After my latest attempt to get replacement sprockets from Fiskars, I figured I had to fix my mower some other way.
The reason for a custom tensioner is simple: the chain tends to fly off from time to time. Sometimes it is due to a stretched chain – I use the mower quite a bit, and on average every 3 years the chain is visibly stretched. In other cases, it is because the mower has a few bad teeth on the sprockets – more details in the post.
Well, yesterday I finally managed to install a custom tensioner on my old Fiskars StaySharp Max 6201. Big thanks to JTDesign for creating it, showing how it works, and answering questions.
While the custom tensioner might need a little fiddling – it all depends on the print, parts, and such – it is nothing that can’t be done with a few basic tools and a little time.
Overall, the custom tensioner is awesome. Thank you, JTDesign.
I’ve been mowing my lawn with a Fiskars Reel Mower for over nine years. After my last post and watching an interesting YouTube video, I decided to try my luck and once again email Fiskars to plead for parts.
Well, no dice…
It took nearly two weeks for the Fiskars warranty department to answer. When they finally did, they informed me that the mower was too old – which is fair – and that I couldn’t purchase any parts whatsoever.
Fiskars simply does NOT sell parts once your mower is out of warranty, which lasts three years. So, after three years, if you need anything at all, well, good luck. I guess you’re supposed to make the parts yourself, buy a new mower from Fiskars, or perhaps find a used one for parts.
Honestly, I’m very happy with the mower. It’s simple, it does the job, I enjoy using it, the design is very good, it seems to last well, and it doesn’t take much to keep it running.
However, Fiskars does not want to support its customers. Why not let people purchase parts? Is that too much to ask, or must everything nowadays be disposable?
I got the mower from a second-hand store, and despite it not being in the best shape, I’m happy that I did. Going forward, I will not be buying anything from Fiskars, since their modus operandi is simply to sell and ditch you once the warranty runs out.
Oh, and by the way, read their warranty carefully: the big print says “LIFETIME WARRANTY,” while the small print says “Limited 3-year warranty.”
A while back, I wrote about my Fiskars StaySharp Max 6201 reel mower and its chain issue. I decided to make a short video to illustrate the problem and provide a visual overview. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
I got a bit upset with Apple TV over the remote and decided to switch away from Apple TV completely — vote with your dollars, as they say. I’ve seen Fire TV on multiple occasions and figured that for the discounted price of $50 Canadian dollars, I should give it a go.
Now, I really don’t need much — Netflix, Discovery, YouTube, and something that can play video files off my NAS. Fire TV has all of those apps, including a pretty nice Nova Video Player that isn’t perfect but sure isn’t far from Infuse (on Apple TV). After about a week of using Fire TV, I’m ready to pass my judgment.
Short and sweet: Fire TV performs pretty well. Cold start is fairly fast (same or faster than Apple TV), and warm start is almost instant. Apps seem to work well, the menu is smooth, apps start fast, and overall I don’t see any difference between the two in terms of performance.
The big difference comes from setup, ads, and probably privacy. Setup is different — Fire TV is hands-on. It must be configured for a particular TV, which involves following a setup wizard. I wish it was as brain-dead simple as Apple TV, but it isn’t complicated — just needs a bit of patience.
Once setup is done, the very noticeable difference comes in the form of ads. By default, Fire TV plays ads for Amazon shows, games, and other things. That comes down to personal taste — it doesn’t bother me. I don’t watch TV or shop much, so seeing ads for movies and TV shows is actually kind of nice; I get to see what’s new out there. However, I can see how ads could become really old, really fast. If you tinker a bit with settings you can disable ad autoplay (which I did), but you can’t get rid of ads completely. I’m sure you can block them via a firewall or by tinkering with the OS internals, but I haven’t explored that option yet.
Now, Amazon isn’t known for its strong user privacy stance, so in that department you get what you pay for. If privacy is at the top of your list, perhaps give it another thought. Otherwise, you’ve got yourself a smart TV experience at a very cheap price.
Overall, Fire TV feels solid and very competitive. I’d recommend it — unless you’re concerned about privacy, hate ads, or simply prefer to stay in the Apple ecosystem.
I enjoy Apple products and I’ve got a few, including two Apple TVs. I’m not big on smart-TV stuff, so I only use it for Netflix, YouTube, and some “running around the world” workout videos I keep on my NAS. I know I don’t use Apple TV to its full capabilities—no games, no apps (beyond the above)—and that’s OK by me. I was happy to give Apple my money; their stuff never let me down, and I enjoyed the experience.
However, this year I was forced to reevaluate my choice. It started when the Apple TV remote battery began to die—it didn’t hold a charge and needed constant recharging. I figured it wasn’t a big deal; I could just change the battery and carry on. Then came the surprise: modern Apple remotes are sealed, and the battery is irreplaceable. I was shocked and disappointed. Maybe it was only that model, I thought; maybe the newer one is different. The new remote looked different—the trackpad is gone and it looks beefier—but it kept the same brain-twisting “feature”: an irreplaceable battery. Even if you’re ready to hack and solder, you can’t buy a replacement battery. Why?
