Choosing the correct cable to connect DVB-T2 television to aerial wall socket

Since August 2019, Malaysia free over-the-air television broadcasting has been switched from analogue to digital.

The good news is, nowadays most newer model of television has built-in DVB-T2 decoder to receive digital over-the-air TV channels.

If your house/condominium/apartment has an aerial wall socket that connects to the external aerial antenna of the building that looks like the one below, you can use a TV cable with male-to-female connectors to connect your TV with DVB-T2 decoder to the TV wall socket and receive the broadcasted digital TV channels.

If your TV is facing problem of missing channels, pixelated screen, snowy screen due to weak signal strength and/or weak signal quality, it can probably be caused by the type of cable used.

Referring to the table below, if you are staying in a highrise building, the cable buried inside the call connecting the wall socket to the external antenna should be coaxial cable of type RG11/U.

If you are staying in landed property which the distance between the external antenna and the wall socket is below 225 meters, then maybe RG6/U cable still be used without much problem.

For the portion of cable connecting your TV to the wall socket, RG6/U cable is recommended. Using RG11/U cable is even better, but its cost will be higher too.

If you are using RG59/U cable but don't face any problem with your TV, then you can continue using it, otherwise, consider upgrade the cable to RG6/U.

In the photo below, the black cable is type RG59/U and the white cable is type RG6/U. You can easily notice that the RG6/U has a much thicker diameter than RG59/U.

If your TV problem persists despite using RG6/U cable, you might probably need to resort to other solution, such as adding a signal booster, using digital TV decoder box, or receiving the TV signal using an internal antenna.

Upgraded my Bacfree BS-1 drinking water filter element from Swiss-Tech to pH-Tech

I have been using Bacfree drinking water filter for more than a decade and it is still functioning very well.

All the years, I had been using Swiss-Tech filter element, which I would replace with a new one after using it for more than a year.

This time, I decided to upgrade the filter element to pH-Tech, because I found out that there is not much price different between Swiss-Tech and Multi-Tech, and that the Multi-Tech is selling at the same price with pH-Tech.

The differences among Swiss-Tech, Multi-Tech and pH-Tech is summarized in the table below:

Basically, Multi-Tech has all the functions of Swiss-Tech, plus an additional function to remove Chloramine in the water. You can read about the danger of Chloramine to our body and health here.

Chloramine can be removed from the water by boiling it for more than 20 minutes. However, my family has been drinking water directly from the Bacfree water filter over the years!

pH-Tech has all the functions of Multi-Tech, plus additional mineral stones to make the water slightly alkaline, and convert the water into mineral water.

When I installed my Bacfree drinking water filter many years ago, Swiss-Tech was the best filter element available, and there were some other filter elements with less functions, which now Bacfree has stopped selling.

Now that I have discovered the availability of pH-Tech filter element, and its price is pretty close with Swiss-Tech, there is no doubt for me to upgrade my Bacfree filter element to pH-Tech from now onwards.

Auspicious dates for renovation in 2020

Here is the list of auspicious dates for home or office renovation in year 2020, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

You might probably also be interested with the auspicious dates for the following occasions in year 2020:

• Wedding / Marriage
• Wedding / Marriage (year 2021)
• Marriage proposal / engagement
• Sign contract / register for marriage
• Having baby
• Moving house / office
• Opening business

Auspicious dates for moving to new house / office in 2020

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2020, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

You might probably also be interested with the auspicious dates for the following occasions in year 2020:

• Wedding / Marriage
• Wedding / Marriage (year 2021)
• Marriage proposal / engagement
• Sign contract / register for marriage
• Having baby
• Renovation
• Opening business

Adjustable undercarriage base with wheels to raise up washing machine, dryer, fridge, etc.

I was looking for a cheap and good solution to raise up my washing machine so that it can drain water out more completely into the drain hole on the floor, which has a portion risen on top of the floor, as shown below.

And I have found this adjustable undercarriage base with wheels to raise up wachine machine, dryer, fridge, etc. which really fit to my need. In fact, its feature exceeds my expectation, as it also comes with pretty good quality wheels which can be locked (fix on the location) and unlocked (make it movable).

