WIRELESS INTERNET CENTER

FREE INTERNET CHEAT CODE ON OPERA MINI, BOLT, NIMBUZZ , EBUDDY & UCWEB BROWSER

2011-10-06T19:17:00.000Z

FOR OPERA MINI
HTTP: http://82.145.210.160
SOCKET: socket://82.145.208.20
HOST: 41.220.77.210

FOR BOLT BROWSER
HTTP:
http://82.145.208.84
SOCKET:
socket://82.145.208.84
HOST:

Ucweb
HTTP SERVER:http://64.255.164.100
SOCKET SERVER:socket://64.255.164.100
HOST:41.220.77.210

Use this for Ebuddy and Nimbuzz
FRONT QUERY:64.255.164.100@
HOST: www.mtnfootball.com or 41.220.77.210

NEW BOLT CHEAT CODE

2011-10-06T19:16:00.000Z

BOLT ON S40

IP:010.199.212.002

PORT: 80
Front Query:
64.255.164.21@

Host:
www.mtnonline.com

NEW BOLT 2.31
IP:010.199.212.2
PORT:80

Primary Server : us27.boltbrowser.com

Proxy Type :Host

Proxy Server :www.mtnonline.com

Latest Free UCWEB CHEAT CODE FOR EAST AND FREE BROWSING FOR SEPTEMBER 2011

2011-10-04T02:50:00.000Z

This is another cheat code for a great and acclaim mobile software browser called
UCWEB
this is a browser created in china and has lots of advantage than it counterparts.but for sure.every mobile application has it's own place of honor.
This latest free browsing cheat code requires only JAVA PHONE users to create a prov with this ip and port.but they should use default mtn apn,access point.which is web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net
IP
123.150.188.022
PORT
80
SYMBIAN USERS DON'T NEED TO do MUCH,Just create an access point with the provided IP address and port number mentioned above.

CUSTOM HTTP SERVER
www.mtnfootball.com.
Leave everything else blank.frontquery and host.there should be nothing written on it.

Latest free browsing cheat code for august 2011. Latest update on Free browsing cheat code for September 2011.

2011-10-04T02:49:00.000Z

This is another latest update on your screen on how to browse free with mtn and operamini 4.2,5.1 and etc.
This cheat is blazing hot right now,and it's what the guys are selling to people who are not aware of this site,you can bookmark this site for more cheats and tweaks for latest free browsing cheat code for mtn,latest free browsing for etisalat and airtel.
This cheat is for august 2011.

CUSTOM SERVER
http://3g.mtnonline.com@82.145.208.21

SOCKET
socket://,don't write anything.

FRONTQUERY
82.145.208.21

HOST
loaded.mtnonline.com.
You'll see this in operamini 4.3 handler,5.1,and just insert this cheats,and guess what?
You're on a lane to the free and fast browsing,this is the latest cheat code online for operamini cheat with mtn for the month of august 2011

Latest Free browsing cheat code for fast browsing with MTN AIRTEL AND ETISALAT. latest update on free browsing for AUGUST 2011.

2011-08-16T06:40:00.001Z

Welcome to a new month of divine access to mtn free and fast browsing,you're welcome to a month of free browsing.and that's AUGUST 2011,CHECK here for your free and fast working cheats that you can personally install by yourself.
Here is a new way of browsing free with mtn this month,you just need to do activate this,and you'll have 100MB OR MORE in your mtn line.
This is how to get your free 100MB TO 4G FOR FREE BROWSING IN A MONTH.
there's also a way you can get free 10MB for a day browsing, free 20MB for a week browsing,and 100MB FOR A MONTH,now which of them do you prefer?10MB,20MB OR 100MB?it's your choice!,am here to offer you free tips on how to get it!.

1.buy a new simcard.
2.register it.pls leave the registration message,don't delete the registration message MTN will send after you've registered your simcard.
3.migrate or switch plans to MTN BUNDLE.which is 100MB of 1month browsing.
4.send 106 to 131.
Dial this code,*123*2# or this code,*126*1#.don't be in a haste,you'll recieve an error message.
5.pls remove your battery and leave your newly registered sim in the phone,and then put it back after 24 HOURS.
6.send 2 to 131,you'll recieve a message that you have 100MB for 1month as your data plan bundle.
Once again,Welcome to the month of AUGUST 2011,A month of free browsing all round.

2011-01-25T06:48:00.001Z

Latest all networks cheat updates

MTN
S40 using default ip and port
custom server: 143.0.10.78:80
HOST WWW.MTNONLINE.COM
ip: 10.199.212.2
PORT 8080
or
custom server: 10.71.170.80/mtnonline/play@94.246.126.96:80.

IP:10.199.212.2
PORT:80
custom server:: 10.71.170.8/mtnonlineplay@195.189.142.132
or
http://80.239.242.2@94.246.126.96:80
host=>www.mtnonline.com

MTN default ip and port. ip:
10.199.212.2 port: 8080
operamini (cast or rebirth)
http://64.255.164.20, or
http://94.246.126.96 or
http://64.255.180.192
S40
using default ip and port
custom server: 143.0.10.78:80
HOST WWW.MTNONLINE.COM
ip: 10.199.212.2
PORT 8080
or
custom server: 10.71.170.80/
mtnonline/play@94.246.126.96:80.
IP:10.199.212.2
PORT:80
custom server:: 10.71.170.8/mtnonlineplay@195.189.142.132

s40
Opmin4.2 handler
custom server: mtnplay.T9sPACEnonline.com @64.255.164.20
Host: 127.0.0.1 or mtnonline.com

or

S60
use preferably mtn wap.
S40 use mtn or 94.246.126.96

s40
Use ur normal mtn prov filE http://wap.mtnonline.mtnpulse.com@94.246.126.96:80
normal mtn prov filehttp://wap.mtnonline.mtnpulse.com@94.246.126.96:80

ETISALAT
UCWEB homepage: http://72.55.142.251
ip :123.150.188.029,
port: 80,
front querry: http://72.55.142.251

browse with 1naira and surf till your phone goes flat

B0LT
same settings with the uc web, change ip and port only ip-174.132.127.162,
port: 80

ucweb
home page: 10.71.170.30:38090/
IP: 123.150.188.029,
port: 80.
front querry-123.150.188.029,

uc web ips
uc6.ucweb.com,
ucfly.com,
ucs2.gd.
ucweb.com,
113.107.072.079,
113.107.072.078,
123.150.188.029,
al wit p0rts-80.
you can convert the word ips to numeric ips and your money will last longer.

MTN
Using default ip and port ip 10.199.212.2 port: 8080
on operaminis (rebirth and casts)

custom server: http://www.michaelburns.net/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000110A/http/...socket > socket://t9space@195.189.142.132:8080
host: www.yellopages.com

or

custom server: http://hostingproxy.com/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000000A/http/
host: www.mtnonline.com

or

custom server: http://top.erotyka.pl/hb/nph-proxy.cgi/00010a/http/
host: www.mtnonline.com

or
custom server: http://node40.myserverhosts.com/~aussie/.vti/nph-goodie.pl/010110A/http/
host www.mtnonline.com

mtn web (wap browsers)
ip> 10.199.212.2:8080

book mark: www.mtnonline.com@http://2wap.org/p/x.php/0/1/http/any_site

BROWSE USING CHEAT CODES

2010-08-07T02:19:00.001Z

Using opera mini editable you can use these
http://10.199.212.8%2fservlets%2fmms@3.gg/cgi-bin/nph-proxy/nph-proxy.cgi/01011A/http/80.239.243.2:80

BROWSE USING CHEAT CODES

2010-08-07T01:55:00.003Z

Using opera mini editable you can use these
http://10.199.212.8%2fservlets%2fmms@3.gg/cgi-bin/nph-proxy/nph-proxy.cgi/01011A/http/80.239.243.2:80

FREEDOM WITH MTN (NEW)

2010-07-31T21:26:00.000Z

You can browse MTN Free using Freedom server, All you have to do is to use SERVER 31, That is ems31@your-freedom.de, which is "Brazil" leaving your port at https or port 443. It is absolutely free. Enjoy it while it last. Happy Surfing

MTN/ETISALAT CHEAT CODES

2010-07-08T03:42:00.001Z

Free browsing> BOLT 2 Multihandler> DOWNLOAD IT FROM SHAREMOBILE.RO

Put this in ur Config name:
Http://172.16.66.3%2fa%3a0a.boltbrowser.com/

Put this in ur Front query:
172.16.66.3%2fa%3a0a@

Leave other settings the way they are

Etisalat+Operamini4.2
I.P: 80.239.242.253
Port: 80.
Operamini Code: http://72.55.142.251/

MTN CHEAT CODE

2010-07-08T03:35:00.002Z

I.P: 10.199.212.2
Port: 8080
Operamini Code:
Http://172.16.66.3%2fa%3a0a/@tecmet.com/cgiproxy/nph-proxy.cgi/ik/http/80.239.243.2:80

MTN CHEAT CODE

2010-07-08T03:35:00.001Z

I.P: 10.199.212.2
Port: 8080
Operamini Code:
Http://172.16.66.3%2fa%3a0a/@tecmet.com/cgiproxy/nph-proxy.cgi/ik/http/80.239.243.2:80

DOWNLOAD TOR FOR FREE INTERNET

2010-06-05T21:28:00.000Z

DOWNLOAD HERE
Follow the instructions below to browse with MTN

MTN CONNECTS WITH TOR

2010-06-05T21:21:00.000Z

Mtn browses for free, all you need to do is just simply go to google and search for TOR download it and follow the configuration settings below:
or download HERE
If you have mozilla firefox then this settings are for you
Goto
SETTINGS in TOR
Click NETWORK and enter the following below

IP ADDRESS: 10.199.212.2
PORT:8080

Leave the remaining intact.
Click OK
Click START TOR
It will automatically connect and open the browser and you are free to browse

For Internet Explorer users
After downloading and entering the settings given below, All you need to do is to follow the proxy configurations below

Goto
Open Internet Explorer browser
Go to Tools menu
click Internet options
Select CONNECTIONS
Click MTN Internet
click on settings
Check proxy server Box click Advanced
And enter this settings

TYPE PROXY ADDRESS TO USE PORT
HTTP localhost 8118
SECURE localhost 8118
FTP localhost 8118
SOCKS localhost 9050

Click OK
Click OK
Click OK

Browse to free..... Good Luck!!!!

ETISALAT BROWSING FOR FREE

2010-05-11T17:51:00.001Z

As you all know opera mini 4.2 editable software, you can surf absolutely free with it including Blackberry phone, all you need to do is to enter this simple codes on custom1, the codes are as follows:

http://mobile.etisalat.com.ng/gwt/n?@server4.operamini.com:80

Good luck and happy surfing

FREE BROWSING 24/7 WITHOUT SOFTWARE ON MTN NETWORK.

2010-04-26T17:37:00.000Z

This setting works well with Mozilla Firefox. Let me use the Mozilla
Firefox to teach you how to configure it. Here are the steps to follow
to get connected;

1.Launch Mozilla Firefox browser from your desktop or where it is
located o click on n your computer.
2.click on tool from the tool bar
3.select option tab from the drop down menu that appears.
4.click on advanced
5.click on network
6.click on setting
7.select manual proxy configuration
8.on the HTTP proxy input daveproxy.co.uk or 213.229.83.205
9. on the port input 80
10.check "use proxy server for all protocols" then click OK
11. Then go to the homepage of the browser and input the website of
the network operator you are using, which should be

http://wap.mtnonline.com as for MTN

This how to locate the homepage of Mozilla browser
click on tool from the tool bar, then select option, click on main tab
and input the website of the network you are using and click OK.

Immediately your browser is re-launched, the page will load and
http://daveproxy.co.uk default homepage will automatically get
redirected from any of the addresses above, just enter your desire
website address into their URL and hit enter.

IT HAS AN INCREDIBLE FAST DOWNLOADING SPEED

This setting works best on Mtn network.(this what i have been using
for the past two months)

OPERA MINI PHONE BROWSER/FREEDOM CONFIGURATION FOR FREE

2010-04-08T22:49:00.001Z

Now, back to the Opera mini configuration and Freedom configuration

The free mobile browsing setting in this manual is illustrated using a Nokia S60 series phone. Order/label of setting parameters may not be exactly the same in other brands or models of Nokia phone… Other data are also present – you may need them when configuring your phone which will likely be different from the one used to illustrate.

However same or similar settings apply in all phone brands and models.

The first requirement is to get your phone line GPRS enabled. To do that; type “settings” in a sms (text message) and send it to “3888”. MTN will send you the setting which you can automatically apply to your phone by selecting save or apply.

China phones may not be this easy to configure – you may have to have it set manually, have someone set it for you or take it to any MTN connect near you.

ACCESS POINT CONFIGURATION

Go to Tools > Settings > Connection> Access points.
Click options and select “New Access Point” Then fill in the setting for each parameter. Note that some options may apply to you (some may not) depending on your phone model.

CONNECTION NAME: This is all up to you. Give the connection a name you wish.
DATA BEARER: Packet Data
ACCESS POINT NAME: web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net
USER NAME: web
PROMPT FOR PASSWORD: NO
PASSWORD: web
USE PREFERRED ACCESS POINT: No or Manual (very important)
AUTHENTICATION: Normal
HOMEPAGE: http://wap.mtnonline.com

ADVANCED SETTINGS

Click options and select “Advanced Settings”

PROXY: enabled
NETWORK TYPE: IPv4
PHONE IP ADDRESS: Automatic
DNS ADDRESS: Automatic
PROXY PORT: 80.239.242.253
PROXY PORT: 80

OPERA MINI PHONE BROWSER

Download opera mini and install. Download Opera mini 4.2 with this link

After the installation open the opera mini browser on your phone, You will be asked to select custom source – Select Custom4 (or 5)

Edit the Custom Setting

Insert “www.mtnonline.com.” (where appropriate). You will have the custom server appear like this: “http://www.mtnonline.com/server4.operamini.com:80″

That’s all! Enjoy it while it works.

Share with your friends on Facebook

Latest freedom settings on MTN PHONE

2010-03-13T09:06:00.001Z

Use this for your phone.
Ip: Anonlove.com
Lodgeus.com
Gowingo.com
Scarewar.com
Anonyahoo.com
Prot:80
Trick:wap.mtnonline.com/cgi-bin/nph-get.cgi/011010A/http/server4
Or
209.139.208.236
209.139.208.236
Prot:80
Trick:www.mtnonline.com/cgi-bin/nph-get.cgi/010101A/http/server

Opera2.06
Ip:80.239.242.129:80
Trick:wap.mtnonline.com

Opera5.2beat
Ip:74.124.210.253:80
Trick:wap.mtnonline.com/t/nph-proxy.cgi/010110A/http/172.16.84.42@mini5

Latest freedom settings on MTN

2010-03-13T09:05:00.001Z

MTN with your
FREEDOM
-your freedom proxyserver=ems30.your-freedom.net or de
-port=80
-protocol=HTTP
Mark the last box if you wish No ip no port i mean every other thing blank enjoy While it last only Dont forget that you can also use tbooster and for on mtn [with fastspeed].

MTN CONNECTS WITH FREEDOM SOFTWARE

2010-02-13T01:20:00.000Z

Go to NOKIA PC SUITE (you must install first)...connect your phone....click on one touch access and connect your phone using MTN NIGERIA

!!!! MAKE SURE YOU DONT HAVE CREDIT ON THE PHONE!!!!

FIRST DO THIS WITH YOUR BROWSING PHONE OR CAFE

Go to http://www.your-freedom.net.

click on "First visit? Click here to register

fill the form and put ya e-mail correctly and submit....a confirmation e-mail will be sent to your e-mail address. click on the link or copy and paste in your browser then confirm....You now have a Username and Password

You can proceed to download this software at

http://www.your-freedom.net/ems-dist/yf-install_20100111-01.exe

(about 2.7Mb)

if you already have java run time environment on your computer

use this link

http://www.your-freedom.net/ems-dist/freedom-20100111-01.exe

(about 12Mb)

if you dont have java run time environment on your computer

CONFIGURING THE FREEDOM (after downloading)

After installation, click on CONFIGURE,

PORT should be 443

CONNECTION MODE select HTTPS

tick the seven boxes except "AVOID USING DNS"

minimum buffer size- 1500

initial post size-1000000;

minimum post size-20,000;

FTP mode- both

Go to "ACCOUNT INFORMATION TAB"

fill in your USERNAME and PASSWORD

(i.e after u must have registered on their site),

leave the other tabs as they are.

Click on WIZARD(on the SERVER CONNECTION tab or page)

click on next and allow till it gets to where it will display available servers.

just select any and browse....you can copy others and use latter
(it takes some minutes)

HOW TO USE THE IPs

click on SERVER CONNECTION tab

in the space for ADDRESS put any of the IPs you have

SOME IPs

94.231.80.100 Switzerland

or

83.170.96.78 United Kingdom

or

85.214.149.35 Germany

use all of these with

PORT should be 443

CONNECTION MODE select HTTPS

leave the other tabs as they are.

click

SAVE AND EXIT

you can now click 'START CONNECTION'

for MOZILLA FIREFOX browser, or other browsers

go to tools>options>network>settings>

tick use 'manual proxy configuration',

http proxy put localhost

port 8080

tick the box below, ok.

for YAHOO MESSENGER

go to messenger.

connection preferences,

connect via a proxy, use "SOCKS PROXY" as

127.0.0.1 and port as 1080.

or

download messenger 10
then go to connection preference,select connect directly to internet
ENJOY FREE BROWSING

NEW MTN CONNECTION

2010-01-30T03:54:00.000Z

I believe you all now know how to connect the MTN configuration now, Right now MTN connects with a software which is very fast. That software is called ULTRASURF which you can download HERE once connected you can browse absolutely free and very fast depending on your location and also the presence of 3G Network. Happy surfing for free....... Good luck

MULTILINKS UNCOVERS FREE

2009-12-29T07:17:00.001Z

If only you have a multilinks usb modem, then, this information is for you, all you need to do is to connect it with Yf (Your-freedom) which you can download from www.your-freedom.net and connect it absolutely free and very fast. Happy free surfing.

MTN CONNECTS

2009-12-29T06:40:00.000Z

Info to all my fans MTN connect perfectly with Freegate all you need to do is to download the software free from the internet when you google it out. Happy surfing

Zain browsing using Proxifier

2009-12-17T09:46:00.000Z

All you need to do is to download a software called PROXIFIER and after downloading, Enter the following details on the proxify checker, selcect the proxy server and enter the IP address for the Zain 172.18.254.5 and the port enter 8080 and select any of the protocols and then OK. After which you start testing and when connected. You can browse for free. Good luck and Happy surfing

MTN CHEAT CODES

2009-09-23T10:15:00.000Z

MTN

http://wap.mtnonline.com.www.concealme.com/nph-proxy.pl/000111a/http/server4.operamini.com:80/

socket://wap.mtnonline.com.www.concealme.com/nph-proxy.pl/000111a/http/server4.operamini.com:1080

use it with normal mtn wap settings wit their ip and port. Dont remove anything.

NB: U CAN REPLACE mini5beta.opera-mini.net:80
WIT server4.operamini.com:80
or any of the operamini servers

u are now good to go. Start ur installation and enjoy!

ZAIN CHEAT CODES REVEALED

2009-09-23T09:29:00.000Z

Yeah guys, the fin is out and if by now u ain't rocking it like myself, then u are almost late.

1st , click here to download it
http://www.opera.com/mini/next/download/

after downloading it use zain internet settings 4 it then in
custom http server put

http://wap.ng.zain.com.t9space.com.mini5beta.opera-mini.net:80

in custom socket server put
socket://wap.ng.zain.com.t9space.com.mini5beta.opera-mini.net:1080/

MTN FREE INTERNET BROWSING ON MOBILE PHONES: - download operamini 4.2 editable server. - in the first box, choose custom 4 - in the second box, type i

2009-08-25T10:10:00.001Z

MTN FREE INTERNET BROWSING ON MOBILE PHONES:
- download operamini 4.2 editable server.
- in the first box, choose custom 4
- in the second box, type in the following: http://wap.mtnonline.com.server4.operamini.com:80
- then press ok; and allow network access.

