Phone: (203) 748-2960 (Danbury, CT) E-mail: David Mawdsley |
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Coping with Connection Problems |
1. Where you position your notebook computer may affect the success of your connection as signal strength varies considerably in the vicinity of a wireless access point. 2. Make sure that the transmit/receive radio of the wireless card is turned on. 3. If a lot of people are connecting simultaneously, the connection speed will assign everyone the poorest computer's connection speed. 4. Usually you must have the SSID (Station Set ID) set properly. You may also need a password. Channel numbers typically used are 1, 6 or 11. Use 11 if you have collision/disconnect problems caused by a nearby cell phone. |
Before Connecting to a Public Wireless Access Point |
1. Make sure the anti-virus and firewall programs are working properly. 2. Turn off any network print and file sharing options. |
Anti-Virus Product |
1. Make sure the anti-virus program loads when you start your computer. 2. Virus definitions should be no more than 1 week out of date. Updates usually come out late on Wednesdays. 3. Full scans of the disk should be done about once a month--or if something unusual has happened while using the Internet. |
Firewall Product |
1. Make sure the firewall program loads when you start your computer. 2. Do some reading of the manual to review how to manage the settings. It can't protect you well if it isn't familiar with the authorized activity entering or leaving your computer. |
Critical Windows Updates |
1. Start Internet Explorer. 2. From the Tools menu, select Windows Update. 3. When the Scan button shows, click on it to get the list of critical updates you need. 4. Select only one critical update to do at a time. Large updates usually require that the computer be restarted. 5. I suggest that you get one update per day until all the critical ones have been received. Unfortunately, the updates don't come out regularly, so check every week or so to see if any are ready. Your computer may have an automatic updater, but I don't recommend it, as you need to know what's being installed on your computer. |