Sounds good. Yeah. >> And here's Graham. >> Well, great. Graham Graham Graham just arrived. Um, welcome Graham. Um, >> so we can get started. I think Craig is a maybe for today. Um,
>> my email said he wouldn't be here that he with us. He has a meeting in Boston at 5:30. >> Oh, okay then. Hold on. I'm just checking checking my email again. >> It was in his router information. He
slipped it in there. >> He slipped it in there. All right. Well, I'll have to have to read it during during the meeting then. Um well, uh welcome everyone to the January 28th meeting of the MLP board and broadband committee. I'm Gail Hundress, MLP manager, facilitating the meeting. This
meeting is fully remote. Participating also remotely. We have MLP board members Jim Hemingway, Graham Septin, and Steven Schmidt. And also joining us, we have community member Andy Reagan, who is um also driving today and um is interested
in perhaps joining our team um as an as an MLP member. Um so I invited him to join us to kind of get a feeling for what we're all about. And uh Graham, you didn't hear this, he also serves on the fire department, so is well versed in
>> town town politics and everything. >> Town stuff. >> Yeah. >> Gail, you you said Andy is also driving today, but everybody the rest of us appear to be stationary right now. >> Oh, I meant I meant Craig. Craig is like
driving away. Yeah, that's that was my that was my reference. No, I'm not driving. No. >> Yeah. Um, all right. So, first order of business is to approve the meeting minutes from
February 17th as amended by Jim. >> You mean December? >> Move the minutes be accepted. >> December 17th, right? >> I do. I do. Oh my goodness. I'm jumping ahead terribly. December 17th. Thank
you. Well, I I move those minutes be accepted. >> And I second. >> Thank you. All right. Uh, all in favor, Jim, >> I. >> Steve, >> I. >> Graham, >> I. >> Excellent.
All right. Um, let's see. Um, hut report. Um, Graham, do you want to share the news about the new space heater and, uh, HVAC settings? >> Yes. Yeah, that so I did put in that space heater that uh we discussed last
meeting and uh and I set it to uh I currently I well I tried a few different settings but anyhow it does save energy and it is keeping the hut even in this uh polar vortex the the temperature in the hut indoors only went down to 57° on
the coldest night um and 57° is fine mostly it's keeping it in the 60s even saying the temperature. I can see Gail, you're pulling up your zipper and >> I am all of a sudden you're reminding me I'm cold. >> A terrible a terrible temperature. But anyhow, 57 is
>> fine for my in my stove. So uh so anyhow that so that the uh and and in looking at the power monitoring for the hut um I see that uh that it is using less power to heat it that way than to run um the uh the the heat pumps
trying to scratch heat out of zero degree air. So So that's good. And um nothing else uh much um uh in the hut um to say. >> Great. Did you ever hear back from Frank
about the townwide energy audit? >> Uh yeah, I let him in and uh and he didn't uh he didn't give any further uh any further information about it. Uh but but I uh I showed him that we I I I did send him the exact amount of uh kilowatt
hours we used um in the last two years. So um so you know so they can look at that and think about it. Um one could um uh definitely make a case that because heating the hut is more of a thing than
cooling it in the summer energy wise that um that um it could make sense to put a layer of insulation on the roof and maybe on two of the walls. Um uh you know I'm it would be a you know one
would I suppose look at the the the payback on that. Um it it might take a lot of might take a long time to pay back but but that that's something that the energy audit people might think about. Um yeah. >> Yeah. I mean I'm I'm open to making
improvements there. If I remember though the the like the R value of those concrete structures is is very good. No, it's it's not it's not it's a very it's a minimally uh insulated uh structure. Uh I guess it's because utility utility
huts um you know they just don't expect to uh to have them heated um uh it wouldn't meet building code uh to heat that building at the moment. So now the R values the the walls are, you know, a couple of inches thick of a concrete
composite, but it's not a very good R value. >> Oh, I stand I stand corrected. I thought because it was so um you know, like thick concrete that it was, but no. >> Yeah. No. >> Oh. All right, then. >> That was Frank. You uh talked to Graham.
>> Uh Frank. Yeah. Yeah. He in his he's he's in the building committee and he was the liaison for the buildings I guess. >> What's his last name? Just out of curiosity. >> Oh, >> McInness, right? >> Yeah, McInness. >> McIn.
