MikroTik wifi 7 routers

I don't usually get excited about the latest and greatest gadgets, but once in a while I do.

If you are a computer network professional who needs a network device that you can deploy in a business environment without too much cost or if you are a tech enthusiast who enjoys tinkering in networking, companies like Ubiquiti and Mikrotik sell devices that can serve your needs. Features wise, their devices do not quite match those made by Cisco, but they come pretty close. 

Mikrotik just came out with a pair of routers called hAP be³ Media (MA53UG+HbeH) and its little brother hAP be lite (A42G-HbeP). ( Clearly, Mikrotik needs to work on their naming schemes.)

You can see a side by side comparison of these devices. 

https://www.hellascom.gr/en/blog/mikrotik-hap-be3-media-vs-hap-be-lite-wifi7-comparison

The feature that is the most exciting is how the MA53UG can run containers. Think of this as the ability to run little programs that may not have anything to do with networking. There are thousands of ready to go containers out there so you will have no problem finding the ones you need to run on this box. The "media" in the MA53UG's name means it has a slot for dedicate harddisk so you can run a NAS container in it. This eliminates the need to run a separate NAS box in your network. I am a fan of integration. Not everyone has the space in their homes and businesses for multiple boxes.   

How to Download and Custom Install Office 2024 / 365 Choose only the Apps You Need

This write up is based on this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9q_rqjD0XU

I chose this video when there are many videos on this topic because it is up to date. I used the file to download the Office programs and the process worked.

You may want to read this KB first before starting to get the general overview of this Office Deployment Tool.

Overview of the Office Deployment Tool

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-apps/deploy/overview-office-deployment-tool

Below is the configuration file. It is just a plain text file. Open a blank file in your preferred text editor and paste the text below on it. Save this config file with the xml extension. The file name is configuration-Office365-x64.xml

Everything between the open and close <!-- comment tag is ignored by the script parser which is the accompanied Setup program. The Microsoft 365 ProPlus edition has everything that most of us ever needs. These include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, and Publisher (Access/Publisher PC only). I explicitly added Bing, Groove, Lync, Onedrive, Teams, Designer, Clipchamp, Copilot, Visio, and Project to the exclusion list because these may get installed by accident, taking up disk space and download time. Remember, the config file explicitly specifies to the Microsoft server to download and install only the programs on the list from the Microsoft 365 ProPlus package.

However, the list does not explicitly include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. However, these programs will be downloaded and installed once the script is run. 

The Product ID on the script says O365ProPlusRetail. It is the ID for the Office 365 Enterprise E3. Below is the KB on the various product IDs for these applications and plans.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/microsoft-365-apps/office-suite-issues/product-ids-supported-office-deployment-click-to-run

You can experiment with various IDs to get the specific software you want.  

<!-- Office 365 client configuration file sample. To be used for Office 365 ProPlus apps, Office 365 Business apps, Project Pro for Office 365 and Visio Pro for Office 365. 

For detailed information regarding configuration options visit: http://aka.ms/ODT 

     To use the configuration file be sure to remove the comments. The following sample allows you to download and install the 64 bit version of the Office 365 ProPlus apps and Visio Pro for Office 365 directly from the Office CDN using the Current Channel

     settings  -->

<Configuration>

  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current">

    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">

      <Language ID="en-us" />

    <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />

<ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />

<ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Designer" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Clipchamp" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Copilot" />

<ExcludeApp ID="Project" />

    <ExcludeApp ID="Visio" /> 

</Product>

      </Add>

 <Display Level="Full" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />

<!-- cd "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop" -->

<!-- .\setup.exe /configure configuration-Office365-x64.xml -->

</Configuration>

  

Unable to add a Gmail account to classic Outlook

Many people still use the Outlook program with its classic interface, still possible with the latest Office 2024 Outlook program or part of Microsoft/Office 365, this is a big problem. Microsoft has a KB for this specific problem.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/unable-to-add-a-gmail-account-to-classic-outlook-4d9530c5-3f40-4e6d-9b45-4477f160828f