A New Tone

Since moving my studies into my bedroom and converting my old personal space for a spare bedroom, I found the lighting rather dull. Something needed to be done.

I decided to change the bulb and synchronize their colours and tone. In came a few more Hue bulbs.

I still had a couple in the main living area where I sometime used to watch Netflix at. I bought a few more with a separate base station specifically for the bedrooms. After arranging everything, I realised that a couple of the wall mounted lights used a smaller bulb. I would need to replace the sockets in order to get my whole room on the same tone. At this moment I time, I was content with my desk lamp and the couple of bedside lamps using the Hue system. More modifications needed I should think ...

A New Kind of Mesh

I have a 500 MBit internet at my apartment but the modem and wifi transmitter that came with it was rather weak. The signals into my bedroom were at time and the repeater I had on one of the corridors did not transmit well, and the speed was much slower than I hoped.

Ready for the unboxing!Banking on the performance ...All neatly laid out ...I had been reading about making myself a mesh network at home but most of the setup were tricky. Then I came across the Orbi system. It came in two units - the main transmitter and the satellite which I placed in my bedroom.

It was not perfect but I was able to get consistent speed in access of 200 MBit in my room which was great. There were also less interference when I got my TV, PS4, hifi and the rest connected to the network. Setting up was also straight forward enough mostly through a web browser. Since I started using it, it had yet to crash.

Sorting out the placementThe main unit would be at the old office... and the satellite unit was in my bedroomUnfortunately the system was not exactly cheap. In the end, for the speed I was managing to get it was certainly worth it ...

Not Your Normal Light

I have been reading about Hue for a while now but never came across it in Malaysia. I told Idlan during our trip back to Penang the other day about the light system, where we can change colour using the computer, phone or iPad. He was naturally interested.

Last weekend, while Anita was doing a bit of shopping after we went to the school exhibition at Mid Valley, Idlan and I walked into Machines, the shop which sells Apple stuffs. Then, Idlan spotted it. The starter pack for Hue lights!

It didn't take much to convince me to buy one. The next step would be to get a light stand for the bulbs, which we did at Jaya Jusco next door.

The starter pack came with three bulbs and the base unit. Once at home, I connected the base unit to my Wifi base station and after some configuration and button pushing - there was only one button on the base unit - plus a quick app download on my iPhone, I was up and running.

It certainly is fun, but not exactly for use as a main light. We got the three lights installed at the lounge at my apartment now, set into candle light mode while we were watching TV. I have since downloaded an app on my Mac Pro which became the main controller. The base unit can control up to 50 bulbs, so there was plenty of room for manoeuvre. I was still trying to figure out a way of making the lights flick when I receive emails. That would require another app I think. More on that later ...