THEN FOR YOUR MTN MOBILE WEB FREE INTERNET; use the following:
IP: 78.46.75.100
PORT: 53
HOMEPAGE: www.google.com/gwt/n

ZAIN FREE INTERNET BROWSING ON MOBILES:

2009-08-25T10:08:00.000Z

ZAIN FREE INTERNET BROWSING ON MOBILES:
- download operamini 4.2 editable server.
- in the first box, choose custom 1 or 4
- in the second box, type in the following: socket://server4.operamini.com:1080 OR http://172.23.1.12.server4.operamini.com:80
-then press ok; and allow network access when asked.

then for you mobile web, use the following settings:
IP: 172.23.1.12
PORT: 8080
HOMEPAGE: wap.ng.zain.foxyn.com/cgi-bin/nph-get.cgi/000000a/http/google.com OR
scarewar.com/cgi-bin/nph-get.cgi/000100A/http/172.23.2.12@any site.

ETISALAT MOBILE PHONE FREE INTERNET SETTINGS:-

2009-08-25T10:07:00.000Z

ETISALAT MOBILE PHONE FREE INTERNET SETTINGS:- download operamini 4.2 editable server.
- in the first box, choose custom 1 OR 4
- in the second box, type in the following: http://wap.etisalat.com/easy.php.80.232.117

GLO MOBILE PHONE FREE INTERNET SETTINGS:

2009-08-25T10:06:00.000Z

GLO MOBILE PHONE FREE INTERNET SETTINGS:
- download operamini 4.2 editable server.
- in the first box, choose custom 4
- in the second box, type in the following: http://glogwap.server4.operamini.com:80

FOR THOSE OF YOU USING YOUR-FREEDOM CLIENT FOR FREE INTERNET BBROWSING ON YOUR COMPUTERS, HERE IS AN UPDATE FOR YOU for mtn only:

2009-08-25T10:05:00.000Z

FOR THOSE OF YOU USING YOUR-FREEDOM CLIENT FOR FREE INTERNET BBROWSING ON YOUR COMPUTERS, HERE IS AN UPDATE FOR YOU for mtn only:
- Change your server address to ems.your-freedom.net
- Change your connection mode to udp
- Then under proxy settings, replace the spaces you have there with normal mtn proxies;
i.e. proxy address: 10.199.212.2
Port: 8080
Username: web
Password: web

PHONE BROWSING & MTN FREE NETWORK HACKED

2009-07-18T05:20:00.002Z

All you need to do is to use freedom just change the connection type to udp which is port 53 no codes required. Happy browsing, Good Luck

For Phone surfing simply download opera mini 4.2 multi, the one you can insert code and all you need to do is to insert this code before the main code "wap.mtnonline.com.server4.operamini.com:80"initial code" The bold one is already registered on the 4.2 custom server, so just add the wap.mtnonline.com before the bold partif you have credit it might subcharge you if not just browse for 4. is fast you can download and upload with it happy browsing once again.....

Drop your comments if you have any questions

free internet using your freedom server to surf free

2009-03-07T05:15:00.002Z

Download and install the freedom server

follow this instruction for configuration

click on configure

Address type ems01.your-freedom.de

"the 01 stands forone server in United states so it ranges from 01 - 24 servers"

Port select 443

conection mode HTTPS

uncheck 1,2,4,5

check mark Numbers 3,6,7,8

minimum buffer size 1500

initial post size 10000000

minimum post size 20000

FTP mode both

Account information
you have to register on this website www.your-freedom.net
Enter your registered username and password

Proxy settings
proxy address 172.18.254.5
port 8080

SAVE AND EXIT

Start connection

messages
Check Auto scroll
minimum level - DEBUG

you will see this message
wrapping connection in SSL3

Be patient it will connect
Go back to status so when you see the voucher active it shows you are connected.

so the next thing to do is to configure your browsers

Go to internet options from Tools menu
click on the connections Tab
Select your means of connections (i.e either bluetooth or otherwise)
click on settings
On proxy server
Check the Box and click on Advanced

On your bro
HTTP: TYPE 127.0.0.1 port 8080
Secure: TYPE 127.0.0.1 port 8080
FTP: TYPE 127.0.0.1 port 8080
Socks:TYPE 127.0.0.1 port 1080

OK , ok and ok
freedom to browse

Free latest Mtn and Zain codes for internet browsing

2009-01-27T18:35:00.001Z

SOLIBAY/OPERAMINI FREE BROWSING WITH PHONE.
Just about 72hrs ago,MTN blocked d freebrowsing on phones, but guess,after research,i came up with a new code that will HELP U to connect browsing FREE. this wil be OK to those using N-series,E-series & 3230 for nokia & any SONYERICSSON FONES with SOLIBAY SOFTWARE. But will encourage your free will donation for this research by sending recharge cards to any of the numbers above. Thanks. Now open your solibay, click menu, selct tool, settings then Network. scroll down to opera-mini server, erase & type inside d box, wap.mtnonline.com%2fa%@80.232.117.10 or 10.199.212.8%2fa%@80.232.117.10 ASK FOR ZAIN USE wap.amob.com@.... then click save.
Happy surfing

MTN And Zain HACKED LATEST (free internet)

2009-01-14T22:15:00.006Z

Free Zain Browsing & Configuration

2008-12-25T02:08:00.001Z

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). It is a mobile communications technology designed for transmission of data rather than voice. It offers "always-on" internet connection and lets you use your phone (or other device) to browse the Web, send and receive multimedia messages and access services specific to your location, and use your phone for it's main conventional use: voice calls. When you set up your GPRS connection, you get almost immediate connection. There is no need to dial-up or use a modem. Your phone transmits and receives data through "packet-switching": the information is broken up into smaller "packets", each carrying the destination address. Email is delivered in a similar way.
The GPRS Service is the most practical and convenient method for surfing the World Wide Web from anywhere through your handset or PC, wirelessly!
To activate GPRS, send the word( INTERNET ) to 123 and you will receive the GPRS settings and activation by SMS on your handset; requesting that you switch off your mobile and enter pin 0000 while saving the GPRS setting.

If however the automatic setup didn't work, you can activate your GPRS manually by following these steps:

Name: Zain wap
IP Address:172.18.254.5
Port: 8080
Username: Wap
password: Wap
APN: wap.ng.zain.com

Make sure after this connection and setup download these softwares they are free online very many but will give you only two reliable ones one time connect which are

1. Gtunnel (download it from this website on google search by typing gtunnel free download).
2. freedom (download it from this website on google search by typing your-freedom.de download).

Happy Surfing
Merry Xmas!!!!!

Free MTN Configuration 3.5G and others

2008-12-25T00:45:00.005Z

How to Setup your Phone for Data Services (GPRS, 3.5G)

Manual Set Up Instructions

There are some phones that can only be setup manually. Please check if your phone is one of them. To setup your phone manually, you need to enter the following information, as applicable, on your phone:

Any device you use needs to be configured to use MTN’s Data Network (the same settings apply to GPRS and 3.5G).

3.5G Settings
# Account Name = MTN GPRS
# IP Address = 10.199.212.2
# Port = 9201 (for WAP) or 8080 (for HTML)
# Username = web
# Password = web
# Access Point Name (APN) = web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net

GPRS/WAP Settings
# Account Name = MTN GPRS
# IP Address = 10.199.212.2
# Port = 9201 (for WAP) or 8080 (for HTML)
# Username = web
# Password = web
# Access Point Name (APN) = web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net

MMS Settings
# Account Name = MTN MMS
# Access Point Name (APN) = web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net
# Service Centre Address = http://10.199.212.8/servlets/mms
# IP Address = 10.199.212.2
# Port = 9201 (for WAP) or 8080 (for HTML)
# Username = web
# Password = web

For free browsing on the phone open your opera browser network settings on your phone and enter this code 10.199.212.8@80.232.117.10:80
Note: 3.5G phones only
PS: MTN Tricks

The free browsing has some limitations and Yahoo has been
one of the problems plus downloading something on the net.

Try this setting and see if it can work:
http://10.199.212.8@wap.tjat.com
http://10.199.212.8@obiejay.wap.biz
http://10.199.212.8@www.google.com/gwt/n

Here are the steps to take:

1. On your phone, click Tool and go to Application Manager.
2. Click on pre-installed Opera 2.06 by pressing Option.
3. Click on Suite setting
4. Read User Data-Ask every time
5. Edit User data-Ask everytime.
6. Go to Download, when u click to download, you will see
where to store your data.
7. Change the data storage to be in E.
8. If you are downloading from downloading from
http://wap.cnet.com or any sites, insert your trick first
before downloading sites e.g.: mtntrick@wap.cnet.com

ANOTHER BREAKTHROUGH IS OUT NOW.

You will get an email from us NOW concerning this recent
breakthrough.

Do like wise on your laptop and browser opera 7.11 or 7.54 for free
Happy Browsing
Merry Xmas
Happy Browsing

Free GPRS Configurations

2008-12-25T00:08:00.003Z

I have been getting lots of mails and questions about how to configure, get free gprs settings for different subscribers every day.
I have already posted so many ways on how to get gprs settings when you have any Nokia or a Sony Ericson’s phone irrespective of any service provider you have,check it here.

But still you have other company mobile like of Samsung ,Htc Touch,Lg and others then check out this post on how get the free gprs settings here.
Note: Still your purpose is not solved and you are not able to configure gprs on your mobile phone for free so you can still manually configure free gprs on your mobile device by manual gprs settings given below for almost every subscriber and their service and if i have missed any one of them do let me know.

Manual Hutch Gprs Settings

Account Name - Hutch_GPRS
User Name - Blank
Password - Blank
Proxy - Enabled/yes
Access Point Name - portalnmms
Full Internet Access Point Name - www
Proxy and Server address - 10.10.1.100
Proxy and Server Port - 8080
Homepage - http://hutchworld.co.in
Authentication Type - Normal

Manual Airtel Gprs Settings
Homepage - any page you want to set.
User Name - Blank
Password - Blank
Proxy - Enabled/yes.
Proxy and Server Adress - 202.56.231.117
Proxy and Server Port - 8080
Data bearer - GPRS or Packet Data.
Access Point Name - airtelgprs.com
Authentication Type - Normal
Use preferred access point - No

Manual Airtel live settings
Account Name - Airtel_live
Homepage - http://live.airtelworld.com
Username - Blank
Password - Blank
Proxy - Enabled/yes
Proxy and Server Adress - 100.1.200.99
Accespoint Name - airtelfun.com
Proxy and Server Port - 8080
Data bearer - GPRS/ Packet Data
Authentication Type - Normal

Manual Idea Gprs Settings
Account Name - idea_GPRS
Username - Blank
Password - Blank
Homepage - http://wap.ideafresh.com
Proxy and Server Port - 8080
Proxy and Server adress - 10.4.42.45
Databearer - GPRS / Packetdata
Acces Point Name - imis
Proxy - Enabled/yes
Authentication Type - Normal

Manual Bsnl Gprs Settings
Account Name - BPL WAP
Username -
Password -
Proxy - Enabled/yes
Homepage - http://wap.mizone.bplmobile.com
Proxy and Server address - 10.0.0.10
Proxy and Server Port - 8080
Acces Point Name - mizone
Data bearer - GPRS/ Packetdata
Authentication Type - Normal

How To Format S60 Series Nokia Phones

2008-12-24T23:52:00.000Z

After a long time using your mobile phones or even after a short period, sometimes you may get some problem in its functioning like automatic restart, unable to delete some file, camera not working, virus infected like commwarior, OS works very slow, bluetooth not working, phone hangs or not responding, unable to restart, in that case the first and foremost step is restore your original factory settings. Here I’m telling you how to track back the original factory settings and if the problem still persists than there’s an alternative approach for doing so.

Resetting Phone factory settings by Nokia Secret Codes.
This method is very simple one and you don't have to do much effort. In this process factory settings are restored i.e. phone is switched back to default settings and no application is deleted.

First Method-Normal Reset:
Before you start this first backup your phone books, calender and any other important stuff to your PC or memory card and then simply enter this code
*#7780#
It will ask for “Restore all phone settings-phone will restart….”
Then it will ask for security code, enter your security code whose default value is 12345 and then the phone is reset after restart. After doing all this phone will be restored to the time when you purchased the phone and no application is removed.

Second Method-Hard Reset:
The other method is formatting memory disk. It format the phone memory, everything that has been installed other than the default applications that were present at the time of purchase will be deleted. The phone restored to time to you purchased keeping the original software intact.This reformats completely the C: drive. All applications and files stored on this drive will be lost and clean default files will be rewritten. Files and applications stored on E: drive are not be affected by these sequences.

To do this just enter the code: -#7370#
Then it asks for security code, enter your security code and by default its value is 12345 and process as done in previous method.
Before starting just take backup of all the necessary data like contacts, calender etc.
Note : Battery should be fully charged or be connected to charger so that it may not run out of power.

If you encounter situation like below on your phone:

1. Blank screen phone and/or unable to reboot.

2. Phone only boot-up to "Nokia" word welcome screen.

3. Install some program but not able to uninstall it after that.

4. Unable to delete any unwanted files on C drive.

Do a Full phone formatting on your as steps below :

1. Make sure you have at least 3/4 charge of battery power left.

2. Backup your all contact list and personal files to your memory card or PC.

3. Switch-off your phone and remove memory card.

4. Press and hold three keys : Green dial key, * Star key, no. 3 key on keypad and then press the power on/off button to switch on the phone. Remember! do not let go the 3 press and hold keys until you see a 'formatting' word screen show.

5. After a few minutes when the Full phone formatting completed, your phone will back to original company system and factory setting. Hope your phone will now work fine.

Zain free browsing

2008-12-13T20:32:00.000Z

All you need to do is to download it on the search bar on this site just type freegate software and configure it and you are up. note you connect via mms using a pc suite. happy browsing

2008-12-13T18:39:00.000Z

MTN FREE BROWSING UPDATED(LATEST)

2008-08-13T00:22:00.001Z

Hello Fans,
Just discovered a way you can use MTN to Browse absolutely free using you phone which will be there after interfaced with you system but note that it doesn't work for all phones it only works for sonyericsson and some nokia phones which must be less than the s60 series
and all chinese phones i believe you know what i mean,which have a browser.

this is all you have to do
got to your phone browse add this code to it if you can connect with with the website given below without charges the go surfing for free

http://wap.sonyericsson.com@www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com/

Browser you must use
Opera browser i use 7.1

on your browser configure your proxy as 10.199.212.2 and port 8080
on your URL type wap.sonyericsson.com@www...........
.....means any website of your interest

for sonyericsson phones the code is not neccessary it is already embedded in it.

Good Luck, Happy Surfing

GLO FREE BROWSING

2008-07-02T20:09:00.001Z

visit
www.freedom2browse4free.blogspot.com

Celtel Gprs Hacking Revealed Updated

2007-11-30T23:12:00.002Z

Steps

1. Send internet gprs, make of phone and model to +232 and wait for settings and save it

2. Do the normal connections as exposed on this site or

3. Install your pc suit for your phone
Make sure you have GPRS on your phone
You can interface the phone with either
USB cable
Bluetooth or
Cable

when prompted for configuration settings for Celtel enter these settings
user name Administrator

password      client
dial up number     *99***1#
APN       internet.ng.celtel.com or wap.ng.celtel.com

4. When successfully connected try and open google page if you see the celtel logo it shows that they are going to bill you, so this is the trick.

5. Go to Tools, internet options, connections

6. Select your connection mode which could either be bluetooth, cable or infrared

7. Select settings, uncheck the proxy server

8. Seleck OK, APPLY and OK

9. Close the browser and open it,

10. You can now browse free.

Oladipo Simeon (Engr)

Tel (GSM):08037244979
Alternate Address: simdipo@yahoo.com
My Homepage:
http://uk.geocities.com/profsimeon/simeonoladipoOnline.html
website: www.doubleklick.netfirms.com

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

Wireless LANs

2007-11-27T10:57:00.001Z

Wireless LANs

Not all networks are connected with cabling; some networks are wireless. Wireless LANs use high frequency radio signals, infrared light beams, or lasers to communicate between the workstations and the file server or hubs. Each workstation and file server on a wireless network has some sort of transceiver/antenna to send and receive the data. Information is relayed between transceivers as if they were physically connected. For longer distance, wireless communications can also take place through cellular telephone technology, microwave transmission, or by satellite.

Wireless networks are great for allowing laptop computers or remote computers to connect to the LAN. Wireless networks are also beneficial in older buildings where it may be difficult or impossible to install cables.

The two most common types of infrared communications used in schools are line-of-sight and scattered broadcast. Line-of-sight communication means that there must be an unblocked direct line between the workstation and the transceiver. If a person walks within the line-of-sight while there is a transmission, the information would need to be sent again. This kind of obstruction can slow down the wireless network.

Scattered infrared communication is a broadcast of infrared transmissions sent out in multiple directions that bounces off walls and ceilings until it eventually hits the receiver. Networking communications with laser are virtually the same as line-of-sight infrared networks.

Wireless LANs have several disadvantages. They provide poor security, and are susceptible to interference from lights and electronic devices. They are also slower than LANs using cabling.

Oladipo Simeon (Engr)

Tel (GSM):08037244979
Alternate Address: simdipo@yahoo.com
My Homepage:
http://uk.geocities.com/profsimeon/simeonoladipoOnline.html
website: www.doubleklick.netfirms.com

Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.

Fiber Optic Cable

2007-11-27T10:37:00.001Z

Fiber Optic Cable

Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials (See fig. 5). It transmits light rather than electronic signals eliminating the problem of electrical interference. This makes it ideal for certain environments that contain a large amount of electrical interference. It has also made it the standard for connecting networks between buildings, due to its immunity to the effects of moisture and lighting.

Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over much longer distances than coaxial and twisted pair. It also has the capability to carry information at vastly greater speeds. This capacity broadens communication possibilities to include services such as video conferencing and interactive services. The cost of fiber optic cabling is comparable to copper cabling; however, it is more difficult to install and modify. 10BaseF refers to the specifications for fiber optic cable carrying Ethernet signals.

Fig.5. Fiber optic cable

Facts about fiber optic cables:

Outer insulating jacket is made of Teflon or PVC.

Kevlar fiber helps to strengthen the cable and prevent breakage.

A plastic coating is used to cushion the fiber center.

Center (core) is made of glass or plastic fibers.

Fiber Optic Connector

The most common connector used with fiber optic cable is an ST connector. It is barrel shaped, similar to a BNC connector. A newer connector, the SC, is becoming more popular. It has a squared face and is easier to connect in a confined space.

Ethernet Cable Summary

Specification	Cable Type	Maximum length
10BaseT	Unshielded Twisted Pair	100 meters
10Base2	Thin Coaxial	185 meters
10Base5	Thick Coaxial	500 meters
10BaseF	Fiber Optic	2000 meters
100BaseT	Unshielded Twisted Pair	100 meters
100BaseTX	Unshielded Twisted Pair	220 meters

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Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

2007-11-27T07:38:00.001Z

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

Twisted pair cabling comes in two varieties: shielded and unshielded. Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is the most popular and is generally the best option for school networks.

The quality of UTP may vary from telephone-grade wire to extremely high-speed cable. The cable has four pairs of wires inside the jacket. Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help eliminate interference from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices. The tighter the twisting, the higher the supported transmission rate and the greater the cost per foot. The EIA/TIA (Electronic Industry Association/Telecommunication Industry Association) has established standards of UTP and rated five categories of wire.

Categories of Unshielded Twisted Pair

Type	Use
Category 1	Voice Only (Telephone Wire)
Category 2	Data to 4 Mbps (LocalTalk)
Category 3	Data to 10 Mbps (Ethernet)
Category 4	Data to 20 Mbps (16 Mbps Token Ring)
Category 5	Data to 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)

Buy the best cable you can afford; most schools purchase Category 3 or Category 5. If you are designing a 10 Mbps Ethernet network and are considering the cost savings of buying Category 3 wire instead of Category 5, remember that the Category 5 cable will provide more "room to grow" as transmission technologies increase. Both Category 3 and Category 5 UTP have a maximum segment length of 100 meters. In Florida, Category 5 cable is required for retrofit grants. 10BaseT refers to the specifications for unshielded twisted pair cable (Category 3, 4, or 5) carrying Ethernet signals. Category 6 is relatively new and is used for gigabit connections.

