There is a lot of talk nowadays about Search Engine Optimization, but not so much about Organic Search Engine Optimization itself. So what exactly is Organic Search Engine Optimization?

Organic Search Engine Optimization is just like ordinary Search Engine Optimization in that it is the process of optimizing the design of your website so that search results using keywords in search engines will rank your website higher in the non-paid listings. Organic Search Engine Optimization (also called Natural Search Engine Optimization) however, also has a slight difference from ordinary Search Engine Optimization in certain aspects but the main focus is to work towards getting the best ranking in Natural or Organic search results (SERPs).

For instance, Organic Search Engine Optimization requires your SEO team to evaluate your website thoroughly to see how best to optimize your website’s potential. The SEO team will then try to identify any technical issues which can bar your site from being indexed properly during the Organic Search Engine Optimization process.

Organic Search Engine Optimization also requires detailed keyword analysis to be done so your Organic Search Engine Optimization team can produce a list of appropriate keywords and phrases that can be used for your website. Keyword analysis should require real information about the function, products and services offered at your website, stay aligned with your goals for marketing your website, and try to get the best Organic Search Engine Optimization impact on the search engines and end users. Some Organic Search Engine Optimization specialists will give you a list of target keywords and phrases that have been ranked as to how popularly use each is by Internet searchers.

It has been found that to get the best search engine rankings, Organic Search Engine Optimization should rely on effective and efficient organization of the website, with content selected by your Organic Search Engine Optimization team so that keywords and phrases will not look ridiculous when used in the website content. Organic SEO starts with selecting the right Title and Meta tags, creation of on-page text with emphasis on content and layout, and then followed by insertion of internal links of the various web pages of your website. If these are followed by your Organic Search Engine Optimization team, keyword relevance and correct page formatting will increase.

Organic Search Engine Optimization also requires manual submissions of your website to directories and search engines. This helps assure you – the client – that Organic Search Engine Optimization will meet the special demands, regulations, and legal requirements of every search engine that is contacted by your Organic Search Engine Optimization

team.

Your Organic Search Engine Optimization team must rely on ethical link building techniques, not only to safeguard the security of your search engine rankings but also to allow your website descriptions to be placed under the right directory categories. Ethical Organic Search Engine Optimization link building will also help your website use only the correct resource web sites.

Does Organic Search Engine Optimization end here? Actually, no, your Organic Search Engine Optimization team must constantly track search engine submissions so that they can tweak and amend your website if needed to provide the best results for you. Organic Search Engine Optimization also requires that the team document their monitoring activities so you yourself know what is happening all the time.

It would be helpful if your Organic SEO team can track the numbers of visitors your site generates, to make it more convenient for you. After all, you need to concentrate on running your organization and/or business so Organic Search Engine Optimization should be a separate endeavor that others should do for you.

Otherwise, why outsource this function?

Organic Search Engine Optimization aims to help you bring in more visitors than you were getting before, so that your potential sales will be maximized in the process. But you need to avoid illicit practices and favor Organic Search Engine Optimization more because:

1) illicit marketing practices do not reflect well on you or the SEO team you hired.

2) Organic Search Engine Optimization does work when used the right way.

3) Organic Search Engine Optimization does not harm the search engine you will submit your website to, so you have a favorable image with search engines in general, and

4) Organic Search Engine Optimization is part of the use of best practices that have

been accepted by most of the Internet world nowadays.

How then do you find an Organic Search Engine Optimization team that you can work with? One way is to look for SEO industry data about who are the best Organic SEO players currently operating online. Examine the background of the company, and pay close attention to who they cite as their satisfied clients. You might want to contact these clients yourself discreetly so you can inquire into their Organic Search Engine Optimization experience with that SEO player. Another way is to ask people you know who have used Organic Search Engine Optimization themselves. Sometimes, the best way to get proper service is through ordinary word-of-mouth advertising from people you trust.

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Getting a Search Engine Optimization Specialist depends on what stage of development your website already is in. Many website owners err by creating the website first then hiring a Search Engine Optimization Specialist to implements his expertise so that the website ranked higher in search engines like Google and Yahoo! A much better way of using the services of a Search Engine Optimization Specialist is to hire him even as far back as the website design planning stage to get much better results.

How do you know if the Search Engine Optimization Specialist you hired is competent in this field? Your Search Engine Optimization Specialist might simply do the usual integration of multiple keywords and phrases with those keywords into the content of the website (and into the HTML coding as well). Since this Search Engine Optimization Specialist practice is already being done by many, the effectiveness of this tactic is watered down significantly.

