Learn with Camber Integration

Dolby Atmos levels up your Home Theater

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 04:41:39 GMT

An immersive surround sound option using Dolby Atmos creates a hemisphere of sound by adding sound channels above the heads of the audience. This can be achieved with in-ceiling speakers or Atmos-enabled floor standing speakers that bounce the sound off the ceiling. Immersive surround sound is the ultimate audio experience for home theaters.

Dolby Atmos’s immersive surround sound is the hottest audio experience for custom home theaters. You can experience a deeper connection to the stories and music that you love with sound in the convenience of your home.

What’s so special about Dolby Atmos? Audiophiles agree the crystal clear clarity of individually precisely placed sound is a mind blowing experience. With 128 channels of sound, Dolby Atmos gives sound engineers the flexibility and creativity to be extremely specific of where they place sound in movies and in music.

How can you experience this at home? If you are at the beginning stages of building out your home theater, you can simply add 2 to 4 overhead ceiling mounted speakers to a 5.1, 7.1 or 9.1 surround sound system in your home theater. Want to add Dolby Atmos to an existing system? Depending on your setup, Dolby enabled speakers or soundbars that do a bang up job of producing the 3D sound quality.

A plethora for awesome Dolby Atmos information on speaker placement, equipment and other details can be found in this great Digital Trends article .

There’s no question that Dolby Atmos brings entertainment to life and is a must for your custom home theater.

School’s In Session - How’s your WiFi Network?

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 04:54:52 GMT

The beginning of school is right around the corner. Now is the time to get your WiFi network tuned and ready for distance learning and working from home. Pro Home WiFi has a few tips and a self-help guide to get you through some basic troubleshooting.

Here are 7 Tips to Prepare Your Home Network for When School Starts

Check your bandwidth speed - download speedtest.net and see how much speed you’re getting from your network provider. If you think you need more bandwidth, call your internet service provider to boost your bandwidth
Make sure you have enough bandwidth for all of your Zoom Calls. Zoom suggests having at least 1Mbps down. If you are on group video calls, it is recommended that you have at least 2.5Mbps. Now do the math - you have 4 people on Zoom calls on your network. That means you will need at least 10Mbps for your calls.
Move your router. You will get the best connection if you can place your router in a central location. Radio waves can transmit towards the front and the back of your home. Radio waves also travel downward, if you can place it up high, your connection could also improve.
If you have a Mesh Network, make sure your access points are in the right places. Brick, concrete, and plaster walls absorb radio waves, making it harder to connect between mesh access points. Mesh access points perform better if they can “see” the router or are only a wall or 2 away from the router. If neither of these are possible, you may want to consider running a Cat 5 cable between your access point and router
Hardline is always the best. For the absolute best connection, you should hardline your device to the router or access point. This will give you immediate, direct access to bandwidth. You may need to use dongles depending on your device.
Change your WiFi channel if you can. Consumer-grade networking gear usually ends up on the same channel right out of the box. This could mean that your neighbor is using the same channel as you and thus causing interference. We have a How-To Guide on how to change your network channel to give you better performance.
Restrict access to apps that are big bandwidth sucks while they are in school. From experience, when my son “takes a break” and jumps on Fortnite or any gaming app, it uses all of the available bandwidth. Restrict use of all entertainment and gaming apps during school hours will ensure that your network is performing optimally.

If your network needs more attention, please connect with us. Pro Home WiFi’s custom solutions will inject high-level networking functionality to upgrade your home network to a WiFi network built for a business.

Home Audio and Video Installation: SF

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 13:55:09 GMT

Our clients asked for ceiling speakers, whole house audio, TV mount installation, 5.1 surround sound system, and WiFi installation. Our team of experts delivered.

Harnessing the Italian vibe of the neighborhood, our client’s vision for their 2 Unit Building is to become the ultimate gathering hub for neighbors. Always up for entertaining, our client’s focus was views, fun and community.

Admittedly it was hard to peel our eyes away from the Golden Gate Bridge that greeted us each day on the job. The incredible view of the San Francisco Bay from the Telegraph Hill vantage point is personally one of my favorites. From the cargo ships passing through the gate, sailboats dotting the San Francisco Bay, to the Russian Hill buildings undulating the hillside, it is all absolutely spectacular.

