June 2020 | Jeff Howard's Las Vegas Area Real Estate blog

Smart Homes and Mesh Networks

Smart homes and smart home technology have become increasingly popular in the last decade. A mixture of smart home devices, sensors and more can add new functions to a home and automate some tasks as well as increasing your home’s security. Unfortunately, some homeowners run into problems with smart home devices that have to be on the same home network to interact. Traditional Wifi extenders sometimes create separate but overlapping networks, meaning that devices outside of the range of your wireless router might not work correctly.

There are ways to get around this, however. One option is to set up a mesh network within your home. Unlike traditional Wifi extenders, mesh network extenders create a single wireless network that all your devices can attach to. If you’re considering adding smart home devices and have signal problems within your home, a mesh network setup is definitely worth considering.

What Exactly Is a Mesh Network?

With a standard Wifi network, your router or other access point typically serves as a hub for network connectivity and any extenders or other network components connect directly to it. Mesh networks are set up a bit differently. In a mesh network, each device connects not only to that central hub but also to each other. This creates a “mesh” of paths throughout the network, allowing signals to route through the network in multiple ways to ensure even coverage. This helps to prevent dead spots or weak signals, eliminating the need for overlapping wireless networks.

Do You NEED a Mesh Network?

Mesh networks are useful, especially if you’re trying to keep smart home devices on the same network so that they can interact with each other. Depending on your home – the size, and where your wireless access point is located, they may not be entirely necessary. If your router is centrally located or has a strong enough signal to provide good coverage throughout your home, your smart home devices should be able to communicate even without a mesh network.

With that said, mesh networks can be very useful if some parts of your home have weaker signals than others or if you plan on adding devices outside of your home and aren’t sure how well your network will be able to handle it. Even if your network seems adequate for your needs, you may consider a mesh option to create more uniform coverage.

Smart Home Devices on the Mesh

There are many smart home devices that could benefit from being connected to a mesh network. Devices such as cameras and intrusion sensors should stay online and connected, regardless of whether they’re inside or outside the home. Likewise, safety sensors such as smart smoke detectors need to be able to communicate, as do heat sensors and even leak sensors, to ensure that your home is well covered without the need for multiple devices or apps to help them stay connected. Even devices such as smart door locks and a smart thermostat can benefit from being on the same network to make automatic temperature adjustments more intuitive depending on whether the doors are locked or not. The more you’re able to connect your devices to a single network, the more you are going to come up with innovative ways for your various smart home devices to work together.

The Smart Home of Your Dreams

It comes down to whether you just want a couple of smart home devices or a fully automated house. Picking the right components to make your home a little smarter can sometimes be a daunting task. This is especially true if the devices you want actually need to be installed as opposed to simply plugging them in. Fortunately, I can help you get the smart home you want. Contact me for a list of electricians and other specialists who can help you pick the devices you need and get them installed at a price you can afford.

Do you have a need for commercial / industrial / retail buildings or land? Are you ready to buy or sell a home? We can help you with that, safely… just call us at 702 SELL NOW or click on this link to my website http://www.702SellNow.com

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Summer Is Here And It May Be Time For A New Grill

I don’t know about you, but my grill makes me pretty happy… Are you in the market for a new grill, there are plenty of different types you can buy and if you don’t already have a strong opinion (like me) it can be a little confusing. Whether it’s a pellet grill, a classic charcoal model or a gas grill you have to decide what is the best for you.

What kind of grill is right for you? The answer depends on what cooking style and level of convenience you expect from your grill. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type, so knowing their key characteristics will help you with your decision.

Gas

Gas grills are one of the most common fuel types. Built in a cart style, gas grills use either an attachable liquid propane tank or natural gas via a conversion kit connecting the grill to your home’s natural gas supply line.

There is also a debate over natural gas or liquid propane. Natural gas burns cleaner in terms of greenhouse gases, it’s cheaper to use and you won’t have to bother with refilling propane tanks. However, you won’t be able to move your grill around since it’s connected to a gas line. Liquid propane is the more popular fuel choice, and it’s portable. It’s also pricier and needs refilling. The good news is many gas grills can accommodate both, so you don’t have to choose right away.