Choose a Search Engine Optimization Specialist team that can write content for you, assess the statistics of the website, are well-versed in HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), know how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be applied to websites for different industries and occupations, and can monitor the latest on search engine developments for you. This may entail several skills so you know you’re getting more bang for your buck when you hire a Search Engine Optimization Specialist team.

It is important that your Search Engine Optimization Specialist team be aware of the difference between directory enhancement and a search engine optimization effort. Directory enhancement means your Search Engine Optimization Specialist team will select the categories under which your website seems to be most related to. The Search Engine Optimization Specialist team will then create concise descriptions about the content of your website (excluding the keyword stacking tactic which we mentioned earlier.) Search Engine Optimization, on the other hand, requires skills in the design, writing and then encoding into HTML of pages from your website so that your preferred search engines will rank your website highly enough so when Internet users search for certain keywords, your website will appear in the top search results.

The Search Engine Optimization Specialist should be able to tag for you the specific keywords and phrases which seem to be used most commonly in most Internet searches. A little known fact is that search engines do not use the same algorithms for very long – these search

engines actually switch to new algorithms frequently. This practice helps keep spamming Search Engine Optimization Specialist from mastering the search engines and allows them to produce better search results for Internet users over time. So, apparently your search engine ranking is not cast in stone and may need to be pursued constantly by your Search Engine Optimization Specialist to insure that people will find your website among the millions out there on the Net.

If the web page uncovered by the search engine spider seems to differ from the web page viewed by the end user, that web page will be deemed spam and your website will be eliminated from the search engine database. This is tantamount, actually, to copyright infringement

whose Search Engine Optimization Specialist rely on the cloaking practice to get away with their stratagem. Unfortunately for these people, search engines are trying to get the practice of cloaking by any Search Engine Optimization Specialist to be banned altogether because cloaking does not benefit the search engine and may even have detrimental side effects on search engines.

Some software programmers will even resort to taking content owned by another site and putting it on their client’s website so that the Search Engine Optimization Specialist team can create “gateway pages”. Never resort to this because it does not produce the optimal long-term results you are looking for. Rather, your website should be dependent on original and excellent content produced specifically for it, as well as a spider-friendly navigation system applicable for search engine usage.

The best way for your Search Engine Optimization Specialist to work for you is still dependent on the basics:

1) Create a well-planned and well-designed website

2) Create web pages that your audience can follow, and

3) Rely on a navigation system that both end users and search engines can follow and use.

4) Have a good strategy increase you link popularity.

If you follow these basics, you not only assist in your users’ search activities but you also make life easier for the search engines themselves. In short, choose a Search Engine Optimization Specialist that really knows how to optimize search results for you the right way, rather than resorting to illicit tactics. Illicit tactics may work for a short time, but in the long term will only give you a bad rep among search engines and the wide, wide world of website owners.

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A business-oriented software design should allow you to track the flow of information within your company and from without.  It should have an element of data security to help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.

It should provide a method for regular audits that identifies suspicious activity and helps you locate the origin of the activity.  The origin could be inside or outside of your office walls.  r />
Even the best firewalls can be hacked.  So, it is important to have a backup plan that will alert you to suspicious activity on a regular basis.  We call that a database audit.

In addition to ensuring data security, the software design should allow you to easily access information concerning sales and profits.  It should be simple to generate business reports of all kinds.  

Small businesses and large corporations have many things in common.  One of those things is the need for accurate reporting.  Even a sole proprietorship must file and pay taxes.  It should be easy for you to access the information that you need even if it is not tax time.

Your data security program will help to ensure that you can easily retrieve information when you need it, while preventing it from falling into the hands of unauthorized users.  This is usually accomplished through the use of password protection and encryption.  

On the other hand, all businesses have different needs.  Because of that, you need a customized software design.  Your company could need any number of options and interfaces.  An off-the-shelf product might work for personal applications.  But, businesses need more help.

In order to compete in today’s world, you need to take full advantage of the latest technology.  You need an efficient system because lost time equals lost money.

You need to be sure that your interface is well-suited to the type and amount of entries your users will make.  A poorly designed interface can cause your operating system to run slowly and eventually fail.

You probably realize the importance of planning ahead.  In the future, your company’s needs will likely change.  As your business increases, your computers may need more memory.  A poorly designed interface might not allow for things to change as needed.

