Choosing a Travel Router
A travel router isn't for everyone. But for people who stay over often with lots of devices, it saves a lot of logging in and adds a layer of security.
Hardware
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Wi-Fi, internet security, connection troubleshooting, and networking for small businesses. All written in-house.
Hardware
Protecting Network Equipment from Lightning and Power Surges
A power strip with a switch protects nothing from lightning. What protects is equipment built for the job, installed on the right line.
Hardware
Planning Your Network When Building a House
The most expensive networking decision in a house is made before the house exists, usually by someone not thinking about networking at all.
Hardware
Documenting Your Own Network
The expensive part of an outage isn't the repair. It's the time spent remembering how the network was set up in the first place.
Hardware
Automatic Backups on Your Home Network
Most people lose data not because they had no backup, but because their last backup was made eight months ago.
Hardware
Setting Up the Network for Your TV Corner
One corner of the room holds five devices that all want internet, and the router is in another room. That's a layout problem, not a plan-speed problem.
Hardware
What It Costs to Run a Router 24 Hours a Day
A router runs 8,760 hours a year. The hourly figure is tiny, but it only starts to make sense once calculated, and the result often contradicts expectations.
Hardware
Outdoor Access Points
Exterior walls are twice as thick as interior ones, and often reinforced concrete. Wi-Fi that's strong in the living room is down to one bar in the gazebo, not because of distance, but because of the wall.
Hardware
External Wi-Fi Antennas
A 9 dBi antenna doesn't make the signal "stronger". It changes its shape: further sideways, thinner up and down. That's good for some homes, and actively bad for multi-storey ones.
Hardware
Access Point or Second Router
In the shop, access points and routers cost about the same and look about the same. The difference is what each does with the cable coming in, and that decides how fiddly the setup will be.
Hardware
Scheduling Wi-Fi On and Off at the Router
Almost every router has a Wi-Fi scheduler nobody opens. One simple schedule often works better than a reminder every night.
Hardware
Faulty Router Power Adapter
An adapter costing a few dollars is often the cause of a router that looks broken. The key is three figures on the label: volts, amps, and polarity.
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