by Tom Gunderson | May 23, 2019 | Blog
We do a lot of in-home consults here at The Little Guys. One of the things we always press on is the network. We usually start early in the process with the question: “How’s your network?”. It’s almost always followed by “My network is fine.” We file that away and start talking about what they would like to do. Audio in various rooms, a TV over here in the Living room and over there in the Master bedroom (Which of course is on the opposite side of the house from where the cable providers router is.) They want to “cut the cord” so streaming video through their Apple TV or Roku is very important. Inevitably, there is no network jack anywhere near where they want the new TV. Turns out, Their “fine” network has no hard-wired jacks anywhere in the home! We spend some time talking about how wireless technology has advanced a great deal over the years, but for full 4k streaming, a wired connection is going to provide the best results. This is usually where they admit that “Netflix does buffer a lot in the living room…” They understand, but often the conversation often continues: “I guess we’ll have to connect it to the Wifi and see how it goes”. This is usually when one of the kids who were lurking behind volunteer some important information. “Dad, I keep telling you the Wifi doesn’t work up here at all!” This is usually where we also discover their “fine” network needs to be unplugged and plugged back in “At least once a week”. So let me ask...
by Tom Gunderson | May 17, 2019 | Blog
You did all the research. You listened to your friends, neighbors, and even the salesperson at the electronics store and when you decided to spend some of your hard-earned money on that new piece of gear, or system, you also purchased a surge protector to plug it all in so you would be protected from power surges. It was the right thing to do! That was also 5 years ago- and you have not thought about it since… Here’s the issue- the majority of surge protectors out there (there are some differences- we will cover that in another blog) lose their effectiveness over time, and you have no way of knowing! The most popular method of surge protection is the use of a device called a metal oxide varistor (MOV), it’s basically a sacrificial device that when it sees a large surge of power it gives it’s life to channel it away from your gear. However- it only gets to do that once! Also, over time as it encounters the daily barrage of small spikes and surges that exist, it wears down, eventually to a point it won’t do its job when the big one comes. There is really no method to know how effective a surge protector is over time. Some have a light that indicates it’s working properly, but those are not always correct either. How long they last are a mixture of the quality of the device and the number of small surges and spikes they take, which can vary greatly from house to house, even room to room, because devices in a room on the...
by Tom Gunderson | May 14, 2019 | Blog
It seems that every device has its own remote control these days. Your TV, cable or satellite box, Bluray or DVD player, and soundbar are just the beginning, and that’s just to watch TV! Add to that a surround system and music players in other areas of the house and you easily have 6-7 remotes that you are juggling to try and use your gear. In order to save your sanity and make your life more enjoyable, a universal remote control system could be just the ticket! Most good quality universal remote control systems can be custom programmed (meaning that they are not limited to preset codes) for the exact components that you are currently using. This gives us the ability to really dial in all your gear to a single easy to use interface. Once the control system is properly programmed, the operation is simple! Press the watch button and a list of your video sources (i.e TV, cable/satellite, BluRay/DVD) will pop up. Simply press the button corresponding to the source you want to watch and the remote will automatically send a set of commands telling all of the components what they need to do. The same holds true for listening to music. No more fumbling around for the correct remote and hoping you will be on the correct input! Remote control systems can also have options for apps on your electronic devices, turning them into remotes for your system as well. They can even be integrated with lighting, shading, and your thermostats just to name a few additional options. If you’re tired and frustrated with...
by Tom Gunderson | May 9, 2019 | Blog
We’re guilty of it too- focusing and highlighting the larger, complex, and coolest systems and installations. Let’s face it, looking at photos of installations with 200-inch screens, giant sound systems, awesome outdoor systems, and state of the art home automation systems is fun! It’s the flashy car going down the street, the ring loaded with diamonds, the eye-candy of the industry. We know those systems very well and execute them better than others. But what about those complex “Simple” jobs that at the end of the day go unnoticed after they are done? The ones that really require a pro to do correctly? Here is a great example of one of those jobs. Hanging your TV over your fireplace is very common these days. The problem is that not all fireplaces are created equal. Some have drywall around them, some a flat brick, or in this case a very uneven and irregular stone. Your new TV is flat- and so is the bracket! A flat bracket on the uneven stone is a recipe for a challenge! That’s where having the pro’s come in is paramount. Our installers know just what to do. They layout the ideal placement on the stone, scope out the edges and figure out how to both work with what the stone gives you, find the correct structure to mount into so the TV is secure, and plan out just the right hardware to make the backplate straight, flat, and level! In this case, as you can see in the picture the best place for the mounting plate was...