Oladipo Simeon (Engr)

Tel (GSM):08037244979
Alternate Address: simdipo@yahoo.com
My Homepage:
http://uk.geocities.com/profsimeon/simeonoladipoOnline.html
website: www.doubleklick.netfirms.com

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

What is Network Cabling

2007-11-26T21:31:00.001Z

What is Network Cabling?

Cable is the medium through which information usually moves from one network device to another. There are several types of cable which are commonly used with LANs. In some cases, a network will utilize only one type of cable, other networks will use a variety of cable types. The type of cable chosen for a network is related to the network's topology, protocol, and size. Understanding the characteristics of different types of cable and how they relate to other aspects of a network is necessary for the development of a successful network.

The following sections discuss the types of cables used in networks and other related topics.

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

Coaxial Cable

Fiber Optic Cable

Wireless LANs

Cable Installation Guides

Oladipo Simeon (Engr)

Tel (GSM):08037244979
Alternate Address: simdipo@yahoo.com
My Homepage:
http://uk.geocities.com/profsimeon/simeonoladipoOnline.html
website: www.doubleklick.netfirms.com

Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.

SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS

2007-11-16T09:33:00.000Z

SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS

Table of Contents
“License for Use” Information............................................................................................................... 2
Contributors.............................................................................................................................................4
4.0 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Services..............................................................................................................................................6
4.1.1 HTTP and The Web.....................................................................................................................6
4.1.2 E-Mail – POP and SMTP..............................................................................................................7
4.1.3 IRC...............................................................................................................................................8
4.1.4 FTP...............................................................................................................................................8
4.1.5 Telnet and SSH..........................................................................................................................10
4.1.6 DNS............................................................................................................................................10
4.1.7 DHCP........................................................................................................................................11
4.2 Connections....................................................................................................................................12
4.2.1 ISPs ...........................................................................................................................................12
4.2.2 Plain Old Telephone Service...................................................................................................12
4.2.3 DSL.............................................................................................................................................12
4.2.4 Cable Modems........................................................................................................................13
Further Reading....................................................................................................................................14
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
4.0 Introduction
The purpose of this lesson is to give you an understanding of some of the basic services which
networks use to provide and exchange information, and to discuss some of the methods in
which personal computers and local networks connect with the other networks which make
up the Internet.
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
4.1 Services
You have a computer, and you know that there is useful information on this computer, but not
very much. You also know that other people, millions of other people also have computers,
and that their computers will also have useful information.
Now, you can assume that these other people, and these other computers may very likely
have lots of information on them that would be of interest to you. The only problem is how to
access all this useful information that may be on other people's computers.
The computers themselves can communicate with each other, easily, through ports, using the
different protocols that have been designed, but that doesn't really help you. You can't
understand the streams of binary data that the computers exchange between themselves.
You need some way for your computer to interpret the information that it can receive from
the other computers in some way that you can use it.
The programs that the computers use to translate the data that they exchange into a form
that is useful to you are call services. These services allow you to view web pages, exchange
e-mail, chat, and interact in remote computers in many other different ways.
Your computer, the local computer uses programs called clients to interpret the information
that you receive. The other computers, the remote computers, use programs called servers to
provide this information to your computer.
4.1.1 HTTP and The Web
When you say, 'the Internet,' what comes to mind for most people is, in fact, the World Wide
Web. The World Wide Web, or just the Web, is not the Internet. Instead, it is a method of using
the Internet to exchange information between computers. The Web uses http or hypertext
transfer protocol and services known as web browsers and web servers to allow information in
the form of web pages to be exchanged between local and remote computers.
On the local side, what you see is the web browser. Information from the remote computer is
sent to your local computer using the http protocol. The web browser interprets that
information and displays it on your local computer in the form of web pages.
The hypertext part of the http protocol refers to a non-linear method of presenting
information. Text is normally read in a linear fashion: word 2 follows word 1; sentence 3 follows
sentence 2; paragraph 5 follows paragraph 4. The idea of hypertext allows information to be
viewed in a non-linear way. This is the major difference between hypertext and the older,
plain text methods of displaying information.
With hypertext, words and ideas can connect, not only with the words that directly surround
them, but also with other words, ideas or images. Hypertext is not restricted to the Web. Most
full-featured word processors will allow you to create locally stored pages in web or http
format. These pages are read using your web browser and act as would any other web page,
only they are stored on your local computer, not a remote computer.
On your local computer, you use a client program called a web browser. Contrary to what
you might have been lead to believe, there are actually a number of web browsers available
for both Windows and Linux. These include Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator,
and the Mozilla Firefox browsers.
You can also create your own web page. The easiest way to do this is to use one of the
common word processors, such as OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or WordPerfect. These
programs will allow you to produce simple web pages, combining text, hypertext and images.
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
Plenty of people have made useful, clever and innovative web pages using these simple
tools.
But these pages aren't flashy. Flashy means frames and scripts and animations. It also means
spending lots of money on a fancy web page design program. These programs allow you to
create many interesting effects on your web page, but they are more complex to use than
the word processors that you are probably already familiar with.
Once you have the pages designed, you'll need a computer to put them on, so that other
people can view them. This is called web hosting.
The hosting computer will be running a web server. It is possible to run one of these servers
from your own home, using your own computer, but there are several drawbacks, the primary
one of these being persistence. Information stored on a web server is only available when
that server is powered up, operating properly and has an open connection. So, if you want to
run a web server from your own bedroom, you have to leave your computer on all the time;
you have to make sure that the web server program is operating properly all the time (this
includes troubleshooting hardware problems, controlling viruses, worms and other attacks,
and dealing with the inevitable bugs and flaws within the program itself), and you have to
keep a connection to the Internet open. This is why most people pay someone else to do all
this.
A web hosting company will store your web page on their computer. A perfect web hosting
company will have multiple, redundant servers and a regular backup policy, so that your
service is not lost because of hardware problems, a support staff to keep the server running
despite hacker attacks and program bugs, and a number of open connections to the
Internet, so that all your have to do is design your web page, upload it to the hosting
company's server, hang up the phone, turn off the computer, and go to sleep, and your web
page will be available to the entire world.
It's also possible to find organizations that offer free web hosting. Some of these organizations
are funded by paid advertising, which means that anyone who wants to view your web page
will first have to view someone else's advertisement. But they don't have to buy anything, and
you don't have to pay anything.

4.1.2 E-Mail – POP and SMTP

The second most visible aspect of the Internet is probably e-mail. On your computer, you use
an e-mail client, which connects to a mail server. When you set up your e-mail account, you
are given a unique name in the form of user@domain. You are also asked to provide a
password to use to retrieve your e-mail.
The SMTP protocol, which is used to send e-mail, does not require a password. This may not
have been a fault when the protocol was designed, and the Internet was a small world
inhabited by like minded people, but now it has become a loophole which allows for
unauthorized use of mail servers and various other tricks, such as 'e-mail spoofing', in which
someone sends an e-mail that appears to come from another address. However, some mail
servers minimize this flaw by implementing an authentication step, in which you must prove
your identity before you can send an e-mail.
One important thing to remember is, despite being password protected, e-mail is not a way
to send secure information. Most POP clients and servers require that your password be
communicated – unencrypted – to your mail server. This doesn't mean than anyone who
receives an e-mail from you also receives your password; but it does mean that someone with
7
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
the right knowledge and tools can relatively easily 'sniff out' your password. (For ideas on
making your e-mail more secure, see Lesson 9: E-mail Security.)
4.1.3 IRC
IRC, or Internet relay chat, is where the unregulated nature of the Internet is most clearly
expressed. On IRC, anyone with anything to say gets a chance to say it.
You may be familiar with the chat rooms used by certain online services. IRC is just like a chat
room, only there are no rules, there are no standards, and – quite often – there are no
chaperones. You may find exactly what you are looking for on an IRC channel, or you just
may find something that you had rather you never knew existed.
All the rules that you've heard about chat rooms are applicable to IRC channels. Don't tell
anyone your real name. Don't give out your phone number, your address, or your bank
account numbers. But have fun!
Exercises:
Find and join three IRC channels which focus on security topics. How do you join in the public
conversation? What do you have to do to have a private conversation with a person?
It is possible to exchange files through IRC. How could you do this? Would you always want to
exchange files through IRC? Why or why not?
4.1.4 FTP
FTP stands for file transfer protocol. As the name implies, it allows for files to be transferred
between a local and a remote computer. While it can be used for private file transfers, it is
more commonly associated with free, anonymous ftp servers which offer public access to
collections of files.
Anonymous ftp was once the means by which most computer users exchanged files over the
Internet. While many anonymous ftp servers are used to distribute files that are available
illegally(and are possibly infected with viruses), there are also many which are legally used to
distribute programs and files. Servers which offer anonymous ftp services can be found
through various means, including Internet search engines.
Most anonymous ftp servers now allow you to access their files using the ftp protocol through
a web browser.
Exercises:
Both Windows and Linux come with a basic, command line ftp client; to access it, open a
command prompt or terminal window and type:
ftp
At the ftp> prompt, you can type help, to get a list of available commands.
ftp> help
Commands may be abbreviated. Commands are:
! delete literal prompt send
? debug ls put status
append dir mdelete pwd trace
ascii disconnect mdir quit type
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
bell get mget quote user
binary glob mkdir recv verbose
bye hash mls remotehelp
cd help mput rename
close lcd open rmdir
Some important commands are:
ftp> open
Which connects you to the ftp server named domain.name.
ftp> ls
or
ftp> dir
Which lists the contents of the remote working directory.
ftp> cd
Which changes the remote working directory to a directory named newdir.
ftp> get
Which downloads a file named filename from the remote computer to the local computer.
ftp> mget
Which downloads files named file1, file2, and file3 from the remote computer to the local
computer.
ftp> close
Which disconnects you from the remote ftp server.
ftp> quit
Which shuts down your local ftp client.
To connect to an anonymous ftp service, you must first open your local ftp client:
ftp
Use the open command to connect to the server. The command
ftp> open
connects your ftp client with the anonymous ftp server named anon.server.
When the remote ftp server makes its connection, it will identify itself to your local client, then
ask for a user name.
Connected to anon.server.
220 ProFTPD Server (Welcome . . . )
User (anon.server:(none)):
For most anonymous ftp servers, you should enter in the word anonymous as the user name.
The remote ftp server will acknowledge that you are connecting as an anonymous user, and
will give you instructions on what to use as a password.
331 Anonymous login ok, send your complete email address as your
password.
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
Password:
In most cases, the remote server does not check the validity of the email address entered as
a password, so it will not stop you from accessing the server if you enter an invalid address.
However, this is considered to be a breach of etiquette. After you have entered a password,
the remote server will send a welcome message to your local computer.
230-
Welcome to ftp.anon.server, the public ftp server of anon.server. We
hope you find what you're looking for.
If you have any problems or questions, please send email to
ftpadmin@anon.server
Thanks!
230 Anonymous access granted, restrictions apply.
From here, you can use the ls, dir, cd and get commands to download files from the remote
server to your local computer.
Using these examples, see if you can download a file from an anonymous ftp server. Use your
web browser and a search engine to find an anonymous ftp server which has a copy of Alice
in Wonderland, then, using the command line ftp client – not your web browser – try to
download the file.
4.1.5 Telnet and SSH
Telnet allows a local user to send a wide variety of commands to a remote computer. This
allows the local user to instruct the remote computer to perform functions and return data to
the local computer, almost as if you were sitting at a keyboard in front of the remote
computer. SSH, or secure shell is intended as a secure replacement for telnet.
Again, both Windows and Linux come with a basic, command line telnet client; to access it,
open a command prompt or terminal window and type: telnet.
To access a telnet server, you will need to have an account and password set up for you by
the administrator of the server, because the telnet program allows you to perform a large
number of actions, some of which could severely compromise the remote computer.
Telnet was used in the past to allow computer administrators to remotely control servers and
to provide user support from a distance.
Telnet can also be used for a number of other tasks, such as sending and receiving email and
viewing the source code for web pages (although telnet does fall under the heading of the
most difficult way to do these things). Telnet can be used to do many things that are illegal
and immoral, but there are also legitimate reasons for using it. You can use telnet to check
your email, and view, not just the subject line, but the first few lines of an email, which will
allow you to decide whether or not to delete the email without downloading the entire
message.
4.1.6 DNS
When you want to call a friend on the phone, you need to know the correct phone number;
when you want to connect to a remote computer, you also need to know its number. You
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
may remember from previous lessons that, for computers on the Internet, this number is called
the IP address.
As numbers, these IP addresses are very easily managed by computers, but as humans, we
prefer to use what are called domain names. For example, to connect to the Hacker
Highschool web page, we type 'www.hackerhighschool.org' into the address bar of a web
browser. However, the web browser can't use this name to connect to the server that hosts
the Hacker Highschool web page – it must use the IP address. This means that your local
computer must have some means of translating domain names into IP addresses. If there
were only hundreds, or even thousands of computers on the Internet, then it might be possible
for you to have a simple table stored on your computer to use to look up these addresses, but,
not only are there are millions of computers on the Internet, the correlations between domain
names and IP addresses can change daily.
For this reason, DNS or Domain Name Service is used to translate domain names into IP
addresses. When you type the domain name www.domainname.com into your web browser,
your web browser contacts the DNS server chosen by your ISP. If that DNS server has
www.domainname.com in its database, then it will return the IP address to your computer,
allowing you to connect.
If your DNS server doesn't have www.domainname.com in its database, then it will send a
request to another DNS server, and it will keep sending requests to other DNS servers until it
finds the correct IP address, or it establishes that the domain name is invalid.
Exercises:
To learn more about DNS:
Open an MS-DOS window and identify the IP address of your computer. What command
have you used? What IP address do you have?
Identify the IP address of your DNS server. What command have you used? What is the IP
address of the DNS server.
Ping www.isecom.org. Do you receive an affirmative answer? What IP address answers the
ping?
Can you direct your computer to use a different DNS server? If so, change the configuration
of your computer so that it uses a different DNS server. Ping www.isecom.org again. Do you
receive the same response? Why?
4.1.7 DHCP
DHCP or Dynamic Host configuration Protocol allows for IP addresses to be dynamically
allocated within a network. The network is given a block of IP addresses for its use. When a
computer joins the network, it is assigned an IP address. When a computer leaves, its IP
address becomes available for use by another computer.
This is useful for large networks of computers, since it is not necessary for each computer to
have an individually assigned, static IP address. Instead, you use a DHCP server. When a new
computer connects to the network, the first thing that it does is request an IP address from the
DHCP server. Once it has been assigned an IP address, the computer then has access to all
the services of the network.
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
4.2 Connections
Most computers connect to the Internet through a modem. Modems translate the digital
signals produced by computers into analog signals that can be transmitted across commonly
available telephone lines. Modem speeds are measured in baud or bits per second. Higher
baud rates are better, since they allow for faster transmission of data, but you must also
consider what you are planning to do. There are certain applications – such as telnetting into
MUDs – for which a twenty year old 300 baud modem would still be acceptable (provided
your typing speed wasn't so good), while high bandwidth applications such as streaming
video can often strain even the most powerful cable modems.
4.2.1 ISPs
You don't just call up the Internet. You need to access a server that will connect your
computer to the Internet. The server does all the heavy work, like being on all the time. The
server is run by an ISP or Internet Service Provider.
An ISP has a point-of-presence on the Internet that is constant, and it has servers that run the
services you are going to use. Now, you can run these services on your own. For example, you
can run a mail server on your local computer, but it will require you to have your computer
powered up and connected to a network all the time, just waiting for those brief moments
when information has to be exchanged. An ISP, however, consolidates the efforts of a large
number of users, so the mail server is working all the time, instead of sitting around, doing
nothing. Additionally, an ISP's computers are going to use a high speed connection to
connect to a NAP or Network Access Point. These NAPs then interconnect with each other
through ultra-high speed connections called backbones. This is the Internet.
4.2.2 Plain Old Telephone Service
POTS, or plain old telephone service, is still the most widely used method of accessing the
Internet. Its primary disadvantage is its low speed, but in many cases this is made up for by its
wide availability. Most national Internet service providers have a large number of local access
numbers, and almost everyone still has a phone with a land line. In theory, if you had an
acoustic modem and a pocket full of change, you could connect from almost any public
pay phone. Not that you would really want to do that.
POTS is slow. The fastest telephone modems are rated at a speed of 56,600 baud. That,
however, as they explain in the small print, is a lie. Power constraints limit the actual download
speed to about 53,000 baud and the effective rate is usually much lower. This doesn't
compare very well with DSL or cable modems.
That said, telephone service is widely available, and POTS based ISPs are relatively cheap
(and sometimes free). You wouldn't want to trade pirated movies over POTS, because it's
immoral, illegal and ties up your phone line all night and maybe into the afternoon, but you
could certainly send friendly, text based e-mails to Granny. And if you used telnet, you could
even do it with a dusty DOS based machine that you pulled out of the basement.
4.2.3 DSL
DSL or digital subscriber line, is a method of sending large amounts of information over the
wires that already exist for the POTS. Its main advantage over POTS is that it is much faster
than analog modems, and it provides a permanent connection. In addition, it allows you to
make and receive regular telephone calls while you are connected to the Internet. Its main
LESSON 4 – SERVICES AND CONNECTIONS
disadvantage is that its availability is limited by your proximity to the telephone company's
switching equipment – if you live too far down the line; you're out of luck.
Exercises:
Using a web search engine, find two companies that supply DSL access. What other services
do these companies provide (telephone service, tv service . . . )?
4.2.4 Cable Modems
Cable modems do not use the traditional telephone lines to connect to the Internet. Instead
they make use of the optical fiber lines that are used by cable companies to transmit digital
cable signals. Like DSL, cable modems allow you to make and receive regular telephone calls
while you are connected to the Internet, and they provide a permanent connection, but
cable modems are generally faster than DSL.
Cable modems have two basic flaws. The first is that cable modem access is a shared
resource, so your connection speeds will be decreased when there are other users in close
geographic proximity. The second is that cable modem access is only available in areas
where cable companies have installed the necessary fiber optic wiring.
Exercises:
Using a web search engine, find two companies that provide Internet access through cable
modems. What other services do these companies provide (telephone service, tv
service . . . )?