Now, you can see that both my washing machine and dryer are lifted higher from the floor with this undercarriage base. With the wheels, I can also easily move them around, to clean the floor area under them.

This undercarriage base's width and length is adjustable, to fit for different size of washing machine, dryer, fridge, etc. placed on top of it. It is advertised to be able to hold a maximum load of 250kg.

Illustration taken from vendor's online store in Shopee

To assemble the base, you will need a screwdriver to install the wheels onto the base. You will also need a hammer to be easier to adjust its width and length, and to install the stoppers to fill up the gap between the stainless steel metal bar and the plastic base, to firm up the adjusted length and strengthen the connection points.

Install invisible safety grille at windows, balconies, yards, etc. for high rise buildings

I have just engaged with KL Invisible Grille (KLIG) to install invisible safety grille at the windows of a service apartment unit.

Invisible safety grille is just like a wire mesh or netting fence, except that it is customized to the installation area and constructed on site, precisely and firmly attached to its base. The construction of this invisible safety grille is similar to the way of doing racquet stringing.

To make it looks nicer, you can choose to only construct with vertical cables but without horizontal cables, or to construct with horizontal cables without vertical. In this way, it will look something like a harp. You can also increase its safety level by constructing both ways to make it like a racquet stringing.

(Photo from KLIG's Facebook page)

The invisible safety grille really looks invisible when viewed from some distance (a few meters) away and will not cause distraction to the beautiful scenery outside the building.

The main purpose of installing invisible safety grille is as a measure of safety to prevent people (especially toddlers and children), domestic pets, objects, etc. from falling out of the building.

Although the cable used is pretty strong and durable, with a breaking force of up to 900kg, it can be cut by metal cable cutter by exerting strong force. The good point of this is that the grille will not block fireman equipped with special cutting from rescue mission in case of emergency. The bad point is that it is more vulnerable to burglar and thieve who have the metal cutter and trying to enter the premise from the window.

The process began with a free onsite measurement to the areas of installation. The quotation is based on actual installation coverage area in square feet units.

Then, a deposit is paid and their workers will come for installation. It takes about 10 hours to complete the invisible safety grille installation for all the windows in my service apartment unit.

Since the installation involved drilling, there will be some minor touch up to the wall needed after the installation. The workers performed the touch up filling and repainting with white base paint to the affected places. They also cleaned up the floor, before leaving.

The warranty period will depend on the selection of cable material to be used. There are 3 types of cable for selection:

• 316 stainless steel cable - 15 years material warranty. Thicker.
• Nanotechnology Teflon coated cable - 15 years material warranty. Thinner.
• Nylon coated cable - 3 years material warranty. Thinner but not as durable as the other 2 types above.

You might be surprised that the installation price of invisible safety grille is actually much more cheaper than traditional metal bars grille. For example, the installation cost of the single panel window below is less than RM200.

As such, invisible safety grille is highly recommended to be installed for windows, balconies, yards, etc. of high rise buildings that is very difficult to climb in from outside, to prevent people, pet, object, etc. from dropping out of the building. The cables are as fine as 2.0 millimeter only, which will be seen as invisible and will not block the scene when viewed from some distance away.

If you play it like a harp, the cables can actually produce some nice sound. But unless the cables have different length, the sound produced by each of the cables is pretty monotonous.

Sciener A2F fingerprint smart digital door lock

Locks and keys have been used for decades to safeguard access to the door, for those with the valid key to unlock it only.

Traditional mechanical locks to lock/unlock with physical keys work great. However, their main disadvantages include:

• Inconvenience for the necessity to carry the key.
• The key can be duplicated.
• The key could be lost, stolen or seized. Anyone with the key can lock/unlock the door.
• The lock could be picked open by using special tools, without using the key.

