What To Do When There's Nothing to Do!

My efforts in cleaning and consolidating have been really effective! So effective, that I'm starting to actually run out of things to do. I do have a couple on the "back burner", but both are on hold waiting for outside intervention. My office space is so clean, it's a little weird? So, what to do?

Well, let's start by briefly recapping what's been done. All of our computers are now on one operating system; with the exception of a few specialty machines, and the server of course. All the laptops use the same power adapter, and when you're home to 5 of them, that's no small thing! Everyone is fully equipped with a main computer for normal use (a laptop or in my case also a desktop) and a tablet for misc. purposes. Both of our main television viewing systems have a surround system and a HTPC that's connected to the internet and our home server. 

 So, of course, when you least expect it, something weird happens! Last night, I noticed that my tablet was refusing to sync it's email, then I realized that it wasn't just that, but Google Play which uses that address as the account was claiming "no connection". Oddly Hotmail wasn't connecting either; all at the same time that other computers AND the tablet itself was able to get onto the internet via the browser!?! While researching the problem, I got all manner of answers (of course), one of which suggested that the router might have filter that MAC address. Ah Ha.....I thought, that piece of junk router I had to put in to get the voice-over-IP NetTalk phone to work must be the culprit! And since the service had expired as well as our reason for needing it, I decided to put my "super-duper" fast, D-Link DGL-4100 gaming router back in place, thus eliminating one box, AND putting my entire network on Gigabit! What had happened was that only specific routers worked with that service and the Trendnet that I got for it didn't have a Gigabit switch built in. This made me use my 8-Port Gigabit Switch in conjunction with the Trendnet to make my "backbone" Gigabit, but then I only had a 10/100 8-Porter in the office that the server and workstation was plugged into......it's all a "house of cards". In went the Gigabit switch equipped router, out cane the Trendnet. The displaced stand-alone Gigabit switch, then swapped out for the office 10/100 switched and we are now Gigabit across the board on all Ethernet connections! 

No, the tablet issue wasn't solved, but hey, the network SCREAMS!