All of our projects begin with a wiring and smart home system plan. Working closely with our clients, we created 2 separate networking and audio video systems for each unit. Bedroom TV locations were wired for coax cable and Cat 6 networking. Cat6 cabling for wired and wireless access point, security and surveillance locations were thoughtfully designed for thorough coverage. Finally we wired for speakers to capture a whole house audio experience.

As busy entrepreneurs, this couple’s home network needed to be fast, secure and reliable. Using Ubiquity’s Dream Machine and Long Range access points allowed us to provide that experience while supporting the integration of various Google Home products including Nest Cameras, Thermostats, Doorbells and Schlage Locks. Integrating their security, surveillance and garage door systems into their home automation system has given our clients peace of mind within a bustling San Francisco neighborhood.

Our client’s home is the cornerstone for community gatherings. Their main living floor is open from front to back providing tremendous flow, flexibility and space for entertaining. Anchored in the middle of the room is a gorgeous island with Italian kitchen appliances and finishes. Filling up the space with party music vibes is a thoughtfully designed audio system powered by Sonos. Extending that Sonos audio experience outdoors with discreet speakers on the deck gives the ultimate outdoor entertainment experience.

We personalize the experience for all of our San Francisco clients given their appetite for audio, video and surveillance aspirations. It is such a great feeling when it comes together and our client’s desires are fully realized. For this client, having their home be the community hub has been the most fulfilling experience.

Outdoor Audio System Installation

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:19:18 GMT

Installed just in time for summer

Tucked amidst the drought resistant plants, you hear a thumping bass coupled with the sweet sound of your perfect summer tune. Outdoor sound technology is 2021’s essential element for some serious summer vibes. It is now easier than ever to bring your favorite tunes outdoors.

One of our favorite San Francisco Bay Area clients recently had us install an Outdoor Audio System just in time for summer entertaining. Sitting poolside is the non-descript yet loud and evenly sounding outdoor surround sound speaker system that does not disturb the neighbors. The outdoor speakers get their full range performance from the mushroom shaped burial subwoofer that beautifully blends in with the landscaping. This outdoor sound system delivers the best sound quality and more volume than most wireless outdoor speakers. These speakers leverage a wireless audio adapter that lets you control your music using a phone or tablet. You can also connect Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control, as long as your WiFi is within range. Installing this outdoor audio system did require us to run wires and configure them, which ensured a long-lasting, reliable system.

If that sounds like more than you want to handle this summer, there are a lot of battery-powered, waterproof Bluetooth speakers to bring music outdoors. They are easy to set up and pump out a decent sound. The downside is that you must keep your phone or tablet within Bluetooth range (approx 50 & 100 feet), and you will need to recharge the speaker each time after use.

We always love working with our clients to offer the best whole-house sound system indoors or outdoors. After the year we’ve all had, it is time to let our hair down and soak up the summer sun.

SpaceX Starlink Rural Internet Service is available in limited beta

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 14:20:52 GMT

Camber Integration recently installed SpaceX's Starlink internet service for the first time. Starlink’s service is currently in public beta, but we were blown away that finally there is a great option for those needing internet in rural areas.

An awesome surprise when unboxing the equipment was that the install manual references the Starlink dish as Dishy Mcflatface. Along with Dishy, there was a Starlink Router and power supply, black cable built into the Dishy and white cable to the router. We were ready for the fun to begin!

Starlink Equipment Installation was easier then expected. With the right tools (drill, drill bits, socket set) and the Starlink App you’re ready to go. With the Starlink App, you use your phone's camera to ensure that the intended mounting location has an unobstructed view of the satellites.

Our client ordered the Starlink Volcano Mount accessory to mount Dishy on their rooftop. SpaceX Starlink thought of everything when packing this mount. All of the necessary hardware, a handy carrying case to help you lug the equipment up to the roof safely and even sealing tape to place underneath the holes to make sure that your roof continues to be weatherized.