>> McInness. >> I think >> Oh, maybe it's on my contact list. I get back to you on that. >> That's all right. That's all. Keep talking. >> Well,
Graham, I have further question for you about the the new heater. So, we But we'll we'll let you do one thing at a time here. >> It's Frank McInn. You're right. McGin N, not Frank McInness. >> Okay. >> Which would be the beer, which is not
correct. Um, >> oh, Steve, what's your question? >> Yeah, so I'm cur next time you're up at the hut, uh, if you think, you know, let me know. I'd be just I'm trying to get more knowledge now of the hut since you're going to be
stepping down and, you know, I was really involved in the hut when it was first installed. So, I want to kind of get back into that loop. So, I I just like to get up there and see the the new heater and how it's set up. But particular questions. Uh um so have you
got both HVACs turned off now? >> One of them is turned off. One of them. Okay. So the the the uh the HVAC that's being used is being used um that if the temperature goes to 75° um or above. Well, if it goes to 75°, it'll start
pumping heat out of the hut. So, so it is our it is our cap on um and and should that single HVAC fail then um this time of year as you know you know exhaust air just blasts in um if the temperature goes above 84 degrees and I
test that and and when we go when we go there together I'll show you how to test that just to make sure the exhaust air fan works. I do it once a year. >> And do we have a is there a thermostatic control on this new heater? Um, yes,
there is. Yeah, it's it's set at a and it's really clear, you know, you can just look at it and see it's got nice bright numbers, you know. So, it's it's it's it's it's a no-brainer to turn it up and down, you know, it's push button. >> And we should, this Gail also involves
you, we should probably update our uh operations manual now to uh reflect that we've got this uh change in the heating. Yep. Already done. >> Um yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um yeah, I keep the
um uh you know like our broadband manual is kind of a living document. So I did things like update with our 2025 electricity usage. >> Um you know all those numbers and things that just tend to get lost over time. Um I I try to uh keep it keep it updated,
right? Um and also um you know we will have to think about a um succession plan for Graham um for for the hut maintenance. So Steve you bring up a good point. Um I think after we get through kind of the budgets and this
grant thing uh we can start working on that in like April perhaps April May. Um, okay. Other things, um, maintenance and service pretty normal. Um, we had 30, uh, support tickets in December. Uh,
nothing unusual there. Um, financially, we're in really good shape. We're about $112,000 in the black. Um, but don't get too excited about that number because we have that debt payment of 97,000
coming up in April. Um, however, we also have another four months of revenue expected. So, that's going to equal about another 120K. So, I am expecting to um be cash positive by about 80,000.
Again, we have no idea what the rest of the winter is going to bring. We don't know about maintenance. there's so many contingent. But anyway, if it is a normal year, um we should end up in uh with plenty of cash flow. Um and even if it's a bad year, I see no risk that um
you know, our budget is going to is going to be under. >> What was that uh figure again for what's in the account? >> Sure. 112300 112 comma 300. >> Okay. Got it.
Are payments from Sheld coming in uh regularly now? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. I know there was a point early on with them. I know it was there was some um you know some adjusting to uh to the
change over to Sheld. So, >> no. Oh yeah, we're we're in a nice a really nice um rhythm now both with their um MLP payments coming in and the invoicing coming in um and and it it it comes in not quite monthly but like
every five weeks. >> Okay, good. >> So, um All right. In other news, um I got notified from Verizon that there's a rate change for our joint owned polls. Um
so it's going to um uh raise by about 20%. Like everything else, 20% going up. So it's that the bill came for 2908
up from 2395. Um, >> even though these poles are complete, almost all the poles are completely depreciated. >> Well, of course, not all of them because >> the seven miles of upgrades.
>> Yeah, >> you pay you pay coming and going. Um yeah, so but but yeah, I guess they they would they would say that that they also have to repair poles, you know, when there's storms and stuff. So So um they
they may be depreciated poles, but they have to keep them in good shape on the street. >> Dale, do you? >> Yeah. And it's, you know, this the increase isn't going to break our bank, but it's just like ugh like, you know, the cost of everything seem to just uh you know, going up 20%. Everything's up
20%. Um, I have not gotten the notification nor a bill from Eversource or National Grid saying that they're raising prices. Um, it may be because they have more constraints as the
incumbent electrical provider, right, that they they're like not allowed to. I I I don't know. This is just conjecture on my part of like why is Verizon increasing their kind of half of the pole rental and National Grid isn't and either they haven't caught up yet um or
they're not allowed to or they just haven't yet. All of those >> Verizon is also Verizon is also under the the utilities um crowd. So they also have to justify their their price rise. You know they they have to you know do show the book work to prove it. So, so
yeah, National Grid might be in that process or maybe they're around. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Gale, just out of curiosity, do you think that what we pay to these, you know, for pole rental charges to these utilities equals or is less than or more
than what the town gets in revenue from. Um because you know the town town charges them for for the use of their poles on on on town land or at least along our highways. I I you know the money flows both ways is what I'm
saying. >> Yeah. That's that's a tax though that um >> yeah it's a tax but I know those figures um when I was on the board of assessors but that's kind of drifted out of my mind right now. I
could look that up. It's just not I just was curious that's all. >> No, it's it's a good point and it's it's very relevant actually right now because on uh the 20th of of January a couple or just I guess it was just a week ago um I went to the select board meeting because they were having a poll hearing for
those right for that like 17 polls on Pratt Corner Road. I read the documentation a little bit closer and we had assumed that they were going all the way to the substation >> for that upgrade and it's not. It was it was only 17 poles kind of right at the
the um uh start of Pratt Corner Road there. Um but anyway, I I made the case to the um select board um that it's not a it's not a null cost for us. Um and
um they actually didn't approve the polls. Not because of us. Not not because I want to be clear. It wasn't because of us. It wasn't because of us. It was because a resident um uh gave a conservation committee complaint that one of the polls was in spitting
distance of a of a wetland. And so the select board said, "Okay, um uh National Grid, you after you apply to the uh conservation committee and get approval to put your polls in, come back to us
and then we'll we'll stamp this." So, um yeah, the >> we had to discuss that one down on Wendle Road just where where I live where we the pulse and um spitting
distance of wetland and creek and you know and it was evaluated that a pole is a very non-invasive uh you know um thing m much much less worse than the road itself which has all sorts Yeah. So, no.
