Chromebooks are now all you need!

I was an early proponent of the Chromebook. I put my wife into an Acer C720 years ago to replace an aging laptop. Her former laptop had slowed to a crawl, had a weak battery, and was large and clunky. Her new C720 had the always-on feeling of the iPad that we'd grown accustomed to. It was quick, responsive, had amazing battery life, and was easy to manage.

At the time, Chromebooks were a tad limited. They hadn't even gotten off-line apps yet. Since then, the Chromebook has been her only computer around the house. I used a Raspberry Pi to set up Google Cloud Print, so printing from the Chromebooks, any computer on the network, or even our phones is simple.

The addition of offline apps was meaningless to us, since it is always connected to WiFi. But I have been following the developments in the Chromebook ecosystem with regards to Android apps and now Linux compatibility.

Linux has always been an option for Chromebook users through Crouton. I did that once to try it out on my wife's C720, but quickly realized that for her, the stability of being on a stock system outweighed my desire to run Linux on the go. Especially since there were ssh apps available, and that's usually all I'm looking for to remotely check on my systems.

Android app compatibility was too recent for the aging C720. I primarily used an iPad for web surfing on the couch and for some limited ssh-ing to my servers. I did have an eye out for a good Chromebook the last couple of years, mostly to use a keyboard for things like blogging or editing wikis. This can be done on the iPad, but the touchscreen keyboard is lacking. Good for short bits, but if you want to do any serious writing or sysadmin stuff, you need a real keyboard, even if it's a slightly scaled down version on a little laptop.

My requirements for a Chromebook were it needed to be quick, I wanted 4gb of ram, a high resolution touch screen, and Android apps. The Samsung Chromebook Plus and Pro caught my eye as they were both well reviewed, supported Android out of the box, and had a universally lauded screen in the much more web-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio.

A confluence of Linux app support and a 25% off a single item eBay coupon led me to pull the trigger on the Chromebook Plus. The Pro, with its Intel processor, had been my preferred, but Linux came to the Plus first.

I couldn't be happier with my purchase. The screen is as amazing as everyone says. It's a high resolution touchscreen that has no visible pixels, wide viewing angles, and is very responsive to touch.

I was concerned that the ARM processor in the Plus was going to be a hindrance, since it benchmarks well below most Intel processors. I can say, after having used it for a few weeks now, the ARM processor in here is plenty fast for most things. The only time I have noticed it appear to slow down is running large Linux programs that are processor intensive, such as Firefox.

Since I mention Firefox, yes you can run the Linux version on the Chromebook, for a totally through the looking glass experience. However, as I mention, it ran really slow. Since the Linux programs are running in a native environment as part of Chrome, really the only potential bottleneck is the CPU here.

All the other Linux programs I've tried run, and you're even able to tunnel X through ssh, so you can run a program on a remote computer and see the window drawn locally on the Chromebook.

Since the Plus does have an ARM processor, some Linux programs aren't available. All the utilities and fairly "simple" programs I've tried were all in the repositories. Since this uses the Debian repositories, you'll be hard pressed to find software not available. The only Linux apps I have found absent are emulators for older game systems. This isn't surprising since a lot of those use processor specific code to speed up emulation.

The surprising thing for me is how many Android apps I'm using. Again, most all Android apps should be supported. Since this runs the same ARM processor family as most Android phones, there should be virtually no Android apps not available. However, with a couple of apps, I have found they won't install through the Google Play Store. This is probably due to slight version differences. I had similar compatibility problems with early Android tablets and occasionally when I ran a Nexus phone. Sometimes being on the bleeding edge of the software system means that developers haven't kept up.

With the old C720, I found that the Chromebook could do probably 85-90% of my average portable computing needs. With the advent of Android apps, I'd say this Chromebook can easily fulfill 98% of my needs. Add in the ability to run native Linux apps and tunnel X through ssh, this thing can meet all my needs. I can even use it as a daily "main" computer.

As much as I thought going into it that I'd run a lot of Linux software, the truth is that I run either web-based, native Chrome apps, or Android apps for most everything.

 The Plus also has only USB-C connectors. This is great for charging, since you can use either port to charge it. However, unless you happen to have USB-C mice and other accessories, you'll need an adapter or a hub. Neither solution is particularly handy on-the-go. You also do not get an HDMI output. Again, that has to go through the USB-C.

The good news is that the USB-C works great, plug and play, with a cheap USB-C laptop accessory hub. I haven't tried the HDMI output, but the USB type A ports, the gigabit Ethernet, and the card reader on the hub worked immediately and without fail.

The Plus has a screen that folds back so you can use it like a tablet. The on-screen keyboard is adequate when you're in tablet mode. However, it is a big screen, so it's a big keyboard. It's thus kind of hard to type on. Decent enough to search for an app, enter a username or password, or type in a web address, but you'll appreciate the physical keyboard. The tablet experience of Chrome OS is nice, but I find I revert to the laptop form factor for most everything, which isn't a bad thing.