PORTS AND PROTOCOLS

2007-11-16T09:17:00.001Z

PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
Table of Contents
Information............................................................................................................... 2
Contributors.............................................................................................................................................4
3.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................5
3.2 Basic concepts of networks.............................................................................................................6
3.2.1 Devices ......................................................................................................................................6
3.2.2 Topologies .................................................................................................................................6
3.3 TCP/IP model.................................................................................................................................. 7
3.3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................7
3.3.2 Layers .........................................................................................................................................7
3.3.2.1 Application .......................................................................................................................7
3.3.2.2 Transport............................................................................................................................7
3.3.2.3 Internet ..............................................................................................................................8
3.3.2.4 Network Access.................................................................................................................8
3.3.3 Protocols ....................................................................................................................................8
3.3.3.1 Application layer protocols ............................................................................................9
3.3.3.2 Transport layer Protocols ................................................................................................9
3.3.3.3 Internet layer Protocols ................................................................................................... 9
3.3.4 IP Addresses ...............................................................................................................................9
3.3.5 Ports .........................................................................................................................................12
3.3.6 Encapsulation ..........................................................................................................................13
3.4 Exercises...........................................................................................................................................14
3.4.1 Exercise 1: Netstat ...................................................................................................................14
3.4.2 Exercise 2: Ports and Protocols ..............................................................................................15
3.4.3 Exercise 3: My First Server ....................................................................................................... 15
Further Reading....................................................................................................................................17
3
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
Contributors
Gary Axten, ISECOM
La Salle URL Barcelona
Kim Truett, ISECOM
Chuck Truett, ISECOM
Marta Barceló, ISECOM
Pete Herzog, ISECOM
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LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
3.1 Introduction
The text and exercises in this lesson try to impart a basic understanding of the ports and
protocols in current use, as well as their relevance within the operating systems, Windows and
Linux.
Additionally, you will have the opportunity to become familiar with a number of useful utilities
which will allow you to properly understand the network capabilities of your computer system.
At the end of the lesson you should have a basic knowledge of:
- the concepts of networks
- IP addresses
- ports and protocols.
5
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
3.2 Basic concepts of networks
3.2.1 Devices
In order to understand the explanation of protocols and ports, it is necessary for you to
become familiar with the icons that represent the most common devices that are seen in the
basic schemes. These are:
3.2.2 Topologies
With these devices, local area networks (or LANs) can be created. In a LAN, computers can
share resources, such as hard drives, printers and internet connections, and an administrator
can control how these resources are shared. When a LAN is being designed, it is possible to
choose any of the following physical topologies:
In a bus topology, all the computers are connected to a single means of transmission, and
each computer can communicate directly with any of the others. In the ring configuration,
each computer is connected to the following one, and the last one to the first, and each
computer can only communicate directly with the two adjacent computers. In the star
topology, none of the computers are directly connected with others. Instead they are
connected through a central point and the device at that central point is responsible for
relaying information from computer to computer. If several central points are connected to
each other, an extended star topology is obtained. In a star or extended star topology, all the
central points are peers, that is, each exchanges information on an equal basis. However, if
you connect two star or extended star networks together using a central point which controls
or limits the exchange of information between the two networks, then you have created a
single, hierarchical network topology.
6
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
Bus Ring Star Extended
Star Hierarchic
3.3 TCP/IP model
3.3.1 Introduction
TCP/IP was developed by the DoD (Department of Defense) of the United States and DARPA
(Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) in the 1970s. TCP/IP was designed to be an
open standard that anyone could use to connect computers together and exchange
information between them. Ultimately, it became the basis for the Internet.
3.3.2 Layers
The TCP/IP model defines four totally independent layers into which it divides the process of
communication between two devices. The layers through which it passes information
between two devices are:
3.3.2.1 Application
The application layer is the layer nearest the end user. This is the layer that is in charge of
translating data from applications into information that can be sent through the network.
The basic functions of this layer are:
- Representation
- Codification
- Dialog Control
- Application Management
3.3.2.2 Transport
The transport layer establishes, maintains and finishes virtual circuits for information transfer. It
provides control mechanisms for data flow and allows broadcasting, and it provides
mechanisms for the detection and correction of errors. The information that arrives at this
layer from the application layer is divided into different segments. Information that comes to
the transport layer from the internet layer is delivered back to the application layer through
ports. (See Section 3.3.5 Ports for details on ports.)
7
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
The basic functions of this layer are:
- Reliability
- Flow Control
- Error Correction
- Broadcasting
3.3.2.3 Internet
This layer divides the segments of the transport layer into packets and sends the packets
across the networks that make up the Internet. It uses IP, or internet protocol addresses to
determine the location of the recipient device. It does not ensure reliability in the
connections, because this is already taken care of by the transport layer, but it is responsible
for selecting the best route between the originating device and the recipient device.
3.3.2.4 Network Access
This layer is in charge of sending information at both the LAN level and the physical level. It
transforms all the information that arrives from the superior layers into basic information (bits)
and directs it to the proper location. At this level, the destination of the information is
determined by the MAC, or media access control, address of the recipient device.
3.3.3 Protocols
To be able to send information between two devices, both must speak the same language.
This language is called the protocol.
The protocols that appear in the application layer of the TCP/IP model are:
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
- Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (smtp)
- Domain Name Service (DNS)
- Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)
The protocols of the transport layer are:
- Transport Control Protocol (TCP)
- User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
The protocols of the internet layer are:
- Internet Protocol (IP)
The protocol most often used in the network access layer is:
- Ethernet
The protocols listed above and their associated ports will be described in the following
sections.
8
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
3.3.3.1 Application layer protocols
FTP or file transfer protocol is used for the transmission of files between two devices. It uses TCP
to create a virtual connection for the control of information, then creates another connection
to be used for the delivery of data. The most commonly used ports are 20 and 21.
HTTP or hypertext transfer protocol is used to translate information into web pages. This
information is distributed in a manner similar to that used for electronic mail. The most
commonly used port is 80.
SMTP or simple mail transfer protocol is a mail service that is based on the FTP model. It
transfers electronic mail between two systems and provides notifications of incoming mail. The
most commonly used port is 25.
DNS or domain name service provides a means to associate a domain name with an ip
address. The most commonly used port is 53.
TFTP or trivial file transfer protocol has the same functions as FTP but uses UDP instead of TCP.
(See Section 3.3.3.2 for details on the differences between UDP and TCP.) This gives it more
speed, but less security and trustworthiness. The most commonly used port is 69.
3.3.3.2 Transport layer Protocols
There are two protocols which can be used by the transport layer to deliver information
segments.
TCP or transmission control protocol establishes a logical connection between the final points
of the network. It synchronizes and regulates the traffic with what is known as the "Three Way
Handshake". In the “Three Way Handshake,” the originating device sends an initial packet
called a SYN to the recipient device. The recipient device sends an acknowledgment
packet, called a SYN/ACK. The originating device then sends a packet called an ACK, which
is an acknowledgment of the acknowledgment. At this point, both the originating device
and the recipient device have established that there is a connection between the two and
both are ready to send and receive data to and from each other.
UDP or user datagram protocol is a transport protocol which is not based on a connection. In
this case, the originating device sends packets without warning the recipient device to
expect these packets. It is then up to the recipient device to determine whether or not those
packets will be accepted. As a result, UDP is faster that TCP, but it cannot guarantee that a
packet will be accepted.
3.3.3.3 Internet layer Protocols
IP or internet protocol serves as a universal protocol to allow any two computers to
communicate through any network at any time. Like UDP, it is connectionless, because it does
not establish a connection with the remote computer. Instead, it is what is known as a best
effort service, in that it will do whatever is possible to ensure that it works correctly, but its
reliability is not guaranteed. The Internet Protocol determines the format for the packet
headers, including the IP addresses of both the originating and the recipient devices.
3.3.4 IP Addresses
A domain name is the web address that you normally type into a web browser. That name
identifies one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents
about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages.
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LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
For example, in the URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html, the domain name is
pcwebopedia.com.
Every domain name has a suffix that indicates which top level domain (TLD) it belongs to.
There are only a limited number of such domains. For example:
.gov - Government agencies
.edu - Educational institutions
.org - Organizations (nonprofit)
.com - Commercial Business
.net - Network organizations
Because the Internet is based on IP addresses, not domain names, every Web server requires
a Domain Name System (DNS) server to translate domain names into IP addresses.
IP Addresses are the identifiers that are used to differentiate between computers and other
devices that are connected to a network. Each device must have a different IP address, so
that there are no problems of mistaken identity within the network. IP addresses consist of 32
bits that are divided in four 8 bit octets which are separated by dots. Part of the IP address
identifies the network, and the remainder of the IP address identifies the individual computers
on the network.
There are both public and private IP addresses. Private IP addresses are used by private
networks that have no connection with outside networks. IP addresses within a private
network should not be duplicated within that network, but computers on two different – but
unconnected – private networks could have duplicated IP addresses. The IP addresses that
are defined by IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, as being available for private
networks are:
10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0. through 192.168.255.255
IP addresses are divided into classes based on what portion of the address is used to identify
the network and what portion is used to identify the individual computers.
Depending on the size assigned to each part, more devices will be allowed within the
network, or more networks will be allowed. The existing classes are:
10
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
- Class A: The first bit is always zero, so this class includes the addresses between 0.0.0.0
and 126.255.255.255. Note: the addresses of 127.x.x.x are reserved for the services of
loopback or localhost.
- Class B: The first two bits of the first octet are '10', so this class includes the addresses
between 128.0.0.0 and 191.255.255.255.
- Class C: The first three bits of the first octet are '110', so this class includes the
addresses between 192.0.0.0 and 223.255.255.255.
- Class D: The first four bits of the first octet are '1110', so this class includes the
addresses between 224.0.0.0 and 239.255.255.255. These addresses are reserved for
group multicast implementations.
- The remaining addresses are used for experimentation or for possible future
allocations.
At this time, the classes are not used to differentiate between the part of the address used to
identify the network and the part used to identify the individual devices. Instead, a mask is
used. In the mask, a '1' binary bit represents the part containing the network identification and
a '0' binary bit represents the part that identifies the individual devices. Therefore, to identify a
device, in addition to the IP address, it is necessary to specify a network mask:
IP: 172.16.1.20
Mask: 255.255.255.0
IP addresses 127.x.x.x are reserved to be used as loopback or local host addresses, that is,
they refer directly back to the local computer. Every computer has a local host address of
127.0.0.1, therefore that address cannot be used to identify different devices. There are also
other addresses that cannot be used. These are the network address and the broadcast
address.
The network address is an address in which the part of the address which normally identifies
the device is all zeros. This address cannot be used, because it identifies a network and can
never be used to identify a specific device.
IP: 172.16.1.0
Mask: 255.255.255.0
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LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
The broadcast address is an address in which the part of the address which normally identifies
the device is all ones. This address cannot be used to identify a specific device, because it is
the address that is used to send information to all of the computers that belong to the
specified network.
IP: 172.16.1.255
Mask: 255.255.255.0
3.3.5 Ports
Both TCP and UDP use ports to exchange information with applications. A port is an extension
of an address, similar to adding an apartment or room number to a street address. A letter
with a street address will arrive at the correct apartment building, but without the apartment
number, it will not be delivered to the correct recipient. Ports work in much the same way. A
packet can be delivered to the correct IP address, but without the associated port, there is
no way to determine which application should act on the packet.
Once the ports have been defined, it is possible for the different types of information that are
sent to one IP address to then be sent to the appropriate applications. By using ports, a
service running on a remote computer can determine what type of information a local client
is requesting, can determine the protocol needed to send that information, and maintain
simultaneous communication with a number of different clients.
For example, if a local computer attempts to connect to the website www.osstmm.org,
whose IP address is 62.80.122.203, with a web server running on port 80, the local computer
would connect to the remote computer using the socket address :
62.80.122.203:80
In order to maintain a level of standardization among the most commonly used ports, IANA
has established that the ports numbered from 0 to 1024 are to be used for common services.
The remaining ports – up through 65535 – are used for dynamic allocations or particular
services.
The most commonly used ports – as assigned by the IANA – are listed here:
Port Assignments
Decimals Keywords Description
0 Reserved
1-4 Unassigned
5 rje Remote Job Entry
7 echo Echo
9 discard Discard
11 systat Active Users
13 daytime Daytime
15 netstat Who is Up or NETSTAT
17 qotd Quote of the Day
19 chargen Character Generator
20 ftp-data File Transfer [Default Data]
21 ftp File Transfer [Control]
22 ssh SSH Remote Login Protocol
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LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
Port Assignments
Decimals Keywords Description
23 telnet Telnet
25 smtp Simple Mail Transfer
37 time Time
39 rlp Resource Location Protocol
42 nameserver Host Name Server
43 nicname Who Is
53 domain Domain Name Server
67 bootps Bootstrap Protocol Server
68 bootpc Bootstrap Protocol Client
69 tftp Trivial File Transfer
70 gopher Gopher
75 any private dial out service
77 any private RJE service
79 finger Finger
80 www-http World Wide Web HTTP
95 supdup SUPDUP
101 hostname NIC Host Name Server
102 iso-tsap ISO-TSAP Class 0
110 pop3 Post Office Protocol - Version 3
113 auth Authentication Service
117 uucp-path UUCP Path Service
119 nntp Network News Transfer Protocol
123 ntp Network Time Protocol
137 netbios-ns NETBIOS Name Service
138 netbios-dgm NETBIOS Datagram Service
139 netbios-ssn NETBIOS Session Service
140-159 Unassigned
160-223 Reserved
You can also refer to the Web page: http://www.isecom.info/cgilocal/
protocoldb/browse.dsp for more detailed information on ports.
3.3.6 Encapsulation
When a piece of information – an e-mail message, for example – is sent from one computer to
another, it is subject to a series of transformations. The application layer generates the data,
which is then sent to the transport layer. The transport layer takes this information and adds a
header to it. This header contains information, such as the IP addresses of the originating and
recipient computers, that explains what must be done to the data in order to get it to the
appropriate destination. The next layer adds yet another header, and so on. This recursive
procedure is known as encapsulation.
Each layer after the first makes its data an encapsulation of the previous layer's data, until you
arrive at the final layer, in which the actual transmission of data occurs. The following figure
explains encapsulation in a graphic form:
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LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
When the encapsulated information arrives at its destination, it must then be deencapsulated.
As each layer receives information from the previous layer, it removes the
unneeded information contained in the header placed there by the previous layer.
3.4 Exercises
3.4.1 Exercise 1: Netstat
Netstat
The Netstat command allows you to see the state of the ports on a computer. In order to
execute it, you must open an MS-DOS window and type:
netstat
In the MS-DOS window, you will then see a list of the established connections. If you want to
see the connections displayed in numeric form, type:
netstat - n
To see the connections and the active ports, type:
netstat - an
To see a list of other options, type:
netstat - h
In the Netstat output, the second and third columns list the local and remote IP addresses
being used by the active ports. Why are the addresses of the remote ports different from the
local addresses?
Next, using a web browser, open this web page:
http://193.145.85.202
then return to the MS-DOS prompt and run Netstat again. What new connection (or
connections) appear?
Open another web browser and go to this web page:
http://193.145.85.203
Return to the MS-DOS prompt and run Netstat:
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LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
DATA
SEGMENT
PACKET
FRAME
- Why does the protocol HTTP appear in several lines?
- What differences exist between each one of them?
- If there are several web browsers open, how does the computer know which information
goes to which browser?
3.4.2 Exercise 2: Ports and Protocols
In this lesson, you learned that ports are used to differentiate between services.
Why is it that when a web browser is used, no port is specified?
What protocols are used?
Is it possible that one protocol gets used in more than one instance?
3.4.3 Exercise 3: My First Server
To perform this exercise, you must have the Netcat program. If you do not have it, you can
download it from the page:
http://www.atstake.com/research/tools/network_utilities/
Once you have Netcat installed, open an MS-DOS window. Change to the Netcat directory
and type:
nc - h
This displays the options that are available in Netcat. To create a simple server, type:
nc - l - p 1234
When this command executes, port 1234 is opened and incoming connections are allowed.
Open a second MS-DOS window and type:
netstat – a
This should verify that there is a new service listening on port 1234. Close this MS-DOS window.
To be able to say that a server has been implemented, you must establish a client association.
Open an MS-DOS window and type:
nc localhost 1234
With this command, a connection is made with the server that is listening to port 1234. Now,
anything that is written in either of the two open MS-DOS windows can be seen in the other
window.
Create a file named 'test', that contains the text, “Welcome to the Hacker Highschool server!”
In an MS-DOS window, type:
nc - l - p 1234 > test
From another MS-DOS window, connect to the server by typing:
nc localhost 1234
When the client connects to the server, you should see the output of the file, 'test'.
To close the service, switch to the MS-DOS window in which it is running and press CTRL-C.
What protocol has been used to connect with the server?
15
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
Does Netcat allow you to change this? If so, how?
16
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS
Further Reading
You can find more information on ports and protocols by looking at the following links:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/fire2/chapter/ch13.html
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/puis3/chapter/ch11.pdf
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ipv6ess/chapter/ch02.pdf
http://info.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-1/tcpjmy.html
http://www.garykessler.net/library/tcpip.html
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/ip.htm
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/GG243376.html
Port Number references:
http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
http://www.isecom.info/cgi-local/protocoldb/browse.dsp
17
LESSON 3 – PORTS AND PROTOCOLS

