Life

One month down – looking back

/ hsoi

So it’s been a month (more or less) since I entered the world of self-employment.

I still don’t know how to officially classify myself. Am I a consultant? A freelancer?  Am I an indie(pendent) software developer? Am I self-employed? Or am I really a full-time employee of Hsoi Enterprises LLC? Sometimes it’s easier to say one thing to people, but then no matter what I say, there’s always explanation. Then when there are forms to fill out, sometimes it feels like saying one thing is more appropriate, then sometimes it’s another. Or like filling out a medical form in the insurance part, I have medical insurance, but I pay for it out of my own pocket (oye!); but the form asks for “employer” assuming the medical plan comes via your employer (which it might, eventually).  But whatever and however I actually classify myself….

The key factor is… was this a wise decision? 🙂

I still don’t know. Ask me again in a few months. But so far, I’m saying “yes”.

Income of course isn’t steady nor what it was when I had that regular semi-monthly paycheck. That’s taken some adjustment and getting used to. There’s a different rhythm now. I used to pay bills at a certain time, and pay certain bills at certain times, dictated by when the paycheck came in. But now? Doesn’t matter… just pay the thing because there’s no juggling. More importantly, don’t FORGET to pay the thing, because the semi-monthly rhythm isn’t there. I am living off savings for now, and it won’t last forever. But work is underway to remedy this… it will just take time.

My mental, physical, and emotional health is improving. No question I’m getting more sleep. I’m still struggling to find a daily groove, but I think something is settling in. For the past 2 years I went to bed around 8pm and woke up around 3am. That wasn’t my choice, that was the evolution. Going to the gym is a morning thing, so I needed to allot time for that. Then there was the hell of commute traffic, which was a key factor to avoid because 1. I hate it, 2. sitting in traffic and commuting is a massive waste of precious time, IMHO. So I structured life to minimize traffic, which meant being out the door by 6:25am (yes, you had to be out before 6:30 because the rest of the world aimed for 6:30; get just 5 minutes ahead of the rest of the world and it makes a big difference — a rule that can be generalized to the rest of life). And so with all of that adding up, it pushed me to a 3am wake up.

I’m still getting up early, because I still like going to the gym early, when it’s empty. Prior to the gym (4+ years ago), I stayed on a fairly natural clock with the sunrise and such. But now? I find myself wanting to sleep in but forcing myself to get up somewhat early, because of my desire to get to the gym when it’s empty. This is something I am undecided on — to try to keep to a semi-strict schedule, or to just ignore it, wake when I do, and then go to the gym regardless of time. But at least, I’m not intentionally waking at 3am, and no more alarm clock for sure. That’s huge.

I nap a lot. That’s been immeasurable in benefit. I knew my plantar fasciitis just needed time and rest to go away; today, I might feel a little stiff when I wake up, but that’s about it. Huzzah!

I am happier. I’m able to focus on my work, not having to struggle to find time here and there for the projects that I enjoy. I released an update to PanemQuotidianum, I’m almost ready to release a long-overdue update to the DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS (and yes, more is planned beyond this update). I’m still doing contract work for Bar-Z Adventures (the prior day job). I’ve got a solid project of a new app on deck (and I’m very excited to start work on it). And I’m talking with various groups about other future projects. So… not bad. Just gotta turn this work into income. 😉

Being home has been wonderful. I can tell you the past month has been good for everyone in the household. Family is vital to me, and this has been wonderful.

Of course, it’s not all good. Not a single day has gone by where I didn’t do some work. Most days are working a lot, tho I break the work day up; maybe there’s a nap after lunch, then I can start work in the afternoon far more refreshed (vs. having to be locked-down for 9 hours straight, that’s hardly productive). I’ll also work in the evening, reading, researching, or testing on the iPad while lying in bed. Work is fairly perpetual. But I’m OK with this. I think I’ve only had 1 day that I might classify as a “day off”, but I was out at the KR Training facility helping Oldest care for the grounds (mowing, painting steel, etc.). It wasn’t a total day off because I did work for Bar-Z a little bit, but I chalk it up as a day off since I did spend a few hours shooting, and the overall majority of the day was spent not doing Hsoi Enterprises work.

