start our recording. Um, all right. Welcome to the July 29th meeting of the MLP board. And well, it's just the MLP board. I'm going to take out the wording of broadband committee. There we go. Uh, I am Gail Hunress, MLP
manager, facilitating the meeting. This meeting is fully remote. Participating remotely, we have MLP board members Jim Hemingway, Andy Regan, and Steve Schmidt. Uh, first order of business is to approve the meeting minutes as submitted
and amended by Jim from July 1st. >> Can I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. And a second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Andy, do you have breath to say I or nay? >> Thank you. [laughter]
Steve, >> I >> Jim. >> Hi. >> Great. Thank you. Um, let's see. Why don't we start with um
talking about the hybrid meeting policy um that I sent around earlier. Um I realize that not all of you may have had a chance to read because I only sent it around a couple hours ago. Um, and there's still time to submit comments to it, but I wanted to have a group
discussion and kind of as a cohesive reply to um, uh, Brennan, the admin assistant of, uh, of what we think of it. I didn't see anything problematic in it except for the fact that the state may um,
eradicate remote meetings next summer. Yeah, I >> Yeah, I Gail, I I added an addendum to your comments about that. >> I saw that. Yes. >> Oh. Oh, you did see it. Okay. Um >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I uh Jim and Gail, both of you, I thought made excellent comments. Um Jim, that excellent point about uh hey, what are we doing here? What's the whole point of our >> That's the point. Yeah. >> And uh and Gail. Yeah. that, you know,
it's it makes it this new policy would make it more difficult for people to participate. Um, and I I'm just thinking that, you know, when I was every time I'm reelected or
reappointed to a committee, I get this letter from our legislators thanking me for volunteering and how important volunteering is. Well, yes. So don't make it more difficult for people to volunteer. Try and make it easier. Um
try and support uh volunteers in in doing their job. You know, we're not we're not paid to travel to a meeting or we're not paid to participate. So, uh, um, try and do, you know, what you can
from the state standpoint to facilitate this to make it easier for for volunteer boards. And I just see this as something that comes out of a a bureaucrat in Boston sitting at a desk there who comes up with a plan and doesn't have a clue
about rural communities in general, how far it is from from where somebody lives to a meeting place and the difficulties of of getting a group of people together in a small rural community,
>> right? or lots of snow in roads that may not be plowed in the winter, right? Like there's there's many nights when if it was uh you know, if it was in person, >> we would have had chaos of you know, are
we meeting tonight? What's the weather going to do? And then canceling it and then having to reschedule. It's a huge burden. Um, so I'm going to add that that good comment, Steve, as well is kind just kind of like as we face more and more difficulty getting in getting volunteers
and civic engagement within our town, um, don't add another barrier to it that, you know, and and uh, and I think that the remote meeting statistics speak for themselves in that, you know, we've
had so much more engagement with with people showing up to online meetings because you And you know you can be there without completely being there and you know dedicating two hours. You can put the meeting on in the background or you cook dinner and you know kind of listen for the issue you care about jump
in to say something. I I I Yeah. So um I will make some more comments about that. Um anything else Jim? anything about the requirements that you saw regarding minutes that would I mean we're already doing all this stuff
>> for that they recommend um except one thing I noticed we're not doing is putting in uh document references it's not that we have to put the document in the um in the me in the minutes we just have to put a reference to that document
>> u but anything else you noticed that was >> well no I I I thought it was fine um although the document reference. I guess uh we'll have to do a little bit better on that perhaps if that's necessary. We don't usually put up that. Well, you've
you've often um in your edits of my note takingaking um you have often put those documents, you know, spliced those documents into the meeting minutes. So, so in a way we have been dealing with it, wouldn't you say?
>> Yeah. Uh I I wouldn't say I have 100% compliance on that. Um you know, espec especially when I do things like flash our budget on the screen. Uh but that's easy enough to um put a you know, put a reference in. >> Yeah. >> But somebody who's attending an an
in-person meeting when you know a budget's projected onto the the wall, they've not got anything they're taking away from that either. So, >> um I think the online meeting has the
potential for uh greater in for better informing both the participants and anybody that wants to um look up the meeting afterwards. Yeah, I think the requirement to put a reference to the documents that are
shown is more for um the public records law so that if you're looking at the meeting, you know exactly what to ask for of okay, for the July 9th meeting, the broadband showed their fiscal year 27 budget. That's what I want to see.
So, um, yeah, I don't I I think it's the it's the correct thing to do is that yeah, we should be putting references if not the whole document itself into our into our minutes. >> And it's not it's not going to be a big lift for us to just add that. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. Um any um anything else that we should add to that uh for the select board? Well, hold on just a minute. Okay, I'm back. >> Okay. Um, let's see. We'll give uh we'll give
Andy a chance to get home for the hut report, so we'll come back to that. Um, maintenance and service. Uh, we had 19 tickets so far this month. Um, although we're not out of the month, but that is, uh, typical. Everything looks fine
there. Um, good news. I finally got a pole license. It only took nine months and about a dozen emails to get that that license for the West Palm Road cabinet splitter. Remember that we started it way back in November of last
year. And um so um yeah, just utilities up to their old tricks of fingerpointing. It's it's in Verizon's hands. I don't we don't know what's going on with it. Then contacting Verizon and
then having them uh you know say well you didn't send us a new insurance document for example. Well y'all didn't ask for it. [laughter] >> So anyway um we have it. I've let Sheld
know. Um it is going to take a bit of a bite out of our budget. Uh the estimate was about 15,000 as of last year. So um uh I assume it's it's not going to be any more. Um but but I've asked them our
labor is the same, but materials it is possible that they have gone up slightly. Um but anyway, uh that will be happening before the snow flies. You know, Gail, I think that could potentially come out of our
stabilization fund. >> You said the cost was 15,000. >> Yeah, that's the estimate. >> Uh you you mean use it um the depreciation fund for the routers? Yeah. What does any is anybody clear on the
usage of those um funds? It it does completely fall into network upgrades. >> Yeah. >> Um and so and I and that's kind of that's how we you know upgrade equipment
is how we worded it on the town warrant. Um so yeah >> is that to replace old equipment or is that a new splitter? >> It's a new splitter. We actually ran out of ports on uh because of um new
construction on West Palm. And so, >> okay. >> Um if if if uh if we get one new house or one of the ports goes down, we have no way to serve. So that's why it's it's not like an emergency, but that worries
me when we >> run out of connections. So So we really need something there. Yeah, that makes sense. There's those two new houses right there. >> Yep. Yeah, they those new houses took took the last of the ports. And although
during construction, Andy, we did um appropriately leave a 20% um uh growth kind of rate in in and built that in. Um we didn't allocate it quite correctly
for the areas of town. Like for example, we have lots of of of of growth area in the Lake Wyola area because there's nothing new, >> right? We we accounted for every house. There's no new houses and
um uh but other areas of town, it's like it was a it's kind of a distribution in our design issue. It's not it's not a huge deal and it's great news because it means that we are uh you know we've picked up way more customers than than we thought we would um and the the we
have good capacity at pretty much everywhere else in town um based on the land area available and um you know about two new houses a year in Shootesberry if that we're going to do fine but not on that road.
