Randy Benjamin
How To Get A Rock-Solid Wireless Internet Connection
As a computer tech with over 35 years in the business, I've seen a lot of Internet connection problems. That’s especially true with WIFI.
The most common problem is in establishing a ‘good’ connection between the remote computer and the wireless router. Many people don’t realize that just because you’re receiving a signal from your wireless router, (AP) you still may not be able to log onto the Internet. Here’s the problem.
A weak or noisy internet connection is usually caused by lost or scrambled data packets. These damaged packets are constantly being 're-sent' between the router and the receiving computer. This will slow down your connection considerably and could even keep you from getting on the Internet at all.
There are several ways you can improve these weak WIFI signals. The easiest is to move the wireless router. If possible, try to locate your router near the center of the building. I’ve picked up WIFI signals from as far away as 1,000 feet when there were no obstacles blocking the transmission. On the other hand, I’ve also had a hard time just getting the signal to go from one end of a house to the other.
This can be especially true if the router is located on a different floor than the receiving computer. The more walls and floors the signal passes through, the weaker it gets.
If you can’t locate the router near the center of the building, there are several other things you can do. First, try moving the receiving computer to a different location. Even turning it in a different direction may help. Laptops often have the WIFI antenna built into the monitor so just turning the laptop slightly might be all you’ll need to do to improve the reception.
In general, I’ve found that USB Internet adapters work much better than laptop internal receivers. The reason is...these external adapters come with a three to five foot cord allowing the adapter to be placed high in the air and away from obstacles that might be blocking the WIFI signal. Unfortunately, this means dragging around an extra device which is not what I really want to do. Luckily, in most cases your internal WIFI device will get the job done just fine.
If you need to reach out to an AP that’s hundreds or even thousands of feet away, you’ll need to investigate adding a high-gain antenna and a USB Internet adapter. This is actually old technology. Ham radio buffs have been building hi-gain antennas for decades allowing them to receive signals from around the world. There are various antenna designs available that practically anyone can build. For a few dollars, you can boost your range considerably.
The world record for a WIFI connection using ‘only’ a hi-gain antenna is 238 miles! You’re probably not planning on challenging any records, but it's pretty common to see people connecting to wireless routers up to a mile or more away, just by using DIY antennas.
If you’re not satisfied with your wireless Internet connection, try some of the things I've mentioned. They should help. If you’re still having problems then I’d look into building your own hi-gain WIFI antenna. It will provide the ultimate in wireless performance.
Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Friday, January 22, 2010
WIFI – Stretching the Wireless Connection by Randy Benjamin
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Hard Disk Recovery Basics You Really Need To Know
More and more people involved in the IT aspects of their workplace are finding it useful to learn the rudiments of hard disk recovery, as more and more valuable data is stored on ever-more complex hard drives. Although being able to call upon the services of specialists in hard disk recovery remains essential in cases where the hardware itself has become damaged or the files corrupted, many office workers have found it useful to find out how such systems work in order to take preventative measures and try to minimise the risk of their storage systems crashing – and taking that all-important info with it.
The first thing to find out is how such systems work, in the most basic terms. Computer use will result in information being written on to the hard drive. Even when such data is extracted, it leaves its mark – and even when such data appears “impossible” to extract, resulting in the need for a professional hard disk recovery service, it is in fact still there, merely unable to be accessed by the normal means.
A cardinal error that many people who work with computers make is to fiddle with the device when it stops co-operating. Any IT professional will tell you that the important thing is to stop using it immediately. Most tampering is done in a state of panic, and can make things far more complicated than necessary when the hard disk recovery process begins in earnest.
Carrying on as if nothing is the matter is in some ways even riskier, as continuing to use a computer that has experienced data extraction problems can lead to new data overwriting the old information and eventually leading to a catastrophic loss that is all the more difficult to remedy. Generic disk repair software can also have a similarly disastrous effect, which is why it is better in such circumstances to rely on the specialist tools wielded by the properly-trained professionals.
Another piece of advice, which everyone hears all the time, is to regularly back up important information. Despite the ubiquity of this advice, it is still surprising how many users neglect to do this. A freshly backed-up system makes data retrieval much easier in the event of a crash, and even if all the data is not there, backing up information will make the situation much simpler for a hard disk recovery expert to deal with.
By: KimChambers
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