My Mac calendar for archival purposes, and instructed the client to move needed events back onto a calendar on the server. Hasn't happened since.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202158

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317: Working On & Working In

Topics:

-Joe kicks off the show bringing up leisure time and time management 

-Working ON the business vs working IN the business

-A challenge for Sam is meeting interruptions that occur when clients reach out. Not just for him but for his staff

-Sam may be on the lookout for a new hire but does he look for an admin or a tech?

-The CCP crew are very appreciative of the collective audience and their feedback/advice

-“This is not for everyone”. Sam comes to the realization that running a business isn’t something everyone can handle. 

-A continual question for Sam is taking on Windows clients. 

-Joe explores marketing new services to current clients as a method of increasing revenue. For instance, offering Ubiquiti installations for clients in need of upgraded Wi-Fi. 

-QuickTime screen recording to the rescue for Sam as he tries to see a message that quickly disappears on his screen

-Joe has some follow up to how he sets up his clients with individual Ubiquiti UniFi controllers. While Sam is moving to a central controller, specific logins per client is something they agree on. 

-Cloud Key stability has plagued all of us. After some research, Joe has dug up information about the Mongo database and how it is prone to failure during a power loss. To combat this, Joe discusses his backup power plan for the Cloud Key. 

-After a recent discussion with Christopher Stout on Episode 311, Sam is looking to setup a closed system like UniFi, Synology Surveillance Station or Security Spy

-Sam learns some interesting details from a SonicWALL vendor about true throughput 

-Friend of the show, Weldon Dodd points out a great write up by Rich Trouton on his site, Derflounder. It’s an interesting piece about enabling Touch ID for sudo commands.

316: Wi-Fi On A Stick

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Topics:

-Sam has a first run working with the ”Wi-Fi on a stick” method of mapping out Wi-Fi. He uses a product from wifistand.com and NetSpot to create a map":
https://wifistand.com

-Joe brings up a great tool called Magic Plan to create floor plans on iOS:
https://www.magicplan.app/en/

-The nanoHD is a particular Ubiquiti model that same used and likes to deploy

-Joe warns of things to be aware of when scouting out an environment for Wi-Fi

-Another new monthly service that Sam is offering is hosting a UniFi controller in his environment to manage firmware updates and alerts. Joe weighs the responsibilities that comes with such an offering.

-Joe throws Sam a curve ball explaining how he has a singular login for his clients

-Another issue in the long line of networking troubles that Sam has experienced: finding incompatibility between a SonicWall and WAN connection at a NYC client. The fix? A dumb switch!

-That story rings a bell for Joe who has a similar story to tell about a Zywall and WAN connection that turned out to be a multi pronged problem.

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315: The Skeleton Just Popped Up!

Topics:

-Jerry has a “non-technical” gripe about health bowls he wants to share

-Drink every time Joe says açaí

-To bring it back to technology, Jerry has issues with the motivational announcements on the Nike Run app

-Client perceptions and marketing terms often are deceiving

-clients that won’t spend money are nothing new. But Joe & Jerry dive deeper into the disfunctional relationships that persist through time.

-The “computer friend” is a red flag

-A potential customer approaches Jerry about doing project work or “cost plus” work before establishing an ongoing relationship

-A move to G Suite ends up being a challenge for Jerry as he gets bounced around support.

-Joe flips the conversation to show when clients can be correct and prove us wrong

-A shoutout to TidBITS Content Network (https://tcn.tidbits.com)

and all that they provide to us on a regular basis, as well as the bonus material during Apple announcements

-Joe compares directing a client to your blog to explain something as a customized “Let Me Google That For You”

-Sam wishes he was a part of the conversation as Jerry & Joe have a good ole’ fashioned gripe session about client habits

-“Oh no the skeleton popped up” - One of Joe’s clients saw Apple's branding for WWDC on apple.com and thought it was a result of her recent hacking, calling it a skeleton

314: Give Your Dough To The Baker

Topics:

-Sam has some follow up regarding his “Ubiquiti Hell” from a few weeks ago.  In the end, it turned out to be a bad UniFi USG device.

-Joe has some wise sayings to share that ring true in our industry and the value we bring as consultants:
"Let the Baker Bake the Bread, even if he takes half the Dough" - Persian Saying 

“Give your Dough to the Baker, even if he will eat half the bread.” 

-Sam says we are like bomb technicians.  “You are paying us to know which wire to cut.”

-Jerry has some follow up about two factor authentication being baked in to one of our favorite apps, 1Password.  This was brought to our attention by long time listener, Michael Reinhart.

-Jerry is curious about the various methods of how 1Password can sync you data and what Joe & Sam use

-1Password’s secure options for recovering your security related data can sometimes be off-putting for some users and drive them away from password management tools

-1Password has an affiliate program that is fairly easy to sign up for.  It is run by commission junction.

-Moving back to Addigy territory, Joe expresses his frustrations with the interface at times

-Joe shares a tip about creating a custom table view. There is a view option in the column toggle icon in the top right of the Devices list.  Then you can adjust it and Save the changes using the table view menu in the top left of the Devices list.

-Joe encourages the group to scratch beneath the surface of Addigy and find resources available in the community

-For Sam, he’s been utilizing Addigy to enable MDM features like white listing Kernel Extensions (KEXT) and deploying PPPC profiles.  In the case of PPPC, there is a great Git Hub project that makes the process easier for those who are not familiar with these profiles:
https://github.com/jamf/PPPC-Utility

-Joe covers the topic of User Approved MDM and Sam tags along with a discussion of Apple Business Manager and enrolling into MDM at Setup Assistant.

-Another Git Hub project, UMAD, provides a nice GUI interface to encourage your users to onboard and enroll into UAMDM
https://github.com/erikng/umad