Typical smart digital door lock is in fact a mechanical lock, with digital keys (well, there is another type of electromagnetic lock with digital keys too). Its main advantages include:

• Not necessary to carry physical key.
• Each person can be assigned a unique key, which enable tracing of who has used the key to unlock the door, by what time.
• Key can be easily generated, and also revoked, by using software method.
• Key could be replicated to multiple devices belong to the same authorized person.
• Time based (the key can only be used during certain time period) or event based (the key can only be used once) access control is possible.

Digital key can be in the form of:

• Biometric: fingerprint, palm, face, iris, voice, vein, ...
• Passcode
• Digital signature key pair
• ...

And the data transmission methods between the key and the lock can be of:

• Physical contact - fingerprint, palm, vein, ...
• Computer vision - face, iris, QR code, ...
• Voice recognition - voice
• RFID
• NFC
• Electromagnetic wave - Infrared, Bluetooth, WiFi, ...
• ...

The Sciener A2F fingerprint smart digital door lock is a product that combines security and convenience. It supports multiple unlock ways, including:

• Fingerprint
• Smartphone app unlock (eKey)
• Smart watch (eKey)
• Passcode
• RFID card (touch access card, wristband, MyKad, Touch n Go card, credit card, debit card, other brand's RFID access card)
• Physical backup key (for emergency purpose)
• Smart speaker voice assistant command control (require WiFi Gateway module)

Sciener lock management functions - including assigning new key, key revocation, key management, key usage monitoring, user management, lock behavior setting, etc. are all done using the Sciener Smart Lock app available for free download in Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

The Sciener A2F fingerprint smart digital door lock has a pretty elegant and modern look, adding aesthetic to the door.

It is operated with 4 AA size batteries. Its battery consumption is pretty low, and the batteries in it can last for many months. The battery compartment is located at the lock behind the door, with a single button to open its cover.

The electronic components inside the Sciener smart digital door lock is illustrated as below.

(Picture from Sciener's website)

The Sciener app communicates with the lock using Bluetooth. Communication between the app and the lock is encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. The smartphone running the app needs to be near to the door lock (within Bluetooth communication range of 10 meters) for most of its function to work.

Optionally, the app can also communicate with the lock through Internet via a Smart Gateway module. In this way, you can use the app to access to the lock from anywhere, by using Internet connection.

After a new lock is installed, it needs to be paired with a user registered with Sciener. The user is identified by email address and/or phone number, and the user account is stored in Sciener's cloud database. The user info is automatically synchronized between the Sciener cloud and the mobile app login with a valid account.

That first user will automatically become the Authorized Admin to the lock, which has full access to all its functions and settings. The Authorized Admin can appoint other users as Authorized Admin to co-manage the lock. He can also revoke the Admin rights of the other Authorized Admin.

In the event when the property is sold to another person, the Authorized Admin can transfer the ownership of the lock to another user.

The lock has an internal clock, which when its time is synchronized with the smartphone clock of its Authorized Admin, the admin can use his Sciener app to generate new passcode or send eKey to other users to unlock the door, at any time and any place, even without the need of communicating with the door. The clock, settings and records of the lock will be synchronized with the admin's Sciener app from time to time, whenever they are connected with Bluetooth (i.e. when the admin's smartphone is at home with Bluetooth turned on to communicate with the door lock).

Sciener eKey and passcode can be created with the following time limit settings:

• Permanent - can be used all the time until revoked.
• Timed - valid from a defined start date and time until a defined end date and time.
• One time - can be used to open the door once only.
• Recurring - can be used within a time period during the defined day of week (e.g. every Monday only, every weekends only, etc.)

The passcode is automatically generated, but can also be manually changed to a number that can be easily remembered. Changing to manually created passcode need to be done near the lock with Bluetooth connection.

For fingerprint and RFID access, it can be:

• Permanent - can access all the time until revoked.
• Timed - can access from a defined start date and time until a defined end date and time.

All the door unlock records are stored in the lock, and the admin can view the records in his Sciener app.

