Aztech Wall-Plugged Wireless-N Access Point (WL576E)

by

The office of the church I attend, was facing Wifi connectivity issues – some areas in the office had poor Wifi signal. I thought of adding another wireless access point (AP) there to boost the signal and lucky for me, there was a free LAN port available in that area.

Found this Aztech Wall-Plugged Wireless N-Access Point at a PC fair. It was suitable for the purpose and pretty cheap too – cost only RM75 (about USD23).

Aztech-firstpic

To get started, I plugged it into the power source and connected my notebook to the default Wifi connection from the device. I logged into the device settings from my internet browser.
IP: 192.168.1.1; Username: admin; Password: admin

Next, I created a separate IP address (under Network > Local) for this device so that it doesn’t conflict with the existing router’s IP.
(Once you do this, the AP needs to restart and you would need to use the new IP to log in).

Aztech Interface 1

Third, I created a unique SSID name (the name that will appear when you looking to connect to a Wifi network) and selected a channel (both under Wireless > Settings).

Aztech Interface 2a

Using the Wifi Analyzer app on my Blackberry Q10, I checked to see which channels were less crowded in that area and choose that. (Note: If you are using the same SSID and password as your first AP, ensure that the channels are different.)

Wifi Analyzer 1aSample screenshot of the Wifi Analyzer app

Lastly, I set a password for the SSID (under Wireless > Security) and changed the device admin password (under System > Password) to avoid anyone from logging into the device settings.

Aztech Interface 3

Aztech Interface 4

It worked really well and was very easy to set-up. I particularly like the compact size and the fact that it doesn’t require any power cables.

The signal range was pretty good for a small device without external antennas. To give you a rough idea, I could get 3 bars from about 55 feet away from the device (I was standing outside the office).

Like any other office, it had cubicles, doors and partitions in the way; the range might be different for you depending on where you place the device, and its surroundings.

IMG_00000412WL576E on the job

You can find more info from the official website here.

Updated To 10.2.1

by

When 10.2 was officially released for my Blackberry Q10, I was super excited. It came with a host of updates and the following features was pretty cool to me:-

  • Message preview from the lock screen
  • View and reply incoming messages directly from any app, and
  • The Android Jelly Bean runtime 4.2.2 allowed me to sideload more apps (though I was still not successful in loading OneNote).

But all that was forgotten when I heard about the next update – 10.2.1. In this version, you can install Android apps directly to your phone! (Previously you had to convert the apk files to bar files and then sideload it to BB10.)

10.2.1 has not been officially released yet but I couldn’t wait. I updated my Q10 with the leaked version from here and it was awesome!

IMG_00000329

I just had to sideload the Amazon Appstore and 1Mobile Market apk files for the first time. (Guide to sideloading can be found here.)

After that, it was almost as if I was installing apps on my Kindle Fire – super easy. I’ve just started playing around with the stores – some apps work, some don’t. But it does help close the gap on the limitations of Blackberry Appworld.

So if you willing to take the risk, go ahead and give it a try. (But do so at your own risk).

IMG_000003341Mobile Market running on my Q10

 

IMG_00000336Amazon Appstore

 

IMG_00000335Some of the working apps that I download from the stores – the new LinkedIn Pulse, Waze, and official Youtube app

 

IMG_00000330 v1Another cool feature – customise your Dropdown menu

6 USB Port Charger (Model No. TC02-iG)

by

I’m not sure why I bought this 6 in 1 charger. It’s not like I have to charge 6 devices at the same time. I was caught up in the hype with my friends looking at this online deal – if you bought 2, you get a discount.

Well I have it now.

image

But what I really want to share is the indications on the device. If you look closely, you can see some marking on the right side of the devices – 4 is marked ‘i’ and 2 of it is marked ‘G’ .

image

After some searching I found the same product on Amazon UK. Under the product description, it states the following:-

Instructions:
1. If you want to charge iPad, please connect it to the USB port of 1, 2, 3, or 4.
2. If you want to charge sumgalaxy Ipad (I think there a typo error in the ad), please connect it to the USB port of 5 or 6.

So ‘i’ is for charging iPad and ‘G’ is for charging Galaxy Tab.

The output requirements for my iPad 2 is 5.1V 2.1A. I don’t have a Galaxy Tab but from the net, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 requires 5V 2A. So there’s a slight difference there.

I found this article useful on how different devices work on different USB ports – gives you an idea of what type of charger to buy for your device.