>> Okay, cool. Makes sense. So, here's what I'm going to do regarding regarding the the depreciation fund is that um I uh I'm going to ask uh I think Gail Weiss about the
restrictions on that. Um I it cuz I don't know if that um 260,000 that we voted on at town meeting just kind of like dumps into our general fund and it's available for us in any way or at
the end of the year we have to show that we used it for something very specific. Um so I'll make a note of that. Okay. Uh financial uh report is we've obviously started fiscal year 2027.
Um I'm still waiting on the end of the year wrap-up from Gail Weiss. So, I don't have a retained earnings um match up from her, but I still am expecting around 27,000 um for for that. Um
let's see. Uh we got our annual report into the town almost a full month early. Thank you, uh Jim and everyone who commented on that. Um and uh the Sand Hill uh road section. Um Steve, do you want to talk any more
about it or do we just let this one go as utility shenanigans? >> Yeah, it just what they're requesting just absolutely makes no sense. >> Uh that stretch of Sand Hill Road, the poles are all in good shape. There's
plenty of poles in the area and I'm sure throughout the town that are in far worse shape than that. They're not marked the way poles typically are and they're going to replace them. They typically have a white downward pointing arrow near the base of the pole. None of these are marked that way. The poles are spaced
the typical distance apart. Um they're talking about putting all all these midspan poles halfway between. So I can't see what what they're doing this for. And Gail, you said that this was there was a uh this is based on the Dig
Safe um uh request. I've walked that area fairly regularly. There's no dig markings in the road [clears throat] in in that area. So >> Oh, let yeah, let me clarify.
>> So whenever anyone um does an excavation project, you always call in a dig safe, right? And when any of those come into Shootsberry, they also come to me because we're a public utility. >> And so I take the digsafe request and I
compare it to our list of of homes and and I have just a huge spreadsheet of who has underground and if there's [clears throat] a dig for a house that has an underground installation, >> I send I I I have a us out. And if not,
I let it go. This one I didn't do anything with. Like we we didn't we're not going to mark it out. There's no reason to. We don't have any underground in this area. Oh, is Huh. I had in mind that the first house
I don't know the street number on on Sand Hill Road as underground. Oh, >> this comes to mind because the last time I walked it, I was looking pretty carefully at the poles and the lines and I was interested because I don't
think the house originally had would have had underground, but they people put a big addition on and renovated and I thought, okay, they must have put an underground service in when they did that. So, >> yeah. So, so generally if if a like a an offshoot home has an underground but
it's utility pole work that's submitted by a you know like a national grid or Verizon I don't bother to do a dig safe because they see it on the pole you know they they see it going underground and it's um there's there's still there's just no reason like if the house called
for the dig safe and they're like oh we're installing a new septic we're installing a new driveway I'd have it done but it's because it's at the pole I don't do it >> yeah because obviously Yeah. >> If our if our lines are underground, so are the electric are telephone lines and
they're Okay, I see your point. >> Yeah. Yeah. And also they're utility workers. And you know, you know what I mean? Like they're going to because they work on poles all the time, they're not going to be like, "Oh, I'm just going to like put a backho backho down without looking." Which is why dig safe exists
for residential and commercial properties. >> We're not going to drop an augur in next to this conduit that's going right. They They they know what they're doing. So, um >> Well, yeah, >> I don't know. And as I mentioned to you that they're calling for all the they're
calling for like 10 new polls in this short road. They would need pole permits, >> which they have not done, >> which which they have not done. And this was like a month ago, and they've they've run the clock down >> that they would have had to do the work
within 30 days of of submitting that dig request. No poll hering. So I yeah I I think we just uh chalk this up as a utility administration mistake
>> and keep an eye on it. If they if they you know send another one then I think maybe we should dig into it um andor >> or um you know alert the alert the select board of do you all know what's going on? Um
>> but >> okay. Well, I'll keep a watch. I I walk that road fairly regularly. So, uh um >> this is Sand Hill Road, right? >> Yeah, Sand Hill. >> Yeah. >> All right. Um, in other news, um, after
much investigation and, um, looking at all of the options, we have concluded that, uh, 30 Macedonia Road is a is a no-go. >> We're just, we just can't do it. Um, the customer does not uh, qualify for lifeline. Uh, we can't install the wood
through the woods um, because there's too many rocks and roots. attaching to trees um is a a uh maintenance nightmare and we can't go down the road because the homeowner does not own the road and
also it's more like a Sheld took a look at it. It's cobbled. It's rocky hard pack. Um, and they gave us an estimate that would be on the low end if they don't hit a lot of rocks and roots, which they will, is $30,000
at the high end, closer to 50. So, um anyway, I uh suggested to the the homeowner that they they look into satellite providers, uh like like Starlink, but um yeah, we just really
can't serve them because of their lack of utility there. Um I don't think it was wasted work um because we, you know, we have a full answer now. Um, and if anyone uh buys that home in the future, we have records of all the options that
we've explored. I >> mean, we've been, this is a recent discussion we've been having, but we were talking about this property probably over 10 years ago and it we've always known this was a problem. >> Y providing service there would be a
problem. >> Yeah. And I would say we've definitely looked at every single option now and it's just not feasible. Um, let's see. What else do we have here? Um, Andy, are you in a place where you can
chat or are you still riding >> or putting on dry clothes? >> I actually just rolled home. >> Okay. >> Um, so just from the end of the driveway, maybe service on the uh the new the new router. Um, so
[laughter] All right. Well, I'll keep talking a couple minutes. Just um give us a heads up when you're kind of like situated inside. Um um so >> let's see. >> Um
so um Steve alluded to the my my big trip. I'm going to be out of the country um from August uh 12th to August 22nd. And um so there's two things that I'd like
to put in place for that. Um one is somebody to field the dig safes that I mentioned. Um there's usually this time of year maybe two a week that come in.
Um, and the task with that is to receive the email, look at the address on the email, and then compare the address to a spreadsheet and see if it's aerial or underground, it's just clearly marked. Um, and then
if it is an underground household, um, then sending a template email to Sheld just saying underground install, please send out a dig safe. Um, and then the second thing is being somebody on
call. I don't anticipate any problems, but if somebody from Sheld needs to reach somebody from the board for whatever reason, um, is there any of you that would feel comfortable receiving that phone call? And it wouldn't mean
that you'd have to make the call on your own, but it would mean that you'd have to reach out to the other board members and kind of decide on something. Again, I don't think that there has ever been a No, that's not true. There's been in the
winter some issues with big storms um where I'd have to I' I've had to make some calls about, you know, do we send do we stop uh sending trucks out and or do you want them to go out and we just pay out pay
for overtime uh to get things fixed. Um, so anyway, um, I don't want to put anyone on the spot, but I'll send an email around, um, and and if any or if by the end of the
meeting if any's like, "Okay, yeah, I think I could do that." Um, that would be great. The other option is that I can just tell Sheld of I'm not available and you will need to just make your best, you know, we'll trust them to make the best decisions on the on the anything
that needs to happen uh to take care of our network. >> I would say that I probably know the least um in terms of being a point person. Mhm. >> I don't I don't feel totally qualified like but uh but for that I think uh I
could definitely do it. Um but yeah. >> All right. Well, well, thank you for thank you for offering. Um yeah, would would I um if I could give them your um your name
and if it's something that you don't feel like you can handle or don't have have enough information, I think this is a a place where you could you could reach out to any of the members or even call up Graham >> and say we have I need advice. We have a
we have a problem. [laughter] >> So I can I can be the the first point of contact but but yeah um maybe fan out if it's not simple or Yeah, I don't know. >> All right. Thank you, Andy. So, I'm gonna I'm gonna I will I will send you
the um uh just send again everyone's contact information and I will I will uh send again this the people from Sheld the 24hour numbers. Um and I'll just I'll send Andy and I'll copy in uh Jim
and Steve as well. >> Yeah. And I I could handle the uh the dig safe. >> Awesome. Thank you so much, Steve. >> Um that would be great. >> Do you do you have a um a spreadsheet with all that data that you
>> send me? >> Yeah, >> I I still have the um con the construction uh document on on my laptop. Uh, I don't know how how. So, so you know, I can
still look at things and see whether something's underground, but if you've if you've got it on a spreadsheet, that would would be good to have. >> Yeah. Gen generally my my rule of thumb is is like I said, if it's a dig safe request for just something with a with a
a poll, I don't bother. >> It's utility people. They're they they know what they're doing. And then it's uh just comparing the digsafe address to the spreadsheet and it's just a simple yes no. >> Yeah. >> Yes, there's underground service there or no, there's not. You know, we don't do it if there's aerial.
