Now that you’re all settled in at your new place (and in possession of the hard-earned knowledge that metal and microwaves don’t mix), it’s time to get your internet up and running. The process of getting the internet set up and running is fairly straightforward (just make sure you do a bit of research on all the possible providers before...

As you know from the last article, a lightning strike killed my beloved Linksys WRT54GL, and that made me a sad panda. Being that plugging in your network connection direct to your cablemodem is a seriously stupid idea, and that I needed wireless for my netbook, I drove on down to my local CompUSA for a replacement wireless router. Now before continuing, this is...

Interference can be caused from many things in your home or office, but they all result in one thing: your wireless network doesn’t seem to provide its expected range. Check the specifications of your wireless router first to make sure that you have realistic expectations from the device. If you are exceeding the maximum range of your device, you may need to...

Over the course of the weekend my trusty lil’ Belkin F5D7230-4 Wireless G router started making a small electronic screeching noise. It was the kind of noise that’s indicative that a capacitor will soon erupt, so it was time to retire her. She was around 4 or 5 years old, so I can’t complain. I figured now was the time to upgrade to a wi-fi...

You’ve heard of interesting ways concerning how to extend the range of a wi-fi router. Some involve using a small dish instead of a traditional stick-style antenna, others involve aluminum foil, and yet others involve creating DIY antennas with a coil. But is there anything you can simply buy pre-built that will do the job right the first time? Yes....

I have posted about several tools in the past which allow you to monitor the bandwidth usage on your computer. While these work great for individual machines, what if you want to monitor your entire network? While you could install a bandwidth monitor on each computer and add up the numbers, the easist way is to just view the bandwidth totals on your router...

In the context of this article I’m referring to consumer grade home internet routers, as in the type that typically have one WAN or "Internet" port and four LAN ports. It’s quite difficult to pin down what specifically causes a router to fail. For example, if you have a dead router, hand it to an electrical engineer and asked him or...

If you are in the market for router, consider going open source. In case you are wondering how a hardware device can be open source, it is actually quite simple. While the physical device may not be modified (easily at least), the firmware can be which allows for open source developers to essentially control how the device works. Netgear has recently released an...

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...

A router is any device that acts as a gateway between 2 or more separate networks. In our case, that means that the local network is connected to the Internet, and vice versa. The router ignores traffic local traffic or traffic it is not configured to handle, but when Internet access is attempted from within the local network, it springs into action. With NAT...

About a decade ago I read news stories (on the internet of course) that yes, eventually the internet will simply run out of IP addresses. This is because the internet primarily assigns IPv4 addresses. You know them as four numbers separated by periods, such as 192.168.1.100. The solution to the problem is the assignment of IPv6 addresses. More on that in a...