Category Archives: Technology

For the ones that think $9.99 a month is too much for Spotify

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This is an extract of one of the replies I wrote on a Techcrunch post.

I do not think $9.99 a month is ridiculous for unlimited streaming and caching of content @ 320 kbps OGG Vorbis compression. It is a heck of a deal for the quality offered and the quantity of music, including some rarities and remixes that are sold at over $1.29 per track on Amazon.

I undestand some people like to own and Spotify will not satisfy that requirement. However, it allows you to listen to all types of music, including new content that is published almost on a daily basis in high quality (that last is very important for me), and then you can decide if purchasing it for life is a good option (Amazon, GMusic, iTunes, whatever).

This is my take about purchasing music. First. Very limited content is available in loss-less format. If I am going to pay, might as well be for the best quality available. Second. You cannot resell digital content legally. You take the music with you until your next life.

I have playlists totaling over 5,000 songs in Spotify. I listen to them randomly anytime, anywhere. And continuously add new content. I would be out of my mind if I were to spend $5K in music. $9.99 a month sounds good enough. Good for 41 years worth of music service, and that is if I do not add more songs to Spotify. Unbeatable.

Convenience wins. iCloud you might say? Wrong. You can’t stream with iCloud. You need to have a local copy of the track on the device you will play back.

Comments?

Netflix on iPad/iPhone does not work when connected to a router running DD-WRT [Fix]

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I was pretty frustrated when I realized that for firing up my new iPad I needed to install iTunes to my desktop. On top of that, I needed to add a credit card number to download a free application from the App Store. I worked it around by generating a one-time number from citicards.

I decided to install Netflix and did not work, even tried resintalling and changing SSIDs. The only way to make it work was by using a backup SSID from the U-Verse router.

After researching I found out that the DNSMasq package from DD-WRT thinks that the connection from Netflix on the iPad looks like a DNS Rebinding attack.

There are a couple of workarounds:

  1. Use a different DNS server in the iPad/iPhone wireless configuration, like the one provided by OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222
  2. Add a startup rule to DD-WRT to stop DNS rebinding:
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killall dnsmasq
sed -i -e 's/^stop-dns-rebinding/#&/' /tmp/dnsmasq.conf
dnsmasq --conf-file=/tmp/dnsmasq.conf

I pursued the second workaround as it allowed me to keep the wireless connection “stock”. Netflix is now working properly on my iPad.

Stop DNS rebinding

Stop DNS rebinding

Cisco E2000 Router is solid when flashed with DD-WRT [Networking]

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Over a year ago I owned a Linksys WRT-54G V4 router configured as the main and a Netgear WNR8348 configured as a repeater bridge. Both running DD-WRT on wireless G. The solution was rock solid.

After several months, I decided to go the N route and got a Trendnet TEW-637AP and sold the Linksys. A very bad move. The Trendnet would not work as a repeater bridge (or client bridge), so I installed it as main router instead. The Netgear WNR8348, then configured as repeater bridge, started dropping packets and lost connectivity consistently.

Later I replaced the Netgear with an Asus RT-N12 and gave it away. I ended up in worse shape as the Asus lost connectivity every 15 minutes when copying large files; Netflix streaming was just impossible. I tried all kinds of configs (N, G, mixed, 20 Mhz, 40 Mhz, different power settings, you name them). It just did not work.

I was frustrated to the point of thinking about running physical cable but did not execute as it was going to be a very challenging task.

Last attempt to migrate to Wireless N:

I decided to give it a try to a pair of Cisco E2000 routers to replace my repeater bridges which got flashed with DD-WRT as soon as they arrived. I was really surprised with the positive results they gave me after transferring ISO files over wireless, to the point that they were maxing out my PC LAN port consistently. The only change I made was to lower the TX rate to 50 mW (default is 70 mW). The main Asus streaming wireless router is configured to serve N Only connection at channel 7 (2.4 Ghz) and Turbo Channel Width (40 Mhz).

Maxing out the LAN port

Maxing out the LAN port

From now on, I will stick with Cisco or Linksys for my networking needs.

This is how my home network is configured currently:

Home Network

Home Network

Your Smartphone. What if you lose it? [Security]

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Ever thought of that scenario? Not yet? Better start thinking about it now. If you work for a large corporation you might already be backed up by an enterprise level security system, but if you are not, then it’s time to get something in place to protect your information.

Work/Personal email, text messaging, sensitive documents, Facebook, Twitter, personal banking applications; you name them. An stranger can get access to them very easily (with banking application might be trickier, but at least they can try).

I use two products to protect my Android based phone in the case it gets lost or stolen.

  1. Protector, an application that allows to setup a pin to access certain applications (fully configurable). This is very useful when you want to lend your smartphone to a friend for them to search but not allow them to open your email inbox for example.
  2. Lookoput (available for Android, Windows Mobile and Blackberry). Protects your phone from viruses and backs up your information to their systems (calls, sms, etc). If you pay you get the premium options to locate, remote lock and remote wipe. These last 3 are the most important features for me.
Lookout

Lookout

There are several other products out there you can try yourself.

Good Luck!