There’s a new broadband standard called G.fast with speeds up to 1Gbps over regular copper wires without the need for a fiber backbone. G.fast is scheduled to be approved by 2014. G.fast users should be able to install it without assistance. The self-installing system will eliminate costs for providers that they would have to pay for technicians. This could significantly improve the speed of the rollout. G.fast is meant to support bandwidth-intensive applications. Initial tests resulted 1.1Gbps over 70 meters and 800Mbps over 100 meters over a single cable. Consumers should expect G.fast connections to be available in 2015.
Archives for July 2013
NoCatSplash With Authentication
DD-WRT is an open-source Wi-Fi firmware that you can install on select consumer-based wireless routers. I’ve been using the DD-WRT firmware on several Linksys and Buffalo wireless access points for a number of years. In addition, I have also implemented a feature called NoCatSplash.
NoCatSplash is a feature that allows wireless users to be redirected to a special splash page, whether to notify users of a disclaimer, or to make users agree to certain terms and agreement, or simply to advertise a web page. The NoCatSplash feature will prevent users with access to the Internet until they click on the submit button, thereby agreeing to the terms and agreement.
What was lacking with NoCatSplash was authentication. So, with a little bit of research, I found someone’s code at Github that allows simple authentication with NoCatSplash. It’s written in PHP and doesn’t require a database. It’s quite simple, but works flawlessly. The login credentials are kept on a file and can be changed anytime you’ll need to change passwords.
I’ve modified his code to fit my needs. Suffice to say, the code works great as advertised.
The Perfect Raspberry Pi Home Server
Brian Trapp of Linux Journal recently wrote an article on how to create a perfect Raspberry Pi home server. The article talks about how to install an external USB drive, a Samba server for backup, a DLNA server, and a print server. The article is quite straightforward and easy to follow.