672: Wi Hyphen Fi
https://atp.fm/672

The truth about Wi-Fi 7, the DRAM shortage, the state of Thread and Matter, and two of the worst (or best?) proposals to improve macOS window management.

@atpfm on topic of contacts….
There needs to be a way to be able to differentiate between people of the same name without adding stuff to the name itself.

My brother and uncle have the same name and I’m forced to add “brother” to end of name. There are other fields that I can add that to - but they don’t show up in caller id…

@atpfm I have thoughts on WiFi 7.
I've upgraded (Ubiquiti) APs through the last few revisions; AP AC Pro then Enterprise 6, now U7 Pro in late 2024. Not for any real reason, just for funsies (and to have WiFi 7 APs for my shiny new iPhone 16 Pro w/WiFi 7).

I cannot recommend wasting any effort on WiFi 7 at this point. It's been a rocky road with iPhone/Ubiquiti bugs for at least the first 6mo, and even now I think it's worse than just using WiFi 6.

You're forced into WPA3 which means some devices aren't compatible and you need to type in your password again on every single device. As a result I run a separate SSID for my 7 devices.

WiFiMan finally shows MLO functionality but I still think it’s buggy in terms of properly reporting signal strength on a given band.

6GHz range is awful which means, I guess, you're relying on MLO switching quickly enough to 5GHz when you leave the room with the AP you're connected to.

I've occasionally managed to break 1Gbps, but honestly I typically see around 400-600Mbps which is really no better than I saw with my old Enterprise 6 APs anyway.

With this new info about MLO not being simultaneous I'm thinking of (once again) disabling 6ghz to see if my stability improves.

@atpfm re DTS - given you get 2 a year or whatever, why not set an alarm for each year a month or two before expiry to just submit your 2 “white whale” 🐳 issues or wish list items to get Apple eyeballs on them.
Seems a waste to let them go, and given you will have two fresh ones soon enough (or can buy more if the world is on fire 🔥 in your app).

I have to think a lot to developers let them go to waste too. If more used them, those weird rough edges might get a lot smoother fairly quickly.

@atpfm You may want to check out this YT–video: https://youtu.be/MiUHjLxm3V0?si=bK19bkDwYZiGzNFo
It shows the machine that makes the chips. It’s huge. The first part of the video is about EUV technology and the latter part is about ASML and its machines.

@atpfm @caseyliss

If you are running Home Assistant in a docker container, you should probaly switch to HAOS, which is there “supervised” custom OS. I am fairly certain they have stopped officially supporting the standalone container.

You can run HAOS in a VM on your Mac Mini or Synology (I probaly would use the Mini since VM’s on Synology are quirky). Alternatively you can get dedicated HW.

@atpfm looks like window hiding was not added until System 7 (https://infinitemac.org/1991/System%207.0), even the final release of System 6 with MultiFinder had no hiding (or application menu at all - https://infinitemac.org/1991/System%206.0.8)

@atpfm Not about this episode, but listening the pizza member show, and wondering why @siracusa does not go to Pino's in Cleveland Circle.

@jranft I've tried it, and it was so-so, IMO.

@atpfm
Regarding @caseyliss and his home assistant questions: here is a thread you need to read: https://retro.social/@ifixcoinops/113449116942689314 - yes. All of it. It pays off, promise.

@atpfm I’m glad you've been talking about archived contacts. I’ve wanted this for years. There are people I would never want to phone again, but I’d still like to know it’s them in case they phone me. And I’d like to retain a named history of calls and messages.
Also, I’d never be able to delete my late wife as a contact, even though I will never message her again. But it can be jarring to see lost loved ones in the main list.

@atpfm I remember that contact groups weren't very well supported on Apple's own platforms. Has that improved? I remember crazy stuff like you could create groups on one device, but only could filter them on another, and other silly limitations.

@atpfm @siracusa I’m sure I’m not first with this followup, but that PlayStation Portal doesn’t even have WiFi 6.

@atpfm @siracusa I’ve also been considering a PlayStation Portal for remote play. Incredibly it only has Wi-Fi 5! Its core job is to stream over Wi-Fi and they didn’t even ship it with the same Wi-Fi generation as the PS5.

FWIW I’ve been using a Backbone One controller with my iPhone for remote play with good results.

@siracusa @jranft facts. I lived across the street in college for a little while, in a brownstone owned by an MIT professor who filled the back stairwell with papers. That place was ok for late-night emergency pizza.

@sayrer @siracusa It's the best in Boston if you like New York style slices/pies, but I know that's not for everybody. Frank Pepe is good if you like New Haven style.

@jranft No way. Regina in the North End is the best NY-style pizza in Boston.

@atpfm Regarding your discussion about Wi-Fi 7: I spent a lot of time with my setup. I connected the incoming fiber cable directly to an Ubiquiti router and ran a CAT6A cable to the 4K Apple TV in the living room just to find out at that the local TV provider Telia streams live TV at 5-10 Mbps. 🤷‍♂️

@siracusa Good point. I can't argue that though I prefer Pino's. Fun fact. Many think Joe's in the East Village is NY's best. Well, Joe's was started by the same Joe who started Pino's. https://blog.slicelife.com/joes-pizza-pinos-boston-new-york/

@atpfm a bit late but to react to @caseyliss issues with HA and docker, my recommendation would be to not have such critical part of his installation run inside Docker inside a Synology. This should be used only for things that can afford to break or be limited. For the core of your home automation, you want a dedicated raspberry (or similar headless compute).