You might feel that you have no need for data security today.  It is hard to imagine a company that does not need to secure information.  But, even if that is the case today, things are likely to change in the future.

There are many things that you will need to do to secure your company’s future.  An excellent software design is simply the first step.

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Today’s businesses are unrecognisable from those of fifty, even twenty years ago. This is mainly due to an increase in business software that has led to further integration and efficiency. Such benefits could only be possible in today’s world, such systems without the desktop power of modern computers would simply be impossible.

The days of the office runner passing information from desk to desk are certainly over; the speed that business software can perform the same tasks has completely usurped the runner’s position. As with much in the modern world, rapidity and efficiency are paramount.

The era of the paperless office is upon us, the days of stacks and stacks of filing are long gone as the increased use of business software office leads to faster transfers of information between departments and full integration of internal systems and communications.

The choice for any company is which software suite to choose, as the choice will determine successful trading. A recent addition to the market is the Sage 200 suite; this gives management full control on nearly every aspect of their business, almost down to how members of staff have their tea.

It is a strong assertion that good communication results in good business. The importance for front office staff to instantly contact back office staff and have records from all departments at their fingertips cannot be stressed enough.

When experiencing rapid growth in clientele and subsequently customer information, a software system such as those produced by Sage can prevent the common mistakes from being made, business software can change this. With staff able to access all aspects of the business, there are no boundaries to the service staff can provide to clients.

Imagine a business where sales departments have information on all aspects of customer and product details. Those in customer relations roles could have full information on a client at the touch of a button, whilst being able to track dispatches and give delivery dates readily, limiting the stress to customers. Modern business software can bring this and more, enabling businesses to run smoother and give better service to their customers.

This can be seen as the end of the departmental business, at least in the technological sense if not the physical. With fully integrated software, managers will be able to study all the departments almost simultaneously, checking payroll and ledgers one minute and the next looking at employee expenses and bills for materials. Perfect the manager who likes to keep track of his finances.

In terms of customer care, office integration software could not be more important as it is clear that customers wish to be treated individually. To have full information on a customer’s likes and dislikes and also their history with a company will be very useful in building excellent client relations. In today’s business environment it is imperative that such relationships are maintained, leaving the customer feeling appreciated and valued.

The potential for modern business software to take a business into the future cannot be underestimated, today’s customers require, and expect service of the highest quality. If your business does not supply such a service, it is about time it did. Full integration of departments is fundamental to ensuring exceptional service is provided to customers. After all they are the most important asset any business can possess.

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There is no denying that currently, Microsoft Corporation is the world’s biggest and most popular developer, designer, and maker of the most reliable computer programs and applications. Since its launch and the initial introduction of its first software, the company has never left the focus and minds of computer owners. Thus, Microsoft business software programs are considered, the most useful and reliable computer programs fitted and specifically created for certain types and functions of businesses.

Whatever your needs and requirements, name it and for sure there is an appropriate Microsoft business software program for you. The software maker has made sure its portfolio and line up of Microsoft business software would be comprehensible and effective enough to cater to different types of consumers and computer users. The company’s Business Division is constantly coming up with different computer programs to suit users’ needs. What’s more, every Microsoft business software program has been made to be user friendly and easier to access and navigate.

To be able to demonstrate the usefulness and reliability of Microsoft business software, it would help if you would have a refresher of the most popular of such computer programs. Looking at the lineup of popular Microsoft business software, you would surely realize that they are indeed the most useful software programs available in the market.

The Microsoft Office

This Microsoft business software program is actually a package containing interrelated and equally useful desktop applications. The computer program is often referred to as the office suite, because everything you may need and use in your office setting can be found in the program.

The Microsoft Office is undoubtedly the banner and flagship of all Microsoft business software programs. Among the specific and sought-after applications included in this Microsoft business software package are the MS Word (the most popular word processing application in the globe), Outlook (also referred as a groupware), Publisher (an effective and easy-to-use desktop publishing application and PowerPoint (made for business presentations). Not mentioned is Excel, which can be considered the best tool for simple accounting in the office environment today.

The Microsoft Groove

Because office settings are now made geographically distant from each other, there is a need for a computer program to link users no mater where they are. The Microsoft Groove is an effective Microsoft business software program that facilitates the working together of people and employees in a single network connection. Microsoft Groove is a Microsoft business software program made to bond the team regardless of time zones and geographic indifferences.

A unit of this Microsoft business software program comes with a complete package of Office Ultimate. The software is also fairly priced in most markets.