>> Right. Was there any discussion, Graham, during that Wendell Road stretch? Um, and about the uh like leeching chemicals off of the the treated poles. >> Um, it was, you know, they they just
they just decided that the whole thing is what they treat the poles with these days is less um is less toxic. Yeah. But yeah, that's an interesting question. But um I don't think I don't think there's much migration out of out of a pole um because otherwise they wouldn't
they would lose their lose their chemicals and rot away in less than 100 years that we see them standing for. So >> all right. Yeah, I'm asking because it was raised in that um resident's letter about the um the you know the concerns
there. Okay. >> Yeah. Um, so anyway, any anyway, I I um think that the the project is is still going to happen. It's just going to be delayed a little bit. Um,
>> thank you for keeping on top of it, Gail. >> Sure. >> Delayed until who is it again who has to bless this? >> The conservation committee and then the select board will will sign off on it. >> Okay.
Um, so just to wrap up that conversation, I'm gonna So I'm going to bump our um whole rental fees in our budget since it's not set in stone yet by 20%. I'm just anticipating that if not this year, next year National Grid
is going to come and raise their rental fees as well. So just we'll just do 20% across the board. >> Very pertinent. Yeah, I think that's definitely the right way to go on the budget. U remember though, National Grid was the company that didn't bill us at
all for pole rental for several years after we got going. So, they just may not be as on top of this as true. >> Their back office may still be a mess. So, who knows? >> Verizon is, you know, totally on top of
billing you. So, All right, let's see. Um, so something I'm working on right now is the halfyear um report for the digital equity grant. Um, so that's that's due in a couple of weeks. Uh, so I've been
collecting invoices and writing out descriptions for for um MBI. Um the the progress really comes down to about five or six bullet points. So um we've installed the robust free public Wi-Fi
in the new library building. That's kind of the biggest thing that we've done and um we're in progress of trying to do the same thing at the town hall. Um, oh, speaking of which, Graham, I never followed up with you about getting that Ubiquiti router to just try it at my
house before before we install it publicly. >> And I would have dropped it off, but but I have I have yet to take it back when I had to wait until everything was settled with how the public Wi-Fi um APs were
being uh you know, they had to be all tweaked and stuff like that. So, so I had delayed until until everything was running there smoothly as public Wi-Fi in the library. Um, and and and then I have to uh I have to um remove it. So, I
have to take the one this the traveling one that's in my basement. I have to take it back there. Um, at the moment it's not aligned with what the ones there are. Um, and I have to remove it and then I have to add it back in again and then I'll bring it to your place. So, um, and then you'll be able to run
it. All right. Thanks. I'm glad. >> At the moment, it's just not ready, but you know, I can do that in the next few days. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. Um, let's see. Um, also at the library, we
outfitted the little conference room um with a nice big monitor, um, AV technology, and two new laptops, um, that we paid for for public use. Um, we sent a mailing to all 76
remaining households in town that don't have the internet service, offering them the free installation for anyone who qualifies and then just reminding them we have a pretty big subsidy of 700 bucks if you want to get internet installed. Um, so we've had like since
October when that letter went out, we've had like three new installations not u paid for through digital equity because the people didn't qualify. I can't um say that it's a direct correlation like that letter inspired people to do it or if it was just house turnover or um or
or whatever, but so far we haven't had any people who qualified under the digital equity rules to have a totally free installation. Um there's still the um unconnected house on Macedonia Road, but we can't do anything with that until
this the the snow thaws um because it's so remote and uh getting a a um uh um estimate in there is just impossible at the moment with all of the feet and
feet of snow. Um so anyway, I will I'll stay on top of that. Um let's see. So we we start and then again I'm just kind of like going through the things that that we've done so far with this um grant already. Um
the pilot program offering beyond the router support um for inhome help and devices is going although it has not been embraced as much as I thought it would be. Uh we've only had actually one one call in December um for that of
somebody needing um you know an in-home visit for a device that was not a a break fix issue. >> Um >> so one call one call >> one call. >> One call. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um
the we conducted one learning session for seniors on safe online shopping and smartphone use. Um, and there's going to be three more to come. So, that was held in December. Um, it was attended by six people, which doesn't sound like a lot,
but it's a lot for Shootsberry. So, um, they were enthusiastic about that. Um, and of course, we're evaluating the routers for the townwide replacement. Um, so that's kind of where we stand
with the um with the grant so far. Um and let's see anything else um that we should discuss before I move on to routers. Um the uh Gail in response to your
question um uh by email about how many um how many people logged into the public Wi-Fi in the library and as as you know from the email I sent back to you you know in a twoe period it was like around 200 devices that were in the
public Wi-Fi um and and um and as you know you can look at the traffic on on the um on the the ubiquity uh uh cloud management tool. Um, and and I was looking at them and I was thinking, oh, no traffic, no traffic, no traffic. And I realized, oh, well, of course, most
people take their phones um at to the library, but they don't go there to use their phones to talk to anyone. So, they're they're basically they're you know, they're on they're on Wi-Fi calling. They're available. Um, and it's a bit of a dead spot um that part of
town. Um, so they don't a lot of people wouldn't have a cellular option there. So, so you know the uh the the the 150 or whatever of these um you know iPhones and Androids that you can see are in there, most of them didn't get called
didn't get phoned while they were there and they didn't phone anyone else. But you can see the laptops that some people who've gone with laptop type devices that they that they were using the public Wi-Fi and um and you know doing what they wanted to do with it. But um
but of course the library has those devices that um that the grant um we've given with the grant. So a lot of people don't you know they might bring their laptop but they would end up using the devices that are in the library if they're available.
>> Yeah. I don't get the sense yet that that people have developed any kind of rhythm of like going to the library to do remote work or anything because it's so it's so new and also it's winter and no one wants to leave home. So, there's that. Um, okay.
