Joseph Moran

I’m frequently called upon to provide technical support to friends and family. Trying to diagnose and solve an issue solely over the phone — especially with a non-techie — can have a low likelihood of success and is often an exercise in frustration for both parties. Things are so much easier when the person called […]

When you’ve got files you need to access on several computers but no central location — like a server or NAS device — on which to store them, it’s not uncommon to turn to Windows built-in file sharing feature. But this approach is far from ideal since it often requires fiddling with firewalls to get […]

If you work in an office environment there’s a good chance that many — or maybe even all — of the files and folders you regularly use are stored not on your computer’s hard drive but on a shared network folder. If so, access to that information depends on having a functioning network connection, which […]

Not that long ago, any computer with an Internet connection was physically tethered to a desk by a network cable. More recently, Wi-Fi networks provide a much higher degree of mobility, but nothing that even comes close to widespread coverage. As a result, workers that want to use Wi-Fi to stay in touch outside the […]

Today a veritable alphabet soup of regulations ‑ like GLBA, HIPAA, and PCI ‑ govern how firms must handle and safeguard confidential or sensitive data, and chances are that one (or more) of them apply to your business. Policy Commander’s Compliance Summary offers a snapshot view so you can see which systems are in compliance […]

I just returned from a week-long trip during which I made frequent use of both free and paid Wi-Fi hotspots. One thing I noticed in my travels was that in virtually every venue where I sought wireless access, at least one network had an SSID of “Free Public Wi-Fi” or a similar name. I came […]

Free firewalls, anti-virus scanners and other utilities can offer security and savings. Keeping a Windows-based computer safe from online threats is hardly cheap these days. The cost of an Internet security suite that includes a firewall and protection against various online threats ranges between $40 and $70, an amount you must fork over again and […]

Although Mozilla Firefox has many handy features built-in, its biggest strength is the huge number of extensions (officially called add-ons) for the browser that offer additional features and capabilities. Literally thousands of useful Firefox add-ons are available. Here are 10 connectivity-related favorites and handy Web-based services that work with any browser. 1. Get Quick Router […]

At a time when the cost of most products is on a decidedly upward trajectory, hard drives continue their trend of lower prices and higher storage capacities — each dollar spent on storage today will buy you either more capacity than did last year, or else the same amount of capacity in a much smaller […]

Interference is a frequent cause of connection problems with Wi-Fi networks. When other devices in the vicinity emit signals within the same 2.4 GHz band used by your 802.11b/g Wi-Fi equipment, the result is often poor performance, tenuous link quality or the inability to establish a connection at all. Wi-Fi network interference is often caused […]

Not too long ago, the greatest concentration of devices on a home network was likely to be in whichever room housed the broadband router. After all, that’s where you’ll typically find a desktop PC and many other networked devices, like printers and NAS drives. Networking them is pretty easy — just plug them all into your […]

Savvy businesspeople know that in order to calculate the cost of technology you need to consider not just the purchase price, but also the ongoing money and time spent on maintenance and updates. That’s why many small organizations with limited IT budgets and know-how approach the purchase of a much-needed server with some reluctance. The […]