>> Um so it takes um you know, five minutes. >> Yeah. >> Um and on the overall contact, Andy, thank you for agreeing to be like, you know, the lead point person. I kind of didn't want to be in that uh position,
but I'm glad to offer my advice uh on uh things. Um >> great. >> And Gail, if you're sending that around, use my Gmail, not my Crocker.
>> Yeah, I pretty much use your Gmail all the time now. >> Okay. Crocker actually email is being discontinued, so I >> [laughter] >> And that makes sense. >> I was use I've been using that email since dialup days. >> Really? >> Yeah. So that's that was my initial
involvement with Crocker was they were my dialup provider and they included email. So a lot of people and businesses have that email. Now I've got to they've got quite a job of notifying people of
the Gmail. So, uh, um, and you know, my cell phone, it give people both the landline and the cell phone. >> Mhm. >> I don't typically have my cell phone on,
>> but the cell phone I can text with and can receive a text with. So, um, so Here's Andy signing in on another device. >> I'll do good not to create an echo. I
think I've done okay. There you are. Hi. >> Hi. [laughter] >> Um well great. I will I will uh send all that around. Um other news um did you
all get the maintenance notification >> today? The planned maintenance >> two of them. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> When there was one the other night >> which I actually got knocked off line because you know midnight that's when I'm [laughter] up there surfing the web.
>> You you stay up late as I recall. >> Yes. >> Yeah. So that was that was Tuesday night, right? >> Yeah. >> Like early early Wednesday morning like m you know midnight. >> Shortly after midnight Wednesday morning. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Was there another one? >> No. So
>> just >> Yeah. So we just we there was there is was a planned maintenance um for >> It was actually Monday night, Tuesday morning, I think. But anyway, that doesn't matter. >> Yeah. um for for tonight, but I got reports that
we had another issue on um Tuesday, how do I say it? Tuesday morning, like at 12:01 or whatever. Um and so I called Shell today to ask what's what's up with that. I knew the maintenance was happening this week, but again, it's we
got the notification for for now, tonight, not the one on Tuesday morning. Um, so I'm still looking into that of what h what happened there. Uh, was it was it planned or unplanned? Um,
let's see. Um, Andy, uh, do you want to do the hot report? >> Sure. Um, I don't know if there's a format, um, but yeah, the Yeah, the, uh,
unit was installed, the new, um, and I'm totally blanking on what they're called. Um, but new condenser. >> Yeah. We call we call like just the the uh, the heat pump or HVAC or Min split
is what I was trying to say. Um, okay. >> Yeah. So, the new mini split is installed on the north side. Um, and it's the Mitubishi unit. Um, which he said was the the Porsche of uh mini splits. So, he said it's a it's a good one. He's like, "This is the best one
you can get." Um, and so, yeah, it took him only a couple hours. They were pretty quick. They were really efficient. Like, they they seemed very knowledgeable. Um, I kind of watched them do it. Um, I was in and out. And uh yeah, so it's up and running. There were
mice uh in the top of the left one. They hadn't made it into the hut, but they were like they were up there, so they were on their way in. >> Um so got them out of there. >> Um and confirmed they're not in the right unit, the the south unit. The
south unit had um had them in to actually get into the unit previously. So >> yes. Um, so everything was clear uh inside. Um, new units installed. I moved that unit to the be the primary one.
Um, and it's, uh, it's been running since. Um, I haven't gotten any alerts since. I haven't gone back since. Um, I was planning to go back on the first of the month, so I was going to go back for the beginning of August. Um,
I just logged into the the sense electricity monitoring and um just going to take a look at we can can maybe share my screen. Um, >> sure. Hold on. Let me um allow this.
>> Okay. >> Give me just a minute. Uh, Zoom has changed there. There it is. Okay. All yours. >> Okay. We can look at what it's doing here. So, this is the um sense.com. And so,
this is the current month. So, it's been running all month. Um I think it was turned on when did when exactly did they do the install? I can check. Let's see. >> I took some pictures of it. was on the like the 13th.
No, it was later that week. >> It was on July 11th. >> Oh. >> Oh, that's right. That's Saturday. >> Yep. Was on July 11th. I have a uh let me see if I can just I have a video of
him like catching the mice. Oh, it's I got to turn the blur off. Andy >> like he's he's like catching the he's like caught caught him by the tail and and and tossed him in the woods. >> Oh my gosh, I cannot do that job. Wait,
he's catching with a pair of pliers. >> Yeah. Yeah, he's catching them by the tail. Yeah, >> and he he got him. There were two of them in there. Um, so that's kind of entertaining. Uh, but yeah. Um, so they they they did that. Um, yeah, everything
else was good. Says the 11th. So it's been I just wanted to get the date to see where the um usage was. So it looks like the 11th was >> Andy, that looks like that's June that you've got. >> Yep. We're on the wrong month here. So
the 11th was here. And uh yeah, so it looks like usage was up a little bit, but the it doesn't get quite as high. It looks like it's goes to like 8 kilowatt hours. And here it was going quite a bit higher. So I think this is where
>> that was that heat wave week. >> Yeah, maybe it's just super hot. I'm just trying to like see from this if we can see like a trend. I don't see any market difference at the 11th. Um, I did put the new the new Mitubishi as the primary one, so I thought maybe we would
see a difference here, like a step change. Um, but doesn't look like much to me. Um, yeah. Uh, so everything I think looks good. >> Great. >> That's that's all I have.
>> Andy, thanks for taking this on. Um, I just had one thought about the mice that um, yeah, we've had a problem with mice getting in there with the old units and it was the south unit that the mice really did a job on. And so now Graham
went into the that uh, the enclosure that the pipes run and the and the the port into the uh, into the hut where the pipes come through. And I think he stuffed it with steel wool as something would uh keep the mice out.
