Jump to content
Find Professionals    Deals    Get Quotations   Portfolios

Ks Toh

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    841

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    14

Everything posted by Ks Toh

  1. Ks Toh
    I am confused by the LED driver issue. My LED lights were supplied by two shops: Shop A supplied all the downlights and staircase ceiling lights. Shop B supplied the more expensive ceiling, wall and flood lights. All are LED. Shop B told me as long as the specifications are the same (voltage and ampere), the driver should work. This seems to make sense. However, Shop A told me that this is not the case and I have to get back to the original supplier. He tells me that he has tried to use drivers with the same specifications and the lights will flicker. He does not know the reason why. Below are two of my LED lights. When the driver for the round light was damaged by water, I tried to use the driver from the square down light (I have several spares) but the round light would not light up. I went back to the shop and was given a replacement driver, which worked. I try to look at the specs but I cannot figure out if they are the same or not.
  2. Ks Toh
    I agree that the drivers are not readily available like normal bulbs. My house is still new, so I don't know how long they will last. If they die around 2 years (whether driver or bulb), this will be a gross misrepresentation as we are always told they last much longer than normal lights. So far, out of the many LED lights I installed, I have only two cases of failure, both drivers. One was due to water ingress damaging the driver, the other unknown cause. As for the "throw" not filling up the space, I have no such problem. Maybe because I have sufficient lights all round, and the type of lights I chose (if you look at the pictures), they have a much wider beam?
  3. Ks Toh
    Hi Harriette My hall is double volume and the four lights are bright enough. For your reference, I took the following pictures at 6.40 am this morning, with and without lights.
  4. Ks Toh
    Hi Harriette I had been thinking about your PVC edges and wondering if I should say something, since it has already been done. Anyway, If the area involved is small, why don't you offer to buy a few more tiles and ask the contractor to redo. He contribute some labour, you contribute some tiles. I went to check my kitchen, where all the walls and floors are using wood tiles, and they were all joined without any PVC edging. You can see them in the pictures in my blog. I also took some close up shots if you want. I am not sure why in your case the PVC edging was required. My tiles were homogeneous tiles where the inside was similar in colour to the surface. Are yours the same? The other possibility is that in my case, all the joints were edges only i.e. one tile join to the other at 90 degrees. In your case, I see a corner where three tiles meet. Maybe that is the problem? I also checked my joints. They are not sharp because the edge is bevelled.
  5. Ks Toh
    I got Bosch power drill and grass cutter, and I know Bosch makes power equipment and car parts. But I did not know they make refrigerators! I took a look at their refrigerators on their website. Looks nice but I have no idea how they perform. Since I have no knowledge, I would stick to the tried and tested Japanese and Korean makes. It is a risk when I depart from tried and tested models. Sometimes, it is a wonderful surprise. Other times, it is a piece of disaster that I have to face every day. I think if you are interested in Bosch refrigerators, you must do research. Check up on reviews etc. When i was looking for wine chillers, I recall seeing a Bosch set that was selling cheap. It was Made in China and upon closer examination not very well made. This is what one Best Denki salesman once told me. Could be true but I don't know: Korean makes are now better buys because they are made in Korea, except for some really cheap Korean models. Japanese models are no longer as good because they are all made in China, except for those expensive high end models. As for me, I am stuck with USA refrigerators simply because of my 174 cm height restriction. Even Bosch is 175 cm and higher, I think.
  6. Ks Toh
    We tend to take things like peace for granted. But history has shown us that things can change very fast. Overnight, governments can change, friendly neighouring countries can turn into unreasonable enemies. When that happens, this useless shelter will suddenly become the most important room in our apartment. It's the same with many of the other things we do like spending billions of dollars on defence equipment which we never get to use, or trying to turn sea water and urine into drinking water. But I wonder what will really happen if the bombs start dropping? - For those of us who use it as a store, is there still sufficient space for us to squeeze in? - For those of use who use it as a helper's room, will the helper survive while the rest of us perish? - And if the rest of the block collapse, will all the bomb shelters remain standing as a single stack? How do we get down to ground level? But i guess the shelter is designed only for cases where we have to hide temporarily in case of an air raid.
