How to Boost Your Wireless Signal

In general, speed and range issues all can be lumped together as performance issues. You want both your speed and range to be as robust as possible. There are several factors that can impact both aspects of performance.

Distance can certainly impede performance. You may have a room in your home or office that is simply too far from your wireless router. Even the way your home or office is structured could be a culprit in poor wireless performance. If the signals have to bounce around too many corners to reach your wireless devices, that can cause problems (although a technology in newer, premium routers called beamforming, can help direct a routers signal to wireless clients).

Interference with the signal can be big factor in performance, too. If you live in an apartment building, your home might be inundated with signals from everyone elses routers. Maybe structural interference is the culprit. If your furnace, washing machine, and dryer are all between your router and your laptop, that doesnt help.

Maybe its the software youre using. Routers need software updates just like everything else - and sometimes the firmware they initially ship with is improved with a later-released update.

These are just a few of the possible reasons your connection might be poor (or nonexistent). Fortunately, there are many ways to extend your wireless signal, and most of them simply involve a bit of tweaking to your wireless network or adding some affordable components. Well walk you through ten of the most useful fixes for your connectivity woes.

Read the next 10 tips to extend your Wi-Fi signal. Some of the suggestions require no additional hardware or software to purchase, while others may require a small or larger investment, depending on the particular performance problem youre experiencing.

1. Change the channel

Wi-Fi routers operate on specific channels. When you set up a typical router, it usually chooses a certain channel by default. Some routers choose the least-crowded channel, but yours may not have. Check for yourself which Wi-Fi channel is the least crowded to boost the routers performance, perhaps boosting signal range. A good, free tool to use is inSSIDer. Dont be put off by the graphs and excess information. What you want to focus on is the column "Channel." See how many routers in this area are on channel 6 in the slide above? If your router is on the same channel, you want to switch it to a less-crowded one, like 4 or 1. You can change the channel of your router by going into its interface. All routers have different ways to access the interface, so check with your manufacturer.

2. Update router firmware

Updating router firmware is often overlooked by home users. Business networking devices usually display some sort of notification when newer software for the device is available for download. Consumer products such as home wireless routers, especially older routers, dont always offer this notification. Check often for firmware updates for your router. There is typically a section in the routers interface for upgrading the firmware. However, you often have to go the router manufacturers website and search for the firmware (most vendor make searching for firmware pretty easy) and then upload it through the routers interface. Theres often accompanying release notes that tell you what the firmware helps to fix; often the fixes are for connectivity problems.

3. Update adapter firmware

Just like routers, network adapters on PCs and laptops also are subject to firmware updates. Remember, good wireless range and performance is dictated not just by the router but by the network adapter on clients (as well as other factors, but these are the two biggies.) Most laptops have on-board adapters. Go into your Network settings to find the name of the adapter (via Control Panel in Windows OS) and then to that adapters manufacturers site to make sure you have the latest firmware.

4. Change position

Do you have your wireless router nestled up against your broadband modem tucked away in your entertainment center in your basement thats converted into the family den? Move it, if you have range issues. You dont have to have the router in close proximity to your modem. Ideally, a Wi-Fi router should be in a central location. You can purchase custom length Ethernet Cat 5 cable from Best Buy or any place that services computers (although if you do that, this is technically no longer a free options) if you need more flexibility in centrally positioning the router.

5. DD-WRT

For the adventurous; DD-WRT is open-source software for routers. Its known to ramp up router performance and extend the feature set beyond what typically comes with most routers. Not every router supports it, but the number of routers that are supported keeps growing. Warning; installing DD-WRT may quite possibly invalidate your routers warranty. Many manufacturers will not help you troubleshoot router issues once you have DD-WRT on them. Hence, this is not a recommended option for routers under warranty or in a business network. There are also no guarantees that DD-WRT upgrades wont negatively affect a router. However, many users are finding it a free way to trick-out their routers. So, if you have an older, spare router laying around, or want to take the plunge to see if DD-WRT firmware helps your range issues on a newer router, check if its supported on the DD-WRT site. Also note, its not easy to remove DD-WRT from some routers without doing a lot research.