PORTS AND PROTOCOLS

2007-11-16T09:17:00.000Z

BASIC COMMANDS इन LINUX AND WINDOWS

2007-11-16T09:05:00.001Z

BASIC COMMANDS IN
LINUX AND WINDOWS
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
Table of Contents
“License for Use” Information............................................................................................................... 2
Contributors.............................................................................................................................................4
2.1. Introduction and Objectives...........................................................................................................5
2.2. Requirements and Setup.................................................................................................................6
2.2.1 Requirements.............................................................................................................................6
2.2.2 Setup...........................................................................................................................................6
2.3. System Operation: WINDOWS.........................................................................................................7
2.3.1 How to open an MS-DOS window ..........................................................................................7
2.3.2 Commands and tools (Windows)............................................................................................7
2.4. System Operations: Linux...............................................................................................................10
2.4.1 How to open a console window............................................................................................10
2.4.2 Commands and tools (Linux)..................................................................................................10
2.5. Exercises..........................................................................................................................................13
2.5.1 Exercises in Windows................................................................................................................13
2.5.2 Exercises in Linux.......................................................................................................................13
2.5.3 Exercise 3..................................................................................................................................13
3
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
Contributors
Daniel Fernández Bleda, Internet Security Auditors
Jairo Hernández, La Salle URL Barcelona
Jaume Abella, La Salle URL Barcelona - ISECOM
Kim Truett, ISECOM
Pete Herzog, ISECOM
Marta Barceló, ISECOM
4
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
2.1. Introduction and Objectives
This lesson introduces commands and basic tools for both Windows and Linux operating
systems so that you can become familiar with them. These commands will be used to
complete the exercises in the following lessons
At the end of this lesson, you should know the following commands:
 General Windows and Linux commands
 Basic network commands and tools
- ping
- tracert
- netstat
- ipconfig
- route
5
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
2.2. Requirements and Setup
2.2.1 Requirements
For the lesson, the following are needed:
- a PC with Windows 98/Me/2000/NT/XP/2003
- a PC with Linux Suse/Debian/Knoppix
- access to the Internet.
2.2.2 Setup
This is the setup in which you are going to work. It consists of your PC, with access
to the Internet, and the ISECOM Hacker Highschool network, which you will
access through the Internet. This is the network against which you will make most
of the tests.
Note that access to the ISECOM test network is restricted. In order to gain access
to it, your instructor must contact the sytem administrator, as detailed on the
www.hackerhighschool.org web site.
6
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
2.3. System Operation: WINDOWS
Most of the tools used for the study of networks are internal commands in the
Windows operating system. Therefore, we are going to explain how to open a
command window when the Windows operating system is being used.
2.3.1 How to open an MS-DOS window
To issue the following commands, it is necessary to open a command prompt (an
MS-DOS window). The procedure for this is the same for all versions of Windows.
1.- Click the START button
2.- Choose the RUN option
3.- Type “command” if you are using Windows 95/98 or “cmd” for all other versions
of Windows and press Enter or click OK.
4.- A window similar to the following one will appear:
5.- Now the commands and tools listed below can be entered.
2.3.2 Commands and tools (Windows)
Commands
date Display or set the date of the system
time Display or set the time of the system
ver Display the MS-DOS version that is being used
dir Display the list of subdirectories and files of a directory
cls Clear the screen
mkdir,
md directory
Make a directory with the name “directory”
Example: md tools
chdir, cd directory Display the name or change the current directory to “directory”
Example: cd tools
rmdir, rd directory Delete the directory with the name “directory”
Example: rd tools
7
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
tree directory Display the structure of folders of a path in text-graphic format
Example: tree c:\tools
chkdsk Check a disk and show a status report
mem Show the amount of memory used and free in the system
rename,
ren source dest
Change the name of files
Example: ren oldname newname
copy source dest Copy one or more files to another location
Example: copy c:\tools\myfile.txt c:\tmp
move source dest Move files and change the name of files and directories
Example: move c:\tools c:\tmp
type file Type the content of one or more text files
Example: type c:\tools\myfile.txt
more file Display the information screen by screen
Example: more c:\tools\myfile.txt
delete, del file Delete one or more files
Example: del c:\tools\myfile.txt
Note: The words in italics are not commands, and must be replaced by the desired
values. Some of the commands can be used by typing either their long version or short
version; for example, "delete" and "del‚" are the same command.
Tools
ping host Verify contact with the machine “host”
The command ping sends "packets" using ICMP (Internet Control
Message Protocol) to another computer, to learn whether it is
accessible through the network. In addition, it shows a statistical
summary about the percentage of packets that have not been
answered and the response time. The name of the machine can
be used directly or its IP address.
Examples: ping www.google.com
ping 193.145.85.2
Some options are:
- n N: send N packets
- t: ping the specified host until stopped (press CTRL+C to end)
To see more options: ping /h
8
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
tracert host Show the route that packets follow to reach the machine “host”
The command tracert is the abbreviation of trace route, which
allows you to learn the route that a packet follows from the origin,
(your machine) to the destination machine. It can also tell you
the time it takes to make each jump. At the most, 30 jumps will be
listed. It is sometimes interesting to observe the names of the
machines through which the packets travel.
Examples: tracert www.google.com
tracert 193.145.85.2
Some options are:
- h N: to specify N, at the most, jumps.
- d: to not show the names of the machines.
To see more options: tracert
ipconfig Display information on the active interfaces (ethernet, ppp, etc.)
in the computer.
Some options:
/all: to show more details
/renew name: renews connection with “name” when automatic
configuration with DHCP is used.
/release name: deactivates all matching connections when
automatic configuration with DHCP is used.
To see more options: ipconfig /?
route print Display the routing table
The command route serves to define static routes, to erase routes
or simply to see the state of the routes.
Some options:
print: to show the list of routes.
delete: to delete a route.
add: to add a route.
To see more options: route/?
netstat Displays information on the status of the network and established
connections with remote machines.
Some options:
-a: To sample all the connections and listening ports
-n: to display addresses and port numbers in numeric form
-e: to sample Ethernet statistics
For example: netstat - an
To see more options: netstat/?
9
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
For additional information on these commands and tools type "command /h" or
"command /?‚" or "help command" from a MS-DOS window.
For example, for additional information on the tool netstat, we have three possibilities:
1) netstat /h
2) netstat /?
3) help netstat
2.4. System Operations: Linux
Just as in Windows, if you are using Linux, a great majority of the commands
that you will use are executed from a console emulation window. Therefore,
we will next learn how to open a console window in Linux.
2.4.1 How to open a console window
To issue the following commands, it is necessary to open a console window:
1. - To go to the START APPLICATION button
2. - Select “Run Command”
3. - Enter “konsole”
4. - A window similar to the following one will appear:
5. - Now the commands and tools listed below can be entered.
2.4.2 Commands and tools (Linux)
Commands
pwd Display the name of the current directory.
hostname Display the name of the local host (the computer which you are
currently using)
10
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
finger user Display information on the user “user”
Example: finger root
ls List the content of the directories
Example: ls -la
cd directory Change from current directory to “directory”. If no directory
name is specified it changes to the home directory,
Example:
For the login name “mylogin” the command
$cd
changes the directory to /home/mylogin
Example:
$cd -
changes to the last visited directory
Example:
$cd /tmp
changes to the “tmp” directory
cp source dest Copy files. Copy the file “source” to the file “dest”.
Example: cp /etc/passwd /tmp
rm file Delete files. Only the owner of the file (or root) can delete it.
Example: rm myfile
mv source dest Move or rename files and directories.
Example: mv oldname newname
mkdir directory Make a directory with the name “directory”.
Example: mkdir tools
rmdir directory Delete the directory with the name “directory” if it is empty.
Example: rmdir tools
find / -name file Find a file with the name “file” beginning the search in the root
directory
Example: find / -name myfile
echo string Write the string “string” in the standard output
Example: echo hello
command > file Redirect the normal screen output of the command “command”
to the file “file”
Example: ls > myls
command >> file Redirect the normal screen output of the command “command”
to the file “file”. If the file already exists, it appends the output to
the end of the file.
Example: ls >> myls
man command Show the pages of the online manual about “command”
Example: man ls
Note: The words in italics are not commands and must be replaced by the desired values.
11
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
For additional information on the use of these commands and tools, type in "command
-help" or "man command" in the console window.
For example, for additional information on the “ls” command, type in either of these two
possibilities:
1) ls –-help
2) man ls
Tools (Please see the Windows section for details on these tools.)
ping host Verify the contact with the machine “host”
Example: ping www.google.com
traceroute host Show the route that the packets follow to reach the machine
“host”. Example: tracert www.google.com
ifconfig Display information on the active interfaces (ethernet, ppp, etc.)
route Display the routing table
netstat Display information on the status of the network
Example: netstat -an
Basic command equivalences for Windows/Linux
This is a table showing the basic command equivalences between Linux and Windows.
Commands are executed from a shell (in Linux) or from a MS-DOS window (in Windows).
Linux Windows
command --help command /h, command /?
man command help command
cp copy
rm del
mv move
mv ren
more, less, cat type
lpr print
rm -R deltree
ls dir
cd cd
mkdir md
rmdir rd
route route print
traceroute –I tracert
ping ping
ifconfig ipconfig
12
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
2.5. Exercises
2.5.1 Exercises in Windows
1. Go to a MS-DOS window.
2. Identify the version of MS-DOS that you are using. What version have you detected? What
command have you used?.
3. Identify the date and time of the system. If they are incorrect, modify them so that they are
correct. What command have you used?
4. Identify all the directories and files that are in “c:\”. What command have you used?
5. Create the directory c:\hhs\lesson0. Copy in this directory all the files with the extension
“.sys” that are in “c:\”. What files have you found? What commands have you used?
6. Identify the IP address of your host. What command have you used? What IP address do
you have?
7. Trace the route to “www.google.com”. Identify IPs of the intermediate routers.
2.5.2 Exercises in Linux
1. Identify the owner of the file “passwd”. (Note: first locate where this file is). What command
have you used?
2. Create the directory “work” in your own home directory (for example, if your login is
“mylogin”, create the directory in “/home/mylogin”), and copy the file “passwd” in the
directory “work” that you have just created. Identify the owner of the file “passwd” that has
been copied.
3. Create the directory “.hide” in the “work” directory. List the contents of this directory. What
did you have to do to see the contents of directory ".hide"?
4. Create the file “test1” with the content “This is the content of the file test1” in the “work”
directory. Create the file “test2” with the content “This is the content of the file test2” in the
“work” directory. Copy into a file with the name "test” the contents of previous files. What
commands have you used?
5. Identify the name and the IP address of your machine. What commands have you used?
What IP address do you have?
6. Trace the route to “www.google.com”. Identify IPs of the intermediate routers.
2.5.3 Exercise 3
Complete the following table with parallelisms between Windows and Linux. For
example: the Linux command “command -help” is equivalent to the Windows
13
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
command “command /h”. As another example, in Linux: “cp” is just like the Windows
command, “copy”.
command --
help
command /
h
cp copy
del
mv
more
print
deltree
lsc
d
md
rd
route
tracert
Ping
ipconfig
14
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS
Further Reading
For an extensive glossary of terms visit the following URLs:
http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html
http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/inform/v106.html
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/
Windows – for additional information on commands and tools, type in "command /h" or
"command /?‚" or "help command" from a MS-DOS window.
Linux – for additional information on commands and tools, type in "command --help" or
"man command" from a shell.
15
LESSON 2 – BASIC COMMANDS IN LINUX AND WINDOWS

BASIC COMMANDS इन LINUX AND WINDOWS

2007-11-16T09:05:00.000Z

ERROR 734: The PPP link control protocol was terminated

2007-07-21T12:01:00.000Z

ERROR 734: The PPP link control protocol was terminated
Redial Canel more info

Click your START menu
Click CONTROL PANEL
Select PHONE AND MODEM OPTION
In case is not configured select NIGERIA from the list and 234 for the AREA CODE
Select the "MODEMS" tab
Select the modem you are connecting with which
could either be "bluetooth Dun modem" or "phone model USB modem"
or "phone model infrared modem"
Select PROPERTIES
Selecting MODEM tab, you can increase your port speed to boost the speed of your connection.
Select DIAGNOSTICS
Click QUERY MODEM if success
Go to the ADVANCED tab
In the EXTRA INITIALIZATION COMMANDS
Type
AT+cgdcont=1,"IP","web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net" for MTN network
AT+cgdcont=1,"IP","wap.ng.celtel." for CELTEL network
AT+cgdcont=1,"IP, "glogwap" for GLO network

Select OK and OK again to exit
Now you can try and DIAL entering your neccessary parameters
MTN
user name WEB
password WEB
DIAL: *99***1#

CELTEL
user name WAP
password WAP
DIAL: *99***1#

GLO
user name WAP
password WAP
DIAL: *99***1#

It will register and Authenticate and you are up
Happy browsing.......

Computer Networking Definition

2007-07-20T15:13:00.000Z

Computer Networking Definition
Definition of "Computer networking" is the engineering discipline concerned with communication between computer systems. Such communicating computer systems constitute a computer network and these networks generally involve at least two devices capable of being networked with at least one usually being a computer. The devices can be separated by a few meters (e.g. via Bluetooth) or nearly unlimited distances (e.g. via the Internet). Computer networking is sometimes considered a sub-discipline of telecommunications, and sometimes of computer science, information technology and computer engineering. Computer networks rely heavily upon the theoretical and practical application of these scientific and engineering disciplines.
A computer network is any set of computers or devices connected to each other. Examples of networks are the Internet, a wide area network that is the largest to ever exist, or a small home local area network (LAN) with two computers connected with standard networking cables connecting to a network interface card in each computer.
Networking Methods
Networking is a complex part of computing that makes up most of the IT Industry. Without networks, almost all communication in the world would cease to happen. It is because of networking that telephones, televisions, the internet, etc. work.
There are two (broad) types of networks in existence at the moment. These are:
Local Area Network (LAN)
A Local Area Network is a network that spans a relatively small space and provides services to a small amount of people. Depending on the amount of people that use a Local Area Network, a peer-to-peer or client-server method of networking may be used. A peer-to-peer network is where each client shares their resources with other workstations in the network. Examples of peer-to-peer networks are: Small office networks where resource use is minimal and a home network. A client-server network is where every client is connected to the server and each other. Client-server networks use servers in different capacities. These can be classified into two types: Single-service servers, where the server performs one task such as file server, print server, etc.; while other servers can not only perform in the capacity of file servers and print servers, but they also conduct calculations and use these to provide information to clients (Web/Intranet Server). Computers are linked via Ethernet Cable, can be joined either directly (one computer to another), or via a network hub that allows multiple connections.
Wide Area Network (WAN)
A Wide Area Network is a network where a wide variety of resources are deployed across a large domestic area or internationally. An example of this is a multinational business that uses a WAN to interconnect their offices in different countries. The largest and best example of a WAN is the Internet, which is the largest network in the world.
Wireless Networks (WLAN, WWAN)
A wireless network is basically the same as a LAN or a WAN but there are no wires between hosts and servers. The data is transfered over sets of radio trancievers. These types of networks are beneficial when it is to costly or inconvenient to run the necessary cables. For more information, see Wireless LAN and Wireless wide area network
In order for communication to take place between computers, mediums must be used. These mediums include Protocols, Physical Routers and Ethernet, etc. This is covered by Open Systems Interconnection which comprises all the processes that make information transport possible.

Networking For LAN

2007-07-20T15:10:00.000Z

Networking For LAN
Wiring up a LAN (local area network) can be very easy, or it can be very difficult – it all depends on the size of your network, and how you’re trying to go about it.
For a very small home network, you can get by without using any special equipment except the wires. If you want to use a network to share Internet access or a printer, just plug an Ethernet cable into the computers you want to network, and then use the simple networking features that are built into Windows, such as Internet Connection Sharing. This approach has many downsides, though – you’ll need an extra Ethernet card in each computer for every extra computer you connect to the network, for one.
Instead of connecting each computer to the next, it is better to simply connect all the computers to a central router. This is a very efficient way of connecting computers together, as the data you send will be quickly and easily routed to its destination: the data goes to the router, which knows which wire to send it down for it to reach the destination address, and simply sends it that way. This also allows you to turn on and off computers as you please with no ill effects, as the router is always-on.
If you want to connect more devices to the network than the four or five ports on a router will allow, then you need to get a network switch. This allows you to create a separate sector of your network especially for one group of devices. For example, you might have your computer and your printer both plugged into a switch. The computer and the printer can then communicate between themselves without the data needing to travel out onto the wider network – but if they want to send to or receive from the wider network, they can do that too.
John Gibb is the owner of ethernet resources For more information on ethernet check out http://www.ethernet-intelligence.info

Computer Networking - How It Works

2007-07-20T15:08:00.000Z

Computer Networking - How It Works
Computer networking is a process of sharing data and shared resources between two or more connected computers. The shared resources can include printer, Fax modem, Hard disk, CD - DVD Rom, Database and the data files. A computer network can be divided into a small or local area network, a networking between computers in a building of a office (LAN), medium sized network (MAN), a network between two offices in a city and Wide network (WAN) a network between the computers, one is locally and the other can be thousands of miles away in any other country of the world.
WAN connectivity is achieved by a network device known as “Router”. The internet is the world’s largest WAN network, where millions of computers from all over the globe and connected with each other.
Networking is the practice of linking two or more computers or devices with each other. The connectivity can be wired or wireless. A computer network can be categorized in different ways, depends on the geographical area as mentioned above.
There are two main types of the computer network client-server and peer to peer. In the client server computing, a computer plays a major role known as server, where the files, data in the form of web pages, docs or spread sheet files, video, database & resources are placed.
All the other computers in the client/server network are called clients and they get the data from the server. In the peer to peer network all the computers play the same role and no computer act as a centralized server. In the major businesses around the world client-server network model is in major use.
A network topology defines the structure, design or layout of a network. There are different topologies like bus, ring, star, mesh, hybrid etc. The star topology is most commonly used network topology. In the star topology, all the computers in the network are connected with a centralized device such as hub or switch. Thus forms a star like structure. If the hubs/switch fails to work for any reason then all the connectivity and communication between the computers of a network will be halted.
In the network, a common communication language is used by the computers and the network devices and this language is known as protocols. The most commonly used and popular protocols on the internet and in the home and other networks is called TCP/IP. TCP/IP is not a singleprotocol but it is a suite of several protocols.
A network can be a wired or wireless and TCP/IP protocol can work both in types of network.
A data flow in a computer network can be divided into seven logical layers called OSI layersmodel that was developed by Intel and Xerox Corporation and was standardized by ISO.
1. Application layer
2. Presentation layer
3. Session layer
4. Transport layer
5. Network layer
6. Data Link layer
a. Media access control sub-layer
b. Logical link control sub-layer
7. Physical layer.
A network can be divided into different scales and ranges and it depends on the requirement of the network and the geographical location. Computer Network can be divided into Local Area Network, Personal Area Network, Campus Area Network, Wireless Local Area Network,Metropolitan Area Network and Wide Area Network.
There are several network connection methods like HomePNA, Power line communication, Ethernet and Wifi connection method.A network can also be categorized into several different types based on the services it provides like Server farms, Storage area networks, Value control networks, Value-Added networks,SOHO network, Wireless network and Jungle networks.
B. Bashir manages this website Networking Tutorials and regularly writes articles on various topics such as Computer Networking Network Troubleshooting Tips Wireless Networking, Computer Hardware, Certifications, How Tos, Network Security Guide and computer tips.

How To Design Network Server

2007-07-20T15:06:00.000Z

How To Design Network Server
Network server is a most important component of a computer network because the entire computer network is administered, controlled and managed through it. Before designing a network server for your organization, you should have the adequate knowledge about the following things.

Server Processor

Processor is a heart of the CPU. It processes all the commands, instructions and commands and execute them to perform certain actions. Pentium processors are very reliable in performance and speed and trend is growing to use the multiprocessor servers to share the load on each processor. If one processor fails to work due to any reason, there is no effect on the other processor in the same server so it’s a wise decision of the network administrators to use the multiprocessor server for company’s network.

Hard Disk

Hard disks are used to store all the data in permanently. Hard disk is a mechanical device and while selecting the hard disk you should consider the S.M.A.R.T (Smart Monitoring and Reporting Technology). This technology monitors the hard drives and predicts the any failure in the hard drivers. Today, most of the server providers provide hot swap disk drives, this means that if one there is any error occurred in the hard drives, it can be replaced with the other hard drives while the server is in the working mode.

Clustering

In a clustering environment, two or more servers operate as a single server and the failure of the one server does not affect on the other servers. Clustered environment has the benefits such as high performance, reliability and load balancing.

Memory Performance

While selecting the physical memory for the server it should be considered the memory support Error Correcting Code technology. ECC technology fixes and repairs any single bit errors and report the multi bit errors. High memory is very vital for the server for its best performance, speed and continuous work.

Power Supply

Most of the computers come with the multi power supplies. This means in case of failure of the one power supply, does not affect on the other power supply in the same computer and in this way computer works normally. Multi power supplies are hot swappable like the hard disks i.e. faulty power supplies can be replaced with the new ones while the server is in the working mode.

UPS

UPS or uninterrupted power supply are very important in a network environment because a sudden jerk of the electricity may cause of the hard drives or mother boards of the server as well as the other computers in the network. A UPS normally provide a backup of 3-4 hours and during that time server and other computers can be setup and the files or other data can be saved.

Cooling Fans

The cooling system inside the server is provided by the cooling fans. Cooling fans pull the cool air inside the server and through out the heat from the server. The failure of the cooling fan results in the automatic shutdown of the server due to the high buildup of the heat. Many vendors of the computer systems are providing the hot swappable cooling fans.

Computer Monitoring Hardware

There is a specially designed adapter to monitor the performance of the different parts of the hardware of the computer. This adapter can also be controlled by a modem remotely.

Computer Monitoring Software

Different computer monitoring software is available in the market and their main purpose is to monitor the performance of the server and the client computers.

Data Server Location

Network server should be placed in a dust free, cooling capable and clean environment and only the authorized users should be allowed to enter in the server room.

Hopefully my above mentioned tips will help you building a better server for your computer network

B. Bashir manages this website Networking Tutorials and regularly writes articles on various topics such as Computer Networking, Network Troubleshooting Tips Wireless Networking, Computer Hardware, Certifications, How Tos, Network Security Guide and computer tips.

Computer Networking Solutions For Small Businesses

2007-07-20T15:03:00.000Z

Computer Networking Solutions For Small Businesses
Many terms of the computer networking fundamentals for small businesses have come from the physical world of transportation. Some examples of such terms are ports, hubs, bridge, switching and routing. However, this simile is not unjustified because networks have same importance regarding the boom of the information era, as the transportation to the industrial era. Both computer networks and transportation system require very sound infrastructure.

Computer Networking is connecting the Computers: Most fundamental form of computer networking goes back to connecting any two electronic equipments for the transfer of data between them. Third equipment only helps the communication of data. However, connecting a printer to computer simply with the help of a USB cable is not called a network. It will be a part of the network if connected with router or switch. Advent of Internet has forced the most of the companies to think about the computer networking. No matter how small business you are running, you need to have computer-networking facilities for publicity, email and online marketing of your products and services. If you do not have a well-established network of computer, your competitors will leave you behind in contacting the prospective customers.

The Biggest Advantage is File Sharing: File sharing is perhaps the most talked about component of the computer networking fundamentals. File sharing is simply centralized grouping and organization of data files on a network server. Availability of all the data files at one place makes managing documents and data easier. Furthermore, you can also avoid the inconvenience caused by the inconsistant scheme of work among the different departments of the business. The newer versions of the network operating systems give tremendous control to the administrator. He is in complete control whether a person can get access to a particular file or not.

Sharing of Printers Saves Both Time and Money: Second important component of the computer networking fundamentals for small businesses is printer sharing. It saves a lot of money and time that you would have spent on the purchasing and maintenance of printers. The printers connected to the computer network have more features than those connected to single computers.

Email: One should also learn the importance of email to get the full understanding of computer networking fundamentals for small businesses. Group email facilitates fast and effective communication among the employees. Small business can also improve their scheduling, task assignment and contact management with the help of group or internal email. Moreover, in-house communication of documents is better than faxing because group emails are less expensive easier and unbelievably fast.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

Business Owners all across the country are joining "The Community of Small Business Owners” to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences.

Computer Network Devices And Component

2007-07-20T15:02:00.000Z

Computer Network Devices And Component
A Computer network is comprised of different devices to share, transmit, and boost the signal, voice and data. Network devices or components are the physical parts connected to a network. There is a large number of the network devices and are increasing daily. The basic network devices are: Individual Computers, Server, Hub, Switch, Bridges, Routers, Modems, Printers, DSL Modems & Routers, Gateways, Network Interface Cards, Cabling & Wireless access point. The following is a overview of each of these network devices.

