Understanding Wifi Part 2

In my previous article on this topic I outlined some terms and concepts to help you better understand Wifi and some of the issues you may encounter. This article goes under the skin of wifi to help you grasp the concepts.

Promises Promises

Many moons ago I attended a sales seminar where the teacher coined an adage I’ve tried to adhere to it went “promise a lot and deliver more”. This unfortunately is not an adage any internet provider I’ve encountered adheres to rather its completely the opposite. Take your pick of any of the providers you’ll get the same “promises” while the delivered product falls far short of that.

What consumer would sign up to a broadband service if the provider admitted “Our broadband service is patchy, oversubscribed, running on outdated and poorly designed and maintained infrastructure and will disappoint you more that elate you”. So they spin it with promises of speeds and service that would knock your socks off. I’ve yet to see any such service provided on a sustained basis.

So given the above you can be sitting on top of your broadband modem/router and have a 100% wifi signal and still have a terrible internet experience. If you understand that you are well on the way to coping with wifi in Ireland. Incidentally phones and tablets account for this in their design so don’t be fooled just because your RTE news page loads like a bullet. Chances are it’s from the phone/tablet cache and not real time. Laptops and desktops don’t generally use this trick hence I will hear my phone works fine but my laptop is dog slow. That is generally not true unless the signal quality differs between devices or there is a problem on the laptop.

Poor Broadband or Poor Wifi

Indentifying if the root cause of your poor internet connectivity is down to your broadband or your wifi is where technical skill and experience come into play. If I had a euro for every person I’ve encountered that has assured me they know the reason their connectivity is poor and were completely wrong Id be sitting on a beach in Jamaica.

Wifi is a signal therefore it is subject to a host of environmental factors which can affect it. Likewise not all wifi broadcast equipment is equal and in my experience when it comes to the quality of broadband equipment installed in homes you will not be supplied with top end equipment on your 12 month contract. Investing in equipment that suits your environment and needs can significantly enhance your internet experience.

Everyone claims to know everything about wifi – few actually do.

Understanding Wifi

Wifi use within the home and business continues to grow with more and more devices demanding use of this technology. The “internet of Things” will mean increasingly non computer devices in your home will rely on this technology to communicate with you. Understanding how it works, why it fails, and how you can optimize  can make your life much easier. Confusion reigns, not surprisingly, amongst many users of the technology and it’s failings. From streaming TV to accessing your email from your phone at home you rely on the technology to perform well. Unfortunately many factors can affect its performance.

Types of Wifi

Wifi is NOT 3g 4g or 5g. Your phone is equipped with both methods of communication but its important to understand these are separate technologies. For the purpose of this article I will address WiFi only.

Wireless B G N and AC

 The original wireless technology was wireless B and since its introduction faster versions have been released up to the very latest wireless AC. It is highly unlikely you have more than one device you use that has Wireless AC and even if you do the rest of your configuration is probably wireless N.

Wireless N can easily support streaming of TV, gaming, and your regular phones but it comes with several caveats as follows:

#1 your Wifi Connection is only as good as the strength of the signal to the broadcasting source.(usually your broadband modem).

#2 Your Wifi Speed is only as good as the speed of the connection to the broadcasting device and onward what speed that device has to the internet.

#3 The more devices you have on Wifi the more it will degrade the speed of ALL devices using the wifi signal.

#4 Any single Wifi enabled device can hog the wifi connection meaning it can consume virtually all of the bandwidth of the wifi signal,

#5 Wifi technology suffers from “phantom signals” and also channel saturation.

Next Month, God willing, I will continue on this topic.

When Is a Backup A Backup?

With the increased threat of ransomware and hacks of systems I thought it timely to examine backups and explore exactly what is meant by this often misunderstood word in the tech world. It is vital you understand, no matter what device we are talking about, what the different type of backups mean and how they can be used to recover from the many pitfalls which can befall any device.

Factory Recovery Backups

If you have ever purchased a laptop or desktop computer in the past the option to create recovery media was presented to you. In many cases I find that either this was never done or the original media has long disappeared into the some space or location we can’t remember.