The included cool dual power-over-ethernet injector power supply powers both Dishy and the Starlink Router. The kit comes with the color coded cable connected, so if you want to test it from the ground, all you have to do is plug it into power and watch the dish aim itself.

Once it is plugged in, pull up the Starlink App, input your address and password and that’s it, you’re done. We wish there was more to the process, for example a settings page would be helpful to place the router on bridge mode. This is feedback we plan to send to SpaceX’s Starlink Internet Service.

Our client has an existing Google Mesh WiFi system which we were able to plug into the Starlink router. There were a few settings we had to manipulate to make it work.

Our first speed test was 115 Mbps / 14 Mbps, way faster than the existing cellular service of 14 Mbps / 0.04 Mbps. The ping times to google.com are 44ms consistently. The service did drop for 5 - 30 seconds from time to time, still better than the cellular service in the area. Overall, our client was beyond thrilled to finally have reliable internet service distributed throughout their entire rural property.

Starlink Rural Internet Services Rural Beta — Camber Integration

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 14:22:16 GMT

Whole house audio/video is a centralized system that delivers music and video/cable signals throughout the home. The only components present in each room are speakers and TV screens. Control of the system is made through a handheld remote or wall mounted control panels. The centralized components are tucked away in a closet, or mounted in an impressive rack system. You don’t have the clutter of various components out for everyone to see - this centralized system is key to a modern, custom home.

Most high end custom homes will want to experience listening to different music or TV in different rooms. In order to achieve this, you will need to have multiple amps or receivers to amplify that sound in each zone. You can leverage each zone to create audio experiences for when you are in entertaining/party mode, relax and chill mode or getting ready in the morning mode. The skies are the limit when it comes to creating immersive whole house audio experiences. But this requires a high level of programming that any highly skilled and trained AV professional can help you with.

This high level programming is controlled through centralized equipment from each remote listening location. Using remotes, you can transmit commands back to the AV equipment. The key to a successful whole house A/V system is making it possible to control the centralized equipment from each remote listening location. If you are retrofitting or remodeling, we highly recommend that you run hardwires to all speakers, TV zones and to the planned source equipment location. By doing so your system is more nimble and flexible and will deliver a reliable signal.

Home Automation can level up your AV system and open up a ton of amazing possibilities. One touch can turn on a complex array of A/V equipment. From a centralized point, you can control your equipment so that every member of your family can easily choose the music or video source. Or by using motion detectors to automatically turn on music as you walk around your home.

You can have this dream system in your home - you deserve to experience Hi-Fi music in every room of your home with nothing more than an elegant Wall-Mounted Keypad and virtually invisible in-wall or in-ceiling Speakers showing. Camber Integration can design that custom experience for your home.

We Love Intercom Systems

Sun, 04 Apr 2021 14:25:10 GMT

San Francisco homes are notorious for their jaw dropping views while perched high atop the hills of Pacific Heights, Telegraph Hill and Presidio Heights. While most homes are equipped with elevators, there are a fair amount of stairs that need to be navigated to go from floor to floor. Instead of yelling for family members at different levels of your home to get their attention, a Home Intercom System is a great way to communicate with your family at home while adding another layer of security to your smart home . With the push of a button, you’ll have instant room-to-room communication with other members of your household without having to leave your current room. Additionally, most intercom systems can incorporate a video doorbell unit , giving you the ability to see and speak with visitors at your front door. Camber Integration can help design an entire home security system layered with an intercom system, video doorbell and surveillance cameras. Let’s talk about how we can keep you, your family and your home safe.

Who’s Knocking on your Door?

Sat, 27 Mar 2021 04:36:41 GMT

Video Doorbells are all the craze. Most everyone you know has one installed in their home. And who doesn’t love the convenience of leveraging an easy to use app to see who is at your door, when packages arrive and surveilling the neighborhood? But which doorbell should you choose? Our friends at Regent 5 do a great job breaking down several choices. See Which Video Doorbell is Right for You

While all of these are excellent choices, we’ve been working with Doorbird, who has the most innovative IP technology in the field of doorbell communication. Doorbird has many compelling advantages - it prevents burglaries, you can receive parcels at anytime, leading technology, and smart home capabilities. Its open ended platform gives a tremendous amount of flexibility for home automation integration. It has been a big winner for our clients.