>> And I wonder >> that's also what the installation guys did. They stuffed that hole with steel wool. You said they said that's kind of the best stuff. And uh Okay. Yeah. >> Good. Well, because the previous unit was installed by a different installer and they apparently did not do that with
the >> Okay. Units. So, uh, I'm I'm glad to know that the new contractor is aware of, you know, a simple practice like that >> and and they were talking. There was two of them. They sent two guys. Um, which
was great because they're really fast. Like, one of them was setting it up and it was doing the other thing. And, uh, the one guy was like, "Oh, yeah. I was always keep a bunch of steel wool." And, uh, >> and I also found some in the hut. There's some extra like in the back. So, >> some steel wool.
>> Yep. Steel wool or mice. >> That was Graham. [laughter] >> Steel wool. >> No, no extra mice. We're We're good on mice. Yeah. >> Um >> Yeah. I mean, it makes sense. I mean, I was just sitting there like looking at the field behind it and it's just like this is like mouse habit. I mean,
perfect territory. >> Yeah. Yeah. Get a few hawks or something. Um >> Yeah. >> Tell the the hot guys to come hunt down here. >> Yeah. Maybe we should get a a hot cat to >> That would really be the move, actually.
Yeah, >> it would. Well, I don't know. It's There's no sunlight. There's no like It's like Schroinger's cat experiment in the in the clos box. I think that's a horrible idea. [laughter] >> Like have it live inside the hut. Oh god. >> Yes. Yes. Is the cat alive or dead in
the hut? >> Yes. >> Oh my gosh. All right. This has gotten dark. Okay. [laughter] Um, great. Um, well, um, I, uh, I have one more piece of hut news, and that is that I don't know if you all remember,
but a couple months ago, um, um, uh, our fire chief looked at the town hall and the whole security system, fire system is woefully inadequate there. >> And so, they're looking to replace it.
That work is happening. They want to tie in our hut, which I think is a great idea, not security, just fire and smoke. Um, which is going to be much more robust and secure than the, you know, just the Simply Safe system that we
have. So, sometime over the next month or so, um, the installer is going to be at the town hall to do that. So, Andy, I'll um, uh, let you know when that's um, when that's happening. Um, if
there's a miscommunication on that, and it could hap, this has happened before of like, "Oh no, the installer's here. They need to get in the hut." Um, you can just I I feel comfortable that you can give like Brennan or whoever calls you the door code and then remotely
disable Simply Safe and then just let them do what they need to do. Um, >> okay. if if either of us can't get up there, you know, I I could totally see it being one of these like they're here now, they have to do it without advanced notice. I've asked for it, but it just a
heads up. It It could Yeah, sure. >> It could happen. >> Or I could I could put it in the I wonder if the Well, the fire department probably won't be there. I was thinking I could put the >> Yeah, >> the access make sure it's in there. Like uh they have like a a guide like a book
of all the town stuff. Yeah, >> actually that's a good thing. I should make sure they do have a like a page in the in the book. >> They should. I I gave I gave Lenny a page uh six months ago maybe. Okay. Yeah. He said so it they they have it.
If they don't, I can send it again, but it should it should be in there. >> Oh, cool. Okay. Yeah, >> but they have that, too. But yeah. >> Yeah. >> I was just thinking of like who in town has access like fire makes sense. Um, yeah. >> You know, if you know,
>> Brennan, you know, wants access as an administrator, I think that that makes sense, too. >> Yeah. >> Um, >> would we keep the Simply Safe uh fire detector in there, do you think, as kind of a redundant system >> or
>> I think so. It doesn't it it it adds absolutely no cost. Um, and it's just an extra level of uh security on it >> cuz we we have the security and we'd have the security anyway. So, the fire
assist on top of that. >> It did do it did do one false alarm, I guess, is the um Okay, just thinking. >> Yeah. Yeah. When it did the false false alarm, we replaced the sensor. No,
>> because it it had been in there for five or six years. We're like, "Oh, it's faulty." So, um that's yeah, that that's been replaced. But, um I see I see no reason not to leave the Simply Safe back in, you know, in there. And no reason not to have the additional fire in
there, too, because that is a >> Yeah, we we want to That's the most dangerous thing that could befall our hut is fire. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Um the one other note uh from the HVAC install that I remembered is um
they mentioned the coolant lines on the south unit are the black coated lines and they said that those are definitely leakier than like the white ones. >> I don't really know why the color matters but like I mean it must just be a different generation or something. But
I did mention like those could be replaced um >> on the south unit. >> I don't know. Okay. But it was she just look at it like, "Oh, yeah, those are the Yeah, those are the leakiest kind." It's like, "Okay." >> Oh, great. >> Yeah, that was a real good install we
had. [laughter] >> Gosh. >> You know, >> I think they're just they're just older. Like I think the newer ones are better as >> Okay. >> I'm wondering though, do we want to invest anymore in that south unit or do we want to, you know, give this new
north unit a a breakin period and say, "Yeah, it's working really well. If we want to do something more to the south unit, just replace that and also be done with it." >> Yeah, we have sunk so much money into that south unit for repairs. Um, we
definitely could have bought an entire unit since um since then. So, >> um, yeah, I'm not I'm not inclined to um make a special repair. I I would say if we have something else going on in the
hut or they make a maintenance visit, have them replace them. You know, I think an ounce of prevention here, have them replace them. But I wouldn't I wouldn't pay for a special trip. >> So, just a maybe if next maintenance. Yeah. Nope.
>> Yeah. Or if if either of them have a problem, next time they're out here, >> um have have them bring some of the the white ones. >> Cool. >> Um well, good. Okay, that's um that's all I have for regular list before we talk
about routers. Does anybody have anything else? Okay. Um, so, um, let's see. So, Jim, thank you for sending around your your test. Anything
else to add, um, from the other household that's running it through its paces still? Is it still working well for them? any complaints? >> Not [clears throat] not since that one failure that we still don't know why
why it stopped why the [clears throat] wireless stopped working, but it may have had something to do with a a glitch. I it it I don't know. And but I I willing to, you know, give it the benefit of the
doubt, so to speak, and feel that it was something local that had nothing to do with the router. So, I'm going to leave it at that. But since then, there have been no complaints. Um, but I I'm going to leave it in there for, you know, I I I don't need I don't need that router
here for testing. So, I'm just going to leave it at 338 and u and wait for comment comments to come. >> Great. Great. Well, [clears throat] I I installed the one that you gave me yesterday, uh, Jim, and, um,
uh, did not have any problems with it on, uh, smart with a smartphone. >> Um, but I think that's really how it's optimized is for the the smartphone. And I agree with Andy's comment about it just taking a long time. like
>> it's like waiting and and you know I I don't know maybe I'm just impatient now with this modern thing but I'm like you're three minutes I have to sit here for three minutes and let it load. >> Yeah. And it was like it was like it would force the full three minutes like even if it was already booted up
>> I was like a little like >> Yeah. like what's what's this about? Um, but you know, I I I um yeah, and and it did it it I would say it took it took about 25 minutes in total to get to get it up and running
for me. Um, with all of the waiting periods and the the you know, the logging in. Um, >> did that include the firmware for you too? Um I you know how in in the the one of the
first um page prompts when you're setting it up it said allow Netgear to send you notifications. >> Yes. >> I said no. And >> well that's okay. I don't know that
that's related. Well, I read it. Well, I read it really carefully and it said, "This allows us to update you about firmware updates." And I'm like, "Wait a minute. Am I saying that you could do updates or are you saying about notifications?" And that first screen was was really
unclear. >> And so, >> I know what you mean. I think that my my thought was that was they were asking for permissions on the phone. So like like if you write an iOS app, there's like a specific API that that Apple
gives you for um sending notifications and when you trigger that API from the app, it will throw that dialogue up on the screen. And so if you clicked yes, I think that they were going to access that API and then you get the dialogue
on screen like allow notifications. Um, so that's what I thought they meant, but I was maybe reading too much into it as well. Um, [snorts] >> okay. No, I think you're right that that it was about notifications, although they mentioned firmware because I think they want you to say yes.