6. Set up a second router as an access point or repeater

You can set up just about any router as a wireless access point. To do so, you need to connect the second routers LAN port to the primary routers LAN port. On the second router, you will want to give it the same addressing information as the primary router. For example, if you primary routers IP address is 192.168.2.1 and its netmask is 255.255.255.0; then you could make the second routers IP 192.168.2.2 and use the same netmask. Its also important that you assign the same SSID and security on the second router and turn DHCP off on the second one as well.

Newer routers make this process easier. If you have a second router thats only about a year old, most of them can be set to operate in "access point" or repeater mode. Configuring is as simple as clicking a button. Check with your routers manufacturer or documentation. You can also just purchase a dedicated access point such as Linksys By Ciscos Wireless-N Access Point with Dual Band WAP610N. This is a more expensive option, but will likely save you some network configuration headaches. Best bet, if you go this route; use an access point from the same manufacturer of your router.

7. Antennas

Newer 802.11n Wi-Fi routers are increasingly coming with internal antennas. There are some that still have or support external ones, and these antennas can often be upgraded. Consider a hi-gain antenna, which you can position so that the Wi-Fi signal goes in the direction you want. Hawking Technology offers the HAI15SC Hi-Gain Wireless Corner Antenna. Though, we have yet to test it; Hawking claims it boosts wireless signal strength from a standard 2dBi to 15dBi. Antennas like these can attach to most routers that have external antennas connectors. Hi-gain or "booster" antennas range in pricing from $40 to $100 dollars.

8. Repeaters/Extenders

Most major wireless networking vendors offer devices that act as repeaters or wireless extenders. While they can extend a Wi-Fi signal, they can be tricky to setup, can cause interference with the signal and can be expensive. A good repeater or extender can you set you back almost $200.

9. New Router/Adapters

How about getting new routers and adapters, altogether? Upgrading your home network to 802.11n and using the 5 GHz band should give noticeable performance improvement. 2.4 GHz is said to actually have greater range than the 5 GHz band, but that only becomes apparent when supplying wireless coverage to large areas such as college campuses or municipalities. In a number of our router testing, for smaller areas, like in a typical home network, 802.11n and the 5 Ghz band kept better throughout than 2.4 GHz with most routers, at greater distances. Its a more expensive option, but if wireless connectivity is crucial for you, its a plausible one. If you go with an 802.11n router, you will of course, need to update client adapters that support "N" as well. USB-based 802.11 N adapters are convenient ways to update a laptop that may have an older on-board adapter.

10. Single Vendor Solution

Vendors are quick to say that their product will work with other vendors products. But it just makes sense: Cisco network adapters will work better with Cisco routers; Belkin adapters work optimally with Belkin routers and etc. If possible, try to limit your network devices to one vendor; that means not only your router or adapter, but antennas, repeaters and access points.

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Retrospective How Nintendo lost me as a customer

Golden Abyss got me to start playing Drakes Deception on the PS3, which is pretty remarkable. (Im certainly enjoying the game and how pretty it is) Looking back at the review of the Nintendo Wii that I wrote in 2007, this is quite a reversal of the turn of events that I expected. The Nintendo Wii is gathering dust, while the PS3 sees almost daily use, if not as a game machine, as a portal for Amazon instant video, blu ray player at times, and YouTube living room, where it serves as a better Google TV than the various Google TV demos Ive tried over the years. I havent even considered a Chromecast because the PS3 has been working so well.

How did this happen? I think the biggest deal was the advent of HDTV. With a big 1080p screen in the living room, the Nintendo Wiis graphics looked old. For a while, it still saw plenty of use as an avenue for Rock Band, but even then, the jaggies started looking more and more glaring compared to the PS3s 720p output for games and 1080p output for movies. For games where a motion controller was preferred, I ended up with a Playstation Move instead.

For the next generation of consoles, the difference is even bigger. Both the XBox One and the Playstation 4 will play Blu-rays and DVDs, while the Wii U, despite having a disc reader, wont even play DVDs. From a performance point of view, the Wii U is so much less powerful than either of the bigger consoles that its likely to only get games that are coming out for the previous generation of consoles.

But by far the most important reason is the games. While it seems as though Ive become an Uncharted addict, I noticed that I never did finish a single Wii game that had a "finish". To be fair, the Wii has many games that dont end. For me, that means that Id rather pick up a PS 4 when the next Uncharted game comes out rather than getting another Nintendo console that gathers dust.