And that… is something I have to mind. Every day that I keep going, that I keep slinging code, is a day I get deeper into it. It becomes harder to emerge from it, which can be bad when there are things to do. Chores around the house, bills to pay, Wife to go on a date with. So I have to be mindful. Before I officially started this, I happened to listen to a RayWenderlich.com podcast (ep. 5) about life as an indie developer. The guest spoke about how he tried to keep to a M-F 9-5 work schedule, because it was far too easy to have life become work otherwise. I understand that from my prior 12 years working from home. But yet, it’s totally different when it’s YOUR baby and there’s no guarantee of a paycheck unless you’re slinging code. Plus, when you’re so in love with the work you’re doing, when the ideas and thinking keeps going, you don’t want to stop. Interestingly, I’ve started to look at the clock in terms of “billable hours” and every hour, every 15 minutes, start to feel a different sort of value and pressure. Probably not healthy, but a number of my in-laws have run their own businesses and have told me you get over that in time. 🙂

Reminds me… my truck needs an oil change, and I think the rear differential gearbox has a small leak. Hopefully that will just require a new gasket.

So yes, I’m still working to find balance. Still working to find my groove.

But overall? Things are good. I do not regret the decision. I feel overall happier and healthier, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I’m excited about the work I’m doing, and the business I’m trying to build. I sometimes wish there were two of me (so the other one could handle the boring stuff, like accounting, sales, marketing, contracts, paperwork, etc.). But it’s one heck of an experience.

For the record, I lean towards “Indie Software Developer”… it sounds cool. 🙂

Do you know what a “Livestock Guardian Dog” is? Let Sasha explain…

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

My dog, Sasha, is a Kuvasz.

More cute than intimidating (for now…)

The Kuvasz is a breed classified as a Livestock Guardian Dog, or LGD for short.

Often when we discuss this breed or LGDs, people think about herding dogs like Border Collies. No, LGDs aren’t there to herd, they’re there to protect the herd. They aren’t guard dogs either, in the commonly understood sense, like a Doberman, but still they are guards and guardians. They are something unique, but not well-known.

Cody & Liesl Lockhart of the Candll Lamb & Cattle Co. provide a great introduction and understanding of what LGDs are and their role.

[vimeo 60354527]

Here in Central Texas, I see a lot of farms with a “guard donkey” in the paddock, but not too many with LGDs. I have seen a few, and I think it’s a wise notion because of what a strong pack of “sheepdogs” can bring to the table in terms of keeping your stock safe.

Via the Kuvasz Fanciers FB page, I read a great 3-part series on LGDs by Mother Earth News:

  1. Part 1 – a general introduction to LGD’s
  2. Part 2 – discussion of some of the breeds
  3. Part 3 – more breeds

An important take-home is that all LGDs are not the same. As example, when people ask about Sasha we tell them she’s a Kuvasz. Most people are unfamiliar with the breed, so we explain it as “you know what a Great Pyrenees is? Similar.” We do that because Pyrs are fairly well-known, and they are similar: both big white fuzzy dogs, both LGDs. But once you get to know them, they are different. Pyrs tend to stay more with the flock and focus on the ground. Kuvasz are more perimeter dogs and will watch the sky. We see this constantly with Sasha, ensuring a secure perimeter, and ensuring those birds (especially the big vultures) keep away from the house.

LGDs are serious dogs that require serious commitment on the part of the owner. They must have a job, they must be allowed to do their job. This is not a dog you can keep in a crate or alone in the house/apartment for 8-10 hours a day, then hang out with after work. Many people get an LGD breed not understanding what the breed is, and after they realize the strong commitment and work required, give up the dog (always a sad thing). These dogs are not Labs or Beagles, they aren’t a typical “family dog”. But if you can provide what they need over their entire life, they’ll give you something wonderful in return.

If you know anything about me, you could label me a “sheepdog” (in the Lt. Grossman sense of the word). It stands to reason I’d have a dog that embodies the same qualities.

