Wireless
How to increase the strength of wireless signal?
Dec 3rd
Connecting many computers into networks is now a necessity in any office environment. The information required for the whole office requires to be shared among all the employees. Therefore networking of computers becomes a must. But there are many inherent problems in creating such networks. If the office is a new environment then laying cables for connecting computers becomes tedious and messy. If the building is old then the wiring may cause damages to the building. If the office space spreads out into many floors then laying cables may be an issue.
These days ‘Wireless network’s are being deployed in many places. These wireless networks eliminates the need for laying wires. All the problems mentioned in the above paragraph are solved by use of wireless network instead of a wired network. You can place the computer or the laptop anywhere easily without any trouble anytime.
There are times when the wireless network’s signal is not strong enough and cannot be reached by some computers in the office or a home. A big wall in between may block the signals significantly. The signals emitted by cordless phones may interfere with the wireless lan’s signals. Use of microwave oven may also interfere with the Wi-Fi signals. Radio may also affect the Wi-Fi signals. These problems can be solved by increasing the signal strength of the wireless lan network.
These are some of the tips to increase the signal strength and the performance of your wireless network (wi-fi, 802.11x)
Place the AP (Access Point) in the center of the hall.
Access point is an important component in a wireless network. If this AP is placed in the center then all the computers will receive signals with equal strength. AP has an omnidirectional antenna. Therefore by placing it in the center, the signals will be transmitted in all directions equally. If the AP is placed near the wall then the signal will be transmitted even beyond the wall which enables hackers to enter your wireless network and harm your network.
Increase the signal strength.
Only of the signal strength is strong, the computers in the network can effectively connect to each other. there are two ways you can increase the signal strength.
1. You can use the Signal boosting antennas
2. You can use Wi-Fi repeaters. These repeaters increase the signal strength. But the use of wi-fi repeaters will slow down the speed because between each packet that is transmitted over the repeaters there has to be authentication and security issues that slow down the speed of transfer. So you can use repeaters only if there are few computers in the network.
Make signals ‘directional’
You can transmit signals in a specific direction using these directional antennas. For example in a corridor you can use these directional antennas instead of omnidirectional. Similarly between two repeaters you can use directional antennas.
New wi-fi products
Keep updating your wi-fi network with new available technologies and products to make it faster, secure and robust.
Anytime Anywhere Email using wireless devices
Dec 3rd
If you ask computer users what is the one thing that can’t forgo in life, their answers will be ‘email’. Yes, emails have become part and parcel of every computer user’s life. But if you want to use emails anywhere, anytime then definitely desktop computers cannot be of help. We cannot carry our desktops everywhere we go.
Can we use notebooks? Compared to desktop pcs, notebooks can be carried around easily. But notebooks needs a lot battery and therefore it can used only for a few hours.
If there is a device smaller than the notebook then it will be easy to carry it anywhere we go. We can also check and send emails anywhere and anytime. PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), Smart Phone and cell phones can be used to send and receive emails wirelessly. But not all PDAs, Smartphones and cell phones support emails. But most of the new ones support Internet and emails wirelessly.
PDA and Pocket PC
For those who want to send and receive emails wirelessly, PDAs are the best choice. In the early days of PDAs, the Palm pilot 1000 was called Mobile email device. Only later, PDAs were referred as organizers. Therefore whichever model of PDA you buy, it will have email facility. Therefore you just have to confirm whether the PDA you buy supports Internet access.
If your PDA does not support Internet connectivity but supports Bluetooth then you also need to buy a bluetooth cell phone. Then you can use the cellphone to connect to Internet and then use your PDA to connect to the cellphone using bluetooth. Then you can use the email feature in PDA to use your emails.
WiFi equipped PDAs can be used to check emails using your wireless network. You can use many PDA email software such as Webis Mail 2.0, Izymail online, Versa mail 2.5, snapper mail standard, Basejet, Rite Mail 2.0 etc. Even when you travel you can use the WiFi hotspots and connect to internet wirelessly and check your emails.
Smart Phone
In SmartPhones such as Sony Ericsson P900 the email software is already installed. You can also install other email software for smart phones such as Outlook, Notes or I’m in touch.
Using Smart Phones you can use the same device to make phone calls as well as use emails and Internet. This is the advantage of smart phones.
If you have POP3 emails then you can configure your smart phone to check emails at frequent intervals and see if you have new emails. For this you should have subscribed to GPRS service from your phone operator.
Some email providers alert the user of new emails through SMS. But for this they charge a premium.
The only problem is in replying to emails. Using the small keys in the smart phone it will take a long time for you to type a long reply and it is very difficult.
Even reading mails in SmartPhones is a bit difficult due to the screen size.
But definitely it is a major advantage to get your important emails anytime anywhere.
Beware of Virus in mobile phones
Dec 2nd
These days, even cell phones are not spared by viruses. Beware of viruses spreading in hand phones. Cell phones, hand held computers and Internet devices are affected by viruses. Warnings are given worldwide that the viruses that previously targeted just PCs and servers are now targeting mobile phones and they can cause more damage than in computers.
These viruses only target the higher end hand phones. 3G phones, WiFi enabled phones and phones with Internet access are the targeted phones. In developed countries mobile commerce is quite common and therefore when these phones are affected millions of dollars are lost.
Business emails, stock indices and other m-commerce activities carried out using mobile phones and therefore they are more virus prone. The good news is that there are many anti virus software available for mobile phones.
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