>> Yeah, I I there was just them being pushy. I I didn't um I did say yes, I think, because I just said yes to everything because they're setting it up. Um, but I didn't get a push notification for that. I saw it in like the upper side here. There was a little firmware update button.
>> Oh, okay. It's just like a little little like like orange icon. Actually, I have the picture of it. Um >> Oh, great. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for taking the screenshots. I took I took a handful of them, but not all of them. So, that's great. >> I just thought like, okay, one utility
here is like we might be making a little handout and like these are the screens that we could draw red boxes on on the handout. >> Yeah. Yeah, and I I agree like a a one-pager walkth through um is going to be necessary here for just handing this
these to people. Also, I'm thinking um >> Okay. >> It's this little guy right here. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Hold on. I left my phone in my other room. Let me see if it says that on mine >> or not. Okay. I'll I'll be right back.
Trying to see if I have the notification ask screen here. >> No, >> it asks it asked at least when I was setting up the two that were here. >> Um, one of which of course was reset and
given to Gail. Um uh it it it it asked um about about the firmware update um in the process of just setting up the router. And on one of my
units, uh it did the update and the other one it did not. It just said, "Oh, it it doesn't need an update." When I knew by looking at the the version number that was that was um in that specific router that that there was an update. you know, for I think it's VIP
version 2 something something something and um so I that whole update function was kind of weird to put it mildly. >> Yeah. Yeah. I it sounds like it's not very consistent. I only saw it via that little thing on there and I was like
well I should try it to make sure it works and I I went to >> for me it got me to 1272 as a version >> one. You know, that sounds like the version that I, you know, that was updated for the one I gave to 338. That one did update, but but but the but the
unit I gave to Gail, which I was testing here at my place, didn't um it didn't, you know, it looked for updates and said that they weren't necessary. So, I I don't know what to believe. >> Yeah. So, I I never got any updates, but
again, I was using the one from Jim and I do have version 1.2.7.2. 2, which is the is the the the newest version. And if I say check for updates. >> Yeah. >> So regardless, I'm saying check for
updates. And now it's saying wait 2 minutes while we check for new firmware. >> Wait for two minutes while we check for [laughter] firmware. >> Wait two minutes while I check my files. [laughter] Um, okay. So it says no. No new firmware is available at this time
because and that makes sense because it's saying that I have the the latest uh 1272 >> even even though you don't have the latest. That's the irony. That's what's so puzzling about this. You you don't have the latest because the the newer version is is 2. Well, Andy's got the
number right in front of him there. But >> no, that's what she said. Same number one 1272. >> That's the old version or the or the one that's in all of those routers. But the newest the new version the new firmware is 2 something something something something. >> Oh uh can you show your screen again
Andy of the >> Yeah this is this is what it did for me. I'll show you. So I saw we'll fly through them again here this one. So 1272 is the new version. >> So you see that Jim it says new version
available and this is that's the version that I have. Huh? Well, then why did the router that's now at 338 Lock Fond Road um update to um it it had that version 1272. I have it
in my notes which are, you know, not in front of me here, but uh it did update it to 2 something or other. I don't Well, anyway, it's another one of these weird inconsistencies. >> Okay.
Uh yeah. So let's make sure that the new version is 1.272. So Jim, next time you're at, >> you know, over there, take just take a look >> or or have them take a look and see if they have that most recent one installed
so that we have consistency. I think there's inconsistency during the installation of installing or not installing the um the firmware, but I'd be a lot more worried about are they inconsistent with the versions
that they're pushing out. >> Well, they are being inconsistent because I can tell you that the version that is in the RS200 that's at 338 uh has a has firmware version two. I can get you the exact number. I have it
written down, but it's with version 2.0 and it did it upgraded. It took about three minutes for it to update. >> Um, but um, it did it did update to that version. So, that information that you're showing me right now on the screen is inconsistent with what it did
with one of the other routers. So, who knows what what to believe. >> So, I was just going to share the app. Did that work? There it goes. >> Yeah. >> Um, so this is this is the version. So this is how you check. I was just trying
to figure out how to check. So you have to go down to uh Wi-Fi settings. Oh no, it's not that one. >> No, no, not that one. >> Left menu. So the left three dots at the
top left corner and then settings. >> Yeah, you can also just click on the >> router settings. >> Yeah, you can also just click on the image of the router from that first screen. [laughter] >> Okay. Yeah, that's much easier. Let's show that. >> Yeah, just >> you click Oh, you just click right on
the router. There we go. Okay. Yeah, >> cool. Okay. Just wanted to like confirm that that's what it is. And I I did do the check for updates and it also told me to wait and didn't find anything. >> Oh wow.
Well, let me get that number out. Hold on just a second. >> Yeah, let let's see what's what what version 338 shows if I just click on the router picture. Um interesting. But overall um I I was um I I was pleased with the with the whole
installation um uh walkth through. I thought that the the web interface uh did well. The the next thing is that I want to um uh reset the whole thing and go through the web interface and
make directions for that one. um because I think that we are going to have some people that don't have smartphones. Um it's only been 24 hours, but I'm really pleased with the performance on this. Um
and it is faster um than the than the link says for sure and more powerful um where the the signal is longer and stronger. Um, I did something um
that I would love your opinion on of is this a good practice or not where I renamed the SSID links 08820 to match the links and chose the same
password so that I didn't have to reset any devices. >> That's what I would recommend doing. And and can we is there any risk, danger, bad practice of recommending that to all of the folks that install this? >> No, not at all.
>> Okay. It it just it makes life so much easier when you put in this new router and all of the, you know, devices just work magically without having to having to reconnect. I think that that is kind of key here
um to the >> Oh, I get what you mean. So >> yeah. >> So yeah, use the same Wi-Fi name, same password as as before. >> Everything just worked >> and it just worked. >> Yeah, that's exactly what I did.
>> Yeah. Soision Yeah. Yeah. So what I'm envisioning for that is like well kind of like a a one-page worksheet. Step one, write down your network name. You know how and and
its password. And then at the end of the installation, we we reference back to that because it's actually pretty hard to get it like, you know, get it back once you're um everything else is unplugged. Um
and I I do think that the the the just, you know, this whole the whole installation part is going to be the um the the the hardest part for for people. Um, so it's all about process
and >> yeah, I was happy that they they do give you that 30 days of like their service, whatever. I think we should be clear to people that they don't need this. >> Yes, don't but >> but I I was pleased they didn't they
don't make you put in a credit card. So, like, you know, some things are like it wasn't, you know, it did automatically sign you up for the 30 days, which is a little pushy, >> but I was worried it was going to be pushier, I guess. So, >> we can see what happens at 30 days. I'm
sure they'll give us some sort of notification like, "Enter a card. Your network's going to be insecure." >> Yeah. >> But maybe we can reassure people that it's going to be okay if you don't do that. >> Yeah. I mean, I guess it's up to them, but like Yeah.
