Featured Articles
-
Residential Network Cable Installation Recommendations
excerpt: The exterior walls of your premises contain insulation and vapour barriers, which serve a functional purpose. Both (insulation, vapour barrier) are at risk of damage, if you pull cable through these walls. Therefore, it's preferable to route cabling through interior walls, and terminate cables with faceplated outlets. If you really need an outlet placed on an exterior wall, it's best to use an aesthetically pleasing raceway (plastic conduit) affixed to your baseboard, to contain cable(s) that would have otherwise been exposed, and terminate with a discreet surface-mount box on the baseboard. ... read more
-
What's Hiding Above Your Drop Ceiling?
excerpt: Have you ever taken a look at what lies above your drop ceiling tiles? You should.
If your business premises is like the majority of others, you are likely to see a variety of cables (datacom, security system, etc.) draped on the ceiling tiles, in a line-of-site manner, in an effort to save cable and installation effort. If you're really unfortunate, you'll find cables that are pulled tight (absence of slack). ... read more
-
Beware Factory Default IP Address
excerpt: One of the earliest design decisions that a network administrator must face, involves the assignment of IP address space. Many administrators abdicate this responsibility, and succumb to the temptation of using the factory default address space assigned by the manufacturer of their gateway / router. This article discusses the perils of such a decision. ... read more
-
WiFi Optimization is a Matter of Placement
excerpt: The marketplace has been tremendously successful in pushing WiFi connectivity to the masses. Residential users have gobbled up WiFi products (wireless access points and routers) faster than sushi. For some, the allure is rooted in the desire to be untethered. For others, it’s a matter of avoiding the investment of cable installation. The marketplace has been less successful in meeting the expectations set for these users. Many report an inability to maintain connectivity, or sustain throughput. In newer, high-density residential neighbourhoods, users must compete for a slice of the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum, as they get pushed aside by the proliferation of devices, and increasingly excessive RF energy. ... read more