Tips For Making Your Garden An Internet Hot Spot

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Many people have experienced the problem of weak wifi signal in a particular room or a different floor of their home. However, what do you do when you need that signal out in your garden. 

Whether you keep an office outside the house, or if you just want to check your email outside, there’s a multitude of ways to make it happen. We’ve put together a list of the top suggestions for turning your garden into a hot spot.

PC (or Mac) Maintenance

The problem with your internet speed out in the garden may lie within your laptop itself and not the signal strength. You can carry out general maintenance such as scans for malware and viruses. Defrag-ing your laptop will only further help its speed. A good rule of thumb as for how much space should be left free on your drive is usually double your RAM or 10 percent (whichever comes first in your case). For example, if I have a laptop with an 8 GB RAM, I would want to leave 16 GB free on my hard drive. Or if I have a 750 GB hard drive, I may want to leave 75 GB free. Not only is everyday maintenance help your laptop performance, it may aid in your internet speed so you don’t have to go out and buy a product to improve connection.

Outdoor Repeater

A repeater is an electronic device that simply replicates a signal coming from the original router in your home. These can be used if the wifi signal is particularly weak in one side or level of the house. If you have an old router lying around, then there isn’t even a need to buy a repeater as an extra router can perform the same function.

However, for wireless to reach your garden, an old router might not be ideal since they’re suited for indoors. Outdoor repeaters are more suited to the elements, be it rain or shine, and tend to offer a greater range. They can be expensive, but they come with perks such as water proofing, built-in firewalls (depending on the brand), and the ability to be mounted outdoors. You can’t say the same for your indoor router.

Outdoor Access Points

If trees aren’t in the way, an OAP can offer a range of up to 2000 ft when it comes to getting a wireless signal. Even better, they can be placed outdoors (if you can manage an Ethernet cable connection). The reason these have gained popularity is due to price increases by ISPs. As a result, neighbors sometimes use OAPs to share a connection in order to save money. Similar to repeaters, OAPs come waterproof, are tolerant of wider temperature ranges, and are made for sometimes rugged environments. OAPs can even act as repeaters, bridges, and offer other operations depending on the brand you select.

Stick it Out

If all else fails, just stick it out. These laptop sticks can allow you the luxury of internet connection simply by plugging into your USB port. This can be used almost anywhere where your wireless provider is located. The downside is you may be limited to a 3G or 4G connection speed, and the sticks can be lost. However, the stick can be used on multiple devices and offers you a mobile hotspot almost anywhere.

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*by andreascy*

The Advantages Of Purchasing An Acer Laptop

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

When it comes to purchasing a laptop, the market is wide open. There are numerous brands and models to choose from and one of the most popular, as far as international sales are concerned, is Acer. Acer is actually the #2 laptop brand in the world (regarding overall sales). The brand offers dependability, affordability and portability, just to name a few of the primary features.

With Acer, one of its best claims to its intrinsic value is its affordability in a growing and competitive market. This article is designed to provide some insight as to the advantages to owning an Acer laptop. This is not to establish it as the top brand, but to submit to you the advantages.

1. Memory

One of the most important elements of a laptop’s functionality is its memory. Acer is competitive in the amount of memory it offers standard. Acer Laptops come with a variance of memory space, and carry the capability to easily add more memory in a short period of time. The memory can be increased at the time of purchase with very little impact to the total prices. Memory can also be added as an aftermarket addition with minimal costs.

2. Portability

Another important feature on any laptop is portability, which is reflected in the size and weight of the laptop. Acer offers a number of laptops and notebooks that are extremely portable while remaining highly functional. Even when the models increase in screen size, the weight of the device, has a whole, allows it to be easily managed. These laptops can be easily stored in the average backpack or carrying case.

3. Wireless Capability

The entire point of portability is to have accessibility. Having multiple wireless options allows the user to stay connected and have the accessibility to the web and business remote networks. You can connect to home based WiFi systems, public networks, and even Bluetooth devices, such as printers, headsets, and more.

4. Connectivity

The ability to have connection adaptability is extremely important when choosing a laptop. As network and WiFi connections vary your computer’s ability to adapt to those variations and facilitate a seamless connection is quite necessary. Acer laptops also support multiple connectivity ports for USB drives and Ethernet connections. With some of the lower priced laptops, there is a letdown is connectivity and network sharing capability. This is not the case with Acer. Acer provides a great computing experience at a reasonable price.