  7. Ks Toh
    My current refrigerator is more than 10 years old. It is a side by side model made by RCA from USA. Over the years, it has broken down several times but after repairs, it is still working fine, except for the lights in the freezer compartment not working. Anyway, I went to Best Denki, surveyed all the new big side by side models and shortlisted a few Japanese and Korean models. Until I discovered that after tiling, it seems that the space for my refrigerator has somehow become smaller! Now, the space is only 174 cm high and 101 cm wide. The width is not a problem but the height rules out ALL of the side by side Japanese and Korean models. There was not a single model that is within 174 cm height! No choice but to use back my old refrigerator and hope it lasts more years. I found out recently that I have to buy American refrigerators which are shorter in height. I saw a 640L Whirlpool side by side fridge at Courts Orchard Road, measuring 852 cm width x 1696 cm height x 858 cm depth. But price of these american models seem much higher than Japanese or Korean models.
  8. Ks Toh
    Thanks!
  9. Ks Toh
    [back to Table of Contents] Back to my plants ... These are nice websites on Frangipani and Citrus Lime Trees: All Things Frangipani Buying Citrus Lime Trees for Chinese New Year
  10. Ks Toh
    Today, I went back to Pioneer Landscape to buy more plants, in particular a pair of Citrus Lime Trees. I lugged them back in my car, so saved some time and money. Have a Happy Lunar New Year 2014 !! [back to Table of Contents]
  11. Ks Toh
    Harriete Personally, I would try not to use the IR Repeater solution unless I really have no choice. Never tried, but seems like it may introduce other problems. I use dark glass panels for the doors of my TV console. I was told the type of glass used allows IR signals to go through. So far so good. The slight translucency also allows me to tell if my devices are on or off, and to see the time on the SCV TV box. It is likely that WIFI signals from the enclosed RG will not be strong in your furthest rooms. For me, I put another router (in bridge mode) in the network port of one of the other rooms.
  12. Ks Toh
    Yes, you definitely still need wireless. Just plug a 2nd router (in bridge mode) into the network port in your room. Or if the signal is still strong from your base RG, then just rely on that.
  13. Ks Toh
    Hi It definitely can be done, and I know of people who have done it. But I don't have personal knowledge, so need to verify: 1) The cable must indeed be Cat 5 or 6. Then you can get at least 100 Mbps. Just need to change the end plug from RJ-11 to RJ-45 and the face plate. 2) The cable route must coincide with your intended network cable route. I do not know how telephone cables are laid. If they are laid daisy chain i.e. Distribution Point to Room 1, and from Room 1 to Room 2, and from Room 2 to Room 3, then there may be a problem, since network cables generally require all the cables to start from the same distribution point. If all the cables start from the same distribution point, then you already have your network. If the distribution point happens to be at a different place (e.g. utility room) when your intended network distribution point (and TP / ONT / RG) is located at the hall, then the solution is to have one cable running from the utility room to the hall, and a switch in the utility room.
  14. Ks Toh
    Hi Nice to know that I saved your Smart TV. I was charged $230 per Cat 6 point. I believe this price is definitely on the high side but I had not much choice due to many reasons: - He was recommended by my then ID. I did not want to use another contractor and end up not able to work with the ID - He was willing to run wires according to my requests (well, mostly but not all) - All wires concealed i.e. dig MRT tunnel on wall, put wire, cover up - Some of the wires had to run quite long distances over several floors If you do not have the limitations I had, you should check around for the prices. I am sure it should be cheaper.
  15. Ks Toh
    Hi The contractor Vertical Green supplied the device as part of the package price, so I am not sure of the individual price. I can also check with my gardener but he is currently away. If I am not wrong, the local nurseries should have them too.
