Archive for September, 2009
Cable, Dial-Up Or Wireless: How To Choose?
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 by adminThe first thing you must do is “get connected” to the internet. The two primary connection types we will deal with are Dial-up and Wireless. With dial-up the biggest advantage of an internet connection is its low cost. However, increased competition in the high-speed internet market has driven broadband prices down making high-speed pricing more comparable.
The disadvantage is that dial-up is the slowest internet connection available. Slow connections are limited in that you may not be able to access some content intended for faster connections.
Unlike broadband which is always connected and ready, dial-up connections usually take a few minutes to dial-up and establish a connection with your internet service provider before you are able to connect to the internet.
Dial-up requires that you tie up a phone line when connected to the internet. You can add an additional phone lone dedicated to internet access, but you’ll most likely have to pay your phone provider for the second line.
With fixed wireless the advantage is that your wireless internet connections are capable of extremely high speed.
The disadvantage is that set-up costs may be expensive depending on the hardware required by your wireless Internet service provider.
Once you have your high speed Internet connection up and running, you’ll probably want to add a wireless router. A wireless router will allow you to access your internet connection without the wires. A wireless router will open up a whole new world of amazing products.
You may want to protect your wireless network from unauthorized users through one of the wireless network security encryption methods. You need to be aware of the ability of other computers to access your cyber communication that is private and personal.
The choice you make depends on what is important to you. Be sure that you are not only protected but you get the capability of the service you want from your own personal needs.
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About Computer Networking Hardware
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 by adminHardware plays one of the most important roles when it comes to computer networking. Unlike other domains of information technology industry, networking is fully dependent on more hardware and less software. Let’s have a quick look at the common computer networking hardware devices we find in a regular network.
Network interface cards
When it comes to computer networking hardware, there is no networking exist without the use of network interface cards or devices. The network interface cards connect the RJ45 cables, or in other words ‘network cables’, to the computers. The network interface cards are available in different forms for different computers. As examples, PCI, USB, and PCMCA cards and devices available for suitable computer types.
Network cables
Network cables connect the computers and the rest of the computer network hardware. Network cables normally have a diversity depending on the type of the computer network. Although the copper coaxial cables are not in use anymore, the descendent, multi-core RJ45 cables are the widely used type. For high speed links and Internet backbones, fiber optic cables are used as they are capable of facilitating higher bandwidths.
Routers (wired / wireless)
Routers are the most important devices when it comes to computer networking hardware. They connect you with the rest of the world and enable you to find the information on the Internet and in the local network. For various purposes and network types, there are different types of routers. The price and the abilities of these routers vary depending on the purpose. When it comes to wireless routers, they are the latest addition to the family of computer networking hardware. The wireless routers enable the users to be mobile, and also trim the cost of mammoth wiring.
Hubs
Hubs behave the same way as routers but does not route your to the Internet or external networks located beyond your local area network. When it comes to linking computers and network devices within a small, limited geographical area, hub is the perfect device. Hubs are usually less expensive compared to the rest of the computer networking hardware.
Switches
When a network is required to be connected to an external network, then switches deliver the best results out of all computer networking hardware. As an example, if two local area networks (LANs) are to be attached together, ordinarily a switch is used. Since most of the switches are programmable, you can use switches to define how your network should behave when interface with foreign networks.
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Dsl Broadband Explained
Monday, September 28th, 2009 by adminDSL broadband technology supplies significantly faster data transfer speeds than dial-up Internet, without a huge investment. It is a cost effective and convenient permanent connection.
What is DSL Broadband Technology?
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a proven standard ‘always on’ alternative to Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and other leased line options, with affordable installation and service costs. Simply installing DSL on your existing phone line and purchasing a DSL modem/router allows businesses of all sizes to access high speed broadband at a relatively low cost.
DSL refers to technology and equipment deployed on the existing copper wire telephone infrastructure to enable multi-channel, high speed access. The single twisted-pair phone line is converted to enable it to be used for high-speed data transmission, without disrupting the telephone signal.
Copper wire lines are designed to carry voice or modem signals of a frequency band up to 3.4 kHz, providing maximum data speeds of 56kbps. With broadband technology, higher data speeds are possible by utilising a broader range of frequencies. Each range of frequencies acts as a separate channel on the same copper wire to enable additional data to be transmitted, providing greater bandwidth availabilities for business applications.
Asymmetrical (ADSL) VS Symmetric (SDSL)
ADSL allows data to be transferred at different speeds: the downstream (downloading) data speeds are faster than upstream (uploading) data speeds.
SDSL allows data to be transferred at identical speeds both downstream and upstream with guaranteed throughput. For data applications needing high-upstream bit rates, such as Voice over IP, symmetric DSL delivers a fully inter-operable solution.
