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September 24, 2026

How to Test a Ubiquiti Product Using iPerf2

How to Test a Ubiquiti Wave Pro Network Link Using iPerf2
When you install or troubleshoot a high-speed wireless link, looking at the radio's signal strength and connection status only tells part of the story. The real question is simple: how much usable network performance can I actually get across the link? One of my favorite ways to answer that question is with iPerf. In this video, I demonstrate a real-world throughput test using iPerf2 across a Ubiquiti Wave Pro radio link. It is a simple test, but it provides much more useful information than simply looking at the radio's reported link speed. By generating actual TCP traffic between two endpoints, iPerf lets you measure the performance of the network path itself.

September 22, 2026

Closing the Dark Hours Security Gap

Closing the Dark Hours Security Gap (RICH VAN DE GROENEKAN)

Executive Summary

Most organizations actively monitor their security environment during the roughly eight "light hours" of the business day. The remaining sixteen hours — plus weekends and holidays — represent the highest-risk, lowest-visibility window in the entire security posture. Bad actors know this, and they deliberately exploit these "dark hours" for reconnaissance, lateral movement, and data exfiltration precisely because defenders have reduced eyes on the network.

September 21, 2026

How Network Data and Signal Graphs Prove a Wireless Improvement Worked

How Network Data and Signal Graphs Prove a Wireless Improvement Worked
When making changes to a wireless network, it is important to measure the results rather than simply assume the change was successful. A grest example is when I was working with a team aligning a pair of point to point Ubiquiti Wave Pro radios. An antenna may look properly positioned after an adjustment, but visual inspection alone cannot tell you whether the wireless link actually improved. Collecting radio and network performance data before, and after the change provides objective evidence and gives you a reliable way to determine whether the adjustment produced the expected result.

September 20, 2026

EU Just Slapped ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox With Its Toughest Tech Rules — Here's What It Actually Means

EU Just Slapped ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox With Its Toughest Tech Rules — Here's What It Actually Means
If you've been following the EU's crackdown on Big Tech, add three new names to the list: ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox. On August 31, 2026, the European Commission officially designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE), while Reddit and Roblox got tagged as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This isn't a lawsuit or a fine — it's a regulatory classification, but it's the kind that comes with serious strings attached. All three services crossed the DSA's magic number of 45 million average monthly EU users, which is the trigger threshold for landing in this "top tier" of oversight alongside giants like Google Search, YouTube, TikTok, and Meta's platforms. That brings the EU's VLOP/VLOSE list to 28 services total.

September 19, 2026

Internet Protocol Journal: IPv6, Internet Geolocation, and the Future of Network Security

Internet Protocol Journal: IPv6, Internet Geolocation, and the Future of Network Security

If you're interested in networking, Internet protocols, or the technology that keeps the modern Internet running, the latest issue of the Internet Protocol Journal is definitely worth a look. The current edition is Volume 29, Number 2, September 2026, and it focuses on several topics that should be familiar to anyone working with networks today. The issue includes articles on IPv6, Internet geolocation, cybersecurity, and a review of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0.

September 16, 2026

Server Down? Here's How I Investigated and Fixed it

Immich Server Down? Here's How I Fixed It.

My Immich server threw a wall of 5xx errors out of nowhere, so I did what any self-hosted homelabber would do: SSH into the box and start digging. First stop was PostgreSQL, since Immich leans on it hard for pretty much everything. Running `docker compose ps` inside `/opt/immich` showed the database container stuck in a crash loop — restarting and dying within seconds, which explained why the rest of the stack looked "healthy" while search and uploads were completely broken.

September 14, 2026

Tessabyte by Netmantics: A Powerful Network Performance Testing Tool for LAN, Wi-Fi and WAN

Tessabyte by Netmantics: A Powerful Network Performance Testing Tool for LAN, Wi-Fi and WAN

Netmantics Tessabyte is worth a look if you need more than a basic internet speed test. Designed for network engineers and IT professionals, Tessabyte provides detailed performance testing for both wired and wireless networks. It measures important metrics such as TCP and UDP throughput, packet loss, jitter and round-trip time, giving you a much better picture of what is actually happening on the network. It was formerly known as TamoSoft Throughput Test before being acquired by Netmantics in 2024. 

September 11, 2026

Over 5 Million YouTube Views: Thank You for Watching!

Over 5 Million YouTube Views: Thank You for Watching!
Well, this is one of those numbers that makes me stop, stare at the screen, and wonder who has been watching all these videos! The The Technology Firm YouTube channel has officially passed 5 million views. Five million! When I started putting networking and technology videos online, I certainly wasn't sitting around thinking, "One day, five million people might watch me troubleshoot a network." Yet here we are. A huge thank-you goes out to everyone who has watched a video, left a comment, subscribed, shared a video, or simply stopped by when something on the network decided to misbehave.

The YouTube channel has always been a great companion to my technology blog, LoveMyTool.com. The blog gives me a place to go into more detail about networking tools, troubleshooting techniques, Wireshark, network testing, wireless technology, and all the other fun stuff that keeps network engineers from having a normal hobby. The YouTube channel, on the other hand, lets me actually demonstrate many of those techniques. Sometimes seeing a network test, packet capture, radio alignment, or troubleshooting process in action makes a lot more sense than reading three pages about it.