2014-05-05 training log

/ hsoi

Oh what the heck… let’s keep going.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

  • Incline Press – Working max:
    • 45 x 5
    • 45 x 5
    • 85 x 5
    • 105 x 4
    • 125 x 3
    • 155 x 2
    • 175 x 1
    • 160 x 11
    • 160 x 5
  • DB Bench Press
    • 60e x 10
    • 60e x 10
    • 60e x 8
    • 60e x 7
    • 60e x 6
  • Behind the Neck Press
    • 90 x 8
    • 90 x 8
    • 90 x 6
  • BB Upright Row
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 15
    • 60 x 12
  • Tricep Pushdowns
    • 40 x 20
    • 40 x 20

Originally I was planning to take this week off. The thinking was, given my shift to being a full-time indie software developer, I was going to take a little time off to allow my body to rest and recoup. Well, I’ve seen a couple things. First, I’m getting more rest simply because I have the time and schedule flexibility. If I need a mid-day nap, I’m taking it. Sure it means my work day shifts and there’s “more work”, but that’s alright if it also means I’m getting more rest. Second, taking that mid-day nap might become a problem. What’s happening is I’m taking one heck of a nap — 2-3 hours. This isn’t good. While it’s good for recovery, it’s not good for having a solid rhythm to the day and getting things done. I really need to start establishing my new routine, my new habits, and lifting is a part of that.

Besides, I’m feeling pretty good so onwards.

The key about what I’m doing now is trying to adhere more strictly to Paul Carter’s programs. I am focusing mostly out of his “Base Building” eBook, and so I start off with a 6-week mass building cycle. I was mostly there — you can see this isn’t very different from the prior cycle. But the one big change was the 5-4-3-2-1 “over-warm-up” work up. That was at Paul’s scheduled percentages and boy, it’s a lot lower than I had been working at. The 50% work was where it needed to be. It just felt strange, but I don’t think there was much loss or problem, when I look at how the rest of the session went. We’ll see how it carries over in time and how it works out for me.

Time to do my own thing

/ hsoi / 14 Comments

Today, I step out to be on my own.

I’m leaving the world of W-2 employment to become a full-time independent software developer. I’m making Hsoi Enterprises my full-time gig.

I’m excited, happy, and yes, scared. But very much looking forward to this.

Why am I doing this?

I’ve primarily worked for someone else all my life. But for over 20 years I’ve done side-project work to help scratch my own itches. Four years ago I got more formal with it when I founded Hsoi Enterprises LLC. So I’ve always been semi-indie, and one could say today’s event is just the next step in the evolution. But certainly my primary income came from being a salaried employee in someone else’s company.

There’s multiple reasons why I’m doing this. I’ll share two: one business, one personal.

My Own Road

Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer’s personal itch.
– Eric S. Raymond

I like to create useful, meaningful software that enriches and improves people’s lives. Throughout my career, things I’ve done on my own usually happened because I had an itch to scratch, a need to satisfy. The best software always is the software that the developers themselves use regularly. But often, the direction of a product is pushed by people that don’t use the software, or care more about selling the software than about the use of and users of that software – this often leads to less than good software (and the users are left unsatisfied). Long ago I came to terms about the balance between “good” and “good enough”, the need to ship even if it’s not perfect because we need to make money to keep the lights on in our ivory tower so we can keep working towards “good” (thanx, Doug!). So I grant all the realities of business. But by the same token, I firmly believe if one writes excellent software, it pays off greater dividends in the long run. This is not only in the form of revenue, but also in reputation and goodwill. Conversely, if one keeps shipping shoddy software, if users are constantly frustrated and hate your product, that just isn’t a solid business model.

I’m tired of compromising on this front. I know you can make good products, have happy customers, and still make money. Look at Apple, which is probably why I’ve been an Mac and iOS guy all my life but also why I believe you can have gorgeous, user-satisfying products, good reputation, and succeed. Look at Liberty Bottleworks. Look at EliteFTS. No, you cannot please everyone, nor should you try. But you can ensure you please yourself, that you hold yourself to high standards, and work to build a solid reputation with satisfied customers.

I want to make awesome software. I want to make more useful things. I want to make people’s lives better. And I won’t get to where I want to be unless I travel my own road.

My Family – Along for the Ride

[I] do not believe in quality time but quantity time. I do thinking creating great memories is important but not as much as “being there”. Because of this I work a lot of strange and odd hours.

– Dave Tate, owner EliteFTS, talking about his kids and who he is

When I was growing up, my Dad wasn’t around much. It was just due to the nature of his job, and his dedication to it. As a kid, I resented this because while it was nice to have money and nice stuff, what I really wanted was my Dad. So of course I did what all kids do regarding their parental shortcomings: swear to do better when I’m a parent! For me, that meant being around for my kids. (BTW, I got over my resentment many many years ago, because I came to understand Dad much better as I got older… but a story for another time).

