The Extrion Knowledge Center
Practical, plain-English guides, step-by-step fixes and honest comparisons for CCTV, networks, websites, software, smart buildings and safety systems, written by engineers who install and support them in Zanzibar and across Tanzania.
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Interactive, step-by-step guides with animated demonstrations, written and checked by our engineers.
Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
20 min
Troubleshooting fix
Slow Wi-Fi is rarely one fault. It is usually distance, thick walls, a crowded channel or simply the internet plan. One wired test tells you which hal...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
40 min
A reset wipes a MikroTik router back to its default configuration, or to nothing at all. Done well it takes twenty minutes; done in a hurry it erases...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
30 min
Troubleshooting fix
A camera tile that says "No video", "Offline" or simply stays black is almost always caused by power, the cable, the network address, the password or...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
30 min
A factory reset returns an IP camera to the state it left the factory in: no password, default network settings and no link to your recorder. This gui...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
15 min
Zanzibar resource
Most CCTV disappointments are decided before the first camera goes up: cameras in the wrong places, grey night footage, a recorder that keeps four day...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
8 min
Comparison
Ask two installers for a CCTV quotation and one may offer IP cameras while the other offers cheaper "HD" analogue cameras. Both can record a clear pic...
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Software Development & Business Systems
9 min
When stock, sales and purchases live in exercise books, WhatsApp messages and one person's spreadsheet, numbers drift and answers come late. One share...
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Web Hosting, Domains & Website Management
8 min
Comparison
Business software, shared files and email can run on a server in your own building or in the cloud, on a provider's servers reached over the internet....
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
12 min
Keys get copied, lost and never returned, and a notebook cannot tell you who opened the store room at night. This guide explains the choices in electr...
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IT Procurement, Maintenance & Troubleshooting
10 min
Disks fail, laptops are stolen, files are deleted and ransomware encrypts what it can reach. With good backups a business loses a few hours; without t...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
25 min
When staff say "the internet is slow", the connection is often not the problem: it is one router trying to serve forty devices through stone walls. Th...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
45 min
Locked out of your Hikvision or Dahua NVR, or setting one up again? This guide explains the manufacturer-supported ways to recover the password, the d...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
40 min
Lost the password to your CCTV DVR, or need to reset it? This guide covers analogue and hybrid recorders (Hikvision Turbo HD, Dahua XVR and similar):...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
12 min
A network switch is the box that connects the wired devices in a building so they can talk to each other and reach the internet. This guide explains h...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
12 min
Comparison
Fibre optic cable carries data as light through glass, while Ethernet cable carries it as electrical signals through copper. This guide compares the t...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
30 min
Troubleshooting fix
A Hikvision camera that shows offline on the recorder has a power, cable, address or password problem, while a system that is offline only in Hik-Conn...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
30 min
Troubleshooting fix
Live view works, but playback is empty or the recorder says no record file found. The cause is usually the hard drive, the recording schedule, the ove...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
30 min
Troubleshooting fix
When a MikroTik router loses the internet, the fault is almost always in one of five places: the line from the ISP, the WAN address, the default route...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
45 min
Troubleshooting fix
Wi-Fi dead zones happen when walls, distance or a badly placed router stop the signal reaching a room. Map them with a phone, rule out cheap fixes, th...
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Web Hosting, Domains & Website Management
30 min
Troubleshooting fix
A "508 Resource Limit Is Reached" page means your hosting account hit one of the limits CloudLinux sets for it, usually the number of requests that ca...
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Web Hosting, Domains & Website Management
30 min
Troubleshooting fix
When business email stops, quotes, bookings and invoices go nowhere, and often nobody notices for a day. This guide finds the cause, from a full mailb...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
45 min
Troubleshooting fix
When an IP intercom stops working, the fault is usually power, the network, the link between door station and monitor, SIP registration, the app accou...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
15 min
Zanzibar resource
A Zanzibar hotel needs guest Wi-Fi that reaches every room, a separate network for staff, payments and CCTV, and power backup that survives the daily...
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IT Procurement, Maintenance & Troubleshooting
12 min
Zanzibar resource
A school's ICT works when the room, the power, the network and the people are planned before the computers arrive. This guide shows heads, bursars, bo...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
12 min
Zanzibar resource
Most shop and office security in Zanzibar is bought in a hurry after a break-in. This guide shows how cameras, alarms, access control, the till networ...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
15 min
Zanzibar resource
A site with several buildings needs a fibre backbone in ducts from one core room to a cabinet in each building, a UPS in every cabinet and separate ne...
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IT Procurement, Maintenance & Troubleshooting
12 min
Zanzibar resource
A new business in Zanzibar needs a domain and email in its own name, internet with a backup, a router that keeps customers, staff and tills apart, app...
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Networking, Wi-Fi & Fibre Optics
10 min
Comparison
Mesh kits link their units to each other over the air; managed access points each have their own cable back to a switch. That difference, wireless or...
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Fire Detection & Nurse Call Systems
12 min
Comparison
Every fire alarm uses detectors, call points, sounders and a panel. The difference is what the panel knows: a conventional system shows which zone is...
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Web Hosting, Domains & Website Management
10 min
Comparison
Shared hosting, a VPS and cloud hosting differ in how much of a server is yours, how much power you can count on and who looks after it. Most small bu...
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Software Development & Business Systems
10 min
Comparison
When spreadsheets, paper forms and WhatsApp groups stop coping, the first decision is whether to buy ready-made software or have a system built around...
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Smart Homes, Smart Offices & Automation
12 min
Comparison
Smart lighting, blinds, air-conditioning and sensors talk either over dedicated control cables (wired) or by radio (wireless). That one choice decides...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
10 min
A CCTV system is cameras, cables, a recorder and a way to watch. This guide explains each part in plain words: the camera shapes, IP versus analogue H...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
9 min
How many days a CCTV recorder keeps depends on one number most people never check: the cameras' bitrate. This guide gives a simple formula you can wor...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
9 min
Comparison
Bullet, dome or turret? The shape of a CCTV camera affects where it can go, how easy it is to aim, how it behaves at night, how often it needs cleanin...
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CCTV, Surveillance & Physical Security
20 min
You can watch your CCTV from your phone using the official app from your recorder's manufacturer or a VPN, without opening your recorder to the intern...
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Web Hosting, Domains & Website Management
12 min
A website's cost depends on its size, functions, content and upkeep, so a five-page company profile, a shop taking mobile money and a staff portal are...
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