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Here’s How Overclock Your Graphics Board

Stepping your graphics cards GPU beyond its specified clock speed will improve its performance and may stave off an expensive upgrade. Well show you how to do it safely.

MANY PC GAMERS eagerly await the release of next generation graphics boards, hoping that the new hardware will boost frame rates and make the latest games look better. But while such upgrades usually do increase game performance, improve image quality, or both, high end boards are expensive and may not be necessary.

Today, even midrange graphics cards are generally fast enough to pump out buttery smooth frame rates in cutting edge games at all but the highest resolutions. If your current graphics card is serving you well, and you just want a little something extra to pep up performance, overclocking may be the better way to go. It will certainly be more affordable.

Why Overclock?

In its early days, overclocking may have been a black art reserved for hard core computer geeks, but today its about as easy as can be, and its usually safe too. Yes, overclocking a component can shorten its life span. But if you dont push things too far. and if you keep temperatures under control, you have little reason to worry.

One key is to ensure that your PC has an adequate cooling system and a power supply that can handle an overclocked board. Modern graphics boards have thermally controlled fans that spin faster to dissipate heat from an overclocked board. The card may be a bit noisy as a result, but if the overclock remains stable and the graphics cards cooler keeps up, you should be good to go.

Both AMD and Nvidia (thebig two graphics board makers) have built overclocking tools into their drivers. AMDs are readily available (on supported boards) in the AMD Overdrive tab. listed in the companys Catalyst Control Center software suite (in the Performance section). Nvidias overclocking tools aren’t exposed by default in its GeForce drivers, but installing its System Tools utility will make them available. Simply pick up and install the Systems Tools utility from Nvidia.com; frequency controls will then be visible in the performance and tuning section of the GeForce driver.

Disregarding software/driver optimizations, game engine tweaks, and system interface speeds, the performance of a graphics board is typically determined in part by the computing speed and fill rate of its graphics processing unit (GPU), and in part by the amount of memory bandwidth its frame buffer memory affords. (The amount of frame buffer memory on the card can also come into play as resolutions and texture sizes increase, but we don’t have space here to discuss those factors in depth.) By increasing the frequencies of the GPU and the frame buffer memory on your graphics board, you can make them process and move more data, more quickly, increasing overall performance.

How to Overclock

Overclocking a graphics board is a fairly straightforward process. All you need is a working and properly configured graphics board, and a few of your favorite games or a benchmark like Futuremark 3DMark 11 to test stability. For the purposes of this article, we used a brand-new AMD Radeon HD 7950 installed in a high end. Intel powered test gaming system running Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit).

AMD RADEON HD 7950 card improved its frame rate on Lost Planet 2 by 20.48 percent after overclocking.

Before you begin overclocking, install the latest drivers for your graphics board (and Nvidias System Tools if necessary), and play a few games to ensure that the system is stable. If all is working well, restart the system, open the graphics boards control panel, and navigate to the overclocking or frequency control section; we used the Overdrive tab built into AMD’s drivers.

First, enable Overdrive by ticking the necessary box, and max out the power control settings to eliminate any power related frequency restrictions. Next, increase the GPU frequency by moving the appropriate slider by a few megahertz at a time, and apply the settings. Then play a game or loop a benchmark to test stability.

For example, our Radeon HD 7950*s GPU was clocked at 800MHz by default. We started by moving the GPU clock settings slider in increments of 10MHz, until our test system became unstable. As soon as we encountered any visual anomalies, or a game or the system crashed, we turned the GPU frequency back down by 10MHz and tested for stability again. Ultimately we settled on a stable GPU frequency of 1000MHz — a  200MHz increase over stock.

Once we had determined our peak GPU frequency by using the method just described, we set it back to its default clock speed and then focused on the graphics cards memory. By default, the Radeon HD 7950’s memory is clocked at 1250MHz. We used the same procedure of increasing the memory frequency by 10MHz increments, and testing the boards stability at each step of the way. In the end we achieved a stable memory frequency of 1500MHz.

We recommend overclocking the GPU and the memory separately to isolate any instability that the tweaking may introduce to that particular component. Once you know the peak frequency for both, set the GPU and memory to those speeds simultaneously and test for stability once more. If all is well, youre done. If not. lower the frequencies a bit more, and retest the graphics card. Some graphics boards may remain stable while overclocked, but offer lower performance when running at higher frequencies due to thermal or power throttling. If your system behaves that way, reduce the GPU and memory frequencies until performance begins to scale properly.

