I guess I'm a typical guy. I'm a gadget freak and technology fan. After getting my local weather station connected, I started thinking about what else I can get 'wired' up and connected to the Internet.
I'm not including my cell phone, computer and tablets. Those are all devices that we know can be connected. I'm talking about devices that normally just stand alone, but not are Internet enabled or now becoming the 'Internet of Things' or IoT.
Things like security cameras, weather station, Thermostats, doorbell and even a bathroom scale can now be connected. All these are accessible on a computer or with an app on your phone or tablet.
Here is my list of connected gadgets. I recommend looking on Craiglist for the best price. People often have new versions of these devices and give them away at half the retail price:
AcuRite Weather Station → Weather Underground → website
Foscam PTZ camera → Camera 1 site → Camera 2 site
Outdoor Sricam IP Garage Camera → website
YI Ants Camera → appsite
Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat RTH9580WF Thermostat → website
iCam on my computer
Greenridge HOA Park cameras
Ring Doorbell with camera → website
Nest Thermostat → website
Fitbit Aria Wifi Scale → website
Amazon Tap Wifi and Bluetooth speaker
Amazon Fire TV Stick
Google Chromecast
With all these connected devices, I had to upgrade my Wifi router from an ASUS RT-N56U (2011) to a Netgear Nighthawk X4 R7500. I started noticing that when streaming video my PC to my Xbox 360, I would get hesitation in the stream. I had around 30 connected devices all taking a toll on my router. While not every device is active at one time, it still consume CPU cycles to keep up with all the connections. After updating my router, my video hesitations stopped. I also upgraded my cable modem to a Zoom 5341J and now get over 100Mbps download speed with Time Warner. It is a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem with speed up to 343 Mbps, which is faster than most people internet network speed.
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