vmarks

beowulfschmidt said:

Is there any reason that this device couldn't be plugged into the bottom outlet, thus freeing up the top one, or does it extend too far up?

It's nice to see more of these general purpose items coming for Homekit.  

Correct, the plug is not directly opposite the top outlet, so it obscures the top outlet trying to use it like you're thinking.

Abode is a noun, meaning home or residence. That it is similar to Adobe, meaning sun-dried bricks made from mud is coincidental. Also, naming a company that makes photo software after mud bricks is messed up.

kruegdude said:

A confusing point in the article where it states

“Things are a little different with version 2 from a connectivity standpoint, though. In the past, we used the ConnectSense app to connect the peripheral to Wi-Fi, added the device to Home app and controlled it via Home. Done, and out.”

Then you went on to describe Google/Alexa.  I missed what was different with version 2. 

V1 and V2 are the same for HomeKit.

V2 adds Google Assistant and Alexa compatibility. That would be why we went on to describe the new features.

linkman said:

AppleInsider said:

The Synology RT2600ac is one of the most flexible routers we've seen. It isn't always the easiest to configure for some strange edge case uses, but nearly every option seems to be present. We used the IPTV settings Synology provides to configure the WAN port on VLAN 2 with medium priority for Quality of Service (QoS), and were able to replace the network box modem our Internet service provider requires. We were able to connect the router directly to the fiber jack, something other routers haven't been able to do without another device in the middle.

I'm at a loss as how you connected this directly to the fiber jack. Synology's web page doesn't list a fiber connection on the features or specs, and none of the pictures you supplied show a fiber connection. Can you explain further?

The fiber jack, or ONT (optical network terminal) has fiber in one side of it and Ethernet out the other. 

The ISP normally requires their modem to authenticate service. AT&T changes auth every 14 days (I believe. It’s been a while since I had their service.) it is possible for services that require it to place a managed switch between router and fiber jack to set the wan Ethernet to VLAN 2, priority 3, which allows you to use this router without the isp provided modems. Here, Synology has settings which do this so the managed switch is not needed. They are the only router we have tested to allow this. The Ubiquiti amplify are almost able to - they set the VLAN id but do not do port priority, which results in the 1Gbit line delivering 10Mbit. 

Thats is all this comment was to say is, there are esoteric options and this thing supports them, which is kind of awesome. 

It it does not have sfp or a fiber transceiver. Which is fine. I apologize for any confusion I caused by mentioning this. 

In the old days, Apple would offer something else as a part of the apology, up to the rep's discretion. In an Apple store, this could be like, "pick something else off the shelves", while on the phone it would be, "Do you listen to music? Could I send you some speakers as an apology?" - here, he wanted some money for pants and some money for the cell service he was going to be billed for but couldn't use with a damaged phone. If they had tried to give him a product, and then let him return the product, he'd have had the cash he was asking for.

But he probably got a brusque, over-worked genius before getting the Apple Safety Engineer, was likely in a bad mood to begin with, and the whole encounter felt bad to him. I can see why he walked away. The "we'll replace your iphone" was presumed. "we aren't going to do anything else for you" was an insult from his standpoint.

What this highlights to me is that Apple Store reps aren't given enough latitude to extinguish situations where emotions are inflamed.