The Results

To see how overclocking affects a Radeon HD 7950’s performance, we ran a handful of benchmarks on our board while it was configured in different ways. First, we ran a set of benchmarks on the board while it was in its stock configuration. Then, we overclocked the GPU from 800MHz to 1000MHz and ran a second set of numbers. Next, we overclocked only the card’s memory, from 1250MHz to 1500MHz. and ran another set of tests. And finally, we retested the board with both its GPU and memory overclocked in concert.

Overclocking the GPU and memory together yielded performance gains much larger than the sum of the two overclocks taken separately: Performance rose by at least 20 percent.

We performed all of the benchmark tests at a resolution of 1920 by 1200. with 4X MSAA enabled and all ingame graphical options set to their maximum values. We chose those relatively taxing settings to ensure that the graphics board — and not another component, such as the CPU or RAM — was the performance bottleneck in our test system.

As the chart above shows, with the Radeon HD 7950, overclocking the GPU had more impact on performance than overclocking the memory did. In the applications we ran. boosting the GPU frequency by 25 percent led to performance increases of 6.96 percent to 8.95 percent. Increasing the memory frequency by 20 percent also yielded better performance, but the improvements fell in a more modest range of 1.39 percent to 3.91 percent.

Memory bandwidth hungry graphics boards would benefit more than the Radeon HD 7950 did from memory overclocking. A stock Radeon HD 7950 offers upward of 240 gbps of memory bandwidth - much more than most lower end boards can supply — so adding a few gigabytes per second didn’t help much. Still, overclocking the GPU and memory together yielded performance gains much larger than the sum of the two overclocks taken separately: With both GPU and memory overclocked, the Radeon HD 7950s performance rose by at least 20 percent across our tests.

The proportionally larger performance increases that result from overclocking the graphics processor and memory concurrently are the result of the GPUs being more fully utilized. Increasing memory bandwidth while overclocking the GPU allows data to pass to and from the GPU more quickly, yielding better resource utilization.

Going the Extra Mile

You can gain plenty of extra performance by moving a few sliders in your graphics cards driver control panels, but a third-party utility such as MSIs Afterburner lets you take overclocking further by introducing voltage tweaks into the equation. Unless you perform cooling modifications, however. we advise against altering your graphics boards voltages. Increasing the voltages may allow for even higher overclocking, but doing so will also drive up heat output and power consumption significantly, over and above the increases that are due to higher frequencies alone.

How Much Does Overclocking Help Performance?

Game

Stock Radeon HD 7950

GPU overclocked to 1000MHz

Memory overclocked to 1500MHz

GPU & memory overclocked

Performance

Improvment over stock

Performance

Improvment over stock

Performance

Improvment over stock

Alien vs. Predator (frame rate)

46 fps

49.2 fps

6.96%

47.8 fps

3.91%

55.2 fps

20%

Far Cry 2 (frame rate)

103.82 fps

112.62 fps

8.37%

106.26 fps

2.25%

124.83 fps

20.17%

Lost Planet 2 (frame rate)

50.3 fps

54.8 fps

835%

51 fps

1.38%

60.6 fps

20.48%

Unigine Heaven 2.5

(frame rate)

35.3 fps

38.4 fps

8.78%

36.1 fps

2.27%

42.5 fps

20.4%

(benchmark score)

890

967

8.65%

910

2.25%

1071

20.34%

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How to Interview A Financial Advisor now out in paperback

My latest book, How to Interview a Financial Advisor is now out in paperback. For this book, Im enrolling in the Matchbook program, which means that for $2.99, you can get the digital copy of the book as well as the paperback if you buy the paperback. I loved the Matchbook program, and I was happy to sign up this bookf or it, both as an experiment and also because I feel its a great way to provide a discount: buy a copy for your friend, and keep a copy for yourself!

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How to Make CROSS STRAIGHT cable

________________________________________
STEP 1: Choose the right cable…
1. To Connect PC to PC Cross Cable.

2. To Connect PC to HUB/SWITCH/ROUTER Straight Cable.

3. To Connect HUB/SWITCH/ROUTER to HUB/SWITCH/ROUTER Straight
Cable

STEP 2: Understanding CAT 5 Cables…

Wires: CAT 5 Cable has 4 pairs of copper wire inside it.