As long as you keep your expectations in check (no editing video or AAA gaming), I think the Chromebook is all most people need. I wouldn't even consider one without a touchscreen and a folding "360 degree" hinge nor getting one that doesn't support Android apps.

Upgrading my network with Unifi

So I recently discovered how the price of entry into enterprise grade networking equipment had come down. It used to be to get into enterprise gear you either spent lots of money or settled for last generation equipment. Since I am lucky enough to have gigabit fiber internet run to my house, I really needed a full gigabit system to not be wasting money.

Prior to getting the gigabit fiber, I ran a series of DD-WRT powered routers. Initially Linksys, upgrading every few years for better wifi. Most recently, just before getting the fiber Internet, I bought a TP-Link Archer C9. The wifi coverage of the C9 was pretty good. With DD-WRT it was a great router for the Comcast cable Internet I was running.

The fiber service, through Centurylink utilizes PPPoE and VLAN tagging. I bought the Zyxel router that Centurylink recommended to avoid monthly fees, and it was only $100. However, I immediately wanted to get ride of the Zyxel and use my trusty C9.

The problem with the C9, and one I'd never even considered to look at before, was that it cannot route a full gigabit connection. After running a new Cat6E line from the fiber's entry to my router I found that the C9 can only route about 500Mbps. So the performance, after the headaches of getting the C9 to natively connect to Centurylink, was subpar for my new system.

So I settled in to using the C9 as an access point only, with the Zyxel as the Internet router and DHCP server.

Fast forward a few years, and in my eBay searching and rampant worshipping at the alter of the Almighty Google, I discover the options of enterprise-grade wifi access points (APs). I was drawn to the Unqiuiti Unifi line for cost, features, and appearance.

I started by getting an older generation Unquity AP. It supports up to WiFi N speeds. Ubiquiti just requires you to run their provisioning software on a computer on the network. You really only need the Unifi software for setup, but you are encouraged (by Ubiquiti and me) to keep it running for monitoring purposes. The software is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Since I run Linux, the availability of native Linux compatibility is a must for me.

The physical installation of the access point is literally plug and play. It uses 24v passive power over ethernet, which means you run a single Cat5 cable to the AP and the power supply for the AP sits between your network switch and the AP. Newer versions, and the ones I ended up installing, are full PoE compliant, so no PoE injector needed if you run it off a PoE switch.

The software is relatively simple to set up. I found it to be far easier to use than DD-WRT and had just as many features, with a lot more polish.

The great thing about the Unifi system is it allows some nice monitoring features and adding an AP is dead simple. It's the latter that comes really nice. Find a dead spot in your house? Plug in a second (or third, it'll scale to hundreds of APs if not thousands) AP and provision it. The software does all the rest for you. You can fine tune what channel you're running if you want, and there are many tweaking options, but it really is simple. When I finally got my current generation UAP-AC-PRO APs, I was up and running in minutes. Running the wires and screwing the mounts to the ceiling took ages longer than the software configuration.

The early encouraging experience with their APs led me to look at finally for once replacing that Zyxel ISP router. The Zyxel was good speed-wise and had many nice features that simple consumer routers usually don't. I just like to have control of my network.

With the need to have a Internet router that can handle true gigabit speeds, my options were narrowed. I'd been planning on running a Linux or *BSD based router using an older computer. I even had a small form factor machine and purchased a couple of low profile Intel NICs to put in it. I tried a couple of them out, and they provide an endless amount of power and options, but for me the configuration tweaking was a bit much. I wanted simple but powerful.

I eventually settled on the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter line. Since I was planning on running some PoE APs, I put a bid on a very well priced EdgeRouter POE and won it.

Installing the EdgeRouter was dead simple. Setting up the PPPoE and the VLAN tagging was so simple that I didn't expect it to actually work when I plugged it into the fiber ONT. It did though. Soon it had pulled an IP and was happily chugging away. Setting up the DHCP server, DHCP reservations, and port forwarding were simple as well.

My only complaint with using Ubiquiti's software and hardware is that they don't yet have a unified system. They cater to several markets. The Unifi line of APs and routers (called security gateways, which appear to be firewalls as well) are for the SOHO market, while the EdgeOS (of which the EdgeRouter is a part) are in a different tier. They go all the way up to what they call AirFiber, which is carrier-scale and grade equipment for networking separate buildings or carrier back ends.

It would be nice to have a unified software system that could work with all of their products. As it is, they are so set and forget that you really only need to log into them to touch base every once and a while, look for firmware updates, and make sure there are no errors flagged.

So in conclusion, I full heartedly recommend Ubiquiti networking equipment. I bought all mine second hand off eBay and have been very pleased with it. Even at full retail, the equipment is well worth the cost. The UAP-AC-PRO retails for around $130, which is just a bit more than I paid for that Archer C9 router a few years ago. The configuration, options, and expandability are worth the slightly higher price of admission.