Early on in my professional software development career, I saw how this was a job that could be worked remotely. This is not a job that requires being on-site; yes there are benefits to being on-site, but it’s not a hard-and-fast requirement. I also saw how due to this fact, you could have a bit of a non-standard life (I’m looking at you, Robin Mair and Greg Dow). This greatly appealed to me, and I set about making full-time remote/telework a hard-requirement for any job I took in the future.

Due to that dedication and focus, I was able to spend 12 years working full-time out of my house. One way I can sum it up is that when Oldest took his first steps, I learned about it via a phone call from Wife. When Daughter took her first steps, I got a phone call. But when Youngest took his first steps, it was right to me because I was home. 🙂 Over those 12 years, I got to be deeply involved with my family on a daily, even hourly, basis. That’s precious to me.

People keep bringing up those death-bed regrets, and no one says they wished they worked more, that they wished they had less time with their family.

See, much of life tends to boil down to two things: time and money. I can always get more money, but I can not get more time. Time is the more precious of the two.

After the 12 years at home, I took a job in an office. I spent 2 years there. It was an educational experience in many regards, and I’m happy I went back for the experience because I learned much from the good and from the bad. But the biggest thing I took from it was that that was not the life for me. The precious time wasted being stuck in traffic every day. The orchestration of life around a time-clock and someone else’s notion of what “productive” meant. It just wasn’t working for me. This isn’t a slight against any employer in specific, it’s regarding that sort of life in general. It is not for me and does not enable me to best satisfy myself and provide for my family that which is most important — me.

Working at home gives me the ability to be around my family all day every day (helped in part because we homeschool). Yes, some people think, as a result of our work/school situation, we live an insular lifestyle. No, we just are a tight family. This work setup, the ability to have a more flexible work schedule, allows me to provide my children what I believe is right and best for them, including mentorship as they embark on their own business ventures. What’s funny to me is I’ve thought about having daily “stand-up meetings” with the family. Yes Dad, your daily asking of “Son, what did you do today that was productive?” has come full circle. 🙂

Yes I know. The life I’m leaving is the life many of us live with. Understand this is a personal preference for the road I wish to journey down. I have friends who prefer working in an office; it’s just not my preference. I have friends that consider commuting to be a useful endeavor; I don’t. I know what my priorities are in life, what I want out of the life I have left on this Earth, including what I wish to provide for my family, and well… tho I’m scared and have no idea how this will work out, I’m closing my eyes and taking the plunge.

What’s Ahead

For the immediate future, it’s about getting established. I have infrastructure to firm up.

I already have some projects to work on, and I actually will  be contracting back with my (now) former day-job for a time and helping them find a replacement for me and transition to that replacement person. For the record, I am thankful for the support and mentorship I’ve received from Lee and Carrie Little, founders and owners of Bar-Z Adventures.

If you or someone (some company) you know is looking for a solid software developer, drop me a line. 🙂

Meantime, I forge ahead. I don’t know how this will work out, and honestly while there’s much about this situation that I’ve done before, there’s much that’s new and novel — I don’t know how it will go, or even if it will wind up being the right road for me to travel. But still, I look forward to the challenges, to the new experiences, and the hope for the life I wish for myself and my family. If nothing else, it’ll be an interesting experience, and I’m thankful for the opportunity.

Don’t be a turd

/ hsoi

Social media hasn’t turned people into turds, liars, and thieves. Social media just provides an opportunity and puts them under the microscope for all to see. Shitty people will be shitty people with or without the Internet, but with the Internet comes opportunity for people to do things the wrong way and sometimes even make money at it. You essentially have two ways of approaching how you’ll get noticed in this industry—either be honest and have your own ideas or imitate others and pretend the ideas are your own. The thing is most people won’t know the difference. You need to decide if your moral integrity is worth anything to you. The Internet is full of pieces of shit like turds floating in a giant toilet. Don’t be just another turd in the Internet shit bowl.

– Skip Hill

It doesn’t matter what the industry is — this is the way it is in any industry, in life in general.

Honesty, integrity, consistency. These are the things that matter.

Make meaningful contributions.

Dance with the fear

/ hsoi

“How do I get rid of the fear?”

Alas, this is the wrong question.

The only way to get rid of the fear is to stop doing things that might not work, to stop putting yourself out there, to stop doing work that matters.

No, the right question is, “How do I dance with the fear?”

Fear is not the enemy. Paralysis is the enemy.