  16. Ks Toh
    Now that one of the local ISPs has launched 'the world's fastest fibre broadband" at 1 Gbps, does this mean that if you get that, you will get blazingly fast internet access? Many people signup for faster and faster plans, hoping to get even faster internet speeds at home. The speed of your internet connection is only as fast as your weakest link. There is no point getting a 1Gbps (1,000 Mbps) internet connection when you have to throttle the line through either a "Fast" 10/100 Switch (theoretical max speed of 100 Mbps), HomePlug connection (speed varies, but max speed could be around 100 Mbps), a Wireless-G router (max speed of 54 Mbps) and then your device only has Wireless-B (max speed of 11 Mbps). In the end, your internet speed is only 11 Mbps at most. To fully utilise your speed, and to future proof your home, you need to ensure that the connection all the way can support speeds of 1 Gbps and above. This means laying cables to the devices as far as possible, and leaving the WiFi to the last leg. - Cat 6 and above ethernet cables - can support up to 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps, depending on distance - Gigabit switch - can support up to 1 Gbps - Wireless-N (450 Mbps or higher) or Wireless-AC (1,200 Mbps or higher) router/access points A basic fibre broadband plan with proper structured network cabling will perform much better than a top-of-the-line fibre broadband plan with little or no network cabling. Currently, I am on the most basic 100 Mbps StarHub fibre broadband but with Cat 6 network cabling ending with Wireless-N and Wireless-AC access points (I am not so familiar with terminology. I am using the routers in bridge mode, was told they should be called access points in this case). On devices with wired connection to the network point (e.g. TV), I am able to watch entire YouTube videos in HD without any pause at all. On my iPhone 5 (Wireless-N) connected to my Apple Airport Time Capsule (Wireless-AC) which is wired by Cat 6 cable to my Gigabit Switch > RG > TP gets the following speed on my simple SpeedTest on my iphone:
  17. Ks Toh
    Hi eno I am currently having both fibre broadband and StarHub TV. My current broadband network (described in more detail in my blog) is similar to what you have described except: - Service Provider is StarHub not MyRepublic - Switch is 8 ports not 24 Note: I believe ONT is supplied by Nucleus Connect, the operator of OpenNet network, and Router (known as Residential Gateway or RG) is supplied by ISP. As for Cable TV, as what Mavicaste said, currently, StarHub is still relying on their co-axial cable network to deliver their TV content. So, currently, the TP and the rest of your structured cable network does not come into play. Basically, you can only watch StarHub Cable TV in any room that has a SCV point and you must rent a SCV box for every room that you want cable TV. The best comparison is SingTel Mio TV because they have moved to the fibre network. From what I know, the MIO TV box is plugged directly to any of your ports in your RG, or alternatively to a network port in your room that is directly cabled to your RG. The one thing I was told recently (but have no personal knowledge) is that you cannot put a switch in between your SingTel RG and the MIO TV box, unless the switch is a "managed switch". I don't know enough about this to explain. As for the cabling route, unless you run concealed, the trunking should normally be just above the skirting, as that is least obvious.
  18. Ks Toh
    If you are thinking of making your picture appear in your post, you are doing it wrongly. Not sure about imageshack, but for photobucket, copy the IMG link and paste here. To avoid repeated posts, you can go back to your original post and edit it, instead of posting a new post.