>> Yeah. I totally agree that we need to be um uh help help them understand that. No, don't don't buy anything through the Netgear interface. Um uh unless you unless you really want that. It's not it's not necessary. >> Yeah.
>> I'm not sure what it provides. Like I might want to do a little more research on it before just like saying that I don't think it does anything. Like I don't really know what it does. But um yeah, I guess that's I don't know if we'd want to have a recommendation on,
you know, not paying net gear for like some monthly thing. Um just because I think people will will maybe have that question for us like is this going to actually make my network more secure? And I'm not Yeah, I wasn't sure if
>> um yeah, we want to be able to say no kind of confidently or as a group, but I I think I would need to do a little more research to, you know, understand that. >> But seems likely can say >> you do not need to do this. You can
broadly say that to our [clears throat] subscribers. um whether we should tell them you shouldn't do it. That's you know that's >> Yeah, we can say something like it's it's absolutely not necessary, you know, something like that. Um your internet
will continue to work like it did before. Yeah. So something something like that. >> Yeah. >> Right. Right. Um did any of you click on parental controls? Because there's there's a piece of this that I don't love. Whereas if you click
on parental controls, it says unlock premium. Like it seems to try to get you to buy smart parental controls. Um, and I want to make sure that you can
you you can do all of the parental controls um without having to buy something because I think that's just wrong. Huh? It looks like it's a paid service. >> Do it.
>> Well, you can you can I clicked add new profile and I'm making some progress. >> Okay. >> Um Okay. I've added my phone as kid one. >> Okay. >> Oh, but then it takes me but then it
takes me back to the start trial. So, this is a this appears to be a paid only service. That is really unfortunate. >> Yeah. Welcome to premium. I'm on the 30-day trial now.
>> Oh gosh. Okay. [clears throat] >> Well, >> is the you can't do basic parental controls without paying for something. Is that what you're saying, Gail? That's what I'm seeing. Um I I'd like this is I I didn't even think to I just
assumed like of course parental controls are not you know why would you have to pay for those? So I just learned about it just now. Um so I we yeah this is something we need to we need to look into.
$8 a month or $28 a year at 60% off. >> Probably $7 a year. >> You sure? Yeah. But seven $7 a month or $8 a month is what they're >> and that's maybe separate from the armor
the neck armor security. If if I like delete my N gear account, the thing keeps working. I think [clears throat] I wonder So the smart parental controls according
to my search here >> um you it it's required for website content filtering by category screen time limits bedtime schedules,
time limits by child or profile. Uh you can get usage reports, and oh, this is neat. Per child profiles that work across multiple devices. >> Yeah, I created a profile for myself and I added my iPhone to it.
>> Yeah, >> that's what I Yeah. And I could choose kid, teen, or adult content filtering. Does our existing router have any of that functionality? >> It does. Um, it's not uh
um it's it's definitely not easy to use and it it doesn't have all these fancy features like cumulative time and things. Uh but you can set things like cutting off devices at a certain time. um and uh certain device restrictions.
H I wonder if we're going to get a lot of blowback from this. Andy, you're the only one who has children and I realize that they're not really of screen age yet. >> Um >> they're getting there. Yeah, >> they're getting there. Yeah. Do do you get do you get Yeah. Do you get a sense
that um parents utilize parental controls in an electronic way or is it just uh shouting? >> I I don't know what other people do, >> but I would not be looking to my router to manage my children free reign on the
internet. I >> I don't want to say something just out of mean, but like I I I just think like it's it's not it's not the right tool for the job in my opinion. Like >> Yeah. I I I don't plan on using it. I mean, maybe maybe I will once they have access
to to YouTube or something. Um but but I I don't know. My my my plan is to put a computer in the family visible area and I am the content filter. They're not going to be in a room with their phone until they're >> much older. So, our oldest is turning
nine soon for for some >> Yeah, it's it's getting there. It's getting there. My Yeah, my nephew >> um just is is uh 12 and he no 11 he just got his first uh cell phone. Yeah.
>> So yeah, I mean yeah. >> Okay. >> Certainly if you have a cell phone the you know I guess in Chesbury maybe is one of the few places that the the network controls work but otherwise you just turn off the Wi-Fi right and you're >> um off that control. I don't know. I I
think people use other services too, like you know, apps on the phone and stuff like that to filter. >> Yeah. And I [clears throat] I I bet that almost all them are are paid services anyway. >> I I imagine that Euro has a thing that I
don't pay for um to do this as well. They're always there's always an Euro premium whatever. Um Euro Plus >> and content controls. Yes. So, you know, same same exact thing, I think.
>> Yeah. Protect your family with content controls. 100 bucks a year, $10 a month. So, it's even more. >> I don't know. May maybe I will do something like that eventually. Um, but it's not part of the current plan. >> Yeah. All right. Well, I'm I'm going to
do some more research about this one. Um, just so we like understand what to tell people of, you know, the features of it. seem really good and I can imagine if it's a paid app, it's welldesigned and could be useful for the people who want to use it, but the
having to pay for it might be something that folks are unhappy with. Um, yeah. Yeah, it's a it's kind of I guess a question of like yeah is that a service that is
effectively kind of provided by Shootsbury, right? is a you know is that one of the features core features and I think sort of the main feature is access and yeah goes down from there but
I don't know I I wouldn't view content filtering as as something that I wouldn't have in the past uh viewed it as something that I would expect to get included. >> Yeah. And I it and I it is like no you
know the technology that created the problem can't solve it. You know that that phrase that there's um uh offloading that onto the technology I think is is a little dangerous too of like well the >> router software is protecting my kid. I
don't have to worry about it. Like really? >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if they're on Tik Tok, you know, I don't know that the neck gear is filtering what is a healthy body image Tik Tok from not, you know, thinking about our 5-year-old daughter, you know, like I don't
I I I think it's it's it's foregone at that point. So, I I don't know. Um Yeah. All right. Well, um I put that on my list to just look look in more into the parental controls. what exactly does it do and how much is it actually does it
cost after the trial period and after the first year um and what's what's it capability yeah >> could also consider like what other devices in the market offer here I mean at least as one comparison point hero is basically the same in terms of like pre
you know premium model for content filtering >> yeah yeah some of them um I have not verified this but it says ASUS um includes robust parental controls for free. Um TPLink and EROS
provide just the basics but then the paid for all the all the advanced features like this. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So let's do some market so we'll do some market comparisons here. >> Do we really want to get involved in
what to recommend on these features? It seems to me that should be something we should just stay away from. I don't know. >> Yeah. I'm not I'm not thinking of recommendations. more information and questions >> of you know, you know, of um
uh from any of our residents who you know use use the parental controls and you know and we say like we're not um you know you this model has it but
you you don't have to pay for it. um offering what just understanding what else is out there for them. I guess what I want to I want to be able to say to people is this is the trend of pretty much all routers out there that
if you want these features, it's it's going to it's just going to be a paid service. um >> something very general like that. >> Yeah. Yeah. And and from what I see so far, that's that's true. All these routers come with basic basic, but there's an upcharge if you want the the
fancy parental control features. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That's where they make their money. >> Yeah. Well, even though I I I I mean I if you're able to install it in in in in 25 minutes or so without
without any in other words, it it was doable using a smartphone and and pretty reasonably straightforward. That's good news because of course I wasn't using that method to do the installations. But but um there's I think there's no
denying that the router is um at least equal to if not superior to the kaix and um [snorts] and certainly to any of the other routers we've tested. We've tested quite a few too. So um um uh do you think there's any
alternative to this? I I don't see one coming down the pike at this late date. >> Not if we want to uh go with the FCC, >> you know, appro approved ones. This is this is the the the best one that we can
>> afford townwide right now. >> I don't think we have any choice. We're gonna stick to the FCC approved routers. >> Yeah. Um so next steps here um
I think we need to just look look into the parental controls and some more of the features on this. Um I want to do some more clicking around um so that I understand the uh the user app that comes with this model. Um, it seems
so, you know, just so far pretty user friendly. Um, but I don't want to find any more gotchas in here of hidden paid services or um, anything else that that could be a problem for users.
