Gizmo Guy: Spring Cleaning

Spring is not just the season for airing out the house. Your connected gear and home network could probably use a spring-cleaning, too.

For me, a breakdown of prized gizmos and a bad case of allergies signaled that it was time to clean house.

Out of the blue, my desktop Mac fell into a perpetual snooze zone, taking way too long to open a Web page.

Even worse for this streaming music/Internet radio fanatic, my perfect Sonos multiroom streaming speaker system was suddenly stuck, unwilling to play . . . anything.

Had some tiny, thin mint of technology (reference: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life) finally made this gadget hog's world blow up?

Scrubbing the system. While careful where I visit online and rarely opening attachments, I'm lax when it comes to emptying my computer's in-box. So to un-flummox the works, I downloaded and ran the free version of CCleaner for Mac. Also available in "We do Windows" form, the program isn't as full-featured as paid versions ($25 to $40 annually), but nothing to sneeze about.

While Macs are less prone to catching viruses, the machines do collect junk and unused files, just as PCs do. CCleaner goes to work, erasing your browser search history and all those "cookies" that advertisers and websites plant to track your moves and pitch products. CCleaner also empties your recycle bin and temporary files and folders.

The scrubbing worked quickly, maybe too fast for my "ancient" five-year-old Mac. After the operation, the patient blinked off and refused to reboot. But after performing a trick called "Zapping the Programmable RAM," all was cured. That deed was done by reaching round the left side of the screen to press the rear power button, while four fingers on my right hand simultaneously depressed the keyboard's Command+Option+p+r buttons. The Mac sprang back to life with out-of-the-box enthusiasm.

Sonos solution was harder. Fixing the holes in my Mac did nothing to help my multiroom Sonos sound system. Its failure was mere coincidence.

On the upside, Sonos hardware (priced $199 and up) comes with exceptional live backup support, phone and computer-linked smarties who commandeer your system (after being granted access) to cure what's ailing it.

Sonos has to be proactive because the technology that makes the system strong is also its vulnerable spot. A Sonos rig locks onto one radio channel of your WiFi service (could be channel 1, 6, or 11) to create its own mesh network, which then relays signals from branded piece-to-piece in daisy-chain fashion. To guard that channel from interference, Sonos takes over management of your entire home network with a control system called DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DHCP assigns individual IP addresses to each piece of gear linked to your modem/router.

Still, in my gadgeted-up house, Sonos techs discovered multiple signal conflicts. For starters, my Cisco-made Xfinity modem/router had been set to scan to the "best" open WiFi channel. Not good for Sonos.

And with the Cisco's "lease time" set for one week, which is "way too long," said Sonos tech supporter "Rich C.," many devices could wind up with the same IP address "and some would drop off the network."

Sonos' distant learners also discovered that my ADT home security system was hogging a whole lotta WiFi - half the bandwidth of all connected gizmos!

Then the intervention team groaned again when informed there was also an Ooma Telo Internet phone system (about $99) connected to the same Cisco router. The problem? Like Sonos stuff, Ooma also manages your home gear by acting as a DHCP server.

Resolving this clash of the titans required connecting a second router to one of the four available Ethernet output jacks on the backside of the Cisco modem/router.

Then - with a Sonos guy remotely doing all the dirty work - my home network system was split in two, with Solomon-like dispassion. So now there were separate networks for each power-crazed DHCP control freak to lord over.

To fill that second router role, I went with an Amped wireless TAP-R3 High Power AC1750 (sells for $180-$212). In part, I'd been attracted by its promise (and delivery) of easy setup and control, with a rare touch-screen display.

Also appealing were this 802.11ac dual-band router's modern specs. Especially the onboard trio (!) of antennas and 12 (!!!) amplifiers, promising amped-up WiFi coverage range plus gigabit streaming speed (if your Internet service ever supports it) for products linked to the router's four Ethernet ports.

With the two routers sitting side-by-side, the Amped's signal did improve on the Cisco's reach through the house, though the difference was hardly like that of night and day.

The really good news was that the Sonos system (now connected to the Amped) fully sprang back to life. And the Ooma Telo (connected to the Cisco router) picked up on signal reach and stability with companion cordless phones.

Got a cure, guys, for spring fever, too?

takiffj@phillynews.com

215-854-5960@JTakiff