>> Yeah. A couple things. Um, >> on the houses that are not, um, uh, current subscribers, you know, we've been running this number, what's it around 70, you said. Um, places that aren't connected. Seems been running
that for some time. Um would it be uh at all difficult for you to just send out a list of those addresses um to us and you know we might each of us could look at those addresses and
each one of us might say oh that's so and so's place here's the reason that they're not subscribing. So, you know, rather than continuing to follow up there, um we we you know, each of us might know uh the reason for uh
for this and could uh kind of take it off the list that people ought to be followed up with. >> Sure. Glad to send that um that list around. Let me make a note of it. Yeah, I did I did do one comb through of the addresses I knew that shouldn't go
on there. Things like uh the Lake Wyola clubhouse, for example, right? It's used for two months out of the year. There's no reason and you know, they're never going to want to connect to that. Um or places like the um
uh uh you know, the state beach house, which is an it's an abandoned house. at at this point. So things like that. Um but yeah, it would be great to know of any others. Um and I do have it all in a database.
>> Um so um yeah, I would love to to make more notes on it of of kind just kind of where we stand in installations. >> Okay. The other thing I was going to mention, I've been interested in in uh
seeing my colleagues reviews of the routers, but you know, I wasn't uh testing any of the new routers myself. Um I had some kind of overall thoughts about the project, but maybe we should go ahead with the discussion of the
individual routers first and then I I had kind of a wider picture thought on it. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's um any anything else about other things before we move on to rappers. All right.
Um All right. So, Andy, um just so you know, what we're about to talk about is um the evaluation of a router upgrade for all residents. So, we're looking at a couple of um uh Wi-Fi 7 routers um
that to replace the Lynxys routers that everybody currently has installed in their homes. Um and so that's that's why we're talking about this. >> Great. Yeah, I'm I'm running the uh Eero Wi-Fi 6 routers at home. So, yeah,
because we our house is a little too big for the one router. So, we have the the mesh network. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you're not alone in that. Um, yeah. Do and is it is it uh good for you? Like is satisfactory? Are you getting the speeds you want from that? >> The Eero is excellent.
>> Yep. Um, so I have uh two like remote units. Uh, and they're not they're not hardwired. Um, and they they work pretty well. I mean, you kind of have to like get them like halfway to where you want to go so they can they are still in the service enough to to uh bump it. Um, but
they work pretty well. I had tried a a Lynxys repeater, >> but I kind of had the issue where, you know, I set the I set the name to be the same, but you'd kind of have to switch your device. It wasn't seamless. >> But with the EOS, you know, I walk around the house and it just you you know, you can see which one is closest.
So, >> good positive experience with with these. >> But yeah, >> cool. Is it >> that's because they the arrows like many of the others have proprietary software that enables them to work well in these situations which is going to be a
problem I think for a lot of our subscribers who have invested in one particular mesh unit and well we I'm sure we're going to talk about this quite a bit this particular >> yeah yeah the has an app so like when a new device joins the network I get a
notification and yeah stuff like that >> but it's yeah it's proprietary Yeah, >> I've thought about running OpenWRT on some routers and stuff, but yeah, I haven't I haven't gone that far. So, >> all right, let's um yeah, just dive into
um the the routers. Um, so I sent around the um comparison summary of of our tests. Um, any before we really get into it, is there anything on that summary I sent that needs to be corrected? Anything I wrote that was
kind of inaccurate? Um, it looks like Craig had some things to say that I haven't had a chance to look at. Um, let's see. Well, for the TPLink unit that I'm testing, um I I said
qualitative qualitatively uh that it was comparable, but you know, I it it was it is not. Um I think it's a somewhat defective unit. Um it it just out of the box, it's
lights don't go. It's indicator lights, you know, it's supposed to have a a nice little blinking lighter range that those lights have never come on in any of this uh never turned on. Um and um and you know, I could I could test it in the
remote parts of my house, but it never came close to uh um my KEX um speed. So, um I I think um I think u because Jim, you got you got comparable
speeds on your test of the TP Link, the same unit. So, I'm assuming that there's uh either either something I installed it twice. Um I don't think I made a mistake on the installation, you know. I mean, it's pretty straightforward. Um
but u but I think I've got a a dud a defective unit. you know the um >> it's high speed when you're right 5 ft away line of sight but as soon as you go to a remote place in the house um obviously or not obviously but one of the possibilities is it's just not
steering it's uh it's just not steering its uh antenna as it's supposed to. So that's I don't know. >> And you push down the uh the light button. Uh there's a light button on the front of the TP Link. I think they say >> Yeah, there's a nighttime setting and a
daytime setting. Something like that. >> No, no, no. It's um it's it turns the It turns the indicator lights on and off. >> Oh, okay. There's a power button on the top. It >> No, no. It's, you know, the three buttons. Um Okay. you know, the >> WPS button,
>> the WPS button, um the Wi-Fi onoff button, and the third one is the lights. And you have to hold it hold it down for a couple of seconds and then they should come on and then >> I didn't notice the Okay, then I I didn't do the light button, but So, okay. So, that explains the light's not
working. Um I saw the other two buttons and didn't see the light button. Um, but I saw online I saw on the management tool you can change the light settings uh with software and uh you know nighttime and daytime or something like that. I can't remember but uh so I tried