Um, I think uh I need to have a conversation with Sheld about this is what we're thinking in terms of a pilot program here and getting a an actual price um to to buy a hundred of them and thinking through distribution with
Sheld. Um what I imagine doing is um hiring one of their technicians for a day or two to be delivery drive around with a van and you know deliver uh this first
trunch of routers uh for for the pilot. Um, >> so would they just be delivering or would I mean you arrive at a house, here's your new router and say, "Oh, you know, would you install it? Geez, I don't you know, help me out." Um, which
suddenly you're not going to get too far. You're not going to do that in two days. Um, do a hundred of them. >> No, it would just be drop off. >> They'd be They'd be like a a Yeah. Yeah. Because >> and do we really need a shelled
technician then to do that or could we >> could be anybody? >> Um or could we, you know, have it like trash bag pickup thing uh >> or at the town hall? >> Yeah. >> Uh we could we could do a a townwide
distribution um for this pilot. Um I the the router box is this big, right? A hundred of them. We need a truck to transport them from
shelled to town. Coordination of, you know, time and pickup. We need people to come at this, you know, time period, a system for marking them off that they've been um picked up. um anyone who picks it up
kind of like has to be available on that day. So yeah, we we could do a massive pickup day and just having someone, you know, drive around and and deliver all of them, I
think, would be easier than having to plan the logistics of a pickup day. H although you know this would be like I assume a weekday between
9 and 5. Um so people that are working not going to be home. Um >> right. But this is it's like an Amazon delivery. Just drop you know drop the router on on your doorstep.
>> Yeah. No no no one has to be home. >> Okay. um >> how how are we going to keep track of who has these routers and and who doesn't and and um because if we do distribute more of them after the 100
are used up then we don't want to have duplicates um so to speak people picking up one and then putting it on eBay that kind of thing. I I don't know where >> Oh yeah. I I'm not worried about >> Gail makes good spreadsheets.
>> I make so many good spreadsheets. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We Yeah. Keeping track of of all the addresses and who's who's got what. Um you know, I think that this would actually be a case for um you know, more of a a database um so that we can keep track of who's gotten it and
then um uh coate that with their survey results um as as these go out. Um
this is going to be a like a I think at our next meeting um having a big conversation about the process of this um is it I think it's going to take a full meeting to hash out the details and come
up with more questions about this. So, let's make that our task for September. Between then and now, we're going to keep learning more about these routers, make sure there's no gotchas, make sure that the performance, you know, stays as good as what we think it is. Um,
investigate um parental controls, what else what else is out there? And um uh yeah and and let me check with Sheld about their thoughts on
current pricing and distribution. >> They just do 100 initially. >> Well, that's what that's what we talked about at the last meeting of running this like a pilot program >> of >> just and and you know after we talk a
bit about this we might be like gosh 100 is a lot. Like let's just do 50. Um and and >> what is the pricing roughly on these? >> Don't know. >> Oh >> yeah. Re retail it's uh it's I think one
150ish. Um but we you know that's sometimes it's more when you you know if if we buy it through shelled and they are going to do a um uh you know 10% markup I think for a bulk purchase like this I could I could
ask for for less and see you know they might be able to get discounts from their suppliers um because it is a bulk purchase. is so is there a reason for us not to just buy these on our own?
>> Uh, nope. That that is a um comparison shop. Yeah. You know, the town has a um Amazon um account. Um another thing to look into is having it shipped to all
these different addresses. >> Yeah. Um, I don't know how messy that would be in terms of orders and all these different charges coming to the town credit card. I don't want to make um our accountant's head explode,
you know, with different charges. >> One other thought, uh, could we check and see if we could buy them directly from Netgear? >> I don't think Netgear will sell you them directly. It has to be through some sort
of of a distributor. The Netgears doesn't deal directly with anyone except big distributors like Amazon for example or or others. So I don't think that's a possibility but >> but um a a big distributor is another
question. I think we could we could check into that perhaps. >> Which one do we have? The RS200. >> Yeah. I mean, you can buy it. You can buy it directly from Netgear. >> Really?
>> Yeah. >> Oh, it's giving me the Cloudflare. Press and hold. Verify you're a human. But, um, yeah, I got it in my cart at netgear.com. >> Yeah. We could even send them a bid request, see if, you know, for 100 they'd give us a better price. Uh
>> yeah, and I know that um there's there's state um uh suppliers. Maryanne use them for the library equipment of a they're like they're like certified vendors that to work with um municipalities.
So I can ask her too of of who she works with. So, let me ask Maryanne. Let me talk to Sheld um and what deal they can get and see if we can buy from Netgear directly. Um they must have well
see if they have have corporate sales at all. Um >> it's certainly possible as a individual to buy from Neckare. Um and they do ship it. So, it's $10 to ship. So, $2.40 total. Um, but I mean the shipping too
idea could do it on neck as well potentially. >> Yeah. And that would be that would Yeah, that would be a lot less expensive than perhaps sending somebody around with a truck delivering them. You know, I'm just
>> maybe that'll cost $1,000 and you know >> Yeah. >> like um the $10 shipping times however many. Yeah. >> Yeah. Or, you know, if we could Yeah, I mean, that's a possibility. Or, you know, if they would ship the whole batch
to the town, we might I wonder if there any possibility of storing them in the um the shed at the school, the the uh trash bag distribution uh shed at the school because I think right now they
must have given away most of the trash bags. >> Mhm. And that could even be a pickup point. >> Yeah. All right. So, I'm going to add like just add it to the list of things that we need to think about process-wise. Um, you know, pickup,
shipping, local delivery. >> Do it at the library as well. Of course, it's an option. They they have some storage. >> Yeah. >> Dale, will you be using up all Let's see. We have 20,000 we've got to spend
before December, right? 25. >> Is it 20? 25. >> So, this is how we're going to spend it, right? >> Yep. >> I I did want to note they that I did research a little bit the ka there are
two of the kaix ones that are approved. Those approvals from the FTC. It might have just come through, but there are two on the list. >> We would we would love Yeah, we would love to use the Kaix ones. Um we can't. Oh, okay. >> We can't
>> I just heard you mentioned you tested one. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, the problem with the Kaix ones is that they're not uh direct to consumers that they have to be connected to an ISP. Sounds great. We'd love to. However,
you pay uh $3 per subscriber per month to use them because they have proprietary software >> for something called manage routers whereas the ISP you can see in you know like see into them and and fix passwords
remotely and do you know do some diagnostics. Um, and we have been around and around on this and way in the beginning we were going to distribute kaix to everyone and we did out the math and it's just not worth it. And we've
proved and and we totally proved the point of if we paid for managed you know routers it would be like $25,000 a year >> um to use them for very little benefit.
most of the things can be solved, you know, just over the phone. Um, and the ones that >> at the end of the day that that cost would go on customers bills, right? Like >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And you, you know, the the things that we end up rolling a truck for, you're going to have to roll a truck for
anyway, you know, that the one of the big stories of these managed routers sellers is like, "Oh, you save so much on um, you know, field calls." No. No, you don't. [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. I I I mean I love the idea
if it was true of that, you know, but uh you know, helping someone reset a password or something. You can people can do this. Um and yeah, once in a while you roll the truck for something that um uh you could have solved remotely for the customer.
