9 October 2018 | Computers, How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
Way back in 1995, I was a freshman at university. I had this new thing called “The Internet” at my fingertips.
It was cool, but I wanted to know how it worked. I asked someone, and they wouldn’t answer the question – mostly because they couldn’t answer!
Today, everyone knows and uses the internet, but people keep asking me questions about the basic concepts that make it go.
So, I figured it was about time to give a basic intro to how the internet actually works, including a simplified discussion of networks, IP addresses, ports, protocols, DNS, bandwidth, latency, and more!
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25 September 2018 | Gizmos, Networking, Video |
If you decide to ditch your smartphone, then you have to pick the right dumbphone.
“You must choose, but choose wisely.”
There are many factors that come into play, like where you live and what wireless provider you’re using.
But it gets way more complicated than that…
2G, 3G, or 4G? And then, will 2G be around much longer with the release of 5G? What about 3G networks? How long will 3G be sticking around?
And then we have 4G dumbphones: There aren’t very many (at all), and they aren’t as Google-free as we might hope. SIGH…
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18 September 2018 | Computers, How Does it Work?, Networking |
I recently finished reading the book Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet.
Now, I’ve known for awhile that the world of high-tech – and especially the internet – doesn’t quite work the way everyone thinks it does.
We worship tech billionaires as if they’re the Second Coming, praising them for their ingenuity and standing in awe of their sheer genius.
The reality, on the other hand, is a bit more mundane.
Pretty much all the big players in the internet/tech world got where they are with a little help. And by “a little help”, I mean A LOT…
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14 August 2018 | How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
Your average home WiFi router or access point often has a setting so that you can reduce its transmit power level.
This is pretty handy to know given what I talked about in my earlier video, Are WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G, and 5G bad for you?
The typical range for 2.4GHz WiFi is 150ft (46m) indoors, and 300ft (92m) outdoors. For 5GHz Wifi, it’s more like 50ft (15m) and 100ft (30m). The lower you set the power, the shorter the range – but the less you are blasted by the WiFi signal!
There’s no reason to leave the transmit power at maximum if you don’t need the range… As an added bonus, lower range means increased security since it’s less likely someone else will “see” your WiFi network.
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3 July 2018 | Computers, Do-It-Yourself, Networking |
I’m not a big fan of WiFi, but I do use it from time to time.
It’s just convenient to use for some gizmos where an ethernet dongle is not supported.
Trouble is, I kept forgetting to turn off my WiFi router when I was done.
And then – two days later – I would discover I was still bombarding myself with magic 5 GHz death rays.
Not any more!!
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15 May 2018 | Computers, Networking |
Back on April 1st of this year, CloudFlare announced a new public DNS resolver service.
But in this case, it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke at all: the new 1.1.1.1 DNS service is very real and very fast!
Well, that’s nice, but what the heck does DNS do?
And how is it gonna make your web browsing speedier?
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30 January 2018 | Computers, Networking |
Way back in 2009, I wrote this article:
How to Determine the Master Browser in a Windows Workgroup
I also released a tool called LAN Scanner that lets you see all the puters on your local network, their IP addies, MAC addresses, and which puter is the Master Browser.
That’s great… except that recently, it stopped working!
While digging into this problem, I discovered that the traditional “Network” browsing in Windows has kind of become broken since Microsoft has officially poo-pooed (and disabled) SMB v1.
What that means for you is that if you have a home network with Windows 10 machines, you’re going to want to switch to using a HomeGroup – but there’s a catch!
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8 July 2017 | Computers, How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
There are a few things you need to understand about staying safe and secure online. You need to realize what you’re actually up against.
But don’t fret, because it’s really not a big deal if you always keep in mind how things usually work.
For example, e-mail is never really safe, HTTPS doesn’t really always keep your connection secure, you can be tracked online very easily despite what most people will tell you, and you should always use some kind of anti-virus/malware protection no matter what OS you use.
And remember that the OS you use makes very little difference if you’ve taken some basic precautions… In fact, thinking you’re safe because you use Not Windows is probably a bad idea!
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11 June 2017 | How Does it Work?, Networking, Video |
Ah, click farms…
Click farms are organizations that you can pay to boost you or your product on social media.
They do their thing through the use of “bots” or semi-bots, which are automated systems to like, share, and otherwise promote something.
But hang on, is this real? According to two US universities, it’s very real…
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2 April 2017 | Computers, Networking |
I was reading a French forum recently, and the folks there were discussing their 1 gigabit fiber internet connections. Lucky them!
Someone posted and remarked that his download speeds were nowhere near 1 Gbps, but more like 80 Mbps.
He then asked if his ethernet cable mattered, and the response was along the lines of, “Yes, and make sure you get one with good connectors.”
Well, um… Yes and No.
So, this is everything you need to know about choosing a good ethernet cable for your wired network. It’s much simpler than it seems!
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Way back in 1995, I was a freshman at university. I had this new thing called “The Internet” at my fingertips.
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