---
title: Home IT Overhaul, Phase Zero: A Screen
date: 2017-08-13
topics: Home IT Overhaul
---

My home network has had a pretty basic setup for the last six years. My wife and
I each have a laptop, connected to the internet with an Asus wifi router and a
cable modem. And we have a wifi B&W laser printer. That’s it.

Since we finished the basement and installed a 55″ TV, however, I’ve had my eye
on some drastic improvements and additions to our home’s IT capabilities. I will
outline the overall plan in another post, however, to get things rolling I
thought I’d just write about the first small step in that plan, which I took
today: I bought a monitor.

•figure["/posts/img/coby-monitor.jpg" #:width "1024"]{A Coby TFTV1525 15″
monitor/TV, purchased used, missing remote}

I have almost zero spare computer parts lying around my house, which is surely
strange for an IT manager. I’ve made a point of getting rid of stuff I don’t
need, which means I get to start from scratch.

This tiny used monitor will sit on my new IT “rack” when I need a
direct-attached display for setting up or troubleshooting servers. It’s perfect
for my setup for several reasons:

1. It’s small
2. It’s cheap ($20 on Craigslist)
3. It has both HDMI and VGA inputs, so it will work with any computer, old or
   new, without any converters
4. It also has a TV tuner, so I can use it to watch broadcast television on the
   rare occasions where that might come in handy (weather emergencies, etc)