Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
September 3, 2006

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Volume 2, Number 12 — Sunday, September 3, 2006

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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5.  Wireless Networking Difficulties

Reader Jim Murata wrote about wireless networking difficulties:

Good morning Terry....I have bought nothing but Linksys and have been partially successful....the connection has been spotty and I have converted to direct cable links in my home.....
My question....the way a present day home is built, with the steel framing instead of 2x4s, how come I am having problems?....yet when I go to an airport or commercial hot spot the connection is spot-on....while I am blaming myself for the home networking problems, I think the Linksys instruction and router configuration site could use a major overhaul to make it more consumer friendly...only in that way will they sell more of these devices....
thanks....Jim Murata

Thanks for writing, Jim.

One of the "rules" of wireless seems to be: "if you want distance, you can't have it, but if you don't want distance, you can..."

I think airports space and hotspots like coffee shops have the advantage of open spaces. Airports also have a willingness to stuff them with multiple access points to make sure that there's enough signal strength.

At home, we tend to put a wireless router in one spot and then try to use them from other rooms with several walls between. These can affect signal strength -- the higher the frequency, the easier the signal is blocked.

At home, we also sometimes have neighbors using the same frequencies as we do. Also, some wireless phones (for land lines, not cell phones) broadcast in these frequencies and can disrupt the signal. That wireless phone might be at a neighbor's, too.

Regarding the quality of the Linksys documentation, I've found almost the opposite of your finding. I think Linksys has a very good manual, if not the best. Their new easy-configuration "press the button on the front of the router" is a big step forward for Windows computers. Unfortunately, it only works for one wireless unit -- we have to manually configure any additional ones -- but that's a big improvement over the Linksys WRT54G wireless router I have (version 2!). Most people are only trying to configure one wireless connection, so it's a pretty good move by Linksys.

Unfortunately, despite all the "wizards" and instructions, wireless networking has all the configuration problems of wired networking -- plus some. In some cases, the network will work perfectly the first time. In other cases, any of many networking issues can interfere. Sometimes, it's a firewall.

The worst surprise I had was a "trial version" of Norton Internet Security that came preinstalled on a client's computer. He didn't intend to use it (he used a different anti-virus and firewall) so he had not activated it.

Unfortunately, in its partially-installed status, it prevented file and printer sharing on his home network! Upon uninstalling and rebooting, all was well.

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6.  My Computer Security Software Recommendations

Anti-Virus

For your anti-virus needs (and, yes, you do have anti-virus needs!) I recommend anti-virus software from Trend Micro (PC-cillin Internet Security, if you want a combination package) or ESET (NOD32, my choice).

Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 offers anti-virus, anti-spam, and firewall for your PC and PDA. TrendMicro provides an easy-to-use product that is from one of the big names in the anti-virus world.

• SAVE $9.95 when you purchase Trend Micro Anti-Spyware and PC-cillin Internet Security 2006.
• Save 60% when you Buy PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 - 3 User package.

I'm often asked about several large, popular anti-virus or anti-virus combination packages. Yes, I realize that they are not in my recommendation list, although I could easily use referral links for them, too.

My personal choice is the ESET's small, fast NOD32 anti-virus program, which offers a FREE 30-day evaluation license. I consider NOD32 to be the cream of the crop in anti-virus protection. Unlike some of the others, ESET offers multiple-year licenses also, including updates to the program as well as to the anti-virus signatures.

Read more about anti-virus programs on my web site.

Firewall Software

If you get the PC-cillin Internet Security package above, you are covered from a firewall point of view.

While the Windows XP firewall is much better than no firewall at all, don't count on the Windows XP firewall to provide your needs. You need a two-way firewall, which the Windows XP firewall is not!.

The Windows XP firewall does not control outbound communications originating from your computer — and you should want to have control if adware/trojans/spyware or even commercial products want to talk to the Internet.

Do you want Windows Media Player to call home every time you play something? It does! Do you use the Search function in Windows Explorer to find things on your hard drive? Did you know that every time you search, Windows Explorer talks to Microsoft — I didn't know that when I ran ZoneAlarm, but the Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall flags that for me, and I can stop or allow it to happen.

Many other programs call home when you run them, too.

If you don't get either of the above multi-function packages, I recommend my choice for a firewall program is Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall. You can try the full-featured "paid version" of Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall free for 30 days — after that, you can register it or, if you're using it on a home computer, you can let it revert to the free, lesser-function license. Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall is $19.95 for a non-expiring license for the program and includes one year of their updates subscription.

