Nightlife 15 August 2008

For our special Sydney only show with Rod Quinn we had a look at the many types wireless networks, how to secure them and the pros and cons of using them. Listener's calls included choosing a network and putting computers to sleep.

The Different types of Wireless

There's many different types of wireless networks which we've looked at previously. The key difference between them is the range.

If you want just to connect computers around your house or office, then a WLAN is the best choice. Otherwise, one of the mobile phone operators may be the best deal.

We should note that wireless networking is by no means a perfect technology. It's subject to interference and other factors that means it doesn't always work everywhere.

Wireless hotspots

Rod was particularly interested in the wireless hotspots where you can sit in a cafe and work. Sadly these aren't popular in Australia due to the costs facing providers.

The idea for this topic came from the NSW Government's idea to set up free networks in major centres around the state. This failed due to the costs and risks.

Few of these municipal wireless schemes around the world have actually got off the ground and those that have are usually the less ambitious.

This doesn't mean you can't use wireless hotspots. There's still many around and some places offer free access to attract customers. Unfortunately they aren't common enough to be relied on.

If you do have a cafe or bar offering wireless Internet near you, use them and encourage them.

Wardrivers and honeypots

Of course, nothing in computers comes without a downside. With wireless networks there are many security issues.

If you own a wireless network then it needs to be secured from outsiders. We have a long list of things you can do to protect it but the most important is to enable WPA.

Another trap to watch for is honeypots. These are where the bad guys set up their own free wireless networks with the intention of stealing your passwords and other details.

The Wall of Sheep at a 2007 security conference illustrated this where a group of engineers posted the partially obscured passwords of laptop users checking their emails through the conference wireless network.

Should you be on the road and you find a free network, be a little suspicious before logging onto it.

Seniors Computer Conference

The tenth Senior's Computer Conference is on in Sydney on the 27th and 28th of August. This is a great opportunity to meet with other seniors doing terrific stuff with computers. Registrations are still open.

Listener's questions

Being broadcast to Sydney only, we didn't get our full switchboard of calls. But we did get some interesting ones.

Types of laptop plugs

Bahrat asked about the best connection for a wireless Internet modem. There are three; ExpressCard, the older PC Card and USB.

USB is the easiest as you can be sure it will fit all modern machines. ExpressCard is the best as it has the fastest and most reliable connection.

It will depend on what socket is available. We'd suggest Bahrat takes his laptop to the local computer shop to make sure he gets the right part.

NAT Connection error

Eric had a problem playing a multiuser game with a "nat connection error" appearing on the game.

NAT, or Network Address Translation, allows Internet traffic to be get through a router to the computer it is intended for.

The simplest solution for this is to turn the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) on in the router settings. Another option is to enable port forwarding however to do the the latter, it requires knowing the technical features of the specific game.

Windows Defender

Deborah called about an application causing Windows Defender to stop when she starts her computer. Windows Defender is an anti spyware program used supplied by Microsoft however we find it's not particularly effective.

Our recommendation would be to uninstall Windows Defender through the Add/Remove Programs function and rely on a more efficient and reliable anti virus program.

Putting computers to sleep

Kate asked about putting computers to sleep. She's concerned at the waste of power at leaving them on.

There are four ways to deal with shutting down computers;

Turn them off. This is the best way to save power.

Hibernate. This saves everything you are working on into a big fat file on the hard drive and then turns off the computer. When the computer restarts it goes to how it was when you turned it off.

Stand by. Shuts down all the computer except for keeping some power running to the memory. This is a very quick way of restarting the computer.

Turn off the monitor. This saves a little power but not a great deal.

Winspyware protect removal

Stan is getting a message that he is infected with a virus and should run Winspyware protect to fix it.

This is a scam and is really just a virus itself but it can be difficult to remove. The best tool for removing it is a free download called Malware Bytes. The linked website has a paid version and a free download.

We'd recommend running this tool followed by cleaning up your computer.

Upcoming spots

The next Nightlife spot is scheduled for 10pm on August 29 where we'll be looking at the future office. We hope you can join us then.

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