In the old Apple remotes you could always replace the battery, but I guess in this new age of disposable stuff you should just buy a new one. OK, well, let’s buy a new remote… except it isn’t $30–$40; it’s a whopping $80 Canadian. Why? A new Apple TV is $180! So nearly half the cost of the Apple TV is the remote? Really? And the cherry on top: there are no third-party options that work decently.
Everyone knows TV remotes don’t get dropped, smudged, or soaked in breakfast cereal! So yeah, good on Apple for noticing this potential revenue stream and deciding to nickel-and-dime their customers. “Think Different” takes on a new meaning. I mean, it’s a TV remote! Just for comparison: for $80 Canadian you can buy the top model of the Amazon Fire TV Stick—and if you wait for a sale, you can get it down to $50. By the way, the Fire TV remote has the same features—buttons, microphone, Bluetooth—and somehow it all runs on two AAA replaceable batteries! I really didn’t mind giving Apple two or three times more money for Apple TV, but not for an unrepairable, disposable, expensive TV remote.
My journey with Apple TV is coming to an end. I’ve already replaced one, and I’m seriously considering replacing the other as well. Maybe it’s an overreaction, but I can’t help feeling cheated. There’s a lingering distaste I can’t seem to shake off — it just sits there, quietly dulling any reason to look back.
After almost two years, my Dream Router is crashing my dreams—it’s dying. The signs are simple: it freezes and becomes totally unresponsive. A hard reboot (unplug/plug power) brings it back like nothing happened. After contacting tech support, it looks like I’ll be getting a replacement (version 7). They also told me there’s a hardware issue in version 6 of the Dream Router.
Okay, I have a bit of a rant to perform, but before I dive into my seemingly endless expression, full credit to UniFi’s tech support — it was fast, easy, and pleasant. Only one “but”: UniFi wants the old router back before sending a new unit. If you don’t have a spare, that’s a pickle (which I’m in—hopefully that gets worked out).
Now, back to the rant. Honestly, I don’t have many disappointments—just a major one: the Dream Router is not as stable as I expected. My router expectations are simple: configure it and enjoy life — stable Wi-Fi, stable network, and no reboots unless it updates or performs some kind of maintenance. The Dream Router is more than just a router with Wi-Fi; you can connect a bunch of UniFi devices to it, but I didn’t. I wanted a stable device first — this is a fairly expensive router — and I didn’t want to dive into the UniFi ecosystem until I was satisfied with the product quality. Unfortunately, I made the right call: the Dream Router lasted a little less than two years and, by the end, I was turning off features just to make sure it wasn’t overburdened.
My configuration is fairly simple: two Wi-Fi networks — main and guest — NAT to route HTTP/HTTPS traffic to my server, QoS to limit speed to that server, IDS (intrusion detection system), and the default firewall settings. Not a lot of tuning, to be honest, and yet the router needed constant soft reboots every 2–3 weeks. The pattern was always the same: Wi-Fi would get weird — the internet would stop for a few minutes, then come back. It would repeat and get worse over time. A soft reboot, and everything was fine again like nothing ever happened. The router was like that from the very beginning, which was disappointing. Then, in early 2025, it got a software update and turned into a champ — no soft reboots, no network issues, nothing. I couldn’t believe how stable it became. My happiness didn’t last past five months; after another software update, it reverted to the old behavior — 2–3 weeks of solid work, then network issues, then a soft reboot. Rinse and repeat.
I got tired of soft rebooting (I wish there were a setting in the UI to schedule reboots), so I wrote a small bash script to log in and soft reboot it every three days. I figured that would be the end of it. Two months later I was staring at a frozen router, and ever since, it’s been freezing more frequently — finally setting an all-time record of not even 24 hours before needing a hard reboot. I disabled QoS and IDS—none of it helped. You never know when it’ll freeze again; right now it doesn’t last more than six days.
What really upsets me is the price. At the $400 mark, I expected a quality device, but it behaves like any other $100 router of the past. Yes, the Dream Router is fancy—lights, an LCD, very nice software inside (with some drawbacks I mentioned in the first article), and integration with cameras, doorbells, and other UniFi devices — but it’s unstable. How can I rely on it when it fails as a simple router? Do you really want to trust it with door access?
Hopefully I’ll receive my replacement Dream Router soon and give it another go. However, when I have to buy another router, it’s not going to be the Dream Router. I think I’ll go back to DD-WRT or another open-source firmware router.
It’s been over a year since I purchased my Bialetti moka pot, and let’s be honest, my initial impressions were full of critiques regarding the build quality and price. Now, I’m not taking those critiques back, but credit is due where it’s due. I’ve been using the Bialetti moka every day for over a year, and I’ve been very happy. Nothing has failed, there have been no problems, and the coffee comes out great. Moreover, as time ticks by, the pot has started to feel somehow special to me. Combined with the brand, it makes me wonder if I’ll still be making coffee with it 20 years from now.