5. Affordability

All of the different features and capabilities of the Acer (its affordability may very well be its best feature), makes it a great value and a viable alternative to some of the more well-known brands. Are there brands out there that provide features that are not standard or available on Acer? Yes, but as a general rule, you will see those additional features reflected in the price. If those special features that sit outside the standard capabilities of Acer laptops are not absolutely necessary for you, then you will be surprisingly satisfied with an Acer laptop.

RECOMMENDED: The Battle between Windows, Chromebook and Mac

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*by andreascy*

Metro Ethernet - Its Uses And Benefits

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

There are plenty of protocols in the Internet world and one such protocol is something known as Metro Ethernet. The term denotes a metropolitan area Ethernet which is based on Ethernet standards and is used to connect subscribers of a particular metropolitan area to the Internet or to a larger service network. 

The Metro Ethernet can also be used by a particular business entity to connect his own branches or offices to each other. There are plenty of advantages to be enjoyed by using a Metro Ethernet network and depending on the business’s communication needs there are many service providers that can come up with the right kind of connection.

Simple, Flexible and Cost-Effective

Metro Ethernet services are a staple offering of most Internet service providers. In fact the usage of the word “Metro” is slightly misleading because some of these providers have enhanced their reach well beyond metropolitan areas and have covered wider areas with network access! Among the many benefits that such Metro Ethernet users enjoy are simplicity of use, flexibility and cost reductions as far as Internet access is concerned. By using Metro Ethernet services, a business organization can reduce operational expenses and capital expenses in many ways. Some of these ways include scalable bandwidth which can be increased when business needs to grow. 

Some of the business challenges that can be met and dealt with in an easier manner include burgeoning bandwidth demands, budget constraints and a limitation on the number of IT qualified people that a business can recruit. Therefore when such a business uses a Metro Ethernet service then he can link up all his offices with this tried and tested technology and enjoy support for a wide range of internet based services such as high speed data transmission, video data and VoIP based services. A business can also limit the investment or costs as far as using a Metro Ethernet is concerned because more often than not, such a connection uses existing router interface. This eliminates the need to buy any other equipment or additional equipment for accessing the Internet through Metro Ethernet.

QoS & Productivity 

Flexibility is one of the key deliverables when a business uses Metro Ethernet services. As a leading Metro Ethernet service providers states, Metro Ethernet can easily be integrated with a business’s existing layer 3 VPN or virtual private network. This puts a comprehensive networking solution in the service of a business entity. A vast range of applications such as VoIP and video have unique latency requirements and by using a Metro Ethernet service any business organization can cater for these unique requirements and enjoy optimized application performance. Quality of service (QoS) is an extremely important aspect of any leading Metro Ethernet service provider and most of them will give their clients something known as service level agreement which promises a level of availability which can go up to 99.9%.

Other benefits of using Metro Ethernet services include a greater flexibility and productivity because mobile employees are supported as far as the Internet needs are concerned as they move across a metropolitan area. Upgrades to this network are also easily conducted especially when you go with leading telecom service providers.

READ ALSO:  Cable Internet - What Is It And How Does It Compare To Other Technologies

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Bringing 100Mbps Ethernet to the Future Car

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

With the ever increasing amount of electronics in vehicles, and the demanding nature of high-end and emerging applications, there is a great need for high-speed communications protocols. 

Emerging as front-runners for more wide-spread use are: 

- FlexRay 

- MOST 

- Ethernet

The Strategy Analytics Automotive Electronics Service (AES) report, "Automotive High Speed Networks," predicts that Ethernet will see both the fastest growth and the largest volume by 2020. The key breakthrough has been the BroadR-Reach physical layer, from Broadcom, now licensed to other semiconductor vendors, such as NXP. This allows Ethernet at 100 Mbit/s to be transmitted over low-cost, unshielded twisted pair cables.

“Ethernet has gained significant momentum because it meets the requirement for higher-bandwidth bus networks which many feel cannot be met by existing protocols, such as CAN,” stated Ian Riches, Director, Global Automotive Practice.

“FlexRay will continue to find its niche and see volumes grow, but MOST node volumes are likely to start to tail off as we head toward 2020,” added Mark Fitzgerald, Associate Director in the Strategy Analytics Global Automotive Practice.