With these multiple ways of flexible keys assignment to multiple users, Sciener A2F fingerprint smart digital door lock is very suitable for use in:

• Family
• Office
• Shop
• Rented residence
• Short stay
• Airbnb / homestay
• Hotel
• ... any other places you can think of

You can unlock the door even without carrying anything (by using fingerprint, or punching passcode at the lock's keypad) or by using your smartphone, smart watch, RFID card, etc.

The lock admin settings that can be configured in the Sciener app including:

• Changing the default admin passcode used to unlock the lock.
• Allow/disallow the lock to be unlocked remotely via the WiFi Gateway. When this is configured properly, you can even open the door using Sciener app when you are far away from home.
• Set the timer for the lock to auto-lock itself after unlock, in any seconds.
• Set the time period when the lock will be auto unlocked by itself - the Passage Mode. This is useful for shop or office environment to allow general access during day time, and keep the door locked during night time.
• Set the lock to feedback with sound when operated, or be silent.
• Synchronize the clock of the smartphone with the lock.
• Retrieve records from the lock to the smartphone.
• Perform lock firmware update. 

Sciener app is designed to be very flexible. A single app login with a single user is able to paired with multiple Sciener locks. You can also create grouping to the locks for easier maintenance. Each of the locks will have a user definable name for identification.

Note that certain digital door lock can be easily hacked and unlocked with a small device called Tesla Coil black box. Being an industry leader, Sciener is aware of this and their locks, at least the latest version of their locks, are immune to Tesla Coil attack.

Another common security concern is brute force trial-and-error on the passcode. Sciener lock's keypad is designed to stop working for a period of time after 5 attempts of wrong passcode entry. while the keypad is temporarily locked, the lock can still be opened by using other methods such as fingerprint, RFID card, physical key, etc. This makes the lock hack deterrence and yet fool proof.

KERUI biometric fingerprint padlock

Traditional padlocks typically work by unlocking using a matching key or password.

The drawbacks of a key padlock including:

• It is inconvenient to have to carry the key along with you.
• If you forgot to bring the key, or your key is lost, then you will have trouble unlocking the padlock.
• If your key is broken, you will also have trouble unlocking the padlock.
• The key can be easily duplicated.
• The padlock can be prey open without using the key.
• It takes quite some effort and time to unlock the padlock.

The drawbacks of a password padlock including:

• Password can be forgotten, especially when long time not using.
• It takes quite some effort and time to unlock the padlock.

Now, with a cost of less than RM50, you can actually get a biometric fingerprint padlock from online shop.

The biometric fingerprint padlock just looks like other ordinary padlocks. The different parts are that it has a fingerprint scanner on it, it operates with a rechargeable Li-ion battery inside, and it has a micro-USB charging port.

The padlock also has a small triple-colour LED indicator light. When the battery level is low, the light will be flashing in red. When the battery level is extremely low, it will also produce beeping sound to provide alert for recharging need.

When charging, the LED light stays in red. When recharging is completed, the light will turn off by itself.

The padlock has a standby time of at least a few months before the need of recharging again. It can go through up to 9,000 times of unlock cycle for a full charge.

This padlock can register up to 10 fingerprints. 2 of them will be "administrator" fingerprint which can be used to initiate registering of new fingerprints and also to delete stored fingerprints. The other 8 normal fingerprints can only be used to unlock the padlock.

For new lock without any stored fingerprint, it can be unlocked with any human fingerprint. Once registered with one or more fingerprints, only the registered fingerprint(s) can be used to unlock it.

One thing I like about this padlock is its super fast unlocking speed of less than a second with matching fingerprint.

By using this biometric fingerprint padlock, I no longer need to carry padlock key or remember padlock password. It is really very convenient and easy to use.

Cooking hob type comparison: gas vs ceramic vs induction

Currently there are 3 major types of cooking hob available in the market.

The traditional cooking gas type has been around for a long time, and perhaps is the most commonly used type.

On the other hand, there are 2 types of electrical hob, one type works using radiation under ceramic top, and another is the induction type. The heating source of the ceramic hob can be of cooker ring elements, halogen lamp, or some other materials.

The table below compares the characteristics, pros and cons among the gas hob, ceramic hob and induction hob (click on the image to enlarge it).

