394: Stupid Epson Printer & Nana’s Extension Cord

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Topics:

-We discuss where our businesses stand for the year after the financial affects of COVID

-Jerry & Joe share a moment discussing a job they collaborated on.

-What appeared to be a standard Wi-Fi upgrade takes a left turn as they have to focus on a printer that simply won’t connect.

-Is a wooden box waterproof?

-Did Sam need to be on the show this week?

-Joe finds that there is no reboot option in the GUI for the UniFi Dream Machine Pro so he describes how to SSH to the device and send a reboot command.

-From the Reddit Eero forum, Jerry has been hearing a lot of rumbling and negative feedback about the new Eero Pro 6. Joe backs up Eero’s responses.

-What Apple devices support Wi-Fi 6?

-As Joe assists a client with extending Wi-Fi coverage by phone, it creates more questions for us as far as billing and planning. While Sam thinks it takes less work, Joe counters that there is more work on the planning and preparing side of things.

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393: Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We hope 2021 is a healthy and successful one.

392: Super Spreader Clients

Topics:

-PsiMac and MacWorks joined forces for a Wi-Fi job. Sam was feeling very left out. 

-UniFi and Eero and go to equipment for Wi-Fi jobs. 

-Jerry & Joe go into detail about the job in an aging house with some wireless challenges.

-Using UniFi on this job, Joe talks about adjusting wireless uplink settings in the UniFi Dream Machine controller.

-Sam finally gets to join in and he gets into working with Eero on a job. He begins by dealing with an oddity where an entire network comes to a halt when a particular computer gets turned off.

-He learns some things with Eero like the lack of functionality when using the web interface vs the app.

-Since we are all doing more remotely, Joe takes us through a remote Eero setup. 

-Joe found that setting up this network was actually faster offsite. Which is good on the one hand for efficiency but also a negative for business reasons as it means less billable time. Sam finds similar results.

-Sam brings back an old favorite “pop quiz”, networking edition.

-Jerry has a PSA regarding a Synology with Seagate drives. Be careful where you buy from.

-Amazon had an offer to give a 20% credit on old routers but Jerry has a bad experience with his return.

391: The Nana Package

Topics:

-After our show with Jon Brown of Grove Technologies, Joe wanted to listen again to absorb the information on things like pricing models. 

-Sam is exploring option for changing up his monthly number to a tiered system, similar to Grove Technologies. 

-As they get into the tiered option, the hosts begin to discuss their thoughts about everything from profit to detail of services. 

-Joe talks about his model and how he includes a smaller monthly fee with a discount on pre-paid hours. 

-We revisit reselling services that our clients need. Even small numbers add up over time. Services like Microsoft 365, Backupify, BackBlaze are common. 

-Sam discusses the ease of use with Backupify and has a recent use case. 

-Dopbox Business Partner Program has a good incentive for partners who sign up. 

-What about Synology and local servers? Where do they fit in with our clients?

390: A Cesspool Of Covid

Topics:

-One of Sam’s clients shows off their new podcast studio. Sam stays silent about Command Control Power since he likely has spoken about them. 

-Joe blows Sam’s cover about how he used his new fancy Rode microphone backwards on a recent show. 

-We discuss our first mics. 

-As the guys check in about business status, Sam talks about a client that finally suspended monthly services. 

-Most recently, one of Jerry’s education clients had to request a quote from multiple vendors during a renewal period.

-A recent client call sounded like a Kobayashi Maru and an impossible feat to accomplish so Jerry & Joe figure, let’s refer Sam!

-Joe is really hoping to replace his janky MacBook Pro.

-As this show was recorded before the M1 announcement, Joe considers what new Mac computers will be on the horizon.

-Sam has a strange volume issue with his 2020 MacBook Air

-As we revisit the HP driver issue, Joe credits the MacAdmins Slack for pointing him in the right direction. 

-Joe questions the validation process.

-Should you just live off the grid?

-One of Joe’s clients designed software once used on the space shuttle.

389: Pandemic Update With Adam Engst of TidBITS Content Network

Topics:

-Adam Engst of TidBITS Content Network  joins us once again to talk business during COVID and some new opportunities.

-The last time we had Adam on was mid March, just after the world began to change.

-Joe observes how things are once again going in the wrong direction.

-As the president of his local runner’s club, he is always on the lookout for important news to evaluate risks.

-We discuss the effects this has had on people not just with work or physical health, but mental health as well.

-Adam and the crew kick around many interesting thoughts and ideas about society as a whole.

-What’s going to happen with office space and real estate as a whole after this is all said and done?

-As companies have had to pivot during these times, Adam talks about how TidBITS has begun working with a school in Australia to distribute technical information.

-This opportunity of working with institutions with large IT footprints could be a new avenue for TidBITS Content Network.