100 Mbps symmetrical operation using standard Ethernet PHY components (Fig 1)

The OPEN Alliance (One-Pair Ether-Net) Special Interest Group has released their standard for in-vehicle Ethernet over a single twisted pair (Fig. 1). The OPEN Alliance includes two automotive companies, BMW and Hyundai USA, plus three semiconductor companies including Broadcom, Freescale and NXP. BMW will have the first vehicle based on BroadR-Reach technology in 2013.

OPEN fills a gap between CAN, Local Interconnect Network (LIN) and FlexRay that are using automotive control and Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST), a high-end multimedia network. MOST uses fiber optics and runs at speeds up to 150 Mbits/s. It is a standard 10/100 Mbits/s Ethernet but it uses only a single, unshielded twisted pair cable comparable to that already used by FlexRay. Better yet, it is possible to deliver power over the same two wires like Power-over-Ethernet (POE). 

Twister pair Ethernet (Fig 2)

This is definitely a game changing approach because it is suitable for a range of applications throughout the car (Fig. 2) from On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) to Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) applications (Fig. 3).

Lower cost of digital camera deployment for advanced driver assist (Fig 3)

The standard defines new PHYs that connect to standard Ethernet MACs. This means that existing microcontrollers with an Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC) with a Media Independent Interface (MII) can be mated to an OPEN PHY. There are no special drivers or protocols to incorporate. The system works equally well with any standard Ethernet device including those using protocols like IEEE 1588 clock synchronization. 

The standard supports the standard Ethernet audio/video bridging (AVB), 802.1BA. It also address temperature and EMC details that are critical to automotive applications. OPEN will be suitable for use anywhere on the car from the engine compartment to doors. Hardware can be qualified for Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) AEC-Q100. 

Cable length is limited to 47m. A typical automobile would need no more than a 30m limit but this allows the technology to be used in larger vehicles. The technology can work with significantly longer cables up to about 500m.

Automotive Networking and Consumer Connectivity Applications (Fig 4)

OPEN Ethernet mirrors standard Ethernet that is essentially a switch-based interconnect. This is key because bandwidth is less of an issue assuming a single application can be handled by a link. It is even possible to combine multiple links to provide higher bandwidth but this would be less likely given the drive to use a single cable to reduce costs.

In theory, the new Ethernet approach can reduce connectivity costs by up to 80% and reduces cabling weight by up to 30% compared to a conventional Ethernet LVDS interconnect. OPEN Ethernet can use connectors like those approved for FlexRay. This is important because, at least initially, automotive vendors are likely to use their own approved connectors and cabling.

Still, standard cables and connectors could be useful. For example, a four camera ADAS application would be less expensive if the cameras were a standard component. There is already a standardization effort for automotive cameras. All it would need to incorporate would be a standard OPEN connector. But that is for the future.

Right now the semiconductor participants are delivering chips to handle the new standard. Broadcom's BroadR-Reach family includes a set of PHYs and switches. There are three switches with a mix of built-in PHYs. These include the 7 port BCM89500 with 4 OPEN PHYs, the 7 port BCM89501 with 5 PHYs, and the 4 port BCM89200 with 2 PHYs. The ports without PHYs can be connected to devices or external PHYs. The BCM89810 is a standalone BroadR-Reach 10/100 PHY. This is the PHY that would be used with microcontrollers. In the future, this kind of PHY might be incorporated directly into a microcontroller.

OBD data can be emissions-based or nonemissions-based (Fig 5)

Also part of the mix is Broadcom's BCM89610 10/100/1000 PHY. This is a conventional Ethernet PHY optimized for automotive use. A single BCM89610 could provide a link to an external diagnostic system. The chip has the same EMC resistance as the other BroadR-Reach.

The OPEN Alliance and its members are targeting automotive applications but the technology is ideal for a host of other application areas from robotics to home security systems. Ethernet is already in demand in these applications and a two-wire solution with power easily beats existing technology in cost.

Ethernet has had a long and fruitful life becoming the dominant interconnect for a very wide range of applications. It could now become the dominant interconnect for automotive applications as well.

Check also "Ethernet for Automotive Applications"  by Dr Robert Bruckmeier (General Manager Central Control Units, BMW Group), Freescale Technology Forum.

READ ALSO: Metro Ethernet - Its Uses And Benefits

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*by andreascy*