Sonos still leads in Multi-Room Audio

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 04:38:11 GMT

Sonos is the pinnacle of multi-room audio. The Sonos ecosystem has made listening to music at home really easy while delivering amazing sound.

The ease and beauty of Sonos is being able to group any number of Sonos speakers together. You can have all of the speakers playing the same soundtrack throughout the house. Or different songs can be played in the kitchen while your kid is jamming to their own playlist in their room. All easily controlled through an app.

The app also integrates with other music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music. This plus the future proofed nature of Sonos speakers, keeps Sonos firmly rooted as the leader in multi-room audio.

Gearpatrol dives deeper with this Complete Sonos Buying Guide

4K TVs are the Rage

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 04:40:19 GMT

You can’t help but crane your neck when you walk by a 4K TV display. Maybe it is the 65” TV, the higher resolution, the increased number of pixels. Whatever it is - I know that It is eye popping, visually riveting eye candy that draws me into any sporting event or the newly released movie I’ve been waiting to watch. I’m so glad all of our clients are upgrading to 4K TVs and integrating with their whole house audio systems. Talk about experiential.

TechRadar really pinpoints the technical ins and outs of 4K TVs. Further illustrating that 4K is a must have in your home.

WIFI Channelization

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 04:49:24 GMT

One of the most common problems with consumer grade home networks is network channel overlap.

Tip 2: WiFi Channelization

CHANNELIZATION 101

Your Wi-Fi is a lot like your radio or TV. It operates over radio waves that are segregated into channels. When two different “radios” are broadcasting on the same channel they create massive interference, similar to what happens when your car’s radio picks up two different stations at the same time – all you hear is overlapping noise.

Most consumer grade home network routers come out of the box broadcasting on the same channel. This means your neighbor’s router is on the same channel as your router and your other neighbor’s router.

Neighbors 1, 2 and 3 have individual routers, yet each are on the same channel (36)

Neighbors 1, 2 and 3 are all on the same channel (36) yet Neighbor 1 is experiencing a much weaker signal

Having everyone on the same channel causes interference (noise) and disrupts everyone’s Wi-Fi experience. This may explain why your Wi-Fi signal is weak, unstable, slow, frozen or dropping devices.

Before you knock on your neighbor’s door to change their channel – let’s try our first Wi-Fi troubleshooting tip – channelization .

Channelization 101

Channelization is the process to adjust your router so that it has its own clean channel.

Step 1:

We begin with the SSID, the Service Set Identifier, which refers to the name of your Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi network names vary from some kitschy phrases (HappyFeet) to more tech-savvy strings of characters (M91323SAOG(*&#*…).

Start by making a basic SSID scan of all networks seen by your computer or phone.

Here’s a list of networks near a particular home:

An SSID list can tell you a lot. Here are a few things you might notice:
Whoa, there are a lot of networks (and what the heck is a KodaBunny?)!
XFINITY appears on every SSID list – it is a parasitic public hotspot.
Printers, office speakers, and a smart plug – these are all considered Rogue APs. Rogue APs are wireless polluters. (You might have a Rogue AP, and if you do, please refer to the printer/speaker/etc manufacturer’s instructions on how to properly join them to your Wi-Fi network.)

Step 2

For the next step you will need a Wi-Fi scanning utility which you can the following for free.

Wi-Fi Explorer Lite works well for both PC and Mac users. WiFi Analyzer and WiFiMan are both great options for Android users. iPhone users – try these options.

On whatever app you choose, navigate to the section that shows channels; it should look something like this:

Note that the network !My SSID!, Neighbor 1’s SSID and Neighbor 2’s SSID are clustered around Channels 36-48. There is a wide gulf of unused airspace between Channels 52-128. Locate your SSID in the list to determine the channel that it’s using. The network !My SSID!, is centered around channel 40.