INDIVIDUAL COMPUTERS: The personal computer is usually a desktop computer, a work station or a laptop. The personal computers are most widely used in any organization or for personal use. The individual computers are the most common types of the microcomputers.

SERVER: A server is a computer on a network, which process request and is used to share the data and resources among the other computers in a network. A server stores all the necessary information and provides the different services like, workstation computer’s logon access, internet sharing, print sharing, disk space sharing etc. There are different types of servers e.g File and print server, database server, proxy server, Fax server, backup server etc. A database server stores all the data and software, which may related to the certain database and it allows other network devices to access and process the database queries. A file server is used to store the data of any user on the network and a print server manages one or more printers in a network. Similarly a network server is a server that manages the network traffic.

NETWORK INTERFACE CARD: Network interface cards are attached with the computer or other network devices and are used to provide the connectivity between the two computers. Each network card is specifically designed for the different types of the network like Ethernet, FDDI, Token Ring and Wireless Networks. The Network card operates on the first and second layers of the OSI models i.e Physical layer and datalink layer specifications. NIC basically defines the physical connection methods and the control signals that provides the timings of the data transfer over the network.

HUBS: Hub is a simplest network device. The function of the hub is broadcasting i.e data is forwarded towards the all ports of a hub, regardless of whether the data was intended for the particular systems in the network or not. Computers in a network are connected to a hub with a twisted pair (CAT5) cables. There are two types of the hubs. 1. Active Hubs. 2. Passive Hubs.

SWITCHING HUB: The Switching hub (also called “switch” is the most advance shape of the basic hub. In a basic hub all the computers are connected with the hub and the speed of the network is defined by the slowest computer network card connected. For example if you have 10/100 Mbps cards in a network and only one card of 10Mbps speed then the system cannot run faster than the 10 Mbps. Now if you have a switching hub in a network, it will allow all the faster connections in the network to remain at the higher speed and still interact with the 10Mbps system.

SWITCHES: Switch is a intelligence device than hub. Switch is a layer 2 device. Swith provides the same function as a hub or a bridge but it has the advance functionality of connecting the two computers together temporarily. Switch contains the switch matrix or switch fabric that can connect and disconnect ports. Unlike hubs, switch only transmit or forwards the data to the destined computer and it does not broadcasts the data to all its ports.

MODEMS: Modems are the devices, which are used to translate the digital data into the analog format and vice versa. It performs the two main functions. Modulation and demodulation. A modulated data can travel across the conventional telephone lines. The modem modulates the signals at the sending end and demodulates at the receiving end. Modems are required for different types of the access methods such ISDN, DSL and 56K data modem. Modem can be the internal devices that plug into the expansion slots in a system or can be external devices that plug into the serial or USB ports. In Laptops, PCMCIA cards are used for this purpose and many new laptops having the built in integrated modems. The specialized devices are designed for use in the systems such as handheld computers. In ISPs where the large scaled modems are required, rack-mounted modems are used.

ROUTERS: Routers route the data between two logically and physically different networks. A Router has the capability to determine the destination address for the data and hence provides the best way for the data to continue its journey. Router gets this capability through its software called routing software. Unlike Switches and Bridges, which use hardware configured MAC address to determine the destination of the data, router uses logical network address such as IP address to make the decision in determining the destination of the data.

GATEWAY: A gateway performs the function of translating the data from one format to another format without changing the data itself. A gateway can be a device, system, software. A computer with two NIC cards can function as a gateway. Router acts as a gateway e.g a router that routes the data from a IPX network to a IP network is technically a gateway. The same can be said of translational switch converts from a Ethernet network to a token ring network.

CABLES: There are two most common types of the cables. 1. 10baseT and 10base2. 10baseT is a four paired cable. 10baseT has further two types 1. UTP (unshielded twisted pair) and 2. STP (shielded twisted pair. STP is most secure cable covered with the silver coated twisted paper to protect the cable. On the other end Thin 10base2 looks like the copper coaxial cabling that often used to connect TV sets and VCR. 10baseT/Cat5 cables are most commonly used cables to connect the computers. It has the connector, (like a telephone connector) called RJ45 connector.

Twisted pair cables are ideal for the small, medium or large networks.
My recommendation for using cables for networking is to use 10baset/Cat5 cables

Easy Homemade 2.4 Ghz Omni Antenna

2007-07-13T12:20:00.000Z

WLAN antenna 2.4 GHz Do-It-Yourself

2007-07-13T12:16:00.000Z

Homebrew outdoor antenna to 2.4 GHz band.

Antenna gain is comparable to panel antennas including the Freedom Antenna Set sold in Finland. Comparing is made simple by connecting antennas to same computer with Orinoco WLAN card and indicating results in Link Test of the Client Manager. My antenna has been found about 2 dB better gain than the Freedom antenna, which is specified as 12 dBi antenna. And prices ... Oh, I need not even mention this! In Europe there is a maximum allowable output power of 20 dBm (100 mW) because of the ETSI standard we use. While Orinoco "red" card is transmitting 8 dBm signal and my antenna gain is about 14 dBi there has to be only 2 dB cable and connector loss to keep output level below 20 dBm. The Orinoco Adapter Cable takes about 1 dB and H1000 antenna cable takes 2 dB/10m. So using 5 metres antenna cable there is no risk of exceeding the output power within the ETSI standard. This antenna can also be built without the Ring to decrease antenna gain if needed especially with very short antenna cable.

Dimensioning

The very first point in antenna dimensioning is to calculate the wavelength (the Lambda character has been replaced with letter L ):
L /mm = 300 / (f/GHz) -> at 2.45 GHz L = 122 mm.

Antenna picture without mast fasteners:

With the cover Without the cover

Main parts can been found even in mama's dish cabinet but maybe safer to buy them from a department store. The Reflector is made from an aluminium cake pan and the Cover from a plastic microwave bulb, both 240--250 mm dia. The pan must be straight and smooth without profilations and the sides will be orthogonal with the bottom. If you find a pan made from stainless steel may be that may be better. I used a pan from italo ottinetti code 140024 , whose sides were 60 mm and I cut them to 32 mm.

Other parts needed:
A piece of copper water conduit, internal dia 10 mm, length below 40 mm
A piece of brass rod, outer dia 4-4.5 mm, length < 40 mm
Copper wire about 2 mm dia, length < 70 mm
N-connector, panel socket
A couple pieces of tinned steel sheet e.g. from tin can
A piece of PVC coated electric wire 1,5 mm2
Screws and bolts M3, solder tin etc.

Antenna construction:

The Reflector (aluminium pan) dia = L x 2, the height of the sides = L/4.
In the centre of the bottom there is the N connector to left and the dipole to right. A distance from bottom to the dipole is little more than L/4. The Dipole is mounted with an air-insulated coaxial type foot, whose impedance is 50 ohm and length L/4. Inner wire of the coaxial is made of 4 to 4.5 mm rod or conduit and shield made from split copper conduit which internal dia is 10 mm. To the right of the dipole there is a disc whose dia is L x 0.4 (= 49 mm) and distance from the dipole is again L/4. Disc material can be thin aluminium or tinned steel sheet.

At same distance as the disc, there is also a ring made from pvc-coated electric wire 1,5 mm2 by binding it to ring diameter about L x 2. It is not neccessary to short the ends of the ring, I left ~ 1 mm space. If you want you can short the ends together as well. PVC coating on the wire has no magic, you can use e.g 2 mm clear copper wire as well.

I mounted the Disc and the Ring to the plastic cover made from microwave oven bulb. A piece of plastic sheet and glue are needed to mount the disk. The ring I glued inside the cover, so the diameter of the ring becomes somewhat smaller than L/4.

Assembling:

The sides of the reflector (cake pan) must be L/4 or 32 mm, so extra height must be cut away. In the centre of the pan there will be a hole 12 dia and four 3.5 mm holes according the N-connector. The feet of the dipole is made of split copper conduit and inside it a rod or a pipe. The impedance of the feet must be 50 ohm which actually means the ratio of inner dia of the outer conduit and dia of the inner rod be 2.3. It is quite near when inner rod or pipe has 4 to 4.5 mm outer dia and copper conduit has 10 mm inner dia. The exact equation of Impedance versus Diameter ratio is:

Z = 138 * Log(D/d)
The table of Impedance and Diameter Ratio
D = inner diameter of the tube
d = outer dia of the rod
Z = impedance in free air D / d Z / Ohm
2.2 47.3
2.3 50
2.4 52.5
2.5 54.9

If the inner wire is made from rod it is good idea to drill axially a 3 mm hole on the end of it so the rod can be solder firmly to the inner tap of the N connector. The length of the rod becomes about L/4, but it is better first to leave it longer and cut it later after the parts are first pre-assembled.

The copper conduit must be split with a metal saw as accurately as possible and deburred with a file. The end of the split conduit is then fastened to the centre of the pan. It is not possible to solder it directly to aluminium but we made a flange from tinned steel sheet to same dimensions as the flange of the N connector. In the middle of the flange is drilled a hole equal the outer dia of the conduit and four 3.5 mm holes as in the N connector. The one end of the split conduit is then soldered in the centre hole of the flange while keeping the width of the slots between halves to 1-1.5 mm.

The split conduit is then cut so that the length of the open slots becomes a very accurate L/4. This is the most accurate point in the antenna construction. Among with many roles, the slot acts as a band pass filter which rejects other frequencies than nominal HF.

Now is good time to pre-assemble parts. With four 3 mm screws, the N connector with the centre rod and the flange with split conduit are assembled on opposite sides of the centre hole of the pan, N connector to the outer side. The centre rod is now cut to same length as the split conduit.

The Dipole was made from 2 mm enamelled wire. The one arm of the dipole is soldered both to the centre rod and to the half of the copper conduit. The second arm of the dipole is soldered only to the second half of the conduit. The arms of the dipole are cut to L/4 from axle, so total width of the dipole becomes L/2.
Before soldering it is good idea to file grooves for dipole wire to the centre rod and the halves of the conduit.

To the right of the dipole there is the disc and the wire ring which can be assembled to the cover bulb so that their distance from dipole becomes to L/4.

The cover bulb can be locked with three 3 mm screws and sealed with silicone mass as well as the N connector joint.

On the very lowest point of the pan there must be drilled a small hole for condensed water exhaust.

Frequently asked details

The most important dimension of the antenna is the length of the slot,
which must be 31 mm @2.45 GHz.
I don't know the optimum width of the slot. I made it with metal handsaw inserting two blades parallel. So it becomes ca. 1.5 mm.

Yes really!

The one arm of the dipole is soldered both to the centre rod (2) and to the half of the copper conduit (1). The second arm of the dipole is soldered only to the second half of the conduit (3).

It doesn't mean a "short circuit". Remember the signal here is not direct current but high frequency !

See: Special Cases of Quarter Wavelength

Mast mounting of the antenna

Mast fasteners can be made from exhaust pipe clamps. See above some mounting ideas. Be careful not to mount clamps in the centre line otherwise the mast prevents connection of cable to the N connector. The rightmost picture is from back side.

Lightning protection

When the antenna is mounted above the roof there becomes a risk of lightning damage to the WLAN card.

The mast has to be grounded firmly e.g with 16 mm2 copper rope to a good earthing point. Lightning protection module is recommended between antenna cable at the place where the cable enters the roof.

Antenna cable and connectors

Cable type Belden H1000 is found to be low loss on microwave band and it is not very expensive. All cable and connector impedances must be 50 ohm. Outdoor connections are not watertight enough as such. So called self vulcanizing tape is best choice to wind over connection and above all there have to be wound black electrical tape to protect the vulcanizing tape against ultraviolet light. See cabling details .

Sources

Antenna construction is from page http://6mt.com/2304tech.htm where is found an item MICROWAVE ANTENNA YOU CAN BUILD (73 10-82) c56.zip . I have dimensioned it to 2.4 GHz band and made some additions.

11 July 2001

Martti Palomaki
Ilmajoki, Finland

Main wlan antenna page

A 2.4Ghz Vertical Collinear

2007-07-13T12:04:00.000Z

A 2.4Ghz Vertical Collinear
Antenna for 802.11 Applications

By Brian Oblivion and Capt.Kaboom
modified by Richard A Wenner

Introduction

The collinear antenna was historically used by base station sites, stacking various 1/2 wave dipole elements on top of each other for increased gain connected by some equipment to correct for phase error between the elements of the array. The higher in frequency the better in gain you can achieve in a relatively small assembly. The eight element array built here will yield 6dBi gain in a radome of less than a meter.

There are 3 main sections to this antenna. Starting from bottom to top of the antenna, they are the RF connector/decoupler section, the elemental array section, and the quarter-wave whip section at the top of the unit.

Equipment and Materials Needed

Components:

2 meters LMR-400
2 12" length of 5/16 K&S brass tubing
1 12" length of 11/32 K&S brass tubing
1 block of wood of at least (3.52ft) 1m long
4 1" x 2" scrap wood blocks (or approximates)
1 1/64th (2mm) thick piece of scrap metal
1 brass toilet overflow tube ( EXACT DIMENSIONS NEEDED)
1 US Quarter (or brass disk of equivalent measurements)
solder (non-acid core plumbing solder)
flux paste

Tools:

Required:
---------
utility knife
hacksaw
High-wattage soldering gun (>260Watt)
metal ruler (Metric/English)
metal sandpaper
metal file (s)

Would make life MUCH easier:
----------------------------
hand-held pipe cutter
rotary coax cutter
vise (small)
micrometer (optional)
'Dremel' tool with metal grinding/cutting heads or metal grinder

Calculations

First determine how much gain you would like the antenna to have. This will determine how many elements you will need to construct. Choose from the following table:

Gain Number of Length of
in dB elements Antenna (cm)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.5 4 32
6 8 56
9 18 116
10 21 134

For our initial experimentation we decided to build the 8 element 6dB gain antenna.

We chose LMR-400 as it was lying on the floor the night we decided to construct the antenna. LMR-400 coax has a velocity factor of %85, mostly due to it's semi-rigidness and foam dielectric. LMR-200 would be the ideal choice, as it has a smaller diameter dielectric, thus requiring a smaller diameter brass tubing. This makes sense, as the max ERP out for 802.11 is under 1W.

The antenna is designed to optimally operate at the center of the 802.11 2.4GHz band. The center of the band is determined by the following:

802.11 frequency range: 2.4000GHz to 2.4835

low_freq - high_freq
center freq = ------------------------
2

2.4000 - 2.4835
center freq = ------------------------
2

center freq = 2.441GHz

The center operating frequency is then used in the following formula to determine the length of the individual antenna segments:

( c / fc )
segment length = ------------------------ * Vo
2

Where: c = speed of light in metres per second
fc = center freq.
Vo = velocity of coax

In our example:

c = 300000
fc = 2441000000
Vo = .85

( 300000 / 2441000000 )
segment length = -------------------------------------- * .85
2

segment length = 52.2 mm

NOTE: This is the length of the antenna segments. The actual brass elements are 8mm shorter than this number, to account for the antenna segment spacing. (See diagram below).

Measurements

Figure 1. Antenna segment measurements.

The schematic of the electrical components of the antenna is displayed in Figure 2. Note: this schematic is for an eight element collinear array. The 1/2 wavelength and 1/4 wavelength measurements calculated above are to be applied to the various elements in this schematic.

Figure 2. Electrical schematic of the collinear array.

Construction

We found that it was easier to cut coax and brass in batches, as you don't have to constantly adjust the micrometer.

Coax Preparation:

Coax length should be calculated in the following way:

coax length = 1/2 wavelength + 15mm

For coax: If you are not using a micrometer, but have access to a vise, mark the proper length (67.2mm) of the coax on the vise with a piece of tape. Align the "cut" end of the coax with the measurement indicated by the tape on the vise. The end of the vise is where you make the cut. (see how it's done). It may be easier to mark multiple sections for later cutting in a batch process.

Use the coax cutter or a 'Stanley' knife to cut the marked sections, and out

and strip away the cladding,

braid

and the foil.
Remove 10mm of cladding from each side the coax segment.

Set aside and prepare the rest of the segments.

Don't forget that the final element of the array is a 1/4 wave element. Cut a segment of coax to fit the 1/4 wave element as well.

Mark off first 44.2mm segment of the 5/16" brass tubing. Using a circular pipe cutter, set the wheel of the cutter on the side of the mark to make the element a bit longer than the 44.2mm measurement. Cut the brass by moving the cutter in a circular motion around the brass tubing, slightly tightening the wheel with every three or four revolutions. Repeat until all uncut 5/16" brass tubing is exhausted.

Again, don't forget about the final 1/4 wave element! Cut a length of brass accordingly.

Element assembly:

Pair up each of the brass tubing and coax segments.

The 5/16" brass tubing fits snuggly over the LMR-400 foam dielectric. Slip a brass element over each coax segment. Slowly twist the brass tubing as you pass it over the dielectric, until it is in place with an equal amount of exposed dielectric on each side of the tubing, as below.

Figure X: Diagram of completed element assembly.

If you think you have the dexterity to solder the elements without the use of a jig, or you plan on only making one or two of these antenna's, then skip the Jig construction and jump ahead directly to the element soldering section.

Jig Construction:

Constructing a jig will help with the construction of the antenna.

Even when not building multiples, the jig really helps when trying to solder the individual elements together.

Our jig was constructed out of 5ft long 1x2 inch scrap pine wood. a section of the wood was cut to make the four guiding posts used to "hold" the antenna elements in place when soldering together. You will need 10 nails and some scrap metal approx 1/16th thick (same thickness of the brass tubing). Metal PC slot fillers work well, and can be filed down to the proper width. Please refer to Figure 2 and 3 while reading the assembly instructions for visual assistance.

Step 1: Obtain a 5 foot long 1x2 inch scrap pine wood, 10 finishing
nails and 1 PC expansion card slot filler.

Step 2: Cut a 1 inch section off of the end of the 1x2 board,
resulting in a 1x1x2 piece of wood.

Step 3: Cut the 1x1x2 wood into 4 separate equal pieces.

Step 4: Drill two holes into each of the 4 wood pieces to
accommodate the finishing nails. Make sure the hole you
drill is not too large, as we only want to avoid splitting
the wood when driving in the nails.

Step 5: Cut away the excess metal from the PC expansion slot
filler, leaving a two inch long piece of metal. File away
one side (or a little of both) to 8mm, and drill two holes
into the metal to accommodate two finishing nails. These
nails will be used to attach the metal to the large piece
of wood.

Step 6: Attach the piece of metal 3 1/4 inches from one end of the
large piece of wood.

Step 7: Arrange two of the antenna elements in the jig. Use this as
a guide for where to attach the wood blocks to the large
piece of wood.

That's it!

Element soldering:

Element soldering is pretty straight forward. Don't dink around with little 8 US dollar soldering irons for this. You need a high-wattage soldering gun for this job. Spend the $30, it is a worthy investment, and purchase the proper tool for the job. If you built the jig, follow the instructions in Step 7 of the proceeding section. See how easy it is to do it in the jig? If not, then you'll be performing a balancing act, and I hope you have a steady hand.

When soldering the final element(1/4 wave element), remember that the center conductor is bent over and soldered to it's own brass tubing. When completed, it should look like below.

Note: Be careful when applying the heat to the brass elements. It doesn't take much time to generate enough heat to begin to melt the foam dielectric.

Solder all the elements at this point before proceeding to the next section. This is what your element array should look like.

Quarter Wave Whip Assembly:

The 1/4 wave whip assembly slides over the end of the last element of the antenna. See Figure 4 for exact measurements. Because the center conductor of the last element is soldered to the elements brass tubing, the top of the bend of the center conductor will be an arbitrary length unique to each antenna. The important thing here is for the top of the whip to be 1/4 wave in length from the end of the foam dielectric of the last element. Line up the 1/4 wave next to the last element and determine the length the notch will need to be.

Figure 4: Quarter Wave Whip Measurements and position

Cut out the notch to accommodate the soldered center conductor of the last element. If you are really slummin', use a hacksaw and file to make the notch. After the notch is cut and burrs are filed away mount the 1/4 wave whip on the end of the last element.

Decoupling and RF Connector Assembly:

The decoupling section is a bit involved, as it requires drilling a hole into a US Quarter, or similarly sized slug, and using a propane torch to solder it to the decoupling brass tubing.