With a gas grill, you’ll have more control over the heat and how it is distributed across your cooking surface. Gas grills are great for adjusting between high heat for searing and lower heat for steady cooking. However, if you’re looking to cook meats like whole chickens or racks of ribs for hours at a time, you’ll have better results with a charcoal grill, pellet grill or smoker.

Charcoal

Charcoal grills offer the traditional smokiness most people think of when they imagine grilled flavor. They come in lots of shapes and sizes, including the original Weber Kettle that introduced the charcoal grill design so widely recognized today. However, charcoal grills have their quirks, so you’ll need to be prepared to put in some work if you go this route.

Charcoal grills burn using charcoal briquettes or lumps of charcoal. That’s where the smoky flavor comes from. You’ll need to spend a little more time lighting the briquettes and preheating this grill. You’ll also need to clean out and dispose of the charcoal ash when you’re done grilling.

Charcoal grills might not be as precise or customizable as a gas grill when it comes to cooking, however they have a distinct flavor and are the most affordable option. You can find small, portable charcoal grills for as little as $50.

Pellet grills

Pellet grills burn wood pellets and have an onboard computer to heat up to your desired temperature and add smoky, wood-fired flavor to your food. Pellet grills yield tasty meat, especially when slow cooked, but the pellets can be more expensive and harder to find than propane or charcoal.

Pellet grills use a hopper on the side to hold the food-grade wood pellets. Once you’ve ignited the grill with a switch and set the temperature, those pellets are moved into a burn pot by a rotating auger connected to the hopper. Pellet grills come in barrel or cart styles and prices range from around $350 to $1,300.

Size

Once you’ve decided what fuel type is right for you, think about the size grill you need. Most small to medium charcoal grills and two-burner gas grills will do just fine if you’re cooking for four people or less on an occasional basis. Grills are often measured in square inches. Grills in the 400-500 square inch range are large enough for most people.

Aesthetics

In my opinion, your grill shouldn’t just cook, it should look good doing it, and there are some seriously stylish models out there. You might not have a preference when it comes to how your grill looks, and that’s fine. But if you’re looking for a stylish cooker to crown your backyard, manufacturers give you plenty of options.

Traditional black and stainless grills are readily available; however Weber and KitchenAid both offer colorful enamel models, too. Aside from color, consider whether you’d like your grill to have cabinet doors. These doors hide propane tanks and keep them from sitting on the ground beside your grill.

Happy Grilling!!

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Important Information About Your Equifax Credit Report

You might remember my blog post about my personal information getting stolen (read it here) – people think it won’t happen to them… I hope it won’t happen to you, but it might.

Equifax announced in 2019 that they would provide U.S. consumer six free copies of their credit report from Equifax each year for seven years in connection with various settlements.

And it gets better – the reports originally were made available on-line through myEquifax. Now Equifax has announced that these reports will now be available online via AnnualCreditReport.com, rather than through myEquifax. This means that consumers no longer need to be enrolled in myEquifax to receive these reports.

What does this mean for me?
This is very good news for you. If you are a member of myEquifax, you can still access free Equifax credit reports on the myEquifax portal. Plus Equifax will be making the six free Equifax credit reports required by the settlements available to you on AnnualCreditReport.com.for both members and non Equifax members. Another great service from Equifax and the other two nationwide credit bureaus are making weekly credit reports available online via AnnualCreditReport.com through April 2021.

Having easy access to your credit information is important especially during the challenging times of COVID-19.

If you find inaccurate or incomplete information on your Equifax credit report, you can file a dispute with Equifax Information Services LLC for free through your myEquifax account. You can also place a security freeze and fraud alert on your Equifax credit report through myEquifax.

It is very important to check your credit reports often to make sure you are not a victim of fraud. In today’s world with everyone using their computers for almost everything your information is floating around and there are hackers trying to find information to use. Never use any credit cards or bank accounts on public computers.

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Great Lawn Care Tips

It’s the old lawn debate –you hate mowing the lawn, however, you love having a green lawn, and you don’t want to switch over to desert landscaping where everything looks beige, and you’re not willing to have fake grass. Believe me, I understand! As with most things, though, there’s a difference between doing it and doing it well. If you find yourself wondering why your neighbors have an amazing lawn while yours looks all the worse for wear, it could be more than just a matter of perspective; it’s possible that the grass really is greener on the other side.