The Microsoft Accounting

Obviously, this Microsoft business software is designed to help assume the actual roles of accountants. Now, you and your business would not have to hire and pay for salaries of certified public accountants. By investing in the Microsoft Accounting, you would be able to save on costs for finance management and other business functions.

This Microsoft business software comes in small business accounting versions for home-based and minor operations. If you are enterprising enough to startup your own small business, it would not hurt to invest in the Microsoft Accounting.

The Microsoft Data Analyzer

If financial analysis is a cause of stress for you, perhaps, you need to buy the Microsoft Data Analyzer. This Microsoft business software program is designed and developed to help you identify trends, possible issues, and opportunities. Take note that such areas of concerns are very much significant and pertinent to cause any impact on your business.

The Microsoft Data Analyzer is surely one of the best and most effective Microsoft business software programs. If you find it is disruptive to analyze, understand and much more interpret financial data, it is time you buy a tool to help you do so.

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The business software market is a billion dollar industry today and any one with a sound knowledge of the system can make his or her own earnings very easily. Business software has acquired an important position in the economy of developed and developing countries. Software developing countries like India are doing good business by exporting business software to developed countries. The sprawling BPO sector is providing business software solution to many MNCs and domestic companies.

Small business software markets throughout the globe and has captured a substantial part of the software market in recent times. Small business software may include toy and game software, audio-visual software, accounting software etc. Electronic spreadsheet software, a business software solution, has engaged itself successfully in the vast use of microcomputers.

There are standard softwares available for business such as Microsoft Excel, Word, Access, and Outlook etc., which cater to the everyday needs of most businesses. However custom business softwares have many advantages over standard business software. The custom business software can customize the functions and features in a manner required by the customer, be they automatic generation of letters, automatic sending of emails, deadline reminders, printing of receipts and bills, tracking of customers and orders. Many business softwares use operational research methods and algorithms for optimum utilization of resources, maximizing profits and minimizing costs. Business software has the potential to maximize the efficiency of businesses, systematize the way business is done and keep the business under control.

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Small business networking events can help you find existing opportunities that may not be available through other marketing channels. Taking a consistent and professional approach to networking as part of a long term strategy can help you find out about:

• What other businesses can do for you.
• What opportunities exist to sell your products/services.
• What your competitors are doing.

Many business owners who are new to networking make the mistake of trying to sell to everyone they meet. No-one likes a pushy sales person. If you go to small business networking events with the mindset that you need to sell there and then you are likely to fail.

Network events – insights

1. The purpose is to leave an impression not to make a sale.
2. The people you meet are likely to know someone who can benefit can your products/services.
3. The aim to to build long term relationships. Not to make a quick sale.
4. Listen to your target market, listen to their needs, then fit your solutions to their business requirements.

Small business networking events can be free of paid for so even startup companies with a tighter budget can attend. That’s not to say that some of the paid for events aren’t worthwhile either.

Enterprise Network events cover the following areas:

• Manufacturing Network
• Finance & Professional Services
• Technology in Manufacturing
• Creative & Digital Industries
• Women in Business
• Innovation

Enterprise coaches and enterprise hubs also benefit early stage businesses. Growing a business in a recession can be tough but we’re all in the same boat to get over to a small business networking event and talk to other business owners.

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Setting up a network printer is a good way of increasing efficiency in the office. Efficiency within the workplace must always be a guarantee no matter how big or small the office is. Using a network printer is one good way of cutting back on the time spent in getting printing jobs done, and it also reduces the need for buying individual printers for individual computer users in the office.

How can you set up a network printer without any hassles in the office? Below is a step-by-step solution to get this done.

1. Printer location. The network printer should be set up at a location that makes it easily accessible to the people who will be using it. Not doing so will result in inconvenience for its users and can prevent these people from doing their work more efficiently.

2. Type of connection. Decide on whether or not the network printer will be a wireless printer or if it will be connected to the other computers through local area network. One possible factor that can help you weigh your decision on whether or not you should set up a wireless network printer or connect it via LAN is the physical layout of your office. If the office is small enough and without a lot by the way of dividers and walls, going wireless may be the better option.

3. Enable printer sharing. The network printer must be set up in such a way that it will accept printing jobs that were not queued by the computer acting as its server. In this, you will need to set up administrative protocols. Do not let the term “administrative protocols” scare you, though. At the basic level, all you need to do is to open your network printer’s Properties dialogue box from the Windows Vista Control Panel or from Windows Explorer, and then check on the box that will allow it to print out documents queued by the other computers on the network.