There are two parts to this assembly. First, there is the feed-line element, constructed in the same manner as the antenna elements. Second, is the decoupling sleeve, mounted over the feed-line element.

The decoupler sleeve is constructed out of 1" brass tubing equal to 1/4 wavelength, a length of 11/32" brass tubing at least 1/4 wavelength, and 1 US Quarter with a center-drilled hole to accommodate the 11/32" brass tubing.

Above is picture of the 1/4 wavelength 1" brass tubing with the 11/32" brass tubing soldered into the center of the US quarter along side. Below is the fully assembled unit from the top and bottom

Figure X. Diagram of decoupling sleeve

The feed-line is similar in construction to the antenna elements. The difference is the coax is of much longer length than the 5/16" brass tubing. The coax is prepared in a much different fashion since we solder the braid of the coax to the end of the brass tubing 1/4 wavelength up from the end of the N connector. Below this, the cladding remains intact and terminates in the N connector assembly. The brass tubing must be cut so that at least 1/2 wavelength of 5/16 brass tubing is between the end of the decoupler sleeve assembly and the 1st antenna element (see diagram). It must also accommodate the length of the decoupler sleeve assembly plus allowing a length for tuning of the sleeve to the feed-line (this is done my sliding the sleeve up and down over the feed-line tubing). In our example, the coax was 10.8cm(4 1/4"), and the 5/16" brass tubing was 6.8cm (2 11/16"), in length.

When completed it should look like this:-

As part of the final assembly it looked like this:-

Tuning and final assembly

Tuning:

Unfortunately, without a spectrum analyzer or SWR/Power meter one cannot optimally tune the antenna, but one can coarsely tune it using the Linux wireless tools and two wireless NIC's. By adjusting the decoupling sleeve, you will notice a change in the RSSI reading as you slide the decoupling along the feed-line element. Adjust until you reach a peak in the RSSI in the receiver. Only take measurements when not touching the antenna, and always return to a similar position when taking a reading. Your body changes the RF characteristics of the room you are working in. Once the antenna has been properly matched, fix the decoupler in place with a bead of solder and proceed to the next section.

Radome construction:

Outdoor electrical UV resistant conduit was used for the radome. It was cut to the appropriate length to accommodate the entire array, leaving the female N connector hang out the bottom by 1/2 inch. The array is held in place with plumbers epoxy. We used a PVC cap to cover the top, but it could have been sealed with plumbers epoxy as well. Using double sided sticky tape, the array is held in place at two locations within the tube.

Figure X: diagram of finished antenna in radome.

Good luck!

The open-access debate over spectrum

2007-07-10T16:55:00.000Z

The open-access debate over spectrum
Why not let public safety and commercial operators share the same band?
Craig Mathias Today’s Top Stories or Other Wireless Networking Stories
Comments (0) Recommendations: 79 — Recommend this article

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June 19, 2007 (Computerworld) -- If you've been following the developments surrounding the upcoming 700-MHz auctions, you've probably heard the term "open access" by now.

Like 4G (which I'll return to shortly), open access is a somewhat imprecise term, but I'm using it here to refer to a network that is capable of supporting multiple classes of service simultaneously via a common set of protocols. With respect to the latter, that would be IP, the only networking protocol that matters anymore. The benefits of the open-access approach are significant and far-reaching, and they have led me to conclude that this is the only way we should be building commercial and public-safety networks going forward.

Why is this important? Well, spectrum is a scarce, expensive commodity thanks to the laws of physics and the auction process that is used to allocate licensed spectrum in most parts of the industrialized world today. The laws of physics are a problem because propagation characteristics vary with frequency -- higher frequencies are more directional and don't usually penetrate buildings very well. This means that only a very limited amount of spectrum is suitable for mobile communications. The auction process makes this limited spectrum expensive, with the auctions cleverly designed to raise the maximum amount of money for the U.S. Treasury.

OK, so spectrum is scarce and expensive and some of the best of this will shortly be going on the block as the FCC starts auctioning the 700-MHz bands. This spectrum is right below the 800-MHz bands used for cellular and public safety, and public safety (along with commercial interests with really, really deep pockets) is going to be a big recipient of spectrum under the proposed rules.

But wait just a minute: Why not build a single, open-access network that can meet the needs of both the commercial world and public safety, simultaneously? That's right, both in one service. Heresy!

Traditionally, blocks of spectrum have been exclusively reserved for public safety because that's historically how it's been done. And the technology of the day -- analog push-to-talk radio -- basically required reserved spectrum. This is wasteful, when you think about it. Much public-safety spectrum is unused much of the time and isn't available to anyone else. But modern digital communications technology, based on IP, allows for prioritizing traffic, at least within a single network.

Continued...
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Tune in to wireless video

2007-07-10T16:49:00.000Z

Tune in to wireless video
New technologies are sprouting up to offer more options for wireless TV
Craig Mathias Today’s Top Stories or Other Wireless Networking Stories
Comments (2) Recommendations: 42 — Recommend this article

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June 26, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Video, whether wireless or not, isn't usually considered important in enterprise environments. And, despite a lot of discussion about using wireless to distribute broadcast/cable/satellite video in the home, it isn't all that common yet either.

But I think video is going to become a lot more important. With respect to wireless WANs, for example, many cellular carriers have at least some form of video-entertainment service for sale. Video has the highest potential information content of any medium in common use today. And, from a wireless networking perspective, doing a good job with video usually means doing a good job with any other form of traffic.

Video is, after all, the worst of both worlds -- it has lots of large data objects, and, in the case of streaming video, it's time-bounded. Headroom is important, and wireless networks aren't known for having headroom to spare.

For today, I want to focus just on video distribution in the home, but the tools and techniques being developed here will find their way, over time, into corporate video applications. Residential video is obviously a huge market opportunity. People still watch TV even though, with 500 channels to choose from, there is never anything good on. Regardless, the TV is usually located nowhere near the cable supplying the video. There's also an increasing interest in being able to watch TV while mobile. For example, I connect my SlingBox to one of the six WLANs in my house (if radio really does cause cancer, I'm a goner), and watch it on PCs everywhere, even outside.

While I mostly use MIMO-based Wi-Fi, there's an intensifying debate over what the best wireless technology for video is. I recently spent some time on the phone with ultrawideband (UWB) chip builder Tzero Technologies Inc., which is focusing on video distribution within the home. UWB has the advantage of having a lot of potential bandwidth available -- up to 7.5 GHz. in the U.S., although much less than that is required, even for uncompressed video. The High Definition Multimedia Interface(HDMI) only requires 1.5 Gbit/sec. for 720p HDTV video, and about double that for 1080p. Tzero believes, consequently, that UWB is ideal for HDTV-class video distribution, and there are a few other UWB companies also producing video-oriented products.

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT

Recommendations: 42 — Recommend this article

UPDATED Remove Autorun Virus or Chinese Virus from your system manually

2007-05-30T17:49:00.001Z

UPDATED Remove Autorun Virus or Chinese Virus from your system manually

Step 1:

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE AUTORUN VIRUS ON YOUR SYSTEM?

Go to windows explorer or my computer

Right-click on your drive(s) you will see these Chinese or sort of a thing "xioxex"

To reconfirm

Go to tools, folder options

Click on the view tab

Select show hidden files and folders

Uncheck hide protected operating system files (recommended)

Select Apply and OK

Check your drive(s)

The presence of Autorun.vbs and other sorts of Autorun shows that there is a virus on the system.

These viruses when left for a long time will disable your folder options, Run, Registry, Msconfig and ends up deleting or corrupting your document or files.

Step 2:

HOW DO YOU DISABLE THESE VIRUSES FROM REPLICATING?

Select start menu

Click on run and type regedit click ok

Select edit menu and click on find

Type userinit, check "match whole string only", click find next

Double click on the userinit

Delete Autorun.bat only

Close Registry

You had just disable the virus from running each time you boot your system.

NOTE: if you cannot enter your registry that means the virus has deactivated it so you have to go to safe mode and repeat step 2

Step 3

HOW DO YOU REMOVE THE AUTORUN VIRUS?

Now you have to restart you computer

When restarting go to safe mode by pressing F8

When fully booted

Select start menu, click Run

Type cmd, select OK

Type cd\ press enter

Type Attrib –a –s –h –r and press enter

Take note of the spaces in between the command and dashes

Type dir and press enter

You will see all the Autorun viruses and this is what you do.

Type del Autorun.* and press enter follow the same step for all drives that are infected.

Type exit and press enter

Now restart your computer in a normal mode and check you computer again using step 1 and all the viruses are gone….

Happy virus removal

WIFI SHOOTOUT

2007-05-21T19:33:00.001Z

3rd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest

New world record for unamplified wireless networking!!

125 miles!

Team iFiber Redwire and their awesome rig at base camp.

"Loaded for bear." That quaint phrase means that you have the biggest, baddest gun, loaded with the biggest, baddest bullet, because you may have to shoot a big, bad bear. It indicates that you have gone all out in an effort to be prepared for any situation.

"Loaded for bear" describes perfectly a team of determined young college students calling themselves "iFiber Redwire," who, with parents, family and friends in tow, traveled from Cincinnati, Ohio to a rugged desert area near Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the 3rd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest. The contest challenges teams to wirelessly connect two computers at extreme distances using the radio technology known as "WiFi," and, on July 30, 2005, the efforts of iFiber Redwire paid off in an impressive way. After part of the team drove a trailer loaded with equipment to Utah Hill, near Beaver Dam in the state of Utah, iFiber Redwire used a fascinating collection of homemade antennas, surplus 12 foot satellite dishes, home-welded support structures, scaffolds, ropes and computers to wirelessly connect to their comrades who were located southwest of Las Vegas at the top of Mount Potosi. The final result was a full 11 Mbps data transfer rate over a distance of 125 miles, a new world record for an unamplified wireless networking connection.

In spite of equipment malfunctions, Team 4DI achieved a respectable
10-mile connection, winning the Commercial category.

NEW!! Now see the long-distance shot for yourself via Google Earth!
The base was located at 35° 53'35N, 115° 29'43W
The remote site was located at 37° 06'04N, 113° 49'28W

These can also be found by simply using this file: 125mi_shot.kmz.

Here's some great media coverage about the 2005 contest. Click the above "Media" link for more!
Wired News
Frank Keeney's Contest Video

Use a Surplus Dish Dish as an IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networking Antenna

2007-04-11T07:28:00.000Z

Use a Surplus Dish Dish as an IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networking Antenna

It is easy to make a satelite dish into a highly directional antenna for the very popular IEEE 802.11 wireless networking. The resulting antenna has about 22 db of gain, and is fed with 50 ohm coaxial cable. Usually LMR400 or 9913 low loss cable is used if the source is more than a few feet from the antenna. The range using two of these antennas with a line of sight path is around 10 miles at full bandwidth. I must stress the line of sight part though. Leaves really attenuate the signal.

Things You Will Need:
A Primestar dish. (You may use any old dish, but if it is bigger than the Primestar the gain will be higher, and it may not be within the Federal Communications Commission rules for use within Nigeria. In fact I have come to find out that there seem to be several different dishes that Primestar used, and I am only sure that the one I used, pictured above, used with the ordinary Wavelan or Airport transceiver card is within the effective radiated power limits given by the FCC.)
A juice can (about 4 inches in diameter and at least 8 inches long).
A chassis mount N connector.
You will also need a "pigtail" connector which has the proprietary Lucent connector (for the PCMCIA card) on one end and an N connector on the other. The pigtail can be obtained from a number of online stores for $35 to $40.
Construction Steps:
After deciding on a place to mount your antenna (which hopefully has a line of sight path to the access point or other IEEE 802.11 site), remove the apparatus at the feed position of the dish, saving the mounting hardware.
Using a can opener, cut one end of the juice can out, drink the juice and wash it out
Solder a quarter wavelength (1.15 inches) of wire onto the center conductor of the chassis mount N connector.
Using a punch or whatever other tools you deem necessary, mount the N connector so that it is about 1.2 inches from the closed end of the juice can as shown below. It is also a good idea to put a drip hole at the lowest point of the can to insure that water doesn't build up inside. After having this up a for a few months, I think it would be nice to put a plastic lid on the open end of the can so that the inside doesn't rust. During the time mine has been up, it has rusted and I have lost a couple of db on the signal strength. These two things may be correlated.
If you are certain of the polarization you will need, mount the juice can so that that polarization is achieved. (You want the antenna you are communicating with to be lined up with yours.) If you don't know the polarization you can set everything up and before mounting the juice can, experiment to get the maximum signal strength by rotating the juice can around its axis. Most commercial antennas I've seen are using vertical polarization, so that the picture below shows you the proper orientation. You want to mount the juice can so that the opening is just at the focus of the dish. In my installation I didn't quite achieve this, but I only lost a db or two by taking the easy route. I still have about 25 db signal to noise ratio, so this wasn't important to me. The easy route is to mount the can as far back as you can along the mount, by punching two holes through the can and bolting it in. The perfectionist's method would be to find the best feed place (which I found to be just a little farther back) and use some PVC tubing or something to extend the mount so the feed is in the perfect position. In some installations, every decibel will count and this should be considered.

The inside of the feed can.

Some Considerations:

This antenna is very directional. You must have it aligned very carefully, or you will lose a lot of signal. It also needs to be mounted securely, so the wind won't be able to rotate it even a few degrees.

This antenna is an offset fed dish, which means that the feed horn (our juice can) is not positioned as much in the way of an incoming signal, so it doesn't shadow the dish. This makes the aiming a bit tricky, because it actually looks like it is aimed down when it is aimed for the horizon. See the photo below of it aimed actually a few degrees above the horizon. You can use the scale on the dish mount to determine the elevation it is aimed at. The dish isn't as directional in the up/down directions as it is side to side. This is fortunate, because without turning the mounting upside down we can only get it set so it is a few degrees above the horizon. I sacrificed a db of gain here by not turning it over, mostly because I'm mounting it on a vent pipe, and didn't want to put that kind of wind load on it. As mentioned above I don't really need the extra signal either.

The mount of the dish. This photo also shows the angle it must be tipped to be aimed at the horizon.

I believe this feed system could be improved by linking two cans together (or using a section of pipe) to give the effect of lengthening the length of the circular wave guide feed. This would further attenuate undesired modes (other than the TE11 mode). The optimum length would be between 14 and 21 inches. The opening would still need to be at the focus of the dish.
Use the Feed Can By Itself

You can use the feed can by itself as a cheap antenna. It works as well as the commercially available "range extender" antenna, but only in one direction, and it is so easy to construct!
Some More Photos

A photo of the mounting of the feed can.

A photo of the coaxial connection to the feed can.
IEEE 802.11a
This antenna modification is for the IEEE 802.11b networking protocol that operates at 2.4 GHz. It can be scaled easily to the 5 GHz frequency used by IEEE 802.11a by simply scaling the dimensions on the feed can and the excitation antenna to 2.4/5 = 48% of the dimensions shown above.

How To Build A Tin Can Waveguide WiFi Antenna

2007-04-11T07:16:00.000Z

How To Build A Tin Can Waveguide WiFi Antenna
for 802.11(b or g) Wireless Networks
or other 2.4GHz Applications

Got no dough for a commercial WiFi antenna? Looking for an inexpensive way to increase the range of your wireless network? A tin can waveguide antenna, or Cantenna, may be just the ticket. This design can be built for under $5 U.S. and reuses a food, juice, or other tin can.
I am not an electrical engineer, nor do I have access to any fancy test equipment. I've built some antennas that worked for me and thought I would share what I learned. I have no idea if this is safe for your radio or wireless network equipment. The risk to you and your equipment is yours.

Building your Cantenna is easy, just follow these steps.

Collect the parts
Drill or punch holes in your can to mount the probe
Assemble the probe and mount in can

Collect the parts:
You'll need:

A N-Female chassis mount connector.
Four small nuts and bolts
A bit of thick wire
A can
These vendors can supply the parts (the wire and can you provide yourself).

The Connector
A N type Female Chassis-mount connector. One side is N-female for connecting the cable from your wireless equipment, and the other side has a small brass stub for soldering on wire. These can be found at electronics stores internet suppliers (see the list below under "Connect your antenna..." If you shop around, you should be able to find these for $3-$5.

Nuts & Bolts
You'll need them just long enough to go through the connector and the can. I've used #6x1/4" stainless. If your N-connector is a screw on type, then you won't need the nuts and bolts.

Wire
You'll need about 1.25" of 12 guage copper wire. This wire will stick into the brass stub in the N-connector.

Drill or punch holes in your can to mount the probe
The N-connector assembly will mount in the side of your can. You need to put holes in the right place to mount the connector. The placement of the hole and connect is very important. It's location is derived from formulas that use the frequency that the antenna will operate at and the can diameter. To make life easy on you, here's a calculator to figure it out for you.

Enter the diameter of your can above and click on the calculate button. 802.11b and 802.11g WiFi networking equipment operates at a range of frequencies from 2.412 GHz to 2.462 GHz. Ideally, with your can size, the TE11 cut-off frequency should be lower than 2.412 and the TM01 cut-off should be higher than 2.462. It would be good, also, if your can is longer than the 3/4 Guide Wavelength. If your can is a little off in length or diameter, don't despair, experimentation is fun!

You want to mark the location on the can where you will put the hole for the connector. The 1/4 Guide Wavelength number tells you how far up from the bottom metal end of the can to put the center of the hole. Open only one end of your can, eat the contents, and give it a good washing. You'll probably want to remove the label too. Use a ruler to measure up from the closed end 1/4 Guide Wavelength and mark the can with a dot.

If you've got a drill, select a bit that matches the size of the center of your connector. You may want to start with a small bit and work the hole larger and larger. You could even start with a hammer and nail, then use drill bits. If you don't have a drill, start with a nail hole and use a file to get the hole to the required size. If you're using a bolt on connector, make four more holes for the bolts - you can use the connector as a drilling guide.

Click on image to enlarge
Assemble the probe and mount in can
Now you'll need that bit of wire. You'll need a soldering iron or a friend with one as well. Cut the wire so that when it is stuck in the connector as shown, the total length of both the brass tube and wire sticking out past the connector is 1.21". Get as close to this length as you can.

When you've got your wire correctly sized, solder it into the connector keeping it as straight and upright as you can. When it's cooled, bolt or screw the assembly into your can. Put the heads of the bolts inside the can and the nuts on the outside to minimize the obstructions in your antenna. Your Done!

Connect your antenna to your wireless card or access point
To use your cantenna, you'll need a special cable commonly called a "Pig Tail". The pig tail connects your wireless card or access point to you antenna. One end of the cable will have a "N" Male connector (just right for connecting your your cantenna), while the other end will have a connector appropriate to your card or access point. For a good picture of a pig tail, take a look at:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi?PigTail

You'll want to have a wireless NIC or access point with an external antenna connector. Otherwise, you may have to hack into the one you have to hook up the cable. I wouldn't recommend this unless you're good with a soldering iron and electronics. For this reason, I like the Agere Orinoco cards which have a nice antenna connector. Pig Tails can be hand made if you have the right tools, but it's probably easier to get a pre-made one. Try:

Fleeman Anderson & Bird
Fleeman Anderson & Bird has a "cantenna kit" for sale that includes the connector and pigtail. Choose one of the "cables" links from the menu and look towards the bottom of the list.
Hyperlinktech
Antenna Systems
Hook up your cable, point the antenna at a friend's, and see how far you can stretch you network. Be sure to let me know (greg@turnpoint.net) how it works.

This antenna has linear polarization. That means that how you rotate the antenna will affect the strength of your signal. Usually, you will want to put the connection straight down, but experiment with rotating the can while watching the signal strength on your PC to get the best performance.