There is little doubt that the electrical hobs are better than the traditional gas hob, especially in terms of safety.

While the induction hob seems to be a better choice than the ceramic hob, its limitation in cookware compatibility is a major set back.

Luckily nowadays there exist 2-in-1 cooker hobs that contain both ceramic burner and induction burner on same piece of hob for you to get the best of both.

Another major consideration when buying a hob is the material used for its glass surface, as poor material is easier to get scratched, cracked or broken. Brand names such as Eurokera, Schott, NEG, etc. could give you some confidence on the ceramic glass material quality.

Using professional home inspection service to check property defects

Home inspection is part of the essential process right after receiving vacant possession of brand new home from the property developer. Normally it is conducted by the buyer (new owner) of the property, and there is a 24 months defects liability period whereby the buyer can report any defect found in the property to the developer, and the developer has the obligation to rectify and fix the defects reported by the buyer.

There is another common scenario of home inspection. When the buyer is going to buy a pre-owned property, he can request to perform a home inspection to the property on sale, and get the seller to fix the defects found before signing the sales and purchase agreement (S&P) with the seller. This is because pre-owned property is normally sold as-is, without the 24 months warranty period as in the case of new property. It is imperative for the buyer to ensure the property is in good condition before signing the S&P with the seller. After the property is sold, the buyer will need to use his own money to fix for any problem with the property.

While home inspection can be performed by ourselves, it also worth to consider using professional home inspection service from a company that provide such service, because they have the knowledge, experience, skillset and related tools to perform detail home inspection. In addition, a complete home inspection can take several hours to finish checking, and another several hours to prepare the property defects report. Home inspection service charge is normally within 3-digit RM, depends on the size and type of the property to be checked.

The Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB) has already established a guideline called the Quality Assessment System in Construction (QLASSIC), which is a system or method to measure and evaluate the workmanship quality of a building construction work based on Construction Industry Standard (CIS 7). When engaging with a home inspection service provider, you might want to ask if their service is conformance to QLASSIC standard or equivalent.

After confirmation to engage for home inspection service, the buyer will need to set an appointment with the service provider to visit the property to perform the inspection, which will usually take a half day.

The home inspection specialist will then visit the property with all the required tools, including camera (or handphone with camera), torchlight, magnifying glass, ruler, spirit level, stickers, electrical outlet tester, etc.

The scope of home inspection encompasses checking on house components and fitting of:

• Architectural: floor, wall, ceiling, door, window, stairs, drain, furniture, etc.
• Mechanical and electrical: lights, power, switch, socket, plumbing, sanitary fittings, etc.
• Specification compliance: area size measurement, fitting quantity, material used, etc.
• Water leakage testing in toilet, bathroom, balcony, basin, sink, etc.

Stickers will be used to mark down any detected defect point, and photo will be taken for documentation.

After the checking, a home inspection report will be compiled and delivered to the buyer.

The report will normally contain:

i) a summary of inspection result:

ii) a floor plan marking the defect areas:

iii) description of the defects with photo taken:

The home inspection report can easily go between 50 to 200 pages for normal home, depends on the amount of defects found.

Online converting service apartment commercial electricity tariff to residential with myTNB portal

If you live in a service apartment which sit on a piece of commercial land title, you might be paying higher electricity bill every month if your electricity usage is charged based on commercial tariff.

You can file an application with Tenaga Nasional (TNB) to request to change your commercial tariff to the cheaper residential tariff, either by visiting to TNB branch in your area and submit the paper form, or submit the online form in myTNB portal anytime anywhere.

Either way, your application will be processed pretty soon. Normally, your tariff will be changed to residential rate during the next business day after online submission.

You can click here to access to myTNB portal. If you haven't created an account in myTNB, you will need to register for one before you can login.

After login, go to the Apply menu, and select the option "I want to do something else".

Then, select "I want to find out more about other services".

After that, select "Change My Tariff".

There are 4 steps to fill in the online form. Make sure you select "Domestic" as premise type, and select the correct residential type.