>> Yeah. >> But again, it's just not it it it the payoff isn't there. So that is the long story of why we don't use manage routers and um uh yeah and I I I still think it's it's
the right choice. I don't know in the future it might change when devices get maybe more sophisticated or the diagnostics get more you know sophisticated and can actually prevent truck rolls and customer headaches but
we just don't see it yet. >> Makes sense. Yeah. Cool. Makes me think of one of the things I asked about a long time ago is like, well, why don't we have like a shared public internet, but like that kind of thing would be possible with a managed
maybe like every, you know, you can log into all the routers in town if you're a member like um Xfinity thing. But >> yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, we Well, we looked into that too of the of a kind of like a a a
townwide mesh network. >> Yeah. Yeah. They don't work >> here. >> Yeah. >> The houses are too Yeah. the houses are too spread apart and >> and set back like you're walking through suburban neighborhood. >> Yeah. You can you can play off all these
routers that are, you know, 100 feet away. >> But around here, the kind of mesh neighborhoods we Kaix came into this whole presentation and I was like, "Do you do you understand how far apart the [laughter] houses are?" And they're like, "What?" And it's like walk up to
some picture like me like out on a bike ride like trying to get a message walking up to someone's like front doors like you know. >> Yeah. And it's I mean it's an awesome idea and it works great in in in you know tight tight suburban and urban neighborhoods. They're just not built for out here. Um >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean I'm thinking about by
the lake of course but yeah which is maybe the one place it would. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yes. And at the lake you're right at the lake it it it totally would um Yeah. the houses are close enough that somebody walking around the neighborhood could um utilize that, but the rest of
shoots, not so much. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Makes sense. Yep. >> Um All right. So, our next our next meeting is on
September 19th. That is the third Wednesday in Is that true? >> Nope. 16th. >> 16th. >> 16th. I was looking at the wrong month. >> I'm not going to be here on that date. Um >> Okay. >> I can
>> All right. Um >> I can >> we can we can talk we can talk about shifting shifting that date. Um because it's the beginning of the semester, um I'd like to shift it to the 23rd though, not like the 2nd or the 9th.
>> Okay. >> Because um of work schedule. How does the 23rd look for you, Steve? >> That works for me. >> Okay. Everyone else good on the 23rd? >> No. See, I can check really quickly to be
extra sure, but I think so. Yeah. Okay. 23rd of September. >> September. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. I was like, that's not a Wednesday. Um I mean, yeah, nothing planned that far out. >> Great. >> No, no August meeting.
>> Correct. >> Okay. >> Correct. We're going to take a little summer summer break here. Um, and I'm sure that I will send around information and um, additional documentation to look at um, as we start
thinking about about the rollout process here. Um, all right. Well, that was a very productive meeting. We got a lot covered and we discovered lots more questions. So, very
very productive. Uh, anything else? >> I kicked off deleting my Netgear account. So, we'll see if this still works after that. Okay. >> Goes through. Said it'll take him up to seven days, but yeah. >> Right. >> Should still work. Yes.
>> There was a um service problem on Lever Road that uh you and I were both contacted about yesterday and you um you took care of the problem. Oh, yes I did. Yes, I made a house call yesterday or whatever day what it was.
>> I I heard from the uh from the uh property owner subscriber who said to thank thank Gail for the uh service. So >> Oh, that's that's nice. Yeah, I I normally don't do it, but I found out
that they had no phone service and they couldn't call out and so I was running errands in Amoris and I was I'm just it's on the way. I'm just going to stop. And then um yeah, and and we we got it sorted out,
got their router set up again and and on their way, so they should be all set. >> What was wrong? >> Uh I don't know what happened. Uh the homeowner res reset their router, like did a did a hard reset and then didn't
know how to set. Yeah. Yeah. And then everything went >> hit because it seemed like from the picture it sounded like the trouble was the >> I think that it was the originally because they lost the phone service and
then to fix it they tried to unplug stuff and plug it in, which is the right thing to do. But then when that didn't fix it either, they didn't wait long enough for things to come back online and then they reset the router and then it was game over. Yeah. Yeah.
>> Okay. >> So, um and I did uh when I got um anyway, yeah, it's >> it's it's fixed. They're okay. And um
Yeah. Yeah. Network is back up. >> Cool. >> Um All right. Well, thanks for staying a little we we went a little bit over this meeting, but um again, we we have a we have a nice big project ahead of us of replacing these routers, so it's it's
it's going to be good. >> Well, have a great time in Iceland. >> Thank you. Thank you. And uh thank you all for for stepping up and filling in while I'm um so so out of touch. It's going to be great. [laughter] >> Yeah, you will be.
>> Yeah. >> No Starling Phone. Yeah. No, nope. Nope, no, no. I I bought I I bought a paper map um for Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna bring >> I'm glad to hear they exist. Yeah.
>> Yep. Yep. A paper map and uh and well, a compass. I'll have to, you know, redo my map, my map and compass skills, but mo mostly we'll be sticking to the roads. It's not like I'm going I'm not like walking across Iceland.
>> [laughter] >> We'll go on to little likes. That's it. Although the one that >> it's a waterproof paper map. >> It is. It's a very nice National Geographic waterproof >> map. Yep. >> Yeah. I would highly recommend it be
waterproof in Iceland. [laughter] So, >> yeah. Yeah. I wonder if anyone's done that. Like I'm sure they have of like walked across um or like walked walked the coastline. That would that would be an amazing trip.
>> Well, the the coastline trip is quite something from what I understand. Um I've seen some some documentaries on what it's like to, you know, to to drive around Iceland from, you know, make a complete circle and it's uh all of these
different sites that one sees and gets on the way around the island. It's quite something. >> Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if we're going to make it all the way around. Um uh I'm you know the trip the trip is only 10 days and in retrospect I'm like
I should have gone for two weeks but it's just like with with my work in the beginning of the semester. It's a really terrible time to be away but I'm doing it anyway. >> And um so 10 10 days is all I can I can I can really do. So >> anyway, I'll come back with pictures and stories.
>> Great. That'll be great. >> Um all right. Thanks so much, guys. And um I'll send around emails and I have more information. >> We'll do. >> All right. Take care. Thanks. Bye. Bye.