You may notice that some SSIDs are wider on the graph than others. This has to do with channel width. The goal is to use the widest channel possible without overlapping another access point. If you want more technical info now, find our Channel Width blog here (insert link).

Step 3

Next change the wireless channel of your radio. This method differs based upon the make and model of your equipment so consult your manufacturer for the exact steps. Online forums are a great resource; try Googling the phrase “(make and model of your router) change wireless channel”.

Step 3A. Start by identifying your router/network. Here is an example from the Unifi Controller made by Ubiquiti.

Step 3B. Change the channel of !MySSID! 64.

Step 3C. Voila! !MySSID! has successfully moved to Channel 64 and all are enjoying improved performance except for Neighbor 1 and Neighbor 2 who are duking it out for the same airspace on Channels 36-40.)

But…there is hope, grasshopper.

Step 3D: NOW it’s time to knock on your neighbor’s door! Share what tips you’ve learned here, and encourage them to change their channels.

Here’s what channelization could look like if we work with our neighbors.

Neighbor 1 has moved to channel 165 and reduced his channel width to eliminate interference.

Neighbor 2 has reduced their channel width as well and remains near Channel 36-40.

With these adjustments we’ll all experience improvements in the speed and reliability of our networks. The best part is, we did it all without spending a dollar on new equipment!

Your Wi-Fi performance can improve by changing only your channel. However, by working with your neighbors you can make an even bigger difference. With this in mind, consider it your civic duty to reduce interference in your neighborhood.

Confetti!

Consumer DIY Home Surveillance versus Professional

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 04:45:37 GMT

You have a unique opportunity when you are remodeling or retrofitting your home to install a reliable IP based surveillance system. Instead of looking to off-the-shelf consumer cameras such as Nest that will inevitably need to be replaced, we highly recommend an IP camera system.

The professional IP camera system consists of an IP camera, video recording system, and infrastructure that includes the network, video management software, and display system. The consumer surveillance camera is primarily only a “camera.”

Though these IP camera systems cost slightly more, these IP camera systems provide better quality and reliability than consumer camera systems.

Consumer cameras are inexpensive, some selling as low as $40. There’s a reason for this cost - these low cost lenses have about a 2 Megapixel resolution resulting in reduced video clarity. Consumer based cameras must connect to the WiFi which can make them vulnerable to hackers. Plus these lower cost consumer cameras will most likely need to be replaced a few years down the road. If you are looking for a clean exterior look for your newly constructed home, having to swap out these cameras will most likely damage your exterior.

So what’s so great about Professional Grade IP Surveillance System? You don’t need to worry about power for each camera location, power can be fed via power over ethernet cable. This allows a lot of flexibility with camera placement. These cameras have higher resolution over the commercial cameras and are connected to a dedicated video recording system. The video data stream is encrypted, and the recording system can handle multiple cameras. These systems have effective alarm detection that only records critical video.

A huge highlight is that these camera systems can be integrated with door access control, IP paging systems, and IP intercom systems that can help control who enters the home.

IP Camera Systems that are designed for professional applications provide better quality, reliability, and functionality.

Healthy Network Equals Happy Family

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 04:44:02 GMT

Devices with a poor Wi-Fi connection can adversely affect the entire network. Creating unique 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs is an important step in maintaining a healthy network.

Tip 1: Create Unique SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz

Most home routers and access points are dual-band, meaning they have 2 radios – 2.4GHz and 5GHz. These radios and frequencies usually have the same SSID (the Service Set Identifier or network name) leaving it up to the devices to choose the right radio. Because of that, devices can struggle to connect to the correct radio and frequency. To help devices to find the right network, we recommend creating two separate SSIDs – one for 5GHz and another for 2.4GHz.

The Difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz

2.4GHz is the original Wi-Fi frequency and functions on fewer channels than 5GHz.
2.4GHz travels farther and more easily penetrates solid objects (walls, ceilings). However, it’s more prone to interference (microwaves, cordless phones, etc.).
5GHz, on the other hand, is faster, has more available channels, and is less prone to interference.
5GHz is the better choice for your general Wi-Fi usage.

