Is Wi-Fi 6 really that much better?

How good is Wi-Fi 6?There’s a new flavor of Wi-Fi in town: Wi-Fi 6!

In case you’re confused, I’m talking about IEEE 802.11ax, the successor to 802.11ac (which is now called Wi-Fi 5).

Are you confused yet?

While I’m not a terribly big fan of wireless stuff, Wi-Fi 6 does include several improvements that increase capacity and speed for more connected users.

The question is: does Wi-Fi 6 go far enough, or is wired still better?

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Time to switch to a HomeGroup on Windows 10

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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Turn your Windows 10 computer into a mobile hotspot

You’ve most certainly heard about “mobile hotspots”, which is when you connect your smartphone or tablet to WiFi in town, at a hotel, in a restaurant, etc.

Hotspots let you use a local wireless data connection without blasting through the monthly data limit on your mobile plan.

Don’t confuse hotspots with tethering. Tethering is when you surf the net on your puter by using your smartphone as your puter’s net connection. Hotspots are sort of like “reverse tethering”: you use your puter’s net connection to surf on your phone. Don’t miss: All about smartphone and tablet tethering

So how do you set up a WiFi hotspot on your wired internet puter? Actually, Windows 10 makes it easier than ever…

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Faster ethernet coming without cable changes

Multi-Gigabit EthernetFor those of you who don’t like to use WiFi and prefer to run a wired home network (me!), you’re gonna love this.

There is a new standard that was ratified a few months ago that defines 2.5 and 5 Gbps ethernet.

If that’s not got you all excited, how about this:

You can use your existing ethernet cables! 🙂

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