that and nothing showed but if there's a if there's an onoff switch then I didn't see that. Okay, thank you. I'll try that as soon as the meeting's over. Um, but in any case, the speeds didn't didn't uh they just did not come anywhere near um
what uh what you and and Craig seem to report as well. So So um I suspect that well I'll give this to you Jim and you can test it and see if you can get it to do uh anything good. But I'm unimpressed
by that. But I am still prejudic towards TPLink. um but um but not on the basis of this. The other thing I agree with Craig's um observation that uh that um just a general point that um that
I've changing to Wi-Fi 7 I'm not very motivated to do it from Wi-Fi 6 for my case. Uh um but if I was even if I had a an older router and it was doing what I
wanted um you know it's like um it was a pain in the butt to have to get my printer um onto uh onto the um onto the TP link and then getting it back onto any um you know if I had mesh stuff then
I would be looking as everyone has said of upgrading my mesh um extenders uh because you know, they all seem to be proprietary. If you want not to drop calls, then um you know, they'll probably work with each other, but they
won't carry calls um handing them off properly. So, you know, um I think that uh I would I we should think about offering people who want an upgrade because they're dissatisfied with their
routers. um those people definitely we should offer um uh router upgrade but uh I I don't think uh you know I'm I'm not convinced that that everybody needs to do this at all. So >> yeah I feel I totally agree with you on
that especially if we if we do propose this we should be very detailed about what to expect. um especially if you're if the subscriber uses a mesh unit of any kind because that's where the disappointment
is going to set settle and that's what I found out when I set this up next door. Um uh the the mesh units well they worked because there's a generic there's a generic um connection that that any mesh unit makes with the with the router
once you press that button and make the hookup. But um but then most of them most of the routers ASUS and TPLink have their own in in in
um their own um um uh proprietary units that uh that make all sorts of claims about no no drop calls this and that one thing or another. So, so anyone uh
I Well, when I installed it next door, you know, none of the units measured up to the Legacist, which is unfortunate. Um the the ASUS unit did the best. The TPLink was was very was very unsuitable. It
just didn't have the connecting power, whatever it was. And uh but the ASUS unit was um was better, but still, as I indicated in in in that in that discussion I sent around to everybody, um it still is um it still
wasn't quite as satisfactory in a very busy household for um next door. Um so I Well, it's gonna be interesting. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I'm kind of like, you know, with
all of this talk about the the the mesh units and knowing what I know about a lot of our support tickets, the complaints about speed are because of distance away from the router, right? Anyone who's in the same room as their
router is like, "This is awesome." But as soon as you get a room or two away, that's when the support calls start coming in of the internet stinks and it's slow and my calls get dropped. And so the only way
that we're going to solve that I think is through offering actual like mesh units with you know you know and and correct me am I thinking about this correctly that I think what
this experiment has showed us is that having a you know kind of like the highest p powered router that's available which is um you know these uh Wi-Fi 7 units
it doesn't really make a difference um for for speeds and a lot of it has to be line of sight and if we're really going to give customers what they want which is excellent
full house coverage and um especially for wi-fi calling are we doing the wrong thing. >> Yeah, that's a good point that that maybe maybe we offer people a mesh unit. It's too bad that that the router they
have right now is barely Wi-Fi 5. Um but it would be a Lynxis mesh unit that that one would add to it. Um uh and that would catch the dead spot um if you know if that's what they're dealing with. And u um yeah, so
could be another another area of of uh of an upgrade that definitely some people need. >> Yeah, I'm I'm I'll just say I'm disappointed by the these tests. You know, like Craig made
the good point of like this isn't going to wow any customers. are going to be like, well, it's kind of the same as what we had before. And in introducing a new router, it also introduces these new issues of, wait a minute, I got everything set up and the mesh units I bought are working with a link system at
least as as much as they're going to. um you know and then we introduced like well it's kind of a comparable router and now you have to re reset up all of the mesh units and they may or may not work because there may be like Wi-Fi
5 and this is a Wi-Fi 7 and there's a you know there's a disconnect there um so >> and and the benefits of Wi-Fi 7 as we've discussed are for dense um dense usage you know in in apartments and buildings
where there's a lot of channels with a lot of potential for interference and uh and so you know we we're solve we're we're some of the money that goes into a Wi-Fi 7 is is just money that won't
benefit um nearly anyone. Um you have to be pretty close to you know even even down on the um even down at the lake you know it's not it's not like an apartment complex. So, that's what the that's what they're solving with Wi-Fi 7 uh for
constru the the other reason why a Wi-Fi 7 or a Wi-Fi 6 won't do a lot better than um uh than Wi-Fi 5 is because the the the the microwave limits are energy limits that uh they're just safety and um and um and you know there's an amount
of energy that there's you can't be pumping more energy into uh into a Wi-Fi 7 router um or AP because um because it's microwave, you know, it's microwave pollution and you don't want to be singing people's eyebrows with, you
know, with uh uh or keeping their coffee warm. Um u and um and and that said, by the way, when I when I give you the the outside um AP um for you to play with, um it's outside outdoor um APS are rated
for higher energy. So, um, it's an important thing that it's not the sort of thing you want to, you know, test it next to your bed or or even in your office if you're sitting with it a lot of the time. So, just a little further away.
