Before Wi-Fi: Recreating a Linux PPP Dial-up Connection
A hands-on retrospective using pppd, a modem chat script and the sound of the early internet coming to life.
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Blog
Retrospectives, technical notes and the occasional deep dive.
Building Routes for Training: From Frustration to an AI-Assisted Product
How the lack of a route builder that understood structured training led me to build one—and what AI changed about the process.
READ ENTRYTaking Control of Home DNS and DHCP with Pi-hole
How Pi-hole became the DNS and DHCP authority for my home.lan network behind an EE Smart Hub Plus—and the configuration debt I found later.
READ ENTRYBridging the Yard: Point-to-Point Wi-Fi for Stables and Cameras
A practical account of extending a home network to an adjacent stable block with a dedicated wireless bridge.
READ ENTRYZwift Hub vs Favero Assioma Duo: A Real-World Power Comparison
Comparing trainer and pedal power across the same indoor workout—and separating a useful agreement check from laboratory accuracy.
READ ENTRYRebuilding a Peugeot Reynolds 708 for Modern 11-Speed Riding
A sentimental 1990s steel frame, professionally realigned and refinished, then rebuilt as a modern and genuinely rideable classic.
READ ENTRYWhen ANT+ Pairing Was Really a Battery-Door Fault
How an intermittent Stages power meter led from firmware suspicion to a mechanical contact problem in the battery cap and seal.
READ ENTRYThe Router Setting That Broke EE Wi‑Fi Calling
A short networking field note on tracing an iPhone Wi‑Fi Calling failure to IPsec passthrough after a router upgrade.
READ ENTRYAWS to pfSense: Lessons from an Early Site-to-Site VPN
A 2015 field note on connecting an AWS VPC to an old pfSense firewall—and the troubleshooting lessons that still apply.
READ ENTRYCloud Computing in Asia: A 2015 Prediction Revisited
Looking back at an early view of Alibaba Cloud, regional infrastructure and why cloud architecture is never geography-free.
READ ENTRYWhen a NAS Says ‘Backup Failed’: Isolating a WD My Cloud S3 Fault
A practical troubleshooting retrospective: separating credentials, S3 access and appliance firmware when a home NAS backup failed without useful logs.
READ ENTRYOne Sensor, Two Radios: Revisiting the Original Wahoo TICKR
A 2015 look at an ANT+ and Bluetooth heart-rate sensor, refocused on interoperability, app behaviour and protocol boundaries.
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