At the end of the process, you are required to submit a scanned copy of your MyKad. The name on the MyKad should be the same with the name printed on your electricity bill.

If you confirm to submit the application, you will be charged for RM10 stamp duty, which will be reflected in your upcoming electricity bill.

Upon successful submission, you will receive an email like below.

However, there seems to be no further notification on successful tariff change. You can login to myTNB after 24 hours later to check if your electricity tariff has been changed to residential rate or not.

For your information, current TNB commercial tariff is as below:

and current TNB residential tariff is as below:

If you don't apply for the conversion to residential rate, you might end up being charged double or more in your bill for same amount of electricity used in your service apartment unit.

My CyberPower UT800EG 800VA/400W UPS with built-in AVR

It is really value or money to use RM128 to get a branded Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system with capacity of 800VA/400W to provide power protection for my desktop computer and Internet connection devices.

This CyberPower UT800EG UPS has a very compact size, about the same with a typical  2-bay network attached storage (NAS) system.

It is very easy to operate, with only one on/off button. It uses 3 LEDs and a beeping buzzer to show its status and condition.

Selling at this kind of cheap price, it is within my expectation that it only has basic UPS function that generates simulated sine wave (instead of pure sine wave), and basic Single Boost, Single Buck type of Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) function. It has electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter and radio frequency interference (RFI) filter.

It uses internal current limiting  and a fuse for overload protection. It has a relatively low surge suppression rating of 125 Joules.

Beside its cheap price and compact size, another thing I like is its 3 universal type power outlets. With this kind of power outlet, I can directly plug in my equipment within the need to use special kind of IEC-320 power cord.

Another thing I like is its patented energy saving feature called GreenPower UPS Bypass Technology, which is claimed to be able to save substantial amount of power consumption.

When use with normal desktop computer and 27 inches LCD monitor, it is able to provide slightly more than 10 minutes of power outage protection.

This UPS comes with 2 years warranty, which registration can be made online.

My HuntKey SZL307 3 gang universal socket power extension with USB power output and surge protection

I just bought this HuntKey SZL307 3 gang power extension for about RM50. It has all the features I wanted, namely:

• Long and thick power cord (2 meter)
• Universal power sockets
• USB fast charging ports
• Independent on/off switch for each socket
• Surge protection against overload, voltage fluctuations, surges and spikes
• SIRIM approved

This HuntKey SZL307 power extension comes with 2 USB charging port with fast charging output of 5V/2.4A, handy for charging mobile devices without the need of their power adapter.

Its surge protected sockets are universal type, can fit in various types of 3-pin plug and also 2-pin plug.

Unlike its competitor Belkin SurgeMaster which only has one on/off switch for all the sockets, this HuntKey SZL307 has individual on/off switch for each of its 3 power sockets, and there is LED indicator light for each of the switches.

It comes with 3 years warranty. Most importantly, it is SIRIM approved with a SIRIM sticker on it.

There are other variants to this product, such as the HuntKey SZL407 which has 4 gangs and selling at a more expensive price.

Toothpaste tube squeezer

I bought this toothpaste tube squeezer recently at the price of RM1.00 per piece only, and found it is pretty useful to help you squeeze out the last drop of toothpaste from its tube when it is near empty.

It assists in squeezing the toothpaste out of the tube by pushing force onto itself.

This small little plastic can be used for soft tube packaging of various semi-liquid products, including cosmetic skincare cream, lotion, sun screen, water colour paint, gel, glue, etc.

There are also other types of soft tube squeezer available in the market. I think this type is the simplest and cheapest among them.

Astonish 750ml Premium Edition Orange Grove Multi-purpose Cleaner

I was introduced with this Astonish 750ml Premium Edition Orange Grove Multi-purpose Cleaner to remove grease and oil in kitchen area and anywhere throughout  the home, particularly on the surface of owen, hood, hob, fan blades, etc.

 

It is really effective and able to clean up the oily and dirty surface within seconds with the spray and wipe action.

At the cost of around RM26, it is considered reasonably priced.