>> Gale, you mentioned your disappointment in the results of the test and I would just say this is the time to get the disappointment and not good point. several hundred,000 of our depreciation
um uh electronics uh stabilization fund into new routers for the whole uh town only to find out this isn't any better than what we had and geez some cases it's not as good. Uh that would be a
real upsetting disappointment. Um so yeah >> thank you for pointing that out. You are correct. It's what committees are what committees are for, aren't they? Committee work. Um yeah, maybe a maybe a Wi-Fi maybe a a Wi-Fi 6 router and an
extender package would be um an upgrade to offer to people who um are finding deficient um service in their house, you know. Uh now those are the people with the biggest houses. I the the the egalitarian in me hates to hates to
favor um you know the people who uh who need who you know who are who are suffering um you know but you know I could let that go. >> Yeah. Well, I mean, we could we could do something like we've talked about this
before of if you just want the one router, you know, it's it's free, but if you live in a larger house and but okay, wait. I I also want to play devil's advocate, though. Needing more mesh units doesn't necessarily mean that
you live in a big fancy house. You could live in a >> metallic house, >> old house with horseair plaster and you know you have your your office in the rickety attic >> and the signal just isn't getting there.
So it's not it's not always you know like a onetoone big house big >> you know you know big big need thing. Um, yeah. But anyway, I just, you know, we went after >> or like, you know, we we sent back all
of those Wi-Fi 6s and really went for the Wi-Fi 7 because of because of the optics of it, right, of if we're going to if we're going to spend the money and spend our depreciation fund on this big upgrade, we want to make sure that we're getting the latest and greatest because
we're outfitting our residents for the next well another six, seven years, you know, with with with the technology. Um, but if it's not going to serve, then I am great to let go of the optics on
this and um, you know, explain to people that we're not choosing Wi-Fi 7 because it just it's not working the way that we wanted it to. >> Gail, could you just refresh my memory on the amount of the digital equity grant for the routers? Is it 25,000?
>> Yeah, it's about 25 grand. >> Yeah. Um, I mean quite a bit of what we're doing now and been doing past couple months are with that 25,000 in mind and the deadline on spending that 25,000 of less than 6 months from now.
Um, and yet we also realize that's if we were talking replacing all the routers in town, that's a very small it's only going to pick up a small percentage. So yeah, if we're able to if we were able to would able to use that 25,000 towards
something we really want to do and the router is good, but if it's not working, we may have to let that go. Um the other thing is to say, okay, what could we do with that? Could we um
could we buy mesh units for people that need them? Um although maybe most people that need them already have them. Um could we Well, okay. When I I I said I had kind
of a bigger picture. I can launch into that before I saw Craig's and Jim's emails of today and but I'd seen your the uh table you sent around with the results of the testing. I had in mind, well, we're probably gonna be buying the
ASUS routers. And I had in mind they're around $200. Is that >> Yep. >> Yeah. So, we could buy 125. And so, this this was the the thought I'd had. Well, so say we buy like 125 of them. with
that 25,000, we could offer them to, you know, the first 125 people that uh sign up and they could be our beta testers. Um I'm now after re, you know, listening to
this discussion, having read what Jim said and what Craig said, saying, well, maybe that's not the way to go. Um but is there still something we could do with that 25,000 that would be useful? would benefit some of our subscribers and would benefit us
by getting um information back, satisfaction from the customers on uh on how these things work more than just the three members of this board that have been testing them. Um and you know, if we have them installed
for a couple years, check and see what the uh reliability, dependability is on them. My feeling is the Lynxysus routers have actually been very dependable. >> You know, >> they've been great. They've been really good, honestly. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think I think we made a we
made a good a really good choice there. >> And you know, they're they're easy to use. They're Yeah. The the durability is great. Yes, we've had some failures. Um and as they age, we're seeing we're seeing more of them, you know, more more failures and and replacements. Um but
overall, they've they've been very good. How would that go, Gail, as an expenditure in in responding to exactly what you're suggesting, Steve, of getting a bunch given that we're getting to um you know, six years or whatever, how many years since we bought the links
and they are failing and they will there will be a um you know, a curve of more failing um because that's just what electronics do. um that we could get the replacement um uh for for um you know at the moment um uh Shell goes out and and
if a router is broken then they replace it but we could buy we could buy the um the next 50 or whatever of the failing routers um and um and you know and then they'd be in hand um which would use the
money in an appropriate way and also like you said Steve maybe buy um extenders is uh that matched the um uh you know um could even match up with the the new um whatever the replacement routers um for replacing broken ones is.
So >> I think for the >> Yeah. The only pro the only problem with that is we can't we can't use the grant to buy stuff and hold it in stock. >> Yeah. >> Wow. That's uh >> but that can be done. I mean my thought also on this if we're just doing a you
know phased roll out and these people are testing the new ones for us um we could say we would expect these to go to customers who are comfortable installing them themselves which I think a significant number of our customers would be there others be
also a significant number that would not be comfortable but um if we just so we've only got the expense of the uh the hardware and the installation customers can do themselves.
Um that seemed like a a reasonable way to >> Yeah. Yeah. I I'm I'm still kind of kind of reluctant to um distribute
these routers knowing that they're not impressive, right? I'm I like even, you know, like we'd be uh yes, we'd be spending the grant money, but then we'd be putting these routers out that that are like, yeah, they're fine. Um but they're they're not
a they're not a big improvement. Um, I'm I'm wondering if the next thing that we should do is buy a handful of ASUS mesh units specifically designed for this
Wi-Fi 7 router and test that to give us the answer of is this really like a mesh problem and is this network excellent if you get all ASUS routers and all ASUS Wi-Fi units.
>> So, continue this testing in our group. >> Yes, continue this this testing in in our group. I now have an Amazon account finally um with the town so that I can buy these quicker. It's not going to take weeks and weeks. They could be here by like
Saturday. Um so, that's one one test we could run. Another one is um go back to Wi-Fi 6 and see what kind of
like mesh packages are are out there um that might be more appropriate than chasing this Wi-Fi 7 dream. >> I think that I think that's better value for for what shoots 3 is for for our typical um residential situation.