A couple of weeks ago, my router (MikroTik hAP ac3) decided to quit, and I ended up needing a replacement as soon as possible. The MikroTik was a nice router; I don’t blame it for its early demise (I have reason to believe I might have misconfigured it). However, I wasn’t going to buy another MikroTik – it is just slightly more of a headache than I would like.
My initial idea was to go back to TP-Link or Linksys but only with OpenWRT firmware. However, a buddy of mine suggested going with the UniFi Dream Router. He uses UniFi equipment in his office, and it has proven to be better and more stable than MikroTik. Now, $200 for a router is a bit much, but then again, it is not out of the ordinary – some “gaming” routers are priced even higher. So, I figured I’d give it a go.
Now, I have a particular need for my router – it must be stable. I have about 14-16 devices online on average; I work from home and run my personal small server, so a stable network and internet are a must. My limited previous experience showed that some “home” routers are not very stable – network slowdowns, Wi-Fi devices sometimes disconnect, and some routers seem to need a hard reboot once per week. In this regard, MikroTik proved to be very stable (with a tiny caveat with my iPhone), until it wasn’t.
At this point, my benchmark is MikroTik, and even though the UniFi Dream Router has been running for only 2 weeks, it seems to be very good. The Dream Router costs twice as much as the hAP ac3, but it’s definitely worth it (so far). UniFi is a lot easier to configure; it has a very nice and easy-to-use web UI, graphs, stats, logs, and an overall solid feel. I know stability is not something that can be measured in 2 weeks, so let’s wait and see.
Now, as much as I would love to praise and hop around with the Dream Router, I have a couple of complaints. First and most annoying to me is the initial setup – here, UniFi must do something. On the initial setup, the Dream Router MUST have an internet connection; otherwise, you can’t set it up! In my case, it is impossible without having a backup router. I have a PPPoE configuration with a username and password to connect to the internet. So out of the box, the Dream Router can’t be set up with PPPoE configuration because it needs to connect to the internet to set itself up first. No internet => no Dream Router => no router => no internet… This is a horrible situation for a home/small office setting. The next complaint is still about the initial setup, which requires a mobile device – my question is why? Why do you need a mobile device to set up a router? What if you don’t have one? Or you have one but can’t install the UniFi app on it? Again, the Dream Router becomes a Dream Brick. I think UniFi needs to address those concerns.
Just a little step back to MikroTik, it doesn’t need the internet for the initial setup; however, if you reset it (via the button), then you must have an Ethernet cable and Winbox. Not the best idea, but in comparison to the UniFi Dream Router, you can get MikroTik going without the internet. But both still require Ethernet in the above scenarios.
Back to the Dream Router – as much as it is a router, it is more than that. The Dream Router has an SD card slot, willing and ready to connect UniFi cameras and other UniFi devices. I think it is a nice product integration, something that might bring additional business and let users integrate into the UniFi ecosystem. I can’t help but wonder if a standalone, single-purpose router (with WiFi) would have been a better and cheaper solution. I suspect that idea might not be very appealing from a business perspective, but I can’t shake the feeling that the Dream Router is some kind of gateway into the UniFi ecosystem.
At this point, that’s all of my complaints. So far, the Dream Router has been performing very well, but again, it’s only been a couple of weeks, so let’s wait and see.
I began using my MikroTik router three years ago, and yesterday, it started causing problems. The trouble initially emerged with the SMB protocol, as the router refused to route SMB traffic within the local network. After performing a hard reboot, SMB traffic started routing, but HTTP/HTTPS traffic through NAT to my server stopped routing. Another hard reboot resolved the HTTP traffic issue, but SMB and Remote Desktop traffic remained nonfunctional within the local network. However, after updating the software to version 6.49.10, the situation worsened. SMB and Remote Desktop traffic still couldn’t route, and on top of that, WinBox failed to connect to the router. Web and SSH access were unresponsive as well.
I’m not entirely sure about the root cause of these issues, but at least the internet connection is currently working. I must admit that I won’t be replacing my MikroTik router with another MikroTik device. The main reason is the learning curve and my familiarity with WinBox. Initially, I opted for MikroTik due to its affordability and reliability, both of which have served me well. The only drawback was that my iPhone occasionally experienced WiFi dropouts and took some time to reconnect. However, aside from that, all 14 devices constantly connected via WiFi worked smoothly. A lifespan of only three years is disappointing, but I assume the device might be defective or experiencing an issue that isn’t typical of MikroTik devices.
When I chose MikroTik, I had hoped to invest time in learning about networking and how to operate a MikroTik router. Unfortunately, I never found the time or interest to delve deeper into it. A friend helped with the initial router configuration, and I mostly left it as is, except for configuring some eye-catching traffic graphs. I still don’t have the time or motivation to learn more about it, given my other priorities. To be honest, I view the router as an appliance, and my next router will likely reflect that perspective.