4. Share the printer. A lot of times, it is not enough to just set up the network printer to accept printing jobs from other computers connected to the network. The operating system of the printer server must also be notified that it should allow other computers to make use of the network printer.

5. Continuous maintenance. Because the network printer is shared now, someone among the office team should be made responsible for the upkeep of the network printer. This person does not have to be a whiz at computers; just someone who knows his or her way around a computer will do. This person should also be in charge of what could be seen as the mundane tasks of keeping the paper bin in the network printer filled or making sure that the printer ink cartridges still have ink.

It is not hard to set up a network printer for a small office. Just a little planning will get the job done.

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So what is a network?

A network supports the interconnection of many devices and a protocol for ensuring they can communicate with one another in the most effective way.  The best way to understand how networks work is to visualise each element of the network as a layer, one on top of another.  The conceptual model that describes this layered model is known as the OSI Reference Model, which has seven layers.  All Network professionals use this in their day to day design and engineering work.

For our purposes we can simplify it into three layers, going from the bottom up there is:

1. The Physical layer – the cable between machines (typically called 100BaseT, uses four pairs), the card in the back of your machine (802.3 Ethernet NIC) or Wireless Networking adapter (802.11n etc) etc.
2. Includes the Internet protocol (TCP/IP), gaming and file transfer based protocols (such as UDP), and VPN networking from home to your office (PPTP or IPSec)
3. And the Session, Presentation and Application Layers – file sharing and database access in the office (NetBIOS, Named Pipes, NFS), Internet browsing (HTTP, DNS), eMail (MIME, SMTP, POP3) and securing Internet banking or shopping (SSL/TLS)

Breaking it out into layers like this helps us understand when we buy software or hardware which layer(s) it works at and therefore what it can provide for us.  Is it providing connectivity, access to another Wide Area Network (WAN, i.e. for the Internet), security or access to my own Local Area Network (LAN, i.e. for access to a printer).  It’s extremely useful when diagnosing problems with networks.

Network Addressing

In order to send a letter to your friend in the next town, or a country on the other side of the world the postal system requires an address which hones down through the address layers from country to house number to narrow down exactly where your friend lives and which post box the postman should drop the letter in.  Digital Networks work in a similar way only rather than moving mail around they move digital data packets.

MAC addresses – The Media Access Control address identifies a single piece of hardware on the physical network and is a scheme with a long number designed to be globally unique.  It’s set in the hardware at the point of manufacture.  An example of a MAC address is 1A-2F-1D-9C-7A-3C (Layer 2).

IP address – The Internet Protocol address uniquely identifies all network interfaces that are typically endpoints on the Internet, or your own local IP based network (in an office).  Within the local or global (Internet) address space the IP address must be unique, otherwise the IP routing protocol won’t know where to send the packet.  An IP address will be mapped across to a physical MAC address as described above, the mapping is held in the routing tables of router hardware on the network.  A sample IP address is 192.168.0.1 (Layer 4).  Addresses are divided up into Class A, B and C each having a larger address space for larger organisations requirements.  Small offices and domestic addresses are almost always Class C and the 192.168.0.nnn network is reserved for anyone to use on any small private network.

DNS name (and server) – Domain Name Server based addresses are just names, with dots to designate levels of uniqueness.  We are all familiar with Internet domain names such as; www.cryopc.co.uk, the DNS name in this instance is the ‘cryopc’ element of the full address.  DNS servers store all these hostnames and the IP addresses they map to.

Network Security

Your home hub/router will usually have built in security features, including the following:

MAC identification – Using the MAC address of the hardware as a list of authorised hardware to access your network.  Its a good basic precaution but unfortunately a dedicated hacker can spoof a known MAC address and gain access if they really want to.  It just stops the opportunists.

WEP and WPA – Are the most widely available forms of wireless network encryption and security.  Without the WEP or WPA keys your wireless network is unusable to outsiders.  WEP is now considered quite weak as hackers have demonstrated ways of cracking it fairly quickly, and once cracked its no longer secure.  WPA is the more secure system as it is harder to crack (has a much longer passphrase) and once cracked still only leaves a very small window of opportunity for exploitation as it derives a cipher for each packet that changes constantly.  It utilises TLS encryption just like the Internet checkout padlock.  Still the network is only ever as secure as the passphrase used to protect it, so pick an obscure one.