Factory Restore Backups(FRB) are vital to create. I cannot over emphasize this fact. If you have a serious issue with your pc it can mean the difference between dumping the pc and repairing it. This is even more true on windows 8 and Windows 10 machines where the Windows product license is no longer printed on a sticker on the machine but is embedded in the hard coded memory (bios) of the machine. Incidentally if you own a windows 7 machine don’t be tempted to peel or scratch this sticker off and if it is wearing take a good quality photo of it and store it with your Factory recovery media.

Caveats On Factory Recovery Backups

There a few caveats with Factory Recovery backups that you should be aware of:

#1 Never use the FRB without consulting a qualified technician.

This is one of the most common mistakes I come across. FRB’s are the very last option to be employed when you run into trouble on a computer not the first. Restoring a computer to factory default installation with an underlining problem can result in the machine being unusable. I see it most often being employed to attempt to fix a machine that has slowed to a crawl. In many cases this is caused by a hardware issue. A FBR will NOT correct a hardware error but it will in some cases paper over it for a period and in many cases the next fail of the system will be catastrophic.

#2 Factory Recovery Backups can wipe your hard drive.

I never do a factory recovery unless I am completely satisfied I have ALL of the users data secured. I simply will not take the chance of the recovery backing up the data on the hard drive (which may be faulty) and then restoring it. You must backup your system and data before you attempt to use this feature. Incidentally most qualified technicians won’t even work on your original drive when using these backups. We clone the drive and work off the cloned drive to ensure if anything goes wrong we can start over.

I will continue on this topic in my next article.

Oliver Reidy is a computer technician and has been in the industry since 1981.You can contact him via email at help.desk@reidyonline.com or at the telephone numbers listed on this page. This article, and all previous articles, are available to view online at http://reidyonline.blogspot.ie/ or www.reidyonline.com/blogspot.htm

Drowning in a Sea of Mis/Disinformation

When it comes to making technology decisions and purchases you as the consumer are entering a minefield of disinformation and misinformation. Some of it is due to ignorance or hubris on the part of the person providing it but a large portion of this “fake news” is designed to ensure you are shielded from the truth on the products you intend to buy.

Buyer Beware

Most people are not reckless when it comes to spending their hard earned money and will avoid wasting it particularly when we are talking at a minimum 500 euro. The technology market and the sellers who operate in it are more than aware of this and will appeal to those tried and trusted baits – the bargain price and or the “as good as” argument.  To avoid these traps you need to have the maximum reliable knowledge about what you are buying at your fingertips or you’ll be sucked in and in many cases regret the purchase for the life of the product.  Sir Francis Bacon is attributed with coining the phrase “knowledge is power” and in today’s technology marketplace I would suggest the addition of the phrase “provided it is true”.

All That Glitters

Recently I did some consulting on TV purchases and this is one of the areas where you better have your wits about you. With the correct information you can get an excellent state of the art TV from a reliable manufacturer and eliminate all but one of your remote controls. In addition the correct TV will open up your viewing choices and make the long winter months more bearable. Price differences I encountered varied by as much as 350 euro between suppliers and it many cases the shops were hawking their own name brand models which are in my opinion not a spot on the more reliable and feature rich models.

The Growth of NRU’s (Non Repairable Units)

As users of technology we are all familiar with the NRU’s (non repairable units). Virtually all non technological devices in your house are NRU’s from your washing machine to your microwave. In computer technology the growth of NRU’s is on the increase and one many consumers are not familiar with. If you have been a computer user for more than 7 years you are used to the idea that when your computer breaks it can be repaired, albeit at a cost. This is no longer the case with all new computing devices and again sound advice and knowledge is key before you shell out your cash.

Oliver Reidy is a computer technician and has been in the industry since 1981.You can contact him via email at help.desk@reidyonline.com or at the telephone numbers listed on this page. This article, and all previous articles, are available to view online at http://reidyonline.blogspot.ie/ or www.reidyonline.com/blogspot.htm

Avoiding Slow Performance - Part 3

Parts one & two of this article can be found at the blog links at the bottom of this page.

