I had a consultation today with a client who wanted help with their new Acer AOD250-1962 10.1-Inch Pink Netbook – Over 3 Hours of Battery Life. So i went over email and the usual easy stuff. They aren’t really tech savvy so I had to slowly walk them over to how to get the most out of the of the system.    As I was working on the system and making sure it was running smoothly, I saw their broadband wireless  network was unencrypted, which is something you shouldn’t do.  So I had to talk to them about why it is ‘so important’ to keep that encrypted.  You really don’t want people to be watching what you do on your wireless network do you?

So my client asked me to setup and secure there wireless broadband router.   I was being nice and decided, suffice it to say if they were having anyone borrowing their network for illegal stuff, they aren’t no more.

Not to say that isn’t hard or anything for people who don’t embrace technology, it can be a hurdle to understanding how you can easily become a victim from not take some precautions.   I then started talking about SuperAntiSpyware, and how they could get it for $29.95 and get a lifetime subscription.   You should of saw my clients face, both spouses gave me a look of disbelieve.  They bought 2 licenses for there two systems, I am really glad they bought them to better protect their computers from hackers and scareware authors.

As I was updating the system, I saw they didn’t have any firewalls or Antivirus on their system so i offered to install one of the free antivirus.   I also offered to install a free Firewall other than Microsofts.

If you haven’t headed my warnings on why you should have Antivirus or Firewalls, I would want you to go back and check out some of my articles about them.   You will see the importance and value of having them on your system.   I also got them to start backing up their system using Mozy 2 gig Free but they still have a ways to go.  Remember the RULE of 3′s, which is Backup, Backup, and Backup.   You can never have to many ways to backup your important data.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

According to a media reports, Erik Tews and Martin Beck claim that they have found a way to unlock the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) key, used by WPA, to read data sent from a wireless router to laptop computers. According to the researchers, the key can be cracked in 12-15 minutes.

[via Sophos]

According to Sophos, they are claim that people can now watch what you are doing on a Wireless router to a laptop. Although this isn’t to be unexpected this is a very serious out come. It is now easier to watch what people are doing online. So does that mean people can see everything you do? Not necessary. According to some people this is harder than it seems, most of the websites you visit are not encrypted, but websites that use the “https” protocol are more safer to use online. You should be safe if you are buying things online as long as you are sure it is secure. Some other steps to take to help make it harder to unencrypte your wireless single is to use Roboform promotion codes you will get for 10% or 20% off the purchase price!!

Some other steps to consider are:

• 10 ways to keep your wireless router Secure
• Understanding your wireless router

If you have a wireless router and want to be secure with any transactions online you might think about hooking up to the internet via the CAT5 cable.  This is one way to prevent anyone from seeing what you are doing online and protects your privacy.  Although this too can be overcome in certain circumstances they are much harder to do and implement so you are safer this way than with most others.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

According to Cnet News:
The test, which began being applied in the Reno, Nev., area on Saturday, limits customers of AT&T’s slowest DSL service to 20 gigabytes of monthly data transfers, while users of the fastest service will be limited to 150 gigabytes. Customers will have access to an online tool to track their usage and will receive notification when they reach 80 percent. Those who exceed their limits will be charged $1 per gigabyte.

[Via Cnet News]

So you just received the information that AT&T is doing this. How do you want to keep track of your online usage. I’ve got some good tools to help you. Although they will only help to a certain point you must remember a few tips and these tips are:

• Limiting use of your Bandwidth!!
• Understanding your Wireless Router
• 10 Ways to keep your wireless router secure!

With these steps you would greatly increase stoping unnecessary use of your bandwidth.  Most people don’t understand that any program you use on your network will be counted on the total bill.  If you know of any good ways to help stop bandwidth by all means tell people and if you find any good programs that might help, please leave a comment.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

With the Recent Comcast deciding to declare how much of bandwidth you can use.  I decided to talk about how to limit your bandwidth.  So Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your bandwidth:

Chapter 1 – Understanding your Wireless Router : This is a must.  This chapter talks about how to access your router and and how what is an IP!!

Chapter 2 — 10 Ways to keep your wireless router Secure – This one will help with those pesky neighbors who are leeching of your internet and Bandwidth!

Chapter 3

• Turn off Auto Update to Unimportant programs : Having several programs checking for updates can start to add up.  Although this is a small amount of bandwidth.  It will give your that extra amount.
• When not using your Internet turn off your Modem : This one is the most useful because when your not using your internet just turning off the modem will prevent you from using to much bandwidth.
  
• Use a program like AppSnap to update your programs : Having told you that you should stop auto-updating on some of programs.  Here is how you can update manually.  This little program will check most of what you have installed on your system and will let you know which ones have available updates.  This should be done once a week or every other week!!
• Use a Program like GoodSync to perform backups : Know that some people have backups in the cloud this will greatly reduce the amount of bandwidth your system will use to upload to the cloud.  Get an E3 Amazon account and use the program to back to E3.
• By an External Backup Hard Drive : This option is also good for people who have the need for all the bandwidth possible.  Buying an external hard drive for use as backup is also a good idea so that way you don’t depend on your internet bandwidth.   Just remember when you do a backup take it off site just in case of a fire or earthquake or something like that.   Might be time to buy a Safety Deposit Box, and use that.
  

In an Upcoming post I will be discussing the program or tools you need to  monitor your bandwidth!  This is going to be a must for thos who need to monitor you monthly bandwidth per month.  I will be looking into some of the options available to you for free.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.