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Understanding the Components of a Home Network
Friday, September 25th, 2009 by adminHome networks are becoming more common. People want to be able to share a single broadband Internet connection to several computers in the house. There are many different devices that you can use to make up your home network. If you have never heard network terminology device names like router, hub, etc may seem confusing.
The purpose of most of these devices is to control how the network passes around information. This information is sent in the form of “packets”. I will refer to the term packet several times in this article. It simply means the data that the network is transporting. I will now explain the purpose of the major components of a home network.
What is a Hub
A hub is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of these ports will likely be labeled “Uplink”. This port allows you to connect multiple hubs together, if you run out of ports on your hub. If you do not have an uplink port on your hub, the hub cannot be easily extended if you run out of ports.
A hub is a device that attaches multiple computers on an Ethernet network. If you have a number different computers that you want to connect together, you could connect each to the hub. Any packet that is sent out by any computer on the network will immediately be transmitted to the other computers. Each computer will determine if the packet was really intended for it, and filter out packets that were intended for other computers.
You really should not use a hub in a modern home network. You should always use a switch in place of a hub. Switches will be discussed in the next section.
What is a Switch
A switch is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of these ports will likely be labeled “Uplink”. This port allows you to connect multiple switches together, if you run out of ports on your switch. If you do not have an uplink port on your switch, the switch cannot be easily extended if you run out of ports.
A switch serves the same function as a hub. It allows you to connect multiple computers together, so that they can exchange packets. However, a switch is much more efficient than a hub. A switch will only send Ethernet packets to the computer that the packet was intended for. Because of this you should always use a switch in place of a hub.
What is a Router
A router is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of the connectors will be labeled WAN. You should connect the WAN port to the Ethernet connection on a broadband source, such as a cable or DSL modem. The other ports on the router can be connected other computers or switches/hubs that will share the WAN connection.
Routers allow you to share your broadband connection with multiple computers in your house. Rather than connecting your computer directly into your cable or DSL modem you connect the router to the cable or DSL modem. Now any computer that you connect to the router will have access to the Internet.
If you run out of ports on your router you can always connect an additional switch to the router. To connect a switch to a router simply connects the switch’s “uplink” port to one of the routers Ethernet ports. Of course, don’t connect to the router’s WAN port. The WAN port should only be connected to something such as a cable or DSL router.
Some routers come with additional features installed. Most routers also include a firewall. Firewalls are discussed in the next section. Some routers will also include a wireless access point (WAP). The WAP allows you to use wireless devices, such as wireless laptops, with the Internet.
What is a Firewall
A firewall controls traffic flow between your network and the Internet. A firewall can be either hardware or software. Windows XP SP2 or higher includes a software firewall. A hardware firewall is included with most routers.
A firewall is a very good idea. It can protect you from inbound virus attempts. By inbound virus attempt I mean other computers that will connect to your computer and attempt to infect your computer. You do not want to run a computer directly connected to the Internet, without a firewall. There are just too many other computers out there that can connect and infect you without you even noticing.
What is a Network Attached Storage (NAS)
A network attached storage device is s device that allows a hard drive to be shared across the network. This hard drive is NOT attached to any of your computers. It is simply made available by the NAS. This can be a convent way to add a hard drive that can be accessed by several computers on your network. The other common way to add a network hard drive is to simply share a folder on one of your computers. However, with the NAS, you do not need to keep one of your computers on at all times.
There are two types of NAS commonly available. The first type comes with a build in hard drive. The second accepts a USB or Fire wire external hard drive. The advantage to using a USB or Fire wire hard drive is that you can upgrade the hard drive if it ever were to become too small.
What is a Print Server
Just like you can buy a device to allow you to share a hard drive, you can do the same with a printer. A print server connects directly to your printer. Your printer is then shared to all of your computers on the network. This is convent because you do not need to leave the printer hooked to a computer, which must be turned on to print.
Conclusions
As you can see there are many different components. Perhaps the final component that I ave yet to mention is the cable. These components are connected together with CAT5 Ethernet cable.
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What Can you Do to Speed Up the Internet?
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 by adminThe Internet’s never going to be fast enough, but follow our tips and it’ll be faster than what is was.
Anyone who has ever used their own home computer to demonstrate the Internet to a friend who’s never seen it before knows there’s one question that occurs more than any other: Why is it so slow?
As the kind person showing your friend the delights of the online experience, it’s hard not to feel a little offended. How dare they criticize your setup and the majesty of the Internet? But, of course, there’s a lot of truth in the question. The Internet is slow. Actually, it’s good to be reminded of this, because the chances are there’s a lot that can be done to speed it up. There are three main areas to consider. Hardware, software, and the phone line.
Hardware
Lets begin with your computer. Modern web browsers require lots of system resources. Any recent computer fits the bill, but what if you have to make do with something older? Adding more ram is good, especially if you have less than 256mb. Consider adding a faster hard disk. It won’t speed up downloads from the Internet, but avoids windows slowing things down by swapping files from RAM to disk, and your browser should be able to work more quickly.