VPN, SSL/TLS and IPsec – Most of us don’t even know we are using these technologies but they all work in a similar way.  They use sophisticated and robust encryption to ensure private information sent over a public network is not visible to snoopers.  SSL/TLS is used most widely and you will recognise it as the checkout padlock, or encryption used when typing in credit card details when Internet shopping.

NAT – Network Address Translation isn’t really security at all but about economising on the rapidly diminishing availability of IPv4 addresses on the Internet, but it does shield your private network addresses from the outside by creating the impression to the internet that only a single address (your routers own public address) is accessing the Internet from your network.  This means ad hoc access to your local network from the outside is much more difficult without internal network devices initiating a connection first (and thereby establishing a NAT translation).

Typical network devices

Segment – a segment isn’t really a device it’s a single network cable potentially connected to multiple machines, but sometimes only a single machine.  It can be useful to think of it as a device in its own right as the cable itself imposes limits, resource demands and capabilities on the network.

Router – maps one address in one address space to another in another through routing tables and protocols stored on the device, usually in memory.

Hub / Switch – Most Hubs are known as switching hubs as each network port on the hub functions as its own segment of the LAN thus it’s able to utilise the full bandwidth of the link and not share it with everyone on the same LAN.

Firewall – Can be software or dedicated hardware based the latter widely being considered the best.  Windows has a built in firewall and most home hub/routers also have them preconfigured and built-in.  Firewall rules determine what traffic you want to let out, and into your network.  Usually they are preconfigured to let out only connections initiated internally (to prevent ad hoc attacks) and to let back in only traffic on certain known safe ports such as those commonly used for the Internet, http and ftp.  Games can sometimes have issues with firewalls as they will use other ad hoc ports.  You will need to create custom rules to get around this problem.

Wireless Access Point – Wireless networks are effectively airborne segments of network.  The access point serves as a point of access, and also secures the network as discussed in the above security section.

In a small network it often makes sense to combine many network devices into a single physical device.  That’s why most small office routers also have a Firewall, Hub and Wireless Access point built in.  However in a medium sized organisation or large enterprise single devices need to have more reliability, capacity and security and so tend to be dedicated devices to a single purpose.  A firewall for example can cost US$100 with a hub and router built-in or for a government departmental web site it could cost US$40,000 as a single appliance.

Benefits of different types of Network

Cable based networking – 802.3 Ethernet, which typically supports 100Mbit/s (CAT5 cable) or 1Gbit/s (CAT5e cable) speeds and higher if you are reasonably up to date.  Most network devices are backward compatible and will fallback to the speed of the slowest device in the network.  Cable is the best for reliability an speed.

Wireless Networking – It is defined by the standard 802.11a, b, g, and n (at Draft 2.0 stage at the time of writing this article).  Wireless offers flexibility, roaming, convenience but quality of reception can be very patch in large or complex buildings and this affects connectivity and connection speed.  In addition to the standards MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) uses multiple antennas to increase signal strength and quality, increasing range and available bandwidth.

Broadband, ADSL and Cable – all use local telephony cable and fibre optic trunks to provide homes and small businesses with relatively high speed Internet access.  Each one uses a different technology standard for implementation and you must buy the correct router or modem.

Setting up your own home or small office network

Based on the information provided above you need to decide what you need.  If you are starting with nothing then a good quality 802.11n combination router/hub device is the best solution.  They are now more or less preconfigured out of the box and only require connecting to the Internet.  Access to mobile devices, laptops and desktops can be provided by the Wi-Fi support or for fixed desktop by network switch port and cable.

Don’t forget to enable the WPA security with a good mixed alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric passphrase.  For extra protection limit access to only device MAC addresses you know.

Troubleshooting my network

There are a number of low level tools that are very easy to use that help network engineers diagnose problems with your network.  It pays dividends to get familiar with them for yourself.  To use these tools in Windows run the command line interpreter cmd.exe (type in cmd after Start->Run), then simply type the command in.

ping – using a hostname or address it ‘bounces’ a network packet off the endpoint.  Rather like a submarine using sonar, hence the name ‘ping’.  It outputs status information to confirm whether it has been able to reach the endpoint or not and how long the roundtrip took.

ipconfig – reports all the network information for all of the network adapters on your PC including wireless, cable, MAC address (physical address), IP address, gateway address (router), subnet (class of address), hostnames, connection state etc.

tracert – reports the route through the network that a data packet will take to reach a host.  It can help provide indications of why a connection might be slow or not working by indicating where it gets stuck in the network.  Like ping it also reports time taken to travel the route.

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