Colors: Standard cables has BROWN, BROWN WHITE, GREEN, GREEN-
WHITE, BLUE, BLUE WHITE, ORANGE, ORANGE WHITE.

STEP 3: Making Straight Cable…

Nomenclature: let us first give a number scheme for cabling which we will
follow throughout this tuto. BROWN (8), BROWN WHITE (7),
GREEN (6), GREEN WHITE (3), BLUE (4), BLUE WHITE (5),
ORANGE (2), ORANGE WHITE (1)

Requirements: Two RJ45 Connectors, Crimping tool & CAT 5 cable of desired
length(less than 250 meters).

STEP 3.1:

There are two standards adopted for Cabling EIA/TIA 568A & EIA/TIA 568B.

When you use single standard (either EIA/TIA 568A or EIA/TIA 568B) on both the end of cable then the resulting cable is STRAIGHT CABLE.

On the other hand if you use different cabling standard on the ends of cable then the resulting cable is CROSS CABLE

I’ll use EIA/TIA 568B standard for creating cross and straight cable

1. Remove the covering of CAT 5 cable.
2. Straighten the eight wires of the cable.
3. Using Crimping tool’s cutter cut the end of wires so that they are of same length
4. Arrange the wire in order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 respectively as I have mention or as shown in the diagram.
5. Insert the arranged cable in the RJ45 connector with clip pointing down exactly as shown in the figure.
6. In crimping tool insert the head of RJ45 connector and crimp (press) it hardly.
7. Follow same step with same color order for the other end of cable too.
8. The wire you made by following these steps is a STRAIGHT cable.

STEP 4: Making CROSS Cable…

Of the Eight wires in Cat 5 not all are used for data transfer when using 100Mbps Ethernet card. Only 2 pairs of cable are used i.e. 2 wire for transmitting signal and two wires for receiving signal.

So now you can guess why we have to make CROSS CABLE for connecting same kind of devices. Because if use same color coding on both the side than transmitter of one m/c will send data to transmitter of another and data packets will lost, so we have to change wiring code so that transmitter of one connects to reciver of other and vice-versa.

Here are the Steps:
Steps 1 to 6 are same as for STRAIGHT through cables
7. Only difference is in color coding of other side of wire.
8. Wire that is on 1st number on A-side (one end) should be on 3rd number on B-
side (other side) & vice-versa.
9. Wire that is on 2st number on A-side (one end) should be on 6rd number on B-
side (other side) & vice versa.
10. Now Crimp the RJ45 connector.
11. Your CROSS wire is completed.

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How to Add a Second Monitor

Increase your PCs screen spread in five easy steps.

In recent years, wide-screen displays have diminished the need for multiple monitors on your desktop—their extra width provides plenty of space for comparing documents, arranging windows, or viewing particularly unruly spreadsheets. But installing a second monitor can still provide some hard-to-beat freedoms. On some desks, it’s easier to arrange two smaller displays than one very wide one. Also, you can maximize frequently used programs on the second screen, leaving your first monitor clear to the desktop. And many games let you use your second display to show crucial information while the first remains focused on the action.

You’ll marvel at how much having two—or more—monitors can better organize your computing life. Procure a second monitor, and you’re ready to go. (Though it’s not strictly necessary, for best results, your second monitor should have the same diagonal screen size as the first; if they’re both flat panels, a matching native resolution is ideal, too.)

1. Make the hardware hookups

For you to use two monitors, both must be able to physically connect to your computer. Many PCs are built on motherboards with integrated graphics and more than one monitor output; others may have a graphics card installed that has dual monitor connectors. If your computer falls into either category, you’re set—skip to the last paragraph of this step. If not, you first need to upgrade your hardware to support dual displays.

The easiest way is by installing a graphics card with two monitor connectors. Just make sure when shopping for the card that the kind of connectors it has matches those on your monitors. A look at the monitors’ manuals, or at where you plug in the various cords and cables, should give you the information you need. Almost all new cards today come with two DVI ports, or one DVI port and one VGA port, and some provide a DVI-to-VGA adapter in the box. (These adapters are also available separately.) You may also see a DisplayPort connector on some modern cards, but this connection type isn’t widely used yet.