– Seth Godin

There are some things in my life where fear drove me, but into paralysis. Fear is neither good nor bad, it’s what the fear does and what you do with that fear that matters. For me, it was keeping me from doing particular things.

No more.

Yeah, I’m still scared, but at least now I’m going to try dancing.

Have a reason

/ hsoi

I know.

“It’s cool.”

But so what? What does it really gain you? What true purpose does it serve?

In his book, Strength, Life, Legacy, Paul Carter writes about having a reason for everything:

Every movement, set, rep, volume, frequency, everything you do, you should know WHY you are doing it. Are you doing this because someone said you should, or are you doing it because someone said you should be doing it? If they did, did they tell you why you should be doing it?

When you sit down to write out your routine and your programming, everything should have a reason for being on that piece of paper. And it shouldn’t be vague, like “I do this because I wanna get jacked.” That’s not really a clear cut reason.

I bench press because I need to build my bench for competition. I do inclines after that because I have found that inclines help my bench press very much. I get very good carryover from it.

I do pause squats to build my bottom position strength.

I do block deadlifts and shrugs because block deads have helped me off the floor as do shrugs (yes shrugs have helped me off the floor). This is where I am weak in the deadlift.

I do some curls because it helps keep my elbows feeling good.

I do ab work because I compete beltless, and I know my abs need to be very strong.

That’s basically my whole competition routine breakdown. Everything I do has a very particular reason for being in there. If you have movements in your routine, have a reason for each one being in there. Otherwise why is it in there?

Always ask yourself these kinds of questions in order to help make yourself a better programmer and planner.

Yeah, it’s about powerlifting, but it applies to anything in life.  If you are doing something, you should have a specific, known, and articulable reason for it.

I’m going to apply it to firearms.

During classes at KR Training, we see all sorts of equipment selection, we see people that come from having other training backgrounds. We question people as to why they have this equipment, or why they do some skill in some way. This isn’t to prove that our way is right and theirs is wrong, it’s about ensuring there is a solid reason. I can think of two illustrations.

I remember we had a student that had a lot of training from another school. At that school, they taught to always rack the slide. Yes, this often meant they ejected a good round. We asked why he did what he did; “because it’s what I was taught”. Of course, but why? “To ensure there’s always a round in the chamber.” So far, so good, but didn’t you know there was one? “Yes, but it doesn’t matter because always doing it eliminates the need and time consumed doing a diagnostic check.” Fair enough. He understood the trade-off of losing the round (and being “down by 1”), and he knew that in a more administrative situation to just do things like press-checking. But when he was “in the fight”, it was a far simpler mode of operation to just always rack it and ingrain that motor habit, instead of having diagnostic branching and decision making. That’s not how we do it, but he knew what he was doing, why he was doing it, the trade-offs, was willing to accept the trade-offs, and basically had a thoughtful decision instead of blindly following tacticool dogma. No problem there, man.

We have seen various types of equipment, including those ultra-minimal holsters that are nothing more than a clip of kydex that covers the trigger guard, with a string attached so the kydex breaks away when you draw the gun. OK, why do you use this equipment? What does it gain you? What are you losing? Is this the best equipment for a class (you’ll be drawing and reholstering numerous times; is this going to facilitate or inhibit class)? Outside of class, how do you expect to reholster? If you did have to draw your gun in self-defense, how much fiddle-farting are you going to have to do to reholster that gun (because you will need to)? and do you think you’ll always have a nice, calm opportunity to do so? Let’s not get into the SERPA holster either…

In the end, there’s not always One True Right Answer to things. Those little clips may wind up being the right answer given your particular daily circumstances. Me, I don’t like carrying really small guns, nor do I like changing my carry gun to match my pursue or the weather. But time to time it happens that circumstances force me to make choices I wouldn’t normally make. At least I can explain and articulate my choices and reasons.

Don’t take this as a dis on your personal choices. In fact, don’t let ego get involved in the first place. Make sure you have solid, articulable reasons for your decisions and choices. Make sure they are helping you achieve your goals.

Death is winning. Do something.

/ hsoi

The Hyena is the Lion’s natural enemy.

What is yours? Fear.

Fear that you will fail. That you won’t be good enough, or measure up enough. Fear of change.

Fear is the driving force behind people making subpar decisions in their life.

