On 30-Jun-06 Wayne Stallwood wrote:

On Fri, 2006-06-30 at 20:21 +0100, Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk wrote:

...

Hi Folks, I recently bought a Belkin 10/100 5-port ethernet switch (product number F5D5131-5).

It works for a few minutes (less than 5) and then the LEDs for the ports that cables are plugged into go out, after which it is useless.

Does it have a power light and if so does this remain on when the switch is in the fault condition.

Yes -- in fact this is the only light that remains on!

[...]

Thanks for the other comments -- including that "Belkin kit is mostly pretty poor"!

Cheers, Ted.

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On 01-Jul-06 MJ Ray wrote:

(Ted Harding) Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk

...

I recently bought a Belkin 10/100 5-port ethernet switch (product number F5D5131-5). [...]

That's the first mistake. Belkin :-/

...

Does anyone recognise this behaviour on the part of Belkin switches?

How hot is it?

I carried out a somewhat crude experiment earlier today. First, following regular heat-stroke on the part of the Belkin switch, I had replaced it a couple of days ago with a PEAK CAS4047 "SOHO WAN/LAN Router" which I had lying around (but wanted to keep aside for another purpose, hence buying the Belkin). This has 1 WAN ethernet port (for connecting to a cable modem) and 4 LAN ethernet ports, and the latter work fine in the "switch" role.

Feeling the case of this while it was running, it was perceptibly warm (but felt no more so that a cat's belly).

So, first of all, I put a thermometer with its bulb in contact with the warmest pert of the case, and in due course registered about 110F (43C). The ambient air temperature was 82F (28C). The PEAK had been working fine for the two days since connection.

Then I disconnected the PEAK and replaced it with the Belkin, in exactly the same position. After about 8min, once again it failed to function as a switch (nothing getting through) though the two LEDs for the active cable ports were still flashing. Then, a few minutes later, these both went out. All as before.

The hottest part of the casing felt hot rather than warm. though not hot enough to make you want to let go of it. I left it switched on, then applied the thermometer again. This time it registered 128F (53C).

So that's my rough estimate of "how hot it is"

Despite its label saying "designed in California" I've found my Belkin router to be exceptionally sensitive to heat, the first thing to crash and one of the first power supplies to fail last summer. I run it upside down (air vents are on the underneath) and try to keep my house cool using tricks I'm adding to http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2006/lynn#howtonotmelt at the mo.

Interesting article! And, hidden under "Understand your building" is a little remark which leads me on to my Medical Tip of the Day.

You're probably aware of recent occupational health warnings about the risk of acquiring DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) through sitting too long at a computer.

I doubt, however, that many of us have observed this amongst our true geek acquaintances, despite their adhesion to their screens. I put this down, in my view, to their caffeine dependence.

I assert that caffeine is a good preventative of DVT in computer users.

Prescription: One mug of strong black coffee (or, if preferred, of very strong black tea), with optional sugar. Dosage: at least one per hour.

Instructions: Make sure that the computer is not on the same floor as the loo.

Hope that helps,

And I hope that helps too!

Best wishes, Ted.

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On 02-Jul-06 Wayne Stallwood wrote:

Great health tip there Ted,

But due to the current climate I am on light refreshing beers (currently a bottle of Corona) and I think in terms of DVT resistance these are actually slightly more effective.

Probably! Both caggeine and alcohol are of course diuretic, but from experience I think alcohol may be the more effective in the long term.

Actually one serious health tip.

I was suffering quite badly with tired eyes and headaches and I put this down to too many late nights working in a room with poor lighting and dark walls.

I think the brightness of the screen (which is set quite bright) with the darkness of the rest of the room was causing some form of eyestrain.

I took inspiration from the Philips Ambilight TV sets and fitted 4 high intensity white LED's to the back of my screen (pointing at the wall surface behind) these produce a light halo around the border of the screen which as well as looking quite natty seems to have reduced the effects of eyestrain I was getting.

That's interesting! In my case, with the ceiling light (which is a "spot" bulb giving rather white light) on above my head, and having a matt white background behind the monitor (TFT), I don't particularly get the problem.

But I also have a small bright spotlight lamp for special illumination of my deskspace if I want to see something really sharply; and its bulb sits just outside my right visual field at about 2 o'clock, and in a plane about halfway from eye to screeen (i.e. it shines down roughly where my hands are). If, after use, I leave this on and return to working on the computer, then I get really unpleasant eye discomfort (especially on the right side).

I'm sure that correct illumination is vital to prevent eyestrain, and your tip is interesting!

One thing which occurs to me is that the extra diffuse light around the screen, while not distracting, will cause the pupils to contract and therefore sharpen the focus of the eye without imposing strain on the eye muscles to accommodate the lens, so you're getting sharper vision without the effort and hence without the strain.

This suggests that you may have a bit of an acuity problem anyway; but also it's my impression that the screen (especially TFT) is not a particularly "definite" target for the eye to focus on anyway. If you test it, you'll probably find that the plastic surround, or the trademark thereon, or if you have one the power LED on the plastic, are easier to get a sharp focus on than what's on the screen itself!

Hmmm. Ted.

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