Read more about the need for firewalls in my The Internet Versus You and Do I Need a Firewall Program? articles.

Anti-Spyware / Anti-Adware Software

CounterSpy, from Sunbelt Software, has received many kudos from the computer press for its always-running and periodic full system scans. CounterSpy is my choice for anti-spyware/anti-adware. I use CounterSpy on my notebook (my main computer!), on my wife's computer and on my son's computer. I highly recommend this program.

While I have not recommended any free alternatives (which you can read about in my Computer Tips section of the site), many people prefer to use free products.

I have found, purchased and reviewed a very good ebook called Spyware Secrets Exposed about conquering adware and spyware with free software. The ebook also includes three training videos as a bonus.

Anti-spam Software

In today's Internet world, the question is not "if" you will get spam, but when and how much.

I use and now I recommend PopFile as my first choice for handling spam. PopFile sits on your computer, between your email program and your ISP mailbox, and handles emial as it downloads.

PopFile uses a different approach to spam than some other programs — it does nothing to reduce spam. It is designed as an email classification tool — you train it to recognize spam and any other type of email that you want to classify. These classifications can help you sort your emails into appropriate folders in your email program.

Mailwasher Pro is my first choice to handle spam before it ever gets into your computer's Inbox. Mailwasher Pro uses on-line Realtime Black Lists mail servers sending spam recently, "training" by you of what you think is spam, and your own "friends" and "blacklist" lists.

Mailwasher Pro can even bounce spam messages, as if your email address was not valid, although the usefulness and appropriateness of this is questionable. There is s free version called "Mailwasher," but it omits a lot of the functions of Mailwasher Pro that I consider essential — such as previewing the emails safely before they ever get to your email inbox.

Sunbelt Software, who makes the anti-spyware program CounterSpy (which I recommend) and the firewall that I recommend (Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall) also has a well-regarded anti-spam program called iHateSpam for Outlook and Outlook Express. Since I don't use Outlook or Outlook Express for email, I haven't tried iHateSpam.

If you use iHateSpam, please write me and let me know what you think about it.

Cable/DSL Router

If you have a cable modem or a DSL modem, you need to have another layer of inexpensive protection between you and the Internet. A cable/DSL router isolates your computer from direct connection to the Internet. Your computer can easily request your email, web pages, etc. through the router. The responses come back to the router and are smoothly routed to your computer. But, someone on the Internet side of the router can not initiate a connection to your computer — they can only respond to your request.

Even if you only have one computer to connect to your cable or DSL modem, I recommend that you purchase and use a cable/DSL router because of the protection it can give you against attempts to attack through some flaws in Windows itself.

A router isolates your local network, whether it is only one computer or several, from the Internet by actually making it a separate network. The router gets the "public" IP address and handles all your outbound communications and the responses to them. But, it blocks computers on the Internet side from being able to initiate communications with your computer! This will prevent you from falling prey to many worms that try to attack security holes in Windows itself.

I've changed my recommended wireless router. A number of friends who have bought WRT54G wireless routers are having occasional "green death" problems — all the lights on the router say it's connected to the cable and to the computers, but they can't get to the Internet without a power-off/power-on on the router.

Why is this happening with this long-respected router? It turns out that Linksys has been keeping the same model number on the router while they changed version numbers. This has been a regular practice with Linksys and was nothing to be concerned about.

But, in this case, with version 5, they changed the router's operating system. Versions 1 through 4 used Linux for its operating system. Effectively, they created a brand new model and gave it the same model number as a frequently-recommended model.

Even more disturbing, they brought the Linux-based router back with a new model number, as if it is the new model.

So, I changed my recommendation to the "old" model — the Linux-based Linksys WRT54GL 802.11g wireless router (Amazon.com or Buy.com ). If you don't want wireless now, or at any time, the function is easily turned off in the router's menu. You may be able to find a wired (that is, non-wireless) Linksys router on sale. If you don't want wireless, I recommend the Linksys BEFSR42 wired router (Amazon.com or Buy.com). Either way, based on my experience, I recommend Linksys routers.

Read more on my Wireless Security web page.

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Volume 2, Number 12 — Sunday, September 3, 2006

Copyright © 2006 Terry A. Stockdale.  All rights reserved.