That is really where the two complement each other. A LoveMyTool.com article can explain why something works, provide configuration examples, screenshots, technical details, and additional resources. The YouTube channel can then show how it works in the real world. If you discover one of my videos while searching for a networking problem, there is often a related article on the blog with more information. Likewise, if you find an interesting article on the blog, there may be a video that lets you see the technology being tested rather than just taking my word for it. It's a pretty good combination: read about it, watch it, then go try it yourself.

Passing 5 million YouTube views is also a good reminder of how much the technology community has changed over the years. Networking isn't just about configuring switches and routers anymore. We have faster wireless networks, cloud services, increasingly complicated troubleshooting problems, packet analysis, network monitoring, performance testing, and enough acronyms to keep a technician busy for several lifetimes. I'm still having fun experimenting with all of it and sharing what I learn. And occasionally, something doesn't work the first time — which, conveniently, also makes for pretty good troubleshooting content!

So, thank you for 5 million views, and thank you for continuing to visit LoveMyTool.com and support the blog. The views, comments, questions, suggestions, and feedback are what keep me creating new content. I'll keep testing equipment, breaking things, fixing things, capturing packets, pointing antennas in the right direction, and occasionally wondering why something worked perfectly yesterday. If you're new here, welcome aboard. Check out the blog, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and stick around for the next 5 million views. At this rate, I guess I had better get back to work!


September 10, 2026

400,000 Views and Counting — Thank You for Supporting LoveMyTool

400,000 Views and Counting — Thank You for Supporting LoveMyTool

Well, apparently I’ve been writing about networking long enough that people actually keep coming back to read it! LoveMyTool.com has now passed 400,000 views, which is pretty amazing when I think about it. When I started the blog, I certainly didn't have a 400,000-view master plan. I was mostly trying to document things I was learning, testing networking tools, and hopefully saving someone else from spending three hours troubleshooting something that could have been fixed in five minutes. As anyone who works in IT knows, that five-minute fix usually comes after three hours of Googling.

Recover Your WiFi Password from Android Using the QR Code Feature and NO Root Access

Recover Your WiFi Password from Android Using the QR Code Feature and NO Root Access

Losing track of a WiFi password is one of the most common tech headaches households and small offices face. Routers get set up once, the password gets typed into a dozen devices, and then the sticky note with the credentials disappears into the void. Knowing how to recover a WPA password directly from an Android device means you're never locked out of your own network. Instead of resetting the router (which wipes custom settings and disconnects every other device), you can pull the password straight from a phone that's already connected — a much faster and less disruptive fix.

September 07, 2026

How to Properly Terminate Ethernet Cable with a Pass-Through RJ45 Connector

Pass-Through RJ45 Connectors Explained: A Better Way to Terminate Ethernet Cables
Every network troubleshooting project eventually reaches the point where you have to stop testing and actually fix the problem. In this case, the problem was a suspect female RJ45 connection that didn't need to be there in the first place. Since the Ethernet cable was going directly into a wireless access point, I decided to remove that extra connection point and terminate the cable with a male RJ45 plug instead. It's a simple change, but it illustrates an important networking principle: every connector, coupler, patch panel and termination introduces another potential point of failure. Sometimes the most reliable repair isn't replacing a component with another component—it's eliminating the unnecessary component altogether.

September 06, 2026

Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I (1977/1978): History, Specs, and Fun Facts About the Home Computer That Started It All

 

When people talk about the birth of the personal computer revolution, names like Apple and Commodore usually get most of the attention. But one machine deserves far more credit: the Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I. Introduced in August 1977 and sold widely through Radio Shack stores during 1978, the TRS-80 became one of the first mass-market home computers available to ordinary consumers. It was affordable, easy to find, and came from a retailer that already had thousands of locations across North America. For many families, students, and hobbyists, the TRS-80 was their very first computer.

September 05, 2026

Critical NASA AIT-GUI Security Flaws Could Allow Unauthenticated Spacecraft Commands

Critical NASA AIT-GUI Security Flaws Could Allow Unauthenticated Spacecraft Commands

A newly disclosed security issue affecting NASA/JPL's AMMOS Instrument Toolkit GUI (AIT-GUI) is a good reminder that traditional web application vulnerabilities can become extremely serious when they are connected to physical systems. AIT-GUI is used as a browser-based interface for controlling spacecraft and scientific instruments, and researchers found that affected versions exposed critical functions without proper authentication, authorization, or CSRF protection. In the worst-case scenario, an attacker who could reach the vulnerable service could potentially send commands to connected equipment without logging in. The advisory rated the issue Critical, with a CVSS score of 9.4, and identifies AIT-GUI versions 2.5.1 and earlier as affected.

September 03, 2026

12 Essential TCP Concepts Explained Simply — A Must‑Watch Deep Dive for Networking Pros

12 Essential TCP Concepts Explained Simply — A Must‑Watch Deep Dive for Networking Pros

The video breaks down the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) into 12 clear, digestible ideas that help viewers truly understand how data reliably moves across the internet. Instead of overwhelming you with jargon, it walks through each concept—like Sequence Numbers, Acknowledgment Numbers, and Window Size—in a way that feels intuitive and practical. Whether you're a student, a network engineer, or someone brushing up on fundamentals, this guide makes TCP’s inner workings feel accessible and even enjoyable.