In addition, this product also claimed to be environmental friendly and vegan society approved.

Auspicious dates for renovation in 2019

Here is the list of auspicious dates for home or office renovation in year 2019, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for moving to new house / office in 2019

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2019, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Avantree SP850 multifunctional wireless speaker with FM radio

I have purchased an Avantree SP850 multifunctional wireless speaker with FM radio for my father to replace his CD player that is now faulty and possibly reached its end-of-life.

This Avantree SP850 has many overlapping function with the BC-01 multimedia bluetooth speaker that I purchased 2 years ago. It costs higher at the price of RM96, but its sound quality is comparatively better, with a removable (and therefore replaceable) Nokia BL-5C Li-ion battery, and much straightforward and easier to use.

Note that this Avantree SP850 does not have alarm clock function and also unable to display the time.

Its 3 main functions are:

• Play music and audio in MP3, WMA or WAV format
• FM radio
• Act as handsfree to answer/reject/hang-up incoming calls when connected to mobile phone using Bluetooth

It can accept audio source from the following:

• FM radio
• Micro SD card
• AUX 3.5mm audio cable
• Bluetooth

and it can output audio to headphone or external speaker via 3.5mm audio cable plugged to its headphone socket.

Its operation is menu driven with its LCD screen display. You can navigate the directory structure of the Micro SD card to pick the music file to play.

It supports the following music playing repeat modes:

• Repeat all
• Repeat folder
• Replace once
• Random

It has a built-in equalizer which you can set for the following music modes:

• Natural
• Rock
• Pop
• Classic
• Jazz
• Soft

It has 10 numeric buttons on top, makes it very easy to select song and to tune the FM radio.

You can get the FM radio to perform auto-searching of available channels, or to manually input the channel frequency number by using the numeric buttons. The manually set channels will be automatically memorized. This Avantree SP850 is able to memorize quite a lot of FM radio channels.

Due to its easy of use, this Avantree SP850 is suitable for everybody use, including elderly people.

You can watch the video below to have better understanding about this Avantree SP850.

My Asus RT-AC86U AC2900 wireless dual-band MU-MIMO gigabit router with TM UniFi and Maxis Home Fibre support

The Asus RT-AC86U is a multimedia wireless router with gaming support, which you can also classify it as an entry level gaming router. For more powerful gaming router that gives you great online gaming experience, you should look for the ROG series instead.

It is the successor of the popular Asus RT-AC68U router, with similar stand-up design, identical front LED panel, rear connectors and buttons, but the internal circuit board is totally different. Thanks to this stand-up design, it has a much smaller footprint compared with those flatbed routers.

The CPU of this Asus RT-AC86U is powered by a dual-core Broadcom BCM4906 64-bit processor clocked at 1.8GHz (ARM v8 Cortex A53 architecture built with 28nm technology), which is apparently more powerful than the Broadcom BCM4709 processor used in Asus RT-AC88U AC3100 wireless router.

More powerful CPU provides better user experience for the more CPU intensive tasks, such as when using USB 3.0, SMB v2, data encryption, etc.

This Asus RT-AC86U is an AC2900 wireless dual-band MU-MIMO gigabit router. Oddly, it has lesser number of antennas compared with most of its counterparts in the market. It has 3 dual-band external antennas and 1 more internal antenna for the 5GHz radio band. Well, do not be fooled by this appearance. Indeed, its wireless signal strength and reach is pretty powerful.

Powered by Broadcam's NitroQAM support with 1024-state quadrature amplitude modulation (1024-QAM), if the connecting wireless device is also supporting 1024-QAM, each data stream of its 2.4GHz band can have a maximum data transfer rate of 250Mbps, and each data stream of its 5GHz band can have a maximum data transfer rate of 541Mbps. Both are 25% higher than the older TurboQAM technology (each 2.4GHz band = 200Mbps, each 5GHz band = 433Mbps) in used by predeccessing wireless routers such as Asus RT-AC68U.

Its 2.4GHz radio band is powered by a Broadcom BCM4365E 3×3:3 SoC chipset, able to serve a combined maximum data transfer rate of 3 streams of 250Mbps = 750Mbps.

