With this device we find that we can get the information that we want and need out of it, without having to do too much additional work. In this project, we're focusing on the TP-Link HS110 which is an IoT, WiFi connected power socket. Sometimes this insecurity can work in our favour, so long as your computer network is setup such that no-one can easily get connected to it (ensure your WiFi has sufficient encryption of at least WPA2) and your Ethernet ports aren't exposed (Ethernet over power adaptors can sometimes leak the connection to neighbours) and you're not forwarding your ports to the global internet on your router or gateway from vulnerable hardware or machines, then behind a NAT (Network Address Translation) network then you're typically fine and safe (not always.). In fact, there's a very popular Twitter account dedicated to mocking such things, and questions just why you'd want devices to be accessible to the internet. I decided against the custom hardware solution to monitor the electricity usage, sure I could setup something custom and work with 240 volts, or perhaps find some way to monitor it via inductance, but I'm not a certified electrician and I do not want to cut my teeth on getting my first electric shock with such a thing, electricity is the wrong kind of fizzy sherbet to lick - even once.Ī lot of us are aware that Internet of Things devices are not necessarily secure. At the very least, they can connect to wireless networks and wired networks, and perhaps a virtual private network (vpn) connection. In this scenario, we have to assume that the work laptop is a 'black box' that we don't have access to or control over, as most people who work for any company typically do not have administrative rights to their work machine, or they're not allowed to install software, change hardware, etc. I would also use some form of computer network pass-through to keep an eye on bandwidth use. I have a spare Raspberry Pi 4 here, and my original goal was to use it along with custom hardware to watch the electricity usage of my work laptop. I decided that I want to monitor the situation. Now you may not be spending as much money each week on public transport or fuelling up your car travelling to and from work, there's still going to be a transposed expenses with being asked to work from home instead. Either way, adding computer hardware to your home is going to increase the electricity bill, and if it is anything like mine - that will have been increasing year upon year. If your work involves heavy duty processing, your computer's not going to be the most energy efficient hardware available when it's using up over 60 watts of electricity to render a video for that marketing campaign or social media promotion (not everyone has access to a render farm) or maybe you're actually joining in with the project going on. Internet use isn't the only cost when working from home, you have just setup and installed computer hardware, and sometimes that is not necessarily cheap. While some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are removing these caps while you're working from home, you may be one of the few who have had to get broadband internet purely for the purpose of working from home (that can particularly be claimed from the UK government as well) or you may just be interested in how much data your work computer is using to resolve that argument with your children, or partner as to why they can't stream Netflix while you're on a conference call. Either way, you may be suffering from broadband internet caps. You're required to have home internet access, if you're lucky you may already have broadband internet, if you're less lucky you've been using your mobile phone, or your IT department are providing some form of cellular network USB dongle for your work laptop or desktop. So you're now working from home, and you obviously have some concerns. So in steps the UK Government with ' Claim tax relief for your job expenses' and one of those is working from home. It is almost second nature to me now, fortunately, that when asked to use software such as Discord, Microsoft Teams, Zoom or equivalent I turn on my webcam, pick up my headset and get going while typing away on an article such as this one, or an e-mail.Īlthough I'm capable of working from home, in the United Kingdom that isn't the norm, and it certainly isn't for a lot of people who are now forced to with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Having had my first experience of the internet in the late 90's with a dial-up modem, and then in the early 00's with the advent of cable modems in the United Kingdom, it was early on that I jumped into Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and doing internet calls, while gaming on ID Software's Quake 3: Arena and Bioware's Neverwinter Nights using Ventrilo, Skype and Roger Wilco.
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