Fear is what puts you on your knees, with your assassins and demons standing behind you, laughing at what a weak little bitch you have become. Persuaded so easily, you fall to your knees, gladly taking one in the back of the dome without even the slightest protest. You fail to make the tough choice because you succumb to your fears, over and over again. And it gets easier each time. Each time that you give in to your fears, it makes it a little easier the next time to do so.

Your life slips away, and so does all of the dreams you had for it.

Tisk, tisk, tisk.

Death is winning. Do something, besides getting on your knees over and over again.

Rise up against the adversity in your life, against your demons, and shove that weapon straight up that would be assassin’s ass. Then tear his skin off and wear it around as a suit. There’s not a damn thing wrong with being afraid. Use that fear to motivate you.

Embrace the fact that you could fail, but with failure comes learning, and with learning you get better. And when you get better, you fail less and less.

If you have been getting on your knees, it’s time to reload who you are, and what you are about.

You need to envision the person you want to become. Be honest with yourself about all of the cracks and weaknesses that currently exist in you. You need to repair those cracks, and make the foundation stronger than ever.

Because strength reigns….strength is king. Now is the time to become stronger.

It’s time to prepare to win.

It’s time to become the fucking lion.

— Paul Carter

Why is my Apple TV so slow?

/ hsoi / 11 Comments

We have an Apple TV. Love it. We dumped cable TV, have no broadcast antenna, the Apple TV is it. We get the shows we like, that we’re curious to see, and watching as we want, when we want, to pause when we need to, no commercials, I’m all for it.

But there’s one problem.

It’s slow.

Sometimes we go to start a show and the load time takes… well, it never loads. It’s mighty frustrating and unsatisfying when you sit down ready to relax with a favorite show, and you can’t get the show. Instead, you spend 10 minutes trying to troubleshoot and fiddle around to get things working. Reboot this, check configurations, etc..

Only some things have this problem. It seems to be high-def movies/shows. Music is rarely a problem, older shows encoded at lower quality no problem. So that tells you something.

But what gets further odd is streaming direct from the Internet (instead of the internal media server) is usually fine.

The signal strength is good. I even ensured to force it onto the 5Gz WiFi. I’ve checked the strength of other wireless devices in the same general area and they all get good, fast, transfer times.

 

This is not an uncommon complaint. A little Google searching turns up many people with similar problems.

At this point, I can only assume the Apple TV’s WiFi antenna sucks or has some other sort of throughput problems. Some network software I looked at seemed to show the Apple TV was only getting like 6 Mb/s data rate, which would explain the problems.

The solution? Ethernet. But there’s just no way I can run a wire through my house like that.

In my latest bout of frustration, I came across Powerline adapters. Basically, it’s a way of using your home electrical wiring as network cable. You buy at least 2 adapters: one plugs into the wall with a cable to your Ethernet hub/switch/router; the other plugs into the wall with a cable to the Ethernet port on the device (Apple TV in this case). If all goes well, you’ve now expanded your network through your electrical wiring! Ta da!

Now there seem to be caveats.

  • There are a lot of standards, and you want hardware that conforms to the latest, fastest. What that is will vary as standards evolve. But again, Google will be your friend here. (e.g. “Powerline AV+ 500” or “HomePlug AV2”)
  • Your home wiring quality will affect speeds.
  • Be aware of how circuits affect connections. It does seem that if the adapters are all on the same wiring circuit, things should work. If they are on different circuits, it may or may not work — it just all depends how the wiring is all set up.
    • In my case, the model I bought required the adapters to be on the same circuit to reset the encryption keys, but are working in normal function on two different circuits.
    • So in short, ensure there’s a good return policy if things don’t work out for you.
  • It’s never going to be as good as proper wiring, so you have to see if the trade-offs are worth it.

I bought a Actiontec 500 AV Powerline Network Adapter Kit (Retail SKU: PWR511K01). I stumbled upon a CNET review of a bunch of different Powerline adapters, and bought based upon their review of the Actiontec. Why this model? Because it was touted as the cheapest solution that basically worked, good for someone who wants to dabble but doesn’t want to spend a lot of money to do so. Yes, I wanted to go right for their recommended top pick of the Linksys PLEK500 because I like getting good stuff, and brands I know and can somewhat trust (who the heck is Actiontec??!?!). But for a first time? Fine, and if it didn’t work I could return it. The trade-offs for the lower price were things like the lack of a pass-through power socket (not a problem for me), using a regular Ethernet jack (not a problem as 100-Base-T should be sufficient for my need, and I expected line quality would be low anyways).