Laptop/Desktops  Performance Issues

#4 Not enough Ram (memory installed)

Insufficient RAM (random access memory) on any computing device can severely impact both the performance and more importantly the life of the device. Understanding the relationship that ram plays in your device is quite often misunderstood. This area of understanding has become muddied by the advent of the tablet and smart phone.

Most computing devices consist at the most base level of three components –

#1 The Processor – aka cpu central processing unit or brain if you like,

#2 Ram (random access memory) provide an area to run apps.

#3 Storage for your information, the operating system and your apps.

The processor runs your apps and loads these apps into ram when you require them. If you had only one app then this would be a very simple process and unless the size and you would have a blazingly fast device. Obviously this is not the case so the cpu uses swapping to overcome this issue. Swapping involves moving your apps in and out of ram as needed. To do this the cpu and creates temporary files on your storage device and this process takes time. The more apps you run the slower your system will become as it must manage the swapping process as you pop between your apps.

Thus the more ram a device has the less swapping that must occur. It’s as simple as that. Adding additional ram to desktops and laptops was usually possible but like everything this option has become less available with the move to cheap throw away laptops. Smart phones and tablets cannot have ram upgrades. Before you rush out and buy more ram its important to understand that ram alone is not the only issue. The power of your cpu and the storage on your device are part and parcel of the package. There are also other considerations which to avoid confusion I won’t go into!

The swapping process requires energy and energy creates heat. Heat kills devices. It is vital to keep your device as cool as possible. When it comes to laptops and desktops regular checks by a qualified technician will ensure all the components in your computer that ensure it stays cool are working effectively. Finally a note on storage, the cheaper laptops now available have less than 1/10 of the storage capacity of computers I worked on ten years ago. Progress ? You decide on that one.

Next Month, God willing, I will continue on this and the other topics listed.

Avoiding Slow Performance - Part 2

Part one of this article can be found at the blog links at the bottom of this page.

Laptop/Desktops  Performance Issues

#2 Full or nearly full hard disk drive (not as common as you might imagine)

One of the common myths floating about computers is the “full” hard drive problem.

I rarely see this problem apart from those customers who are movie download junkies and insist on keeping all 6 series of “The Walking Dead” on their hard drive. (not sure if there were more but anyway). Modern computers, excluding brand new models, were equipped with large hard drives and if you are getting messages about your hard drive been full it should be investigated but it is rarely a case of the drive being full. More common for me to find is that the customer has downloaded one of the total rubbish “speedup” apps that are epidemic on the internet. If I had a euro for every time I came across one of those apps I’d not be writing this article from Bettystown.

I love good apps that help keep your system in tune and organized but I can assure you it is unlikely you know the names of them as they are not bandied about on every site you browse. If you suspect you actually have this hard drive full issue seek professional assistance from a real flesh and blood qualified technician and avoid so called “free” system cleanup apps. You might also want to avoid wannabe experts although I am shooting myself in the foot telling you that as the aforementioned “experts” generate a good deal of work for me fixing their repairs.

#3 Overloading the device with too many memory resident apps.

This particular problem is very, very common and is usually not the fault of computer users. In case you are in any doubt the aim of some many apps is to always be active on your computer and where possible to drive or direct you to specific web pages when you do some browsing. Commonly called junkware or spyware they are not produced by some random teenage computer whiz but by corporations in the business of generating advertising revenue from their sponsors. They are paid on the number of visitors visiting their clients websites and you may be a victim of this apps.

Other offenders in this category include Microsoft and Google both of home produce apps that stay resident for somewhat legitimate reasons but in reality could be a lot less memory hungry. Promising benefits to you in return for eating your precious memory resources I personally find the trade off not worth it. Amongst the specific apps are Google desktop and Microsoft Skype. How often do you actually get an unscheduled call on Skype? For me it’s rare so I shut it down most of the time. Whatsapp and other voice apps on smartphones have mostly superseded Skype in most cases so consider getting rid of it if you don’t use it.

Next Month, God willing, I will continue on this and the other topics listed.