How to Test a Ubiquiti Product 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.

Closing the Dark Hours Security Gap

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.

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.

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.

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.

Server Down? Here's How I Investigated and 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.

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. 

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Why "It's Probably the Cable" Should Send You to the Field

Every network tech has said it at least once: "It's probably the cable." And every network tech has also, at least once, been dead wrong about which cable, why, or how. If you've ever spent forty-five minutes staring at a switch port graph trying to divine the future from a packet loss chart, this one's for you. Nothing — and I mean nothing — replaces walking to the actual jack, patch panel, or connector and looking at it with your own two eyeballs. Due to recent advancements in technology you can do this remotely over a video call, i do it all the time.

The Lightning‑Bolt Express: When LapLink Ruled the Earth

Long before cloud storage, Wi-Fi, and services like OneDrive made moving files between computers almost effortless, there was LapLink. For many PC users, LapLink was one of the simplest ways to connect two computers and transfer files, folders, and settings. The software became especially popular during the DOS and early Windows era, when networking two PCs could be far more complicated than it is today. What looked like a simple yellow cable and a piece of software was actually a clever solution to a very common technical problem: how do you get data from one computer to another without a network?

Nine PBS’ 50TB Data Disaster: How 70 Years of TV History Got Trapped in the Cloud

Nine PBS in St. Louis has found itself dealing with a nightmare scenario for anyone responsible for long-term data storage: the data apparently still exists, but the organization can't access it. The public television station is fighting to recover more than 50 terabytes of archival material representing roughly 70 years of programming and regional history. The archive includes coverage of major events such as the Great Flood of 1993, the COVID-19 pandemic and the history of East St. Louis. The problem began when Nine PBS's cloud-storage provider, Open Source Storage (OSS), apparently ceased operations and stopped responding to the station. (link)

How to Configure Port Mirroring on a Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch Using a Simple Trick

Port mirroring is one of those networking features that sounds simple in theory but can be maddening to actually locate on a Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch. If you've ever opened the modern web GUI looking for a mirroring option and come up empty, you're not imagining things — the feature is tucked away behind the "Legacy Interface" toggle rather than sitting in the main dashboard where you'd expect it. Once you know to make that 'switch', configuring a mirrored port takes just a couple of minutes, but without that knowledge you can spend a frustrating amount of time clicking through menus that simply don't have what you need.

Connected to Wi-Fi But No Internet? How a Simple Cable Inspection and Link Test Solved the Mystery

One of the most common complaints network technicians hear is, "I can connect to the Wi-Fi, but I don't have internet access." While it's tempting to immediately start checking DHCP, DNS, VLANs, or wireless controller settings, the fastest path to the solution often begins with something much simpler: a careful physical inspection. In this troubleshooting video, I demonstrate why following a structured methodology is so important and how taking a few extra minutes to examine the hardware can save hours of unnecessary investigation.

Network Troubleshooting Quickstart

Whether you're dealing with a dropped WiFi connection, a switch that won't pass traffic, or a router that seems fine but isn't, knowing where to start is half the battle. In this fast-paced 90-second breakdown, I walk you through some ideas, layer-by-layer troubleshooting method — avoid guesswork, rebooting everything or blindly repacing equipment and hoping for the best. From the physical cable all the way up to DNS resolution, this video gives you a repeatable framework you can apply every single time your network goes down.

Your Smartphone vs. a 1985 Supercomputer: How a Cray-2 Loses to the Phone in Your Pocket

In 1985, the Cray-2 was the fastest computer on Earth — a liquid-cooled, room-sized beast that cost as much as a small hospital and hummed away at a blistering 1.9 GFLOPS. Fast forward to 2026, and the iPhone 16 Pro in your back pocket casually clears 2,000+ GFLOPS of FP32 compute. That's not a typo — your phone is roughly 1,000 times faster than what NASA and top research labs once fought over allocation time for. The Galaxy S25 Ultra pushes even further, hitting 2,500–3,500+ GFLOPS, making it up to 1,800 times faster than Seymour Cray's masterpiece. The supercomputer that once simulated nuclear tests and weather patterns for entire governments now loses a flat-out compute race to a device you use to scroll memes at breakfast.