Installing the new card is simple. Turn off your computer, unplug the power cable, and open the case. You’re looking for the PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot, the longest slot on the motherboard. (At the slot’s inward-facing end, you should see a small release lever.) Assuming there isn’t a card in the slot already, free up the slot by removing the metal spacer where the slot intersects with the PC’s rear panel. You may have to unscrew the spacer with a Phillips screwdriver, though some cases employ restraining clips instead. (Note: Some extra-wide video cards require you to remove two spacers rather than just one.)

Once you have a slot open, align the back edge of the video card (the part with the monitor connectors) with the open space and carefully push the card into the slot until it’s secure and evenly seated. If it’s not fully inserted, you could run into problems when you turn your computer on again.

Some video cards draw all the power they need through the PCIe expansion slot, but others—especially high-end models—need a direct feed from the power supply, too. If your card does, find a free six- or eight-pin connector from the power supply, and connect it to the appropriate jack on your card, usually located along the card’s innermost edge. Next, screw the card into the slot (or, if you have a tool-free case, secure it using the case’s mechanism), close up the system, and replace the power cable you unplugged earlier.

Connect both of your monitors to the video connectors on your computer and/or video card, and to power outlets. Turn them on, then boot up your computer.

2. Install drivers, if needed

If, when booting up, you notice that your computer is displaying the same image on both monitors, then you’ve done everything right. If you installed a graphics card in the previous step, you’ll need to install the appropriate drivers for it. Chances are the card came with a disc that contains the software you need; pop it into the optical drive and follow the instructions. Alternately, you can ensure that you have the most recent drivers by downloading the latest versions from the video chipset’s manufacturer; that’s probably either ATI or Nvidia. If you go this route, simply double-click the file you downloaded, and the software should guide you through installation.

3. Set up your second monitor

Once your second monitor is connected, you need to instruct Windows how to recognize it. If your computer is running Windows Vista, right-click on the desktop, then click on Display Settings in the “Personalize appearance and sound” window that comes up. If you’re using Windows XP, right-click on the desktop to bring up the Display Properties window, then click on the Settings tab.

In either version of Windows, once you’re in the appropriate screen, you need to tell Windows not only how to see the second monitor, but what to do with it. On the visual representation of your setup, one monitor will be big, highlighted, and labeled “1” (this is your main monitor); your secondary monitor will appear smaller and dark. Right-click the secondary display and select “Attached” to activate it, then click the checkbox that says “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor.”

Use the slider to adjust the second screen’s resolution. Under most circumstances, having each monitor set to its native resolution will minimize disorientation when moving or looking from one to another. (Also remember that LCDs tend to look their best at their native resolutions.) Even so, you can experiment with different resolution combinations until you find one to your liking.

Once you’re done, click Apply. Your second monitor is now ready to use.

4. Adjust your monitor layout

This step is optional, but if you don’t want to have to move your cursor onto the second monitor by navigating off the upper-right edge of the screen, as the second monitor’s default position dictates, you’ll need to change its virtual positioning.

From the same window in which you set up the monitor in Step 3, click on your secondary monitor and drag it to its new position. You’ll be informed of the exact pixel location of the second monitor as you move it, and it will “snap” to the nearest edge of the first monitor to automatically create an orderly layout (though you can stagger the two displays messily, if you so desire).

You can “move” the monitor to a position above, below, or to the left or right of your current monitor. For obvious reasons, we recommend having the physical monitor in the same position as its virtual counterpart, but this isn’t essential if another setup works better for you.

5. Add even more monitors?

Today’s cutting-edge graphics cards make it possible for systems using them to run three, four, or even more monitors. If your PC has two or more graphics cards set up in Nvidia’s Scalable Link Interface (SLI) or ATI’s CrossFireX configuration, and each of those cards has multiple video outputs, you could be well on your way to a wall of displays. You’ll need enough video jacks, cables, and electricity to keep them all running, but you would set them up the same way you did your second monitor.

Just make sure to arrange them sensibly so you’ll always know where you’re working—it can be easy to get lost between screens. But once you start working with more than one monitor, you’ll wonder how you did without them for so long.

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