  19. Ks Toh
    Hi It looks complicated but it is not. If you imagine a tree, the base of the tree will be TP. Further up the trunk will be the ONT followed by the RG. From the RG, I have 9 branches, each leading to a particular location. Some branches like "Living Room" have sub-branches. In your case, it might be that you only have 3 or 4 main branches to your various rooms. The ONT and RG are supplied by the ISP. if you only have 3 or 4 branches, you probably do not need to buy an an additional switch, as the RG should have 4 ports. Currently, fibre cable is only up to TP. From the TP location, you lay structured network cabling to your rooms. This means Cat 6 and above computer ethernet cables, not telephone wires (although it seems ethernet cables are now used for telephone wires). But the cabling for telephone network may be different, so make sure it is for network cabling. You do not need to lay a telephone network. This is additional. In my case, the telephone port was pre-existing. I am not using it. I am not even sure if it works. Both the telephone and network ports are put in the same face plate just to look neat. They are separate networks and not dependent on one another. You can have single network port face plates too. The face plate on the extreme left is for SCV. The structured network cabling can also be used even if you choose not to use fibre broadband. In this case, instead of using the ONT which is something like a fibre modem, you use some other modem. For example, you decide to use StarHub Maxonline which is using SCV cable. In this case, instead of TP > ONT > RG > Rooms, your setup will be SCV point > Cable Modem > RG > Rooms.
  20. Ks Toh
    Just curious. If this was discovered after your reno is almost done, how are you sure it was done by HDB and not your reno contractors?
  21. Ks Toh
    Marble can be re-polished to look like new. Parquet can also be re-sanded (to a limited number of times) to look like new. I did both for my new place. (See my blog). You did not post the pictures but I don't think you can get a new look without changing the lights and ceiling centrepiece.
  22. Ks Toh
    No basis whatsoever, but rubber seems more expensive than foam to me.
  23. Ks Toh
    This is my network setup. In my utility room, I have: TP --> Huawei ONT --> StarHub D-Link WiFi Router (RG) Cables coming out of RG Port 1 --> D-Link 8 port Gigabit Switch Port 2 --> Room 3 --> Apple Airport Express (Wireless n) --> Canon wireless printer/scanner Port 3 --> Room 4 --> Apple Airport Time Capsule (Wireless ac) --> IP Cameras 3 & 4 Port 4 --> Not in Use Cables connected to D-Link 8 port Gigabit Switch Port 1 <-- RG Port 2 --> Living Room --> D-Link 8 port Gigabit Switch --> (1) Linksys WiFi Router (2) Smart TV (3) SoundBar (4) Apple TV Port 3 --> Dining Port 4 --> Room 1 --> Buffalo WiFi Router (Wireless n) --> HP PC Port 5 --> Room 2 Port 6 --> Roof Terrace (IP Camera 5, Wii, Xbox) Port 7 --> IP Camera 1 Port 8 --> IP Camera 2 My original plan called for 2 cables to each point to provide for redundancy and reserve. But when the contractor wanted to charge me double, I refused to pay and stubbornly (and probably childishly) said I will just lay one cable to each point. So far it is ok, but I am beginning to read that it might cause a problem in the future. If you count, I have 9 cables running from my utility room. When I last checked, the next switch I could find after the 8-port switch was the 24-port switch, which was much bigger in size. I bought two of the 8-port switches after the salesgirl told me I could connect them in parallel and they will work like a 14-port switch (one port each being used to connect the two) but when I tried, some devices (the IP cameras) would fail. Now, I just use one of the 8-port switch plus the 4 ports on the RG.
  24. Ks Toh
    The end in the individual rooms will typically look like this: while the end in the hall where all the wires congregate can end in a proper Patch Panel like this: or end up in a mess of dangling wires like this (in my house): But if you have only 4 cables, it seems like you don't need a patch panel. You can have a 4 port faceplate or just wires direct to the router?
  25. Ks Toh
    Sorry to ask so many questions as I am curious and also interested. Also, new to me! So, your distribution point is at the TV console area where the TP and ONT will be located? And from there, you have 2 cables to study, and 1 cable to each of the other rooms? During lunch today, I also heard of the term "managed switch" for the first time. My colleague told me that Mio TV must have direct connection to the RG, and cannot pass through normal switch (if you want to connect more devices to the same network port) due to some VLAN tagging!? But you can overcome this problem by using a managed switch but configuration needed. You heard about this?
×