Its 5GHz radio band is powered by a Broadcom BCM4366E 4×4:4 SoC chipset, able to serve a combined maximum data transfer rate of 4 streams of 541Mbps = 2,164Mbps.

However, most of the mobile devices nowadays are still using the 256-QAM technology, which supports maximum data transfer rate of 600Mbps in 2.4GHz and 1,733Mbps in 5GHz. Only the latest mobile devices with 1024-QAM support are able to unleash its full potential of serving 750Mbps in 2.4GHz and 2,164 in 5GHz.

The 2.4GHz wireless network of this router just performs a decent job, on par with other good quality wireless routers. Its main strength is on the 5GHz wireless network, which surprisingly having a very strong, far and stable reach. It is still detectable and accessible in locations which are beyond the reach of the 5GHz wireless network of my previous router.

With this Asus RT-AC86U router serving from the middle of my house, I don't even need to use any range extender to have stable and fast WiFi in every corner of my house. The WiFi signal, powered by Asus Range Boost technology and AiRadar beamforming, can also be detected further away from outside the house.

This Asus RT-AC86U has a total flash memory of 256 MB, and RAM of 512 MB. Both are doubled when compared with Asus RT-AC68U. It is pretty feature rich, configurable through Asus' famous AsusWRT web interface.

It has dual WAN support, which the second WAN link can be supplied using a 4G USB dongle or USB modem, or making use of one of its gigabit LAN ports for WAN purpose. The secondary WAN link can be configured for load-balancing or standby as failover backup link.

It supports TM UniFi IPTV by simple setting and connecting its LAN Port #4 to the TM UniFi set-top-box. It also supports IPv6 flawlessly.

It supports up to 3 separate Guest Networks in the 2.4GHz band, and up to another 3 separate Guest Networks in the 5GHz band.

Being a multimedia wireless router, it has features such as AiCloud 2.0 which enables the router to provide file server function and even media server function by attaching USB storage device such as USB thumb drive or USB external harddisk to its USB 3.0 port.

You can configure for the file server function and/or media server function to be accessible from local network only, or even from the Internet. Having dynamic WAN IP is not a problem, as you can configure the router to make use of DDNS service, so that you can always connect back to your router with its DDNS domain name.

By making use of Samba service, it can also provide Smart Access function for you to remotely access through Internet to the shared files and resources in your local network.

Access to AiCloud 2.0 can be made via its web interface, or by using the free AiCloud Android or iOS mobile app.

Its USB 3.0 file sharing is pretty fast. Accessed from LAN, my Transcend StoreJet 5400 rpm 1TB portable hard disk with NTFS partition attached to the router is accessible with a read speed of 101 MB/s (808 Mbps) and a write speed of 89.9 MB/s (719.2 Mbps).

It provides AiProtection feature with Trend Micro, with malicious sites blocking, 2-way IPS and infected device prevention & blocking. This is able to give you an additional layer of protection at the network perimeter, on top of the antivirus/anti-malware protection that you installed in your computers. You would not be surprised to see AiProtection successfully intercepted some malicious website accesses that skipped through your computer's antivirus/anti-malware screening.

It also equipped with Parental Controls function that enable you to block access to websites of certain criteria (such as adult websites). In addition, you can set time scheduling for the computers and network devices in your network so that they are restricted to access the Internet during certain time period.

Parental Controls works best together with the free Asus Router mobile app available for Android and iOS. In the mobile app, you can define which network devices are used by which family member, and the mobile app will block the adult websites for your children under 18 years old.

Its Adaptive QoS function enables you to set priority for certain network traffic, useful for online gaming. You can also configure it to make use of WTFast Gamers Private Network for faster online gaming experience.

This Asus RT-AC86U has quite frequent firmware updates, particularly to patch up security issues or to fix performance issues. Other than using the stock firmware, you also have option to install customized firmware such as the AsusWRT-Merlin firmware which is developed based on the stock firmware and more emphasis on security, usability and stability.