The coffee shop router that taught me more than any certification

Was in Milwaukee last month waiting on a client and stopped at this tiny cafe. Their wifi kept dropping every 15 minutes or so. I asked the barista about it (you know, force of habit) and she showed me the back room. Old Netgear router sitting on top of a microwave, buried under a stack of boxes. I offered to help and 20 minutes later it was on a shelf higher up, channels changed, and problem gone. Owner gave me a free latte. But the thing that stuck with me was how simple it was. No fancy enterprise gear, just placement and basic settings. I've spent 6 years dealing with server racks and managed switches, and that $60 consumer box was failing because of where it sat. Has anyone else found that most home and small office issues are just about location and interference rather than the hardware being bad?

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ivan_mason20d ago

Noticing how half the problems in this world just need moving something a foot to the left.