Pony Of Prey Blog

A router is a computer device that receives or forwards data packets to and from the Internet towards a destination in the process called routing. A router is the essential component of the computer networking that enables any sent data to arrive at the right destination.

As an illustration, imagine that the Internet is the world and one computer is one household. Other computers connected through the Internet are households around the world. Say one household will send a letter to another household in any part of the world. The letter has an address right? And that address would determine the destination of the letter. But without one reading the address, the letter would not arrive to the right receiver. The letter also would not be able to reach the intended receiver if there is not medium. This medium would be the courier. And the courier of the computer data is the router.

A router (broadband router) is also a device that enables two or more computer to receive data packets from the Internet under one IP address at the same time.

Remember that to be able to connect to the Internet, a computer must have an IP address unique from the rest of the computers. Therefore, every computer connected to the Internet has it own IP address. It is like having a fingerprint or ID as an access pass to be able to enter the web. With the presence of the router, this “fingerprint” or “ID” could be shared by two or more computer at the same time.

In simplest form, a router makes two or more computer use the Internet at the same with one access pass.

One more thing: a computer with cable modem could also be considered as a router. In this, the computer would do the process of routing like normal routers do. Other computers are then connected to the computer with Internet connection that would give it with the Internet connection. The computer with cable modem has the direct contact with the Internet and the ones connected to it are sharing the connection.

Why would anyone need a router?

For households with two or more computers who would want to have Internet connection to every computers they have, taking subscription for each would be too much. The solution is to buy a router that would enable every computer in the house to have an Internet connection. In the definition above, the broadband router would act as a hub to the existing Internet connection.

If the router is comparable to a hub, would it affect the Internet speed?

It should be taken into consideration that once a single Internet connection is divided, the connection speed is affected. But there are some broadband routers that would bring minimal slowdown to the Internet speed and the effect might not even be big.

Internet speed would also depend on the type of application used in a router. While some would inflict little effect on the speed like online games, others would terribly slowdown your connection and even hinder you to use the Internet at all.

Usually, offices use a more sophisticated router to redirect Internet connections to the large number of computers. These routers would give better data packeting compared to a typical router used at home that results to faster Internet speed.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides router resources on http://www.about-routers.info

Wifi known as Wireless Fidelity allows a user to connect to the internet without using network cabling. Whether it’s from your bedroom, couch, indoors or outdoors data can be sent and received within the range of a wireless base station. Wifi uses 802.11a or 802.11b technologies to provide a very reliable connection that is also fast and secure.

Wifi is available to every type of internet user and allows multiple users to connect to each other, other devices and the internet. However, your connecting device will need to have a Wifi certified card (PC Card or PCMCIA card) and it will connect to other certified products such as a base station or access point. It also saves on the cost and distance limitations of using cables, not to mention the unsightly look of running cables throughout an area.

These networks are very useful in the business and sales industry as they allow salespeople and travelers to connect to the network with ease and not be confined to one location to access applications such as email and databases. They allow business networks to easily expand and grow making a Wifi network a very useful technology in the business world. Businesses no longer need to abandon current network infrastructures and start over, they can simply use this wireless technology to easily change the network and allow for rapid growth.

Wifi networks work at the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands and possible speeds of 11 or 54 Mbps. Their speeds are very comparable to 10baseT networks and allow for easy network access. A Wifi network is essentially plug and play as you can turn on a certified device and connect to the wireless network providing you have the proper authentication and security credentials.

Wifi networks have security in the form of WEP (Wired Equivalent Protocol) that can provide the same level of security as that of a wired LAN. Wireless networks that are transmitted over radio waves are more susceptible to security problems, but WEP aims to provide security by encrypting the data sent over the radio waves.

James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest.
Read more at http://www.wifi-central.info

PDA stands for Personal Digital Assistant, a handheld device (small and light enough to be operated while it is held in the hands) that is typically used as a personal organizer. It has evolved into a more complicated computer-like gadget capable of performing a multiplicity of functions, such as serving as wireless communicators for sending and receiving data, faxes, and electronic-mail messages. The PDA concept was first introduced by Apple’s MessagePad in 1993, and was later revolutionized by the PalmPilot in 1996, created by Palm, Inc. The overall market for PDAs has now grown by 20.7% in the third quarter of 2005, compared to the third quarter of 2004.

A basic PDA features a date book, address book, task list, memo pad, clock, and calculator software. Today, PDAs are widely used as notepads, word processors, spreadsheets, and appointment schedulers and to synchronize data with a PC or home computer. They may also be integrated with cell phones to provide mobile communication and be used for accessing the Internet through technologies such as Wi-Fi, Wide-Area Networks (WANs), and Bluetooth.

Most PDA devices are not equipped with a keyboard like palmtop computers. Instead, they are pen based and rely on special hardware that recognizes handwritten inputs to tap selections on menus and enter printed characters. Some devices may also include an on-screen keyboard for better accessibility.

PDAs now depend largely on a number of Operating Systems to function. Some of the most widely used PDA Operating Systems include Palm OS (Palm, Inc); Windows Mobile (Microsoft); Blackberry (Research in Motion); Symbian OS; and those based on the Linux kernel available for free such as GPE, and OPIE/Qtopia.