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Gigabyte 54Mbps Router and WiFi Security Guide
Hello,
AMD launched the
Athlon64 FX-53 processor earlier this week, clocked at 2.4GHz. While the FX-53
is undoubtedly fast, I wouldn't recommend jumping on board the socket
940 formfactor; the FX-53 is a powerful processor, but I don't think it is
worth buying in the long run. AMD as you know, are moving their Athlon64
FX CPU over to a 939-pin socket, which they will be running with for the
foreseeable future. This means the gamer-oriented 940-pin A64 FX series has about as
much of a future as socket 423 Pentium 4 processors did.
Intel on the other
hand are doing really well with the socket 478 Pentium4 3.4GHz Extreme
Edition. Though, even Intel is about to move its mainstream processor over to a
new socket called the LGA-775 (socket T). If you've already sold that 'right eye',
and bought the expensive Pentium 4 EE chip, good for you, upgrading is a distant object far
off in the horizon. Intel's Prescott core continues to scale up
to past Northwood levels, but only by a modest percent.
If the photo montages flooding
back from CeBit 2004 are any indication, Q2'04 is going
to be as rebellious for the computer industry as is memorable in
recent times. PCI-Express solutions from both ATI and Nvidia will be vying for
your dollar, but will either really offer a drastic performance increase
over current 8x AGP levels? Unlikely at first, but as the
technology progresses, we can only hope video games will take more advantage
of the technology. If this is sounding overly pessimistic, it isn't.
One thing I've learned in this industry is that there is always something
newer, faster, and better just around the corner...
In the PCstats Newsletter today we test out
Chaintech's
awesome new Apogee AA5700U mainstream videocard which delivers great
performance for a reasonable price. Next in line is the 802.11g
GN-B49G Wireless Router from Gigabyte. I had to pry this kit
from Mike's hands after the review was done because he liked it so
much... though it did have some documentation shortcomings. Still, a
good read, especially if you are looking to add 54Mbps
WiFi in the office or home. On the Guide front, we have a slightly
updated look at wireless
networking security - how to ensure no one uses your WiFi connection
to take a peek at your data, and a Guide to the Little Known
Features of WindowsXP. Don't
forget to vote
for PCstats.com today. Help keep us in the No.1 spot!
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Let's be utterly frank for a moment, the
AGP slot's days are numbered. That being the case, there are still
many millions of AGP motherboards in the world, while virtually no computers
in the hands of consumers use PCI express. It may be some time before the
balance swings in favour of PCI Express, so videocard manufacturers are
continuing to produce their products for consumers looking to upgrade
older machines. After all, it is all about playing the games we like at
the best possible visual quality isn't it? Mainstream graphics cards
are often talked about in publications, and while the industry slang
is an accurate depiction of the FX57000 videocard, I'm sure most consumers are
really only interested in improving the FPS and appearance of their game,
for the most economical outlay of cash. Chaintech have now found a GPUs worthy of the high-end Apogee
brandname. When you first look at the Chaintech Apogee AA5700U, you get a
feeling that the card really is something special; the AA5700U is
definitely one of the best looking videocards on the market. Continue
Here>>
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Modern wireless networking products are
inexpensive, simple to set up and very convenient. They are also full of
holes... security holes, that is. Unfortunately, the only way to make a complicated appliance like a
wireless router idiot proof is to use default settings that will not
require the user to change a single settings on any of their other
wireless hardware. By extension, this means that any wireless device can
connect to said router using default settings. To repeat, this means that ANY wireless device in range can connect to
the Smith's new router. No wires equal easier access to the network for everyone. This also makes one of
the most popular 'hacking' tactics vastly easier: 'packet sniffing,' or
capturing data sent over the network to analyze it for information. Anyone
in range can receive all traffic sent over the wireless network.Continue
Here>>
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market for the Internet sharing devices most users know as 'routers' has
exploded over the past three years, to the point where they are becoming
common in every broadband-enabled household and small
business. 802.11g is the newest
official wireless data transfer standard, and is capable of transferring
data at up to 54megabits per second, almost five times faster than
802.11b, the current dominant standard. The router we are reviewing today is one of the new breed of
802.11g wireless routers, and we were curious to see how its performance
stacked up... More specifically the Gigabyte GN-B49GU is a
lot more than just a home Internet sharing device. It contains a multitude
of extra features that would appear to be of considerable use in a small
to medium size business environment. This is an interesting idea, since business network routing and
security has traditionally been the domain of major players like Cisco.
The GN-B49GU might just fill a couple of niche markets, providing wireless
support and routing and security features in the same package.