But but I don't think you're going to find no matter what router we choose that there we're going to get about the same result. I don't think the Wi-Fi 6 routers are suddenly going to you know exceed this signal strength over distance testing that Craig has done and
I have done. Uh you know we're going to get roughly the same results with Wi-Fi 6 routers as we did with these with these Wi-Fi 7 ones. Um because the power is limited you know on on 2.4 four and five gigahertz. It's just it's it's a
certain amount of power and there's and there's no exceeding that um of course and and so the signal strengths are not going to vary all that much is it um I thought the ASUS did a little bit better. I'm not sure why and that I was pretty consistent watching that but you
know even if we get a completely different unit it's going to reveal the same results you know um that we're finding with the Wi-Fi 7 routers. So, um I don't know. >> Yeah. No, I I I understand that. I'm I'm not looking I'm not I'm not expecting um
any other uh models to be significantly better or worse >> than even even the link syses that we have. Um, I think that one of one of the tests that this like that this has proved out and you know we've we've tested three of them and well plus
Craig's done his own you know with with his and and they're all pretty much the same. >> You know I don't I don't think that we are going to be wowed but the the setup and the um the mesh coverage I think is
is the thing that we can look at next. So, >> but but we but for us to supply both a new router and a couple of mesh units to everyone on our nickel that is is that is that appropriate?
>> Um well, we can afford it. Um I don't know. Appropriate is a different question. Um, but we um I need to look again at what some of those other mesh packages cost.
Um, but you know, this um ASUS model that we're looking at is two is 200. >> Mhm. And I know that there's Wi-Fi 6 routers plus mesh unit packages for
that or less out there. >> Mhm. >> Which would be better value for someone who's got dead spots. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, if we look at it from our customer resident perspective,
you know, what are they looking for? They're looking for good consistent speed, full house coverage, not dropped calls. >> Mhm. >> And so I think and I was hoping that with these Wii 7 routers that they would be
powerful enough to do that, but what we're finding just they're not. That I think we just really have to start looking at uh mesh systems. And you know, the testing that Jim's done is showed us that, okay, well, even if you
have mesh units already, the problem is they don't play nice. That it all has to be kind of part of the same system >> in order to be user friendly and work. >> Yeah, there are a lot of different mesh systems out there. That's the problem.
they and they're fitted specifically to certain units. And um now I don't know I I'm guessing as I said I've said in a couple of emails I'm guessing that most people if they have mesh units here in Shootsbury are using
the Lynxysis mesh unit um the uh which is the I think the R RX7000 and now I don't know how proprietary they are um I I you know whether whether they are actually designed to work
especially with the Lynxysus router or Not I don't think that's the case. It's only when you get to these really high-end routers that uh that getting high-end mesh units along with them really begins to deliver nice thorough
coverage throughout the home. And I I have a feeling, you know, you you have to really pay up for that feature. >> Just just a guess. >> Well, let's let's let's look at it. Um I What do you think of getting some ASUS
um mesh units specifically designed for that router and just seeing seeing what happens? >> Um I I as a as a kind of like just a next move here of how how do we find a
product that is going to meet the criteria here? Um, and then also look at some of the Wi-Fi 6 bundles that would be more price conscious.
>> Um, and and and test test some of those. >> Good idea. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. >> Okay. I think I like the I think I like the Wi-Fi 6 option the best. >> But anyway, what whatever, you know.
>> Yeah. Well, I mean, we don't have enough information yet. I mean, I like it, too, just because it's like one-stop shopping and and you know, something that we could offer to everyone if we could get it close to or under $200 per household. Um,
but let's let's see. Let's see what we got. Um, I am going to go back to our original spreadsheet that we had about that where we when we started looking at alternate routers and look at the Wi-Fi
6 options. And um I'm going to uh choose um a a couple of those and also look into um ones that come in those you know you know the packages um because ultimately
I that that's what what we might have to get. Um I could see us buying like here's a huge batch of routers and then a a smaller batch of mesh units and people can just you know get get what they need during installation. Um,
so yeah. Um, let's see. For any of you, is there any of the models from your memory? And you don't have to answer now. You could you can email me after taking a look that you specifically would like to test out. Um,
and I can have them ordered. I'll just chime in quickly to say I I I like the idea of testing the Wi-Fi 6 and the the mesh because I I even being fairly technical had some issues finding an appropriate like extender for the
current router that like worked without dropping in between and yeah, if you had a setup that was you know people could that was tested to you know actually connect between them that would be pretty cool. Yeah, I think from a I I think from a user friendliness standpoint of setup,
knowing that so many people's houses are like people in Shootbury have like kind of big house. Some of them are pretty big and if they're not big, they're kind of like spread out. Um so >> yeah, let's let's let's look at some of these mesh mesh systems. Um, even if
we're not getting the Wi-Fi 7, but I'm much happier now letting go of Wi-Fi 7 after these tests of like it's not that much greater. Like, you know, you don't you don't stand there next to your router and be like, "Wow, these speeds are amazing." No, it's about the same. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I've never had a speed issue. It's always been range, you know? So, yeah. >> And and also people don't very few people have Wi-Fi 7 capable routers, too. I mean, I don't like devices. They're all um especially >> Oh, yeah. The six the six gig stuff.
