Fiddler is billed as a "Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet"; it’s different from TCPView in the respect that monitoring traffic is only part of what it does. On top of network monitoring, it will also show every single file sent and received and if any new files have triggered network...

Most of you out there are familiar with web sites like SpeedTest.NET and PingTest.NET, but this only covers the network address of your computer. When you want to test a web site’s response to a PING, and also test to see how the site fares out when PINGed from other countries, the place to do your testing is WatchMouse; that site will test any domain from...

Outside of the US, large ISPs want more money for all the bandwidth sucked up from streaming video. And although this may be premature to say this, I believe they’ll get it. How they’ll get it that most likely consumers will feel the pinch and have to pay more fees just to access the internet. Just north of the US, Canada will soon be feeling the...

I received an e-mail that stated the following verbatim: Allied Fiber is Constructing a Nationwide, Network-Neutral, Dark Fiber Cable System Linking U.S. Subsea Landing Points, Major Data Centers, Colocation Interconnection Facilities, Rural Networks and Wireless Towers to Meet Increasing Market Demand Construction Underway to Complete the 1300 Route-Mile Phase...

Usenet is something you either: a. Remember years ago as that wild and crazy messaging system you used to use. b. Currently use to download “warez” via NZB files faster than you ever could via torrents. c. Never heard of. You’re most likely an A or C. Quick one-liner description of Usenet for you Cs out there: Usenet is a worldwide distributed...

When I heard about Google Buzz, the first thought that went through my head was, "I wonder if this is going to be similar like Yahoo! Buzz?" Yes. Yahoo! did this a long time ago. All who use Yahoo! Buzz raise your hand. [insert sound of crickets chirping here] That’s what I thought. I usually don’t share the same opinion of large web...

If you are a system admin who manages lots of computers on a network, having a tool to help is must have. If you are in the market for something like this, check out Spiceworks. Spiceworks is the complete network management & monitoring, helpdesk, PC inventory & software reporting solution to manage Everything IT in small and medium businesses. This tool...

Hate Facebook? MySpace seems old hat now? Want something that’s easy to use and gives you instant message capability too? Here are three you can try out. You’ve most likely never heard of these, but hey, that’s half the fun because being early in sites like these means you’ll probably get more e-popular. All three of these sites have...

Spyware, by its nature, tends to ‘phone home’. That is, it gathers information about you and then transmits it secretly to another location. The traditional way to combat this is to have a bunch of monitoring utilities or scanners to detect this, but a more advanced way is to simply gather the data yourself and track it down. A tool to help do this...

The question of how many literal connections a wireless router can handle is anywhere between 50 and 253 depending on manufacturer. (Quick question answered: It’s not 255 because the router has to assign itself a few IPs.) The question of how many usable simultaneous connections is a different story altogether because that number is drastically...

Home wireless networks are, generally speaking, pretty reliable but there are always some ‘tweaks’ you can do to squeeze more performance or stability out of it. I came across a good guide on Microsoft’s site which offers easy to do steps. Of course, the most obvious (moving the router to a central location) is the most effective, but there are...

It’s most likely true that your computer at home runs circles around the computer in the office or in the classroom. You sit at the computer assigned to you and reel in agony due to the slowness. Doing things as simple as loading google.com take up to 20 seconds whereas at home the page is loaded less than a second after you press the enter key. The box...

There are two facts which are pretty much indisputable:Most of us are working with not only more files, but much larger files, than we were only a few years ago. Most of us have an old PC which we don’t really have a use for.Solution: You can use that old PC as network storage. It is easy to do.It is called Network Attached Storage, or simply NAS....

This simple checklist of tasks should get you started on using your router to its best ability, enhancing your LAN security. These are generic features that should be on most routers out there; consult your router’s user manual if you have doubts about where to find these settings. If you are still in the market looking to buy a router, a good idea is to...

Having a secure home network is your best defense against unwanted intrusions from the internet. Two methods (with multiple options) can be used to secure your home network. The first is hardware and the second is software. Note before continuing: All the hardware and software in the world you use to protect your home network will not protect you against...

Some routers have special means of handling Virtual Private Networks (VPN). Other routers may require putting the client computer for the VPN in the DMZ, which has reduced security. VPN features vary widely from router to router, and many routers do not have any VPN-specific features at all. [hidepost=1] VPN Passthrough A VPN passthrough detects PPTP and IPSec...

These features let you control what you let connect to your wireless network and what can pass through from the Internet to the local networks. By default, anyone and anything can connect to your wireless network, and there is no traffic from the Internet allowed to pass through to any computer on the local network. [hidepost=1] Common Features Firewall features...

Sharing a printer on your network is another very useful feature of a network. Allow all of your computers to use the same printer. There are three ways to accomplish this: [hidepost=1]Have the printer plugged directly into one of the computers on the network and simply use the operating system to share it. Plug the printer directly into the network using a...

Q: (Wired/Wireless) All my router’s lights are on and will not go off. When I try to connect to the router, no network connectivity is present. What should I do? A: On all routers there is a “reset” option. It is a button physically on the router. If after a reset this does not work – power off the router, wait ten seconds and then turn it back...

This chapter is a video presentation. [hidepost=1] [flv:http://pcmech.s3.amazonaws.com/BYON/11_workgroups_and_protocols.flv 610 458] [/hidepost] [hidepost=2] Download video (MOV) [/hidepost]