Hi Folks!

Just for fun I have attached a PDF of the standard network used at all nine D22 sites during TY23. All D22 sites use the same SSIDs; the WiFi password is the same on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz at all nine sites.

Best Regards, Steve Orso

Hi Richard,

I've evaluated the GL-iNet SFT1200 and MT3000 routers. Either would be an excellent choice. The MT3000 has more transmit power and manages to get a 30+mbps connection through a couple of masonry walls in my house. The SFT1200 gets about a 10th of that, which in my experience is not enough for return preparation. If you have a single relatively unobstructed room, the SFT1200 is a good inexpensive choice.

[Edit: Note that the above tests were done in a room in my house where WiFi signal strength is notoriously bad, and are intended only to show that the MT3000 has a much stronger signal than the SFT1200. Tests from other rooms showed excellent data rates, in excess of 30Mpbs. My first choice for the nine sites in D22 would be the SFT1200 because it has a better price point.]

Bonus features: except for the DHCP address range configuration, the two have identical configuration screens. If you know one you can manage the other without breaking a sweat.

The second: if you are WISPing, the routers remember multiple uptream connection configurations and cycle through them looking for something that works. One could configure each router with the WISP parameters for each site in D04. They will then be interchangeable at sites that use the same Tax-Aide net IP address range. If I recall correctly, they can be configured to ignore any WISP WiFi nets when connected via an Ethernet cable, so the cable'd sites join the interoperability pool.

Sites with multiple firewalls might need a bit more thought.

Also, the configuration backup is a zipped tarball of plain text files. I have it on my todo list to see if I configure one router for all of my sites, can I just cut and paste /etc/config/wireless into the config backup for the other routers in my district and have them work?

Good luck

Steve Orso

Hi Ray,

In my other groups.io subscriptions, I can see a directory of members. Can this be enabled here too? I've set up my group provide to include a brief bio, photo, and some information abut D22.

Many thanks for setting this up...

Best Regards, Steve Orso

开云体育

开云体育

It has been brought to my attention that Amazon is offering “Black Friday” week pricing on two routers on NTSC’s recommended router list (, page 4).

Here are the links:

There is no affiliate link information in these links. Neither I nor anyone else gets a cut if you use the links to make a purchase.

Disregard the list prices; I purchased for personal use an MT-3000 on November 6th for $86.90 plus tax. But $73.84 for an MT-3000 is still much better than $86.90, $109.90, or the $129 you’ll find on the GL-iNet shopping site. This Black Friday special pricing reportedly ends on 29 November, Friday.

The MT-3000 can deliver 270Mbps to a Tax-Aide Chromebook. The SFT-1200, as much as fifty. NTSC recommends 1Mbps per counselor, a recommendation I’ve found to be pretty accurate.

The configuration GUI is the same for both, and they both WISP very nicely.

NTSC has posted configuration documents for each router (, ).

My purchased MT-3000 does very well, better than anything I’ve had, at my house, with streaming audio and video and exterior masonry walls that became interior walls through a prior homeowner’s renovations. Interior walls are plaster over expanded metal mesh, which thank goodness does not appear to be grounded. No regrets about the purchase.

Recommendations

I’ve spent a bunch of time with both the 1200 and the 3000 lately, and I will post my experiences to this forum in a day or so. Both are very capable products. The MT-3000 is better at multi-room setups, especially where wall construction materials are problematic for WiFi.

Caveats

I have not deployed either router for production tax preparation at a Tax-Aide site.

Note that the older SF-1200 (no “T” in the model identifier) is not a lower cost version of the SFT-1200. It is a different product with lesser capabilities.

Path Forward

I will be deploying one of each at D22 sites for TY24 (most of my sites are on hotspots…I’m working on that), and I will keep this group informed of my experience.