So how did it go?

Unboxing was nice. I didn’t expect to get 2 Ethernet cables with it, but I did. That was nice (I’ve got a box of cables, so I didn’t bother purchasing). They are small, and crafted to easily work on the wall jacks without taking up too much space and/or blocking the other jack from being used.

But then, the suck.

They make it sound easy, like plugging it in and away you go.

Nope.

No signal, no nothing.

Their website troubleshooting doesn’t tell you much to really troubleshoot, but it does talk about resetting the encryption keys. Could that be the problem? Tried it, but the lights didn’t blink right. Used their online chat tech support. The first guy was not helpful — just wasn’t clear enough in his instructions. Then the session was abruptly ended; I was left with the impression he didn’t want to deal with me any more and killed the session. I tried following the instructions and still no dice. I contacted support again and this time got a much more helpful support person. He pointed out a key thing — both devices have to be on the same circuit for resetting the keys (tho they don’t for normal operation). So I tried that and managed to get everything reset, matched, and then went I plugged it all back in, it worked!

According to das blinkenlights, I’m getting less than 50 Mbps. Far from ideal, but testing so far is working well. Shows and movies that may not have loaded or took forever are loading fine now. So it may not be blazing, but it seems “good enough”.

For all the move to wireless (it felt weird to have no Ethernet port on my new MacBook Pro), it’s still tough to beat a good wired connection.

Updated (Aug 2014): Since I wrote this, I have dumped the Powerline approach. I think it might work out ok, but it would have sporadic issues that were a major pain to resolve, such as things seemed “out of sync” between the devices and it would be a major undertaking to try to get them to sync up and communicate with each other again. This possibly could be worked out with a better with a set like the Linksys, but I can’t say for sure (didn’t buy, no plans to buy). I also don’t know how much my house’s wiring was at play, with an older house and certainly having to “jump” circuits. But whatever the reason, this wound up being more trouble than worth.

So I went back to Wi-Fi.

Oddly, it seems to be working OK now.

What changed? I really can’t say. Maybe updates to the AppleTV software, maybe updates to iTunes.app, maybe both. Maybe the stars aligned better.

Sometimes things still get stupid, and usually restarting iTunes on the home media server and restarting the AppleTV clears things up.

I have wondered if a RAM upgrade on my server Mac Mini would help. It’s only got 8 GB and tends to run on the edge of that; maybe that’s a factor. But a 16GB RAM upgrade is a little expensive for me to justify right now.

Anyways, hopefully this helps y’all solve your problems.

Updated (January 2016): A few things have changed (improved) since I posted this.

First and foremost, the 3rd generation Apple TV that I originally wrote this about is no more. I have upgraded to the 4th generation Apple TV. Been using it for a few months (had one since before they were commercially available – I’m a developer and I was lucky enough to get one early) and I have to say it performs much better. For example, there’s a MUCH faster CPU in the 4th generation. But more relevant here is better networking. The 3rd generation only did 802.11 a/b/g/n, and the 4th generation adds ‘ac’. So if speed continues to be an issue for you, it may be worth considering getting a 4th generation Apple TV, and also looking at updating your wireless routers – that ‘ac’ may be helpful. As well, the 4th generation Apple TV brings in a host of other features and advances that I’ve found well-worth the upgrade.

Second, I finally did something about our Wi-Fi network. I always knew that I was losing signal towards that area of the house, and in the past I tried to boost it through various mechanisms, but nothing really worked out for one reason or another. Well, I opted to give it another go. I picked up a Mac app called WiFi Explorer and was able to see how the reception was in various parts of my house. I was also able to see how there were lots of other WiFi networks from my neighbors, which I knew about, but being able to see the channel overlap helped me find the least-populated channel and force my WiFi network to use that channel. That seemed to help a bit.

As well, I picked up an Apple AirPort Express and set it up as an extender. Is this the best way to extend a WiFi network? Nope. But given I already use an AirPort Time Capsule as our base network, I figured the setup and running of this would be easy and while there are trade-offs, I figured it was a cheap-enough investment to see if it would help things.

Sure enough, it’s proven to be quite a help. Yes there’s been some tradeoffs (as with any wireless extenders), but overall performance has been boosted and now the only problem we have is when Apple burps with Home Sharing every so often. Our “buffering” and waiting problems are generally a thing of the past.