There is always a balance between security and convenience.  There are also times when there are too many controls that lead to too much inconvenience.  In short, the balance for the need of controls should match the situation and the environment – not too little and not too much.  This article looks at the benefits of not using an administrative account for regular daily computing.1616

I usually run my own computer with two user accounts.  One standard account for daily usage and one administrative account for software installations and system configuration changes.  The advantage of running on a password-protected limited account are the pop-ups that occur when additional privileges are needed to perform a certain task on the computer.  Because a password is required, it tends to make one think a bit more to the potential consequences when providing the administrative override.  Should the administrative account not have a password, the “Yes/No” prompts are just too easy to click through without reading.

(Photo from CCMEXEC.COM)

Because of the lack of administrative permissions, the likelihood of performing system wide damage is reduced as the most damage malicious code would be able to do without permission is damage only to an individual user’s profile.  This makes the cleanup process for simpler with the ability simply to re-create the user account and copy back one’s important data rather than having to wipe out the entire operating system and reinstall all the programs.  This can take hours to do should one not be restoring from a system image backup.  The use of a limited account is also an enterprise best practice.

Additional Information

Ready to create and start using a limited account?  Here are some guides to show you how!

Windows 7 Limited User Account Tutorial
Windows 8 Limited User Account Tutorial
Windows 10 Limited user Account Tutorial

I recently purchased additional Open Mesh units.  Last year, I installed a single OM2P router in the center of the house.  While this was good, there were still a couple of dead spots which went unnoticed in rarely used rooms in the house.  Time to add more repeating nodes to the network.

[Disclaimer: Open Mesh does not pay JAMM for this endorsement.  The author recommends Open Mesh products and provides this solution to customers.]

The beauty of mesh networking is the concept similar to cell towers.  One device is the gateway and is connected to the network via cable.  Any other access point / routers are connected wirelessly to this gateway either directly or by other nodes in the network.

(Photo taken from CloudTrax)

The Upgrade and the Problem

I purchased two more powerful OM2P-HS units to add to my network.

(Photos taken from Open Mesh)

These when added to the network through the CloudTrax management website had the firmware upgraded to the latest version (6.2.12).  My original OM2P  was still stuck on version 6.1.2.  Oddly, after the upgrade, both OM2P-HS units would always show a red solid speed test indicating speeds to the gateway of under 1Mbps.  This occurred even when the units were 14 ft. away in clear line of sight.   Strangely, if I used the OM2P-HS as the gateway, then all the OM2P-HS units would be happily flashing green meaning 2.5Mbps or higher speeds.  However, in this case, the OM2P would stay in the red.

(Photo taken from MakeUseOf)

The Fix

It finally dawned on me that it was probably a firmware mismatch that caused the problem.  To fix this:

1. Disable automatic updates of access points on the CloudTrax website.
2. Download and manually re-flash the OM2P-HS units which had the higher version thereby putting all units on the lowest version number (6.1.2).
3. Backup the firmware.  (I have no idea when files will disappear and I want to make sure these files are kept safe).

After re-flashing, using CloudTrax’s procedure from their help center, both OM2P-HS units were now achieving green speeds as expected.  As the OM2P-HS offers higher speeds, using one of those as the gateway would provide better results for any additional repeater nodes that need to be added.

Additional Information

Open Mesh is a wonderful solution that is easy to use for both enterprise and home.  Their devices have many features such as multiple network IDs, PayPal payments (charge for that WiFi), and network monitoring to name just a few of the key features.

Video reviews can be found on YouTube:
tw HOME SHOW
Eli the Computer Guy  – (Since the last time I watched this video, OpenMesh now makes switches.)

Vital Statistics

Company:
Open Mesh

Pricing as of 4-15-17:
$75 for OM2P, $95 for OM2P-HS / Other models available.
$5 for AC adapters unless non-standard PoE is used.
Additional cost for enclosures.

Spec Sheet
Download

Availability:
Open Mesh Store
Third party after-market (Amazon & eBay)

Competing Mesh Products:
AmpliFi HD
Eero
NETGEAR Orbi
Plume