Don’t forget your modem. If you’re still using a 56k modem, then perhaps it’s time to upgrade to ISDN or ADSL. It needn’t cost the earth either. Broadband Internet is becoming so popular that many home users have already upgraded to this option. Most ISP’s will throw in a free router as part of the package. If you don’t have a network card in your computer to support the router, then perhaps it is time to upgrade that old PC.
You may be thinking that it’s OK because you’ve had a 56k modem for years. But the money you’re wasting on dial-up and slow downloads could be considerably higher than if you resorted to broadband internet. Check with your local ISP about broadband packages on special. If you are going to purchase your own router, make sure your operating system and computer will support the new router. Your local computer store will most probably offer you free advice on the best way to setup your router.
Software
If you are going to stick with 56k modems, hardly anyone is happy with their speed, a dissatisfaction which has bred a brand new genre – utilities designed to speed things up. One major subcategory is the accelerator, a program which speeds up your browser in two different ways. First, they replace the browser’s cache with their own faster, smarter version. Second, they help make the most of your available bandwidth.
Normally, when you’ve downloaded a web page, your modem is idle while you read it. Accelerator programs take advantage of this, working through the links on the page, and downloading them while you read. This is known as pre-fetching. When you click on a link, if it’s already been fetched, then you see it speedily displayed from your own hard disk instead of having to wait for it to come from the Internet.
This sounds ideal, but there are a few problems. Accelerators can be intrusive, and it’s possible for all this background activity to slow you down. It’s also hit-and-miss whether the next link you click will be to one of the pages pre-fetched by the accelerator. If it’s not, you won’t see any benefit at all.
Also, Internet purists argue that accelerators can slow down the Internet for everyone because they increase Internet traffic by fetching pages that might never be viewed. Despite big claims for them of speed increases of 10 times or more, most people are unlikely to see more than 50% improvement at best and tasks such as downloading files will be no faster at all.
Another software category tries to optimize Windows Dial-Up Networking. This is normally done through the MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit). The theory behind this is complex, but basically all Internet data sent to and from your computer travels in little chunks called packets. MTU defines the maximum size of each packet and the default MTU setting isn’t suitable for modem connections – by changing it, so the theory goes, you can get a big speed increase. Is it true? Some people report improved performance, others report no change at all.
It’s important to use the right tools for the job. If you’re downloading, use a download manager to speed things up. A good download manager checks for mirror sites to see which is faster, and even switches between sites during the download to get the best performance. You can even schedule downloads for off peak hours.
Phone Line
A major bottleneck in your Internet connection is your telephone line. Standard phone technology just isn’t good enough for speedy downloads. Therefore, you should seriously consider the other possibilities, ISDN and ADSL. Logging on is very quick compared to the tedious wait during dial-up. Rental could be high, but check with a few ISP’s and you may find it’s much cheaper than you imagined. If you need improved speed, the costs may be worth it. Plus, you will have a 24 hours always-on connection.
The faster your modem goes, the more pleasant your Internet experience will be.
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Finding Cisco firewalls for your IT network is easy if you buy on the web.
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 by adminYou’ll probably have heard of Cisco before and most people know that cisco firewalls are very good at what they do. If you are in need of items like this then you’ll be happy to hear that online, you can find a huge range of options that are suitable for everyone.
If you’re at all interested in buying items like this then there are a few things that you’ll need to consider before you go shopping. To start with, you’ll need to make sure that you set yourself a budget - there’s a simple way to do this.
Start by heading over to Google and grab a pen and paper. Type “cisco firewalls” or “Cisco” into the search engine and see what comes up. You should end up with a list of online stores that sell what you need - this will allow you to set a realistic budget.
You’ll also need to set a minimum spend to ensure that you don’t buy products that are too low in quality. Make sure that you’re able to find a range of prices so that you’ll be basing your budget on factual information and can therefore make an informed decision.
It’s always a good idea to set your budget first. You can then head online again and look at the major stores and see what they have to offer. Make sure that you go back for a closer look to any stores that sold items at great prices. Bear in mind though that price is an important factor. You may want to consider seeing if any stores will “beat that price” from other stores.
Even if they don’t, at least you will know that you tried. You can always be sure that when you’re buying branded products, that the quality will be good. Usually, price is a big reflection of the quality of the products, however, with branded items you can be sure the quality will be about the same.
Because of this, you can concentrate on getting yourself the best deals and this makes it much easier. This is why buying online is your best option for items like this. Cisco firewalls are suitable for just about any business PC user.
Overall, as long as you have done your research properly, and you’re aware of everything available on today’s market, you should find that buying hard drives online is easy and exciting. Just be sure to keep your wits about you and remember that quailty is important.
Writer Ewan S Sharp talks about buying Cisco firewalls on the web.
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