This can be fixed! Part of the problem might be how you’re caring for your lawn. If you haven’t put much thought into the specifics of yard care, here are a few tips on lawn care. This will help you achieve a beautiful green lawn.

Prep Your Mower –Too many people approach the beginning of the mowing season the same way that they do the entire rest of the season: they put some gas in the mower (or the battery in it) and go. You should not follow this path – you can damage both your lawn and your mower. Start each season with an oil change and fresh gas, and check your mower blades for cracks, dullness or other signs that they need to be sharpened or replaced. Look at your grass as you mow; if it’s becoming ragged, this is a sign that your blades are getting dull again. Even a little bit of mower maintenance will make the cut easier on your lawn and keep your mower running in tip-top condition.

Learn Your Lawn – A lot of people think that grass is grass, but there are actually a lot of differences between grass species. Take a little time to find out what sort of grass you have growing in your lawn. If necessary, you can take a sample to your local nursery. Once you know what kind of grass you have, you can learn the seasons when it actively grows, what sort of water and fertilizer it needs, and even details about how it should be cut. If you need to reseed part of your lawn, knowing the existing grass type will also ensure that you get the right type of seed so that everything matches.

Cut to the Right Height – If your lawn is going to flourish, the grass needs to have enough blade area to absorb sunlight to meet its growing needs. Cutting it too short can damage it, causing the grass to wilt or brown, in some cases even killing off patches. As a general rule you’ll often hear that you should leave around 3 inches of grass when you cut, but this can vary depending on the type of grass you have. If in doubt, you can set the blade height between the 3-inch to 3 ½-inch mark to be safe, but you’ll have much more control over your lawn if you learn the grass type and find the optimal cutting height based on that.

Mind Those Clippings – It’s usually best to leave your clippings on the ground, as they provide much-needed nutrients to the lawn as they decompose. If you don’t like the look of them, consider a mulching blade and guard for your mower to ensure that they get cut into smaller pieces, or make multiple passes over the same area. The main exceptions to this are the first and last cuts of the year; in those instances, your lawn will do better if you bag the clippings instead.

Adapt Throughout the Year – One important thing to keep in mind is that grass is a living thing and grows differently depending on the time of the year and the local weather conditions. During the heat of the summer, make your lawn more drought resistant by adjusting your cut height up a little; this gives the grass more blade area to collect dew on. In early spring and into the fall, cut less often to avoid shocking the grass. Even the direction of your cuts is important, especially if it’s been raining a lot; to prevent damaging the grass or compacting the soil too much, change direction every two or three cuts, switching to a cutting pattern around 90 degrees off from what you’ve been doing.

Keep It Under Control – A well-manicured lawn can be a big job. Fortunately, there are professionals out there who can take that burden off your shoulders. Contact me for a list of professional lawn people that will take great care of your lawn and can help with trees and bushes as well.

Choose to have an amazing day….Jeff

Hooray! Hockey is back and they plan to award the Stanley Cup!

The Nevada is now entering Phase 2 of reopening different type of businesses and parks. This comes at the same time that the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that the Las Vegas Golden Knights are the Pacific division champions and will play in the playoffs.

The NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman declared that the regular season was complete and that the Knights lead the Pacific division by three points. This is the second time the Knights won the division in the last three years.

Also the city of Las Vegas is in the running of 10 potential hub cities for the leagues return to play for the hockey playoffs for 24 teams. There will be two cities named to be the hub. They will be playing without fans, however it will be televised!

The Golden Knights will be playing round-robin games with other Western Conference teams- St. Louis, Colorado and Dallas. The Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs are Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington D.C.

In other hockey news The American Hockey League is expanding into Henderson, with the newly named Silver Knights (OK, I don’t love the name or the new logo… but I am still excited) that is owned-and-operated affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. They will begin play in the 2020–21 American Hockey League season.

So Las Vegas has become a sports town – with major league Hockey and Football, minor league Baseball and Hockey plus a Soccer team and Women’s Basketball. We are all hoping it will be safe to watch these games in person, however for now we will be just have to be content to watch on TV.