Yeah. >> Yeah. The six gig stuff, you know. So, so that feature is kind of useless for most people here in Shootsbury, I would think. >> Yeah, we do have to keep the future in mind. Um, yeah, but it's going to be, you know, it's it's going to be seven
years before, >> you know, that the the the the cell or the uh mobile technology is kind of goes beyond this. So, I think I think we're okay. >> Um, >> but when we when we put the message out, it'll be um, you know, do you have
deficiencies in we we could spin it and do you have deficiencies? Do do you need a better router? You know, we're we're we we will, you know, we'll provide it. Yeah. And those people who have that awareness are probably able to install
them themselves. So, >> yeah. And no matter how this goes, I think that managing customer expectations is going to be a big part of it. That um uh you know, here's you letting people know what they can and can't expect of, you know, promising
that you're going to have amazing speeds throughout your whole house and you're never going to get a call dropped. and and um that's you know just unrealistic and um you know we may find that none of the routers we look at are much better but
we're like we have to start replacing these electronics anyway so you're getting something pretty comparable to to what what you had but it's just um updated and seven years newer.
All right. Um, so action items. Um, like I said, I I'll order some ASUS um, uh, mesh units specifically designed for the model we were looking at. Uh, so that we can just get a kind of like a baseline of what
happens when you take one of these very high-end routers and get mesh units specifically designed for it. Is it great? Is it, you know, the same? Is it terrible? What is it? Um, and then also get some Wi-Fi 6 uh mesh systems to to
compare to that. Uh, so help me out with what um what I should order for the We'll start with the ASUS mesh units. Um, so I'll get
um at least one for Jim, Graham, and Craig. So, three three ASUS meshes. Should I get six of them? So, you each have two so you can place them. >> I I think Well, I would only put one in.
I mean, you know, if if one works, then two's going to two will work. You think one one will give us the information that we need? >> Uh, for me it would. Yeah. No. >> Okay. Jim, how about you? One or two? >> Well, at least two. Uh, if I'm going to
test this at my neighbor's household, I'm going to need at least two. >> Right. >> What should I do? Also, um, I my unit is technically defective because, you know, I wrote I wrote you about this. the the
Ethernet ports went um went went south on it unexpectedly which really right off the bat which upset me. Um so I but it still is they don't have any need for using Ethernet you know Ethernet out ports. So um fortunately the wand port
the input port works fine and there's no change there but um I I' I'd rather have a unit that was working 100% I guess. Um, we could Could we return it? I I I don't know what to
do. >> Okay. Um, let's see. Um, I can do a few days with I haven't installed the ASUS. I just put the Kaix back in, but I could give you um I could give you the ASUS that I have to test,
which is probably this very same model, right? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, I I I'd bring that over next week. Um, you know, middle of the week if that works. >> Yeah. The only the only problem is then is that is that Graham, then we don't have one for you to test. Tell you what, let me um let me order another ASUS
router and let's let's return the the defective one. >> Yeah. >> Jim, you still have the box on that. >> Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I have everything. Do you take them to um to Whole Foods? Apparently, that's the way to go. I I don't know much about purchasing these things, but you just take it in there.
and throw it in their face and they they take it from there. They're kind of they're very easy. >> That's how it goes. >> Oh, so you know about it. Okay, great. >> Y >> Yeah. So, let me let me get Jim. I'll get you another router. Um and then when
it comes in, swap them out. Put a put put the new router there. Um and then box up the old one and I'll get a return slip for it and you can either give it to me or we can take it or or uh you can take it to Whole Foods. We'll figure that out. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Sounds good. Um, all right. So, I'm
going to get one mesh unit for Graham. Um, Jim, do you want two or three? How many? Well, here's a question. How many mesh units does that testing household have at the >> Three, but I think two would work. Um,
>> okay. >> I I don't think um I don't think it's necessary to have three if these mesh units are really pretty good. Um but they do have three in the house now as it is
>> but they're really far you know but the third one is really far apart >> and um I I wonder whether it's really working but I you know I it's hard to speculate. >> You're a good test then Jim. Yeah,
>> but I I definitely need two. >> You got it. All right. Um, great. And I'll I'll just get I'll I'll get two for Craig. >> That would be good, I think. >> All right. And then in terms of um
the Wi-Fi 6 systems um well I know I know Craig um liked that the the Aeros model um that that Andy mentioned. So I think we have it's anecdotal but two people so
far has have mentioned those. Um, so I'm I'm going to get a couple of those and um I'll go through the list and see if there's any any other models. I'll I'll I think I'll
email um around if I have any questions about what else what else we should test. Um, we should probably do at least two though, two Wi-Fi 6 mesh systems. Um, just just for comparison.
>> Well, maybe find the ones that have the package deal that you talked about. >> Yeah, >> but I think that's really important to sell it as a package. >> Yeah. Compatibility almost guaranteed, >> right? They all come in the same wrapper.
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's a good start. Um, all right. I think I think that's it. Anything Anything else for tonight? >> Hope I hope nothing happened to Andy's car there. >> No, no, he he put a little he put
something in the chat. >> There was a text. Okay. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um so, >> oh yeah, >> I'll I'll follow up with him and see if see if he has any other uh questions about how we run and um hopefully he'll
he'll want to join us. >> You can mention that he can have a router to play with if he wants to sweeten the deal of being an MLP member. There you go. Gosh. Fantastic. Okay. Um
All right. Well, thank you so much for coming tonight and I hope you all stay warm and um I'll be in touch with um router information when when I get them. >> Motion. All right. Bye. >> Good night.