Continue
Here>>
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A Reader Asks... |
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Q: I've recently started having problems with my PC every time I try and do anything with large files, pictures, etc. The system hangs, and Ctrl+Alt+Del gives me the message: 'System is dangerously low on resources'
A while ago I changed my hard drive and I've just reached the capacity of my old hard drive, although I have plenty of space on the new one, so I don't know if this might be the cause of the problem. Any ideas on how to solve this 'resources' problem would be greatly appreciated!
A: I'm inclined to say that the fact that you are out of
space on the old drive is the problem. Low hard disk space on
the system drive can cause all sorts of odd behavior from
operating systems. Having said this, research seems to point
to a rogue program(s) on your system being the cause of the
system resource error, since Windows 98 actually keeps
'resource' areas for programs that are used separately from
the main memory and are assigned a finite size. The problem
could be with a program that does not release all of its
'resources' when it closes, or loads at start up and grabs a
disproportionate amount. This can happen regardless of the
amount of physical memory in your system. This memory
management problem is fixed in Windows 2000 and XP, which goes
a long way towards explaining their comparative stability.
As for a solution, now that you have the new drive attached, move as much data and/or software onto it as possible from the old drive, freeing up space. See if this makes a difference.
If it does not, try running 'msconfig' from the 'run' prompt on the start menu, going to the 'startup' tab and disabling any programs that you do not need or recognize. This will stop these programs from loading upon startup, taking some of the strain off your computer.
Make sure that your system is free of viruses and spyware. See PCstats' Guide on that topic for a
more detailed list of how to combat such annoyances. A quick
look through the Microsoft Knowledge Base (search with the
error code the computer spits out) can also help you pinpoint
potential causes too.
Next week, a question on the notorious 'MS-Blast'
worm, or; "Why doesn't my PC like me anymore?" To submit your question to PCstats, send us an email.
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|  There can
be little doubt that Windows XP is Microsoft's best OS
yet. As WindowsXP is based on Microsoft's line of
server operating systems, it is undoubtedly that which provides it with a
rather pleasing lack of crashes. Compare WindowsXP to Windows 98,
where the daily reboot has pretty much been accepted as a feature
of the operating
system, and you can see why it has been embraced so
well. This same sever-OS-origin also provides XP with a deep layer
of configurability. Not necessarily tweaks as such, but tricks to getting a grip
on what is happening behind the scenes for those with an interest. In this PCstats Guide, we will explore some of
the little-known features and abilities of Windows XP Home and
Professional Editions, with an eye towards providing a better
understanding of the capabilities of the operating system, and the options
available to the user. Continue
Here>>
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Colin's
Weekly Tech Tips |
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To surf the web I use Internet Explorer; I guess I should support the "little guys" but I don't because of the compatibility problems that sometimes arise when using a third party browsers. One thing I find annoying about IE is it only allows you to download two files at a time! This can be a serious bottleneck if you plan to download multiple files though IE. Naturally, there's a registry hack that fixes this up to a maximum of ten simultaneous downloads. ;-)
First load up regedit (Start, Run then type regedit and press ok) and follow this path HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Internet Settings. Right click on the right hand window and create a two new DWORD values...
MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
MaxConnectionsPerServer
Give each a value of "0000000a" then save and exit. You might have to reboot for this tweak to come into affect. After that's all done, you should notice that you can now download more than two files at a time. Now if you haven't already done so, head on over and Vote for PCstats.com at Techlinks100.com! | |
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PCstats Issue
No.126
Circulation: 291,744
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| Industry Insights |
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Buying a notebook computer is a particularly interesting process, especially if you've never purchased one before. There's a natural tendency to emphasize power rather than portability; that's just the way desktop PC users think. However, Intel's Centrino initiative proved that mobility is as important as performance. A 1.7GHz Pentium M may not beat a 3.2GHz Extreme Edition, but it gets the job done, and at about the same speed as a 2.8GHz Pentium 4, too.
There's already a little information available regarding the successor to Centrino, code named Sonoma. Like its predecessor, Sonoma is comprised of three principle components. The chipset, Alviso, looks like a variant of the upcoming Grantsdale chipset with dual-channel DDR2 memory support, PCI Express, Serial ATA, and a high-definition audio codec. Intel also makes note of its third-generation integrated graphics solution, which will feature DirectX 9 support with hardware pixel shaders and a software vertex shader.
The second component, Calexico 2, is an 802.11a/b/g wireless solution with a hardware-based Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Bluetooth co-existence support.
Finally, Sonoma includes a new processor called Dothan, which will run on a 533MHz front side bus and include 2MB of L2 cache. Like today's Prescott, Dothan will be manufactured on a 90nm process, with initial versions emerging in the second quarter of 2004.
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| Written By |
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Editor-in-Chief
. M. Page
Weekly Tips
. C. Sun
I.I. Columnist
. C. Angelini
A Reader Asks...
. M. Dowler |
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