Channelization 101

Most consumer-grade home network routers come out of the box broadcasting on the same channel. This means your neighbor’s router is on the same channel as your router and your other neighbor’s router. Click to see a list of the best routers this year .

Here are examples of device types on each band:

There are two important things to note before starting the process to create unique SSIDs:

Each router has a slightly different process to create two unique SSIDs, so please consult your manufacturer’s manual. Look under options such as Wireless, Wireless Settings, or Wireless Network to find the process.

This is important – you may have to disable band steering before proceeding on some routers. (See comment)

Following are the four steps to create unique 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs. (The screenshots are from our home’s Ubiquiti Unifi router. )

Step 1: Create a unique SSID for each network.

For our example, we’ll be using! My SSID 2.4GHz! and!My SSID 5GHz!. In this example, we highlighted in Green how to create a new wireless network:

Step 2: Create a password for each network.

We recommend having the same password for both networks.

Step 3: You might have to assign the SSIDs to the correct radios in a separate section.

In this example, we bolded each radio in green

Step 4: Apply your changes.

Your network will reboot and you can now connect your devices to the appropriate SSID.

Your Home Network: Understanding Mesh Networks

Wed, 19 Jun 2019 04:51:46 GMT

Tip 4: Using a Mesh Network – Pros and Cons

Understanding your Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi router is the main piece of equipment that broadcasts the wireless signal to your devices. A router manages internet traffic between your modem and Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as computers or tablets. Most internet providers, i.e. Xfinity or AT&T, provide one piece of equipment that is both modem and router. Whether you have two pieces of equipment (modem plus router) or one (modem/router combo), this is your access point to the internet. A typical router’s signal is usually sufficient for an apartment, small home, or small office. Buildings with multiple floors, rooms, dense walls (i.e. lathe/plaster walls in older homes) or a lot of glass usually require something more robust to provide adequate coverage.

Why a mesh network (and what is it)? A mesh network is a good solution to connectivity issues as it helps eliminate dead zones. It is a series of wireless repeaters – nodes – to spread coverage to areas where there are no wired connections available. Each node maintains a wireless connection to every other node within range, creating a “mesh” of multiple connections. Some may associate a mesh network with network extenders but they are not the same. Whereas wireless repeaters spread coverage from node to the next, and always routing back to the access point, extenders merely broadcast copies of a signal, resulting in perhaps a strong signal, but a slow speed. This poor performance level is especially critical if your household is both video conferencing and/or gaming – and simultaneously by multiple users.

A mesh network can be a great solution for the average Wi-Fi user at home because

they are affordable.
they are usually easy to set up.
they require no additional wiring – each node needs only a power outlet.
they are easy to manage via a mobile app where you can test network speed, restrict access to websites, create a guest network, and connect to smart home devices.

What’s the downside?

Most mesh network systems have automatic settings (as opposed to manual settings) which:

may not provide a way to minimize interference from neighboring networks
may make troubleshooting more difficult
may not offer adequate administrative options for power users (gamers)

While a mesh network can be the perfect solution for many users, they don’t hold up under heavy use. A large family with multiple streaming devices in use, an office, or a commercial setting all require something more robust.

GRAPHIC A: The green shows the coverage the mesh network provides to the home. The white cubes denote wireless repeater nodes.

now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Learn with Camber Integration

Dolby Atmos levels up your Home Theater

School’s In Session - How’s your WiFi Network?

Here are 7 Tips to Prepare Your Home Network for When School Starts ﻿

Home Audio and Video Installation: SF

Outdoor Audio System Installation

Installed just in time for summer

SpaceX Starlink Rural Internet Service is available in limited beta

Starlink Rural Internet Services Rural Beta — Camber Integration

We Love Intercom Systems

Who’s Knocking on your Door?

Sonos still leads in Multi-Room Audio

4K TVs are the Rage

WIFI Channelization

CHANNELIZATION 101

Consumer DIY Home Surveillance versus Professional

Healthy Network Equals Happy Family

Channelization 101 ﻿

Your Home Network: Understanding Mesh Networks

Here are 7 Tips to Prepare Your Home Network for When School Starts

Channelization 101