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

IPOD HACK: Install Linux On I-pod

2007-04-11T01:29:00.000Z

What can Linux on iPod do?
Linux on iPod is not yet complete, and only offers some basic functions.
Some current podzilla features:
• A music browser allowing you to view your iPod's music in a similar way to Apple's iPod firmware
• Basic MP3 playback (with volume control)
• Basic Recording
• Some simple games
o Bluecube (Tetris (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris))
o Invaders (Space Invaders (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_invaders))
o iPobble (Puzzle Bobble (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzle_Bobble) or Bust a Move)
o Lights (Lights Out (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_Out_%28game%29))
o Nimesweeper (Minesweeper (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeper_%28computer_game%29))
o Othello
o Pong (Pong (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong))
o Steroids (Asteroids (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroids))
o Tic-Tac-Toe
o Tunnel
o Tuxchess (Chess)
• A few GFX demos
o Cube
o Matrix
o Mandelpod
• A file browser able to:
o Read text files
o View images (JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNM and XPM formats are supported)
o Execute external applications
o Play uncompressed videos
• A Linux shell interface

Playing Songs
You can play songs via either the Music menu, which plays your iPod's song in an ordered way (similar to that of the iPod's original firmware) or by selecting the song using the file browser
When the song is playing, you can pause by pressing the play/pause button, and resume the song by pressing play/pause again. The volume can be changed with the scrollwheel. You can go the next song by pressing next, and go back by pressing previous if the song was played through the Music Browser. To go back to podzilla, press Menu. When Menu is pressed, the song will stop playing and you will be shown the podzilla interface again. You can choose Shuffle and Repeat as well through the Settings menu.

Games
In the Extras menu, select Games, and you will be presented with a choice of games. Pressing Menu while in a game will bring you out of the game.
• Game Instructions
o Bluecube(Tetris): Previous is used to move the block left, Next is used to move the block right. Play/Pause is used to speed up the block going down. The scrollwheel can be scrolled left or right to turn the piece. Pressing the middle select button causes the piece to go down straight away.
o Pong: The scrollwheel is used to control the movement of the paddle.
o Othello: The scrollwheel is used to control which block is selected, and the center button is used to select that block.
o Nimesweeper(Minesweeper): The scrollwheel is used to select the mine you want to mark. Press play to mark a mine. Press play once again to cancel.
o Steroids(Asteroids): Scroll wheel rotates ship, middle select button fires, Next toggles thrusters on/off. Play/Pause can be used to pause the game.
Browsing Files
The File Browser is located on the main menu. When in the File Browser, you will be able to access the different directories on the iPod's harddrive. You can open text files by selecting .txt files. To select a file, scroll to that file, and press the center button. To get back to the File Browser from the text file viewer, press Menu. You can also open picture files (JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNM and XPM) on the iPod by selecting the file, and pressing the select button. A picture may take a while to open depending on the size. Pressing Menu will take you back to the File Browser. Pressing Menu in the File Browser will take you back to the Main Menu. If you want to go into another directory, scroll to the directory and press the center button. If you want to go back to the parent directory, scroll to the top of the file browser till you see "..". Selecting this will take you back to the parent directory.
When you hold down the select button on a file object, you will get a menu containing at least the "Delete" command. If you confirm it will delete the object. For text files another menu option will show up: Edit in viP. When you select this, the viP text editor will be opened on the selected file.
Shell: Command Line Interface
There is an external site containing 19 screenshots (http://www.artm-friends.at/rm/ipodlinuxguidedtour/ipodlinuxguidedtour.html) about sash and viP usage. The text and examples are similar to those presented here.
Starting the sash Shell
An unmodified iPod Linux (as installed by the GUI-installers for Mac OS X or Windows) boots straight into the podzilla GUI application. You can enter the sash shell in the following way: From podzilla, start the File Browser. Navigate to the "/bin" directory. Scroll down to the program "sh" (actually this is a link to the sash executable). Start it by pressing the center button.
Entering Commands
The prompt shows your current dir. When sash was entered as above, the initial dir is /sbin. As an example enter the command "cd .." to change to the root dir "/" as follows:
Choose a character by using the scroll wheel. All available characters show up: lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and some other ascii chars. When the correct char is displayed at the insertion point (cursor position), in our example the lower case "c", press the Next button. The char will be accepted and the cursor will be advanced. As the default for the next char a second "c" is displayed. (The default is always the same char as the last one.) But we want a "d", so by carefully moving the scroll wheel a very small amount change the "c" into a "d". Commit this "d" by pressing again the Next button. A second "d" appears. Change it by scrolling into a space. You find the space just before the "a". To complete the example, we need two dots. Enter a dot. This time the second dot appearing as default is okay, we just want it. So do not change it but press enter now. Enter is the "Play/Pause" button. The command is executed and the working dir is now "/".
In order to feel at home in Linux we can go on making a home directory (iPod Linux arrives without one). Enter the command "mkdir home" now, than enter "cd home". Here we can create a new file named "test" by entering the command "touch test".
Using the viP Text Editor
When you want to edit the contents of a file "test", enter the command "viP test". viP is the text editor of iPod Linux. (If "test" exists already, it will be opened for editing, otherwise a file of that name will be created.)
As its grandfather vi, viP makes heavy use of modes. When started up viP is in "insert" mode. In "insert" mode you can enter text (using the scroll wheel and the Next button, just like in sash). This text will be inserted at the cursor position, i.e. already existing will not be overwritten but shifted behind.
When ready with text input you have to change to the command mode. Press the Menu button once to change to the command mode. The cursor jumps to the last line of the screen and awaits for a typed command. Instead of typing a command it is usually easier to press Menu again. Now you have a scrollable menu of available commands in that last line of the screen. Available commands include :insert, :move, :save, :quit. You execute a command by pressing the enter button (Play/Pause).
• insert brings you into the "insert" mode, described above
• save saves the current state of the file to disk
• quit leaves the editor (and returns to sash)
• move switches to the "move" mode
In "move" mode the cursor is back in the text area. You can now move around in the open file. Turning the scroll wheel either moves horizontally inside a line from char to char, or vertically from line to line. You switch between these two submodes by pressing the center button.
Other examples
Other shell command examples (besides the already mentioned cd, ls, mkdir, viP, touch) include:
• ps - list of running processes
• uptime - elapsed time since booting into Linux
• exit - leave the shell
and others, found in the /bin directory.
Leaving the Shell
While in the shell you can return to the podzilla GUI by entering the command "exit" or by simply pressing the Menu button.

Installation
Installing Linux onto your iPod is a non-destructive process and will leave all your existing configuration and music intact. The included bootloader will also allow you to choose either the Apple or the Linux software when you reboot (reset) your iPod.
Before installing iPodLinux, make sure your iPod is supported! If you try to install Linux on any of the unsupported iPods, there's a much higher chance of error or unworkability; tread carefully, and don't come crying to us when you think your iPod is broken. (It's not.)

Computer Connection
In order to install Linux on your iPod you first need to make sure your system is configured to connect to your iPod. If you are using Mac OS X, it is most likely already configured. If you are using Windows, make sure iTunes lets your iPod show up as a disk drive in My Computer.

Disk Mode
Connect the iPod to your computer and make sure it shows Do not disconnect on the iPod's screen. This is called Disk mode. The iPod should enter Disk mode automatically once connected. If it does not, for 1-3G iPods you can force it to enter disk mode by rebooting your iPod (hold down menu and play/pause for a few seconds (until the screen blanks out), and then quickly hold down rewind and fast forward). For later generation iPods, you can enter disk mode by holding down menu and select for about 5 seconds and then switch quickly to select and play/pause once the screen display changes.

Overview

Components
iPodLinux consists of several components, some of which are currently being migrated from their original versions to second generation versions. Here is a overview of the components involved:
• The Boot Loader. There is the original version which silently boots either the Apple firmware or Linux, choosing the other by pressing the Rewind key at startup. There is also a new version 2 which offers a menu with many more options, including support for Rockbox loading.
• The Kernel. There is mainly one version that hasn't been changed in a while, which is stored in CVS and which you can download as a prebuilt file. There is, however, a side project on an improved kernel, which you may alternatively install once you have had success with the default kernel.
• The Userland is a set of files and folders providing the basic functionality to using Linux on the iPod. It contains a shell, the /etc/rc startup file, among others. The default shell may be sash, a very dumb shell. You might want to install the Minix shell as a replacement.
• Podzilla is the main user application for iPodLinux, being similar to what you use on a Apple-driven iPod: You get a graphical menu from which you can launch tools, change settings, browse music etc. There exists the original monolithic podzilla, which only supports older iPod models, and the new modular podzilla 2, which supports all current iPod models and allows adding new modules easily.
Partitioning
Linux needs a file system that supports Unix-style permissions.
WinPods use the FAT32 format, which is not adequate for Linux. Therefore, you need to add another partition, e.g. ext2, to install Linux on. This may require that you reformat your iPod, losing all your stored data on it. Make sure you have a backup of your iPod files before installing iPodLinux on it. The easiest way to add a ext2 partition to your WinPod is to use Installer 2, which takes care of the partitioning for you.
MacPods, on the other hand, use the HFS+ format, which Linux can be run from. Hence, you can simply store the Linux files on a MacPod from a Mac OS computer by copying them using the Finder or the cp in a command shell. You may have to use chmod +x on select files (/etc/rc and /sbin/* after the copying to make them executable.
Recommended Installation Procedures
There are several methods for installing iPodLinux. Here is a brief list of your options:
• Using the new Installer 2 is probably the easiest solution to get a quick start. It is currently only available for Windows and Linux, not Mac OS X, though. Also note that it's still in development, and may not fully work in all corners yet. It is a good idea to use a "fresh" iPod, meaning that if you have already done any kind of modification to your iPod and the installer isn't working for you, you should go here: http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/ and get the restore/upgrade software and use it to return your iPod to a workable state.
• Mac OS X users should try the new Mac Installer. That one is still under development as well, though.
• If you had success with the basic installation, you can switch to using the latest Loader 2 with the Installer. You can also do it by hand with the manual installation instructions.
• Note: Before installation, make sure that the path to your installer contains ONLY English letters. Otherwise, for instance, if you have Russian letters, installation will end with an error
Starting iPodLinux (and Apple's)
Eject (or unmount) your iPod from your PC, then reboot the iPod using the Key Combinations if it doesn't reboot by itself after the installation already.
Important: When you had connected your iPod to your PC, do not reboot the iPod while it says do not disconnect, because that might have the bad effect that the modifications you made to the iPod get partially lost. Make sure you eject the iPod so that it says ready to disconnect before you reboot it!
When the iPod restarts, it'll show first the usual picture of an apple, then it should either:
• Show a picture of the original happy Mac, and after another few seconds should be back in the normal Apple software.
• Show a picture of a penguin, after which it will boot into Linux.
• Show a menu with choices such as Apple OS and iPodLinux.
In the first two cases, you have the original loader installed - hold down the << (rewind) key after a reboot and before either the Mac or the penguin picture appears to have the alternative software loaded. In the latter case, you have Loader 2 installed. Use the <<>> keys to select an item from the menu and press the center button to select it.
If you chose to boot into Linux, podzilla should start. It may show a few messages which you have to dismiss with the center button, and then you have a menu interface similar to that of the original Apple software.
Now you are ready to explore iPodLinux. See the Documentation page for further pointers.
Note that if you have a WinPod, you'll not be able to see the newly installed Linux files from your Windows PC. See Accessing ext2 to learn how to access those linux files and folders.
If you want to copy new items to the iPod, you'll have to get it into disk mode again, just like before. iPodLinux does not offer its own disk mode - you have to reboot it into Apple's software for that.

What if something goes wrong?
Be sure to have a backup of your music before installing iPodLinux (while Installer 2 offers to make a backup for you, that does not include your files on the iPod but only Apple's iPod firmware)! If anything goes wrong, you can always use Apple's handy Firmware Restore Utility (http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/) to reinstall Apple's iPod operating system (called firmware). This will remove iPodLinux and make your iPod work the same way it did when you bought it. If you follow the directions exactly, the worst case scenario is to lose your music and settings.
If you attempt to install iPodLinux on an unsupported iPod it is possible that the Apple restore ut

Phone Codes Tips and Tricks

2007-04-11T01:00:00.000Z

Nokia Codes Tips and Tricks

To check the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) Type-
*#06#
Information you get from the IMEI-
XXXXXX XX XXXXXX X
TAC FAC SNR SP

TAC = Type approval code
FAC = Final assembly code
SNR = Serial number
SP = Spare
To check the phones Software revision type-
*#0000#
Information you get from the Software revision-
V 05.31
18-02-99
NSE-3
1ST Line = Software revision
2ND Line = The date of the software release
3RD Line = Phone type
To enter the service menu type-
*#92702689# (*#WAR0ANTY#)
Serial number (IMEI)
Production date (MM/YY)
Purchase date (MM/YY) You can only enter the date once.
Date of last repair (0000=No repair)
Transfer user data to another Nokia phone via Infra-Red
Clock Stopping
To check weather your SIM Card supports clock stopping type-
*#746025625# (*#SIM0CLOCK#)

Revealing the Headphone and Car-Kit menus
Please note that if you do these next tricks, the new menus can't be erased without retoring the factory default settings. To do these tricks you need to short-circuit the pins on the bottom of the phone next to where you plug in you charger.

1. To activate the "Headset" menu, you need to short-circuit pins "3" and "4". After a short time the word "Headset" will be shown in the display. Menu 3-6 is now enabled.
2. To activate the "Car" menu, you need to short-circuit pins "4" and "5". After a short time the word "Car" will be shown in the display. Menu 3-7 is now enabled.

THE REBOOT TRICK
This should work on all software versions of the 6110.
1. Go to the Calendar (Menu-8)
2. Make a note or reminder.
3. Enter some text into the edit box.
4. Hold "Clear" until the whole text is cleared, then press "Back".
5. Press "0". The main screen will now be showing but a space appears on the screen. (you can't see it)
6. Enter 4 digits (e.g. 1234).
7. Use the down arrow to move the cursor to the left side of the numbers and the space (Down arrow twice).
8. Now enter 6 digits and press the call button.

Wait for a few seconds, the screen should start to flash and reboots. It should alsowork on other menus like the "Profiles" menu.

EFR CALL QUALITY
To activate EFR (Enhanced Full Rate) Enter the code-
*3370#
This improves call quality but decreases batterylife by about 5%
To deactivate it, Enter the code-
#3370#

THE JAMES BOND TRICK
If you short-circuit theleft middle and right pins on the bottom of the phone with all connections touching each other, the Nokia software hangs! The profile "Headset" will be activated. Before you do this just activate the "Automatic Answer" in the headset profile and set the ringing volume to "Mute". Now you can use your phone for checking out what people are talking about in a room. Just place it under a table in a room and call it. The phone receives the call without ringing and you can listen to what people are saying.

NETWORK MONITOR
There is a hidden menu inside your Nokia phone. If you want to activate it, you'll have to re-program some chips inside of your phone.
Check your software version. You can only continue if you have v4.33, v4.73 or v5.24.
Take apart the phone.
De-solder the EEPROM (ATMEL AT 24C64).
Read out the data with an EEPROM programmer and save it to a file (Backup).
If you have v.33 or v4.73, change the address "03B8" from "00" to "FF".
If you have v5.24 then change the address "0378" from "00" to "FF".
Write the new data to the EEPROM and solder it back to the phone,
Power on your phone and you should have "Netmonitor" enabled.
The Network Monitor gives you the following information.

Carrier number
MS RX Level in DBM
Received signal quality
MS TX power level
C1 (Path loss criterion, used for cell selection and reselection). The range is -99 to 99.
RTL (Radio link timeout).
Timeslot
Indication of the transmitter status
Information on the Network parameters.
TMSI (Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity).
Cell identification (Cell ID, Number of cells being used).
MCC (Mobile country code)
MCN (Mobile network code)
LAC (Location area code)
Ciphering (On/Off)
Hopping (On/Off)
DTX (On/Off)
Discard cell barred information

CHECK SIM-LOCK
Note - If you bought your Nokia on UK Vodafone or UK Cellnet you do not need to check this because they both transmit on GSM900, and they don't lock the phones. However if you bought your phone on UK Orange or UK One2one your phone may be blocked. The reason is that they both transmitt on GSM1800. To make a call on GSM1800 you need what is known as a "Dual band" phone. A dual band phone is able to transmit on both GSM900 and GSM1800, so they lock the phones so you can't use it with any other network simcard. If you find that your phone is locked you can try different software to unlock it. (we havn't found one that works yet), or you can ask your service provider who will gladly exchange the 10 digit code for about £35.
This is how to check the status of the 4 different locks. Aslo don't try entering the wrong number, because after 3 times it will block the phone for good.

There are 4 different locks on your Nokia phone.
COUNTRY-LOCK
NETWORK-LOCK
PROVIDER-LOCK
SIMCARD-LOCK
The code to read out the sim-lock status of your phone is

#PW+(MASTERCODE)+(Y)#
# = DOUBLE-CROSS
W = PRESS "*" THREE TIMES
P = PRESS "*" FOUR TIMES
+ = PRESS "*" TWO TIMES
MASTERCODE = 1234567890
Y = NUMBER 1 TO 4
The master code is a secret code. The code has 10 digits, To read out the sim-lock status you can enter every combination you want!
"Y" Shows the status of the network-lock. Here you can enter a number from "1" to "4". The "4" is for the sim-card lock.

SIM-LOCK CHECKS
#PW+1234567890+1# = GIVES PROVIDER-LOCK STATUS
#PW+1234567890+2# = GIVES NETWORK-LOCK STATUS
#PW+1234567890+3# = GIVES COUNTRY-LOCK STATUS
#PW+1234567890+4# = GIVES SIM-CARD-LOCK STATUS.

GPRS billing hack

2007-03-31T08:39:00.000Z

GPRS billing hack
> Presumably one would have to hack into the internal network to get > access to the (private?) i.p addresses that are being assigned to > customers. (Or are they not private - can I ping them from the net?)
It depends. Some operators (including mine) use Network Address Translation (NAT) to provide ip addresses from private network to the clients. This would also efectively stop the "gprs billing hack".
Some operators provide the ip addressses from public ip space which is is efectively the same as connecting any normal computer to the internet. In this case (if there is not any firewall between) you can send packets to the handset. Still, this does not mean that you could somehow steal money from the packet charges.
The overbilling scam they described is basically just pinging a host (handset) in Internet. In the old days when ISP:s charged by the traffic you could do the same "attack" to some poor company by floodpinging their webserver. Was that called "hacking into ISP billing system"? I dont think so :)
There were some valid point brought forward in the article. First, don't think this about wholesale theft form wireless carriers; rather,this is about the erosion of consumer confidence in per-packet billing.
DoCoMo already has a monthly 500yen kickback to consumers that acknowledges the fact that they don't own and can't control the Internet. The reality is that there is enough strange and wonderful stuff going on in the Internet that per-packet billing is tenuous at best.
...and for all those telcos and governments out there who's revenue models depending on per-(whatever besides monthly) billing, that hashuge implications. These folks consider a departure from per-packetbilling to be theft outright.

Get more out of your home Wi-Fi network with video and audio streaming, webcam monitoring, VoIP phone service, and networked storage.

2007-03-16T23:21:00.000Z

Wi-Fi is not just about getting connected at hotspots any more. Virtually everything you can hook to a network can also be hooked up wirelessly, such as hard disks and printers. Even high-bandwidth devices like Webcams, TVs and stereos are fair game. Finally, you can save big bucks by sending your phone calls over Wi-Fi, rather than your landline. Here are our top five ways to get more out of your home Wi-Fi net.

1. Add Wireless Network Storage

Question: I'd like to add a wireless hard drive to my network for backup and storage of my audio and video libraries. What's the best way to do this?

Answer: With the growing popularity of network hard drives for multimedia streaming, we get asked this question at least a couple times a week. But being able to ACCESS a hard drive wirelessly, is completely different from the drive itself being wireless. As long as the drive is connected to your network, any wireless computer can access it through your router. Since there is usually no reason a network drive needs to be physically located away from your router, the preferred solution is to simply connect it directly via wired Ethernet. You'll get the best performance that way, and won't clog up your Wi-Fi network unnecessarily.

While you can easily exchange files between machines with Windows Networking or Mac File Sharing, storage devices that connect directly to your network eliminate the need to dedicate an expensive, always-on computer to this mundane task. Three excellent choices are Buffalo's LinkStation and TeraStation lines (depending on how much space you need), and Maxtor's Shared Storage Plus drive. The Maxtor has both PC and Mac support.

ther great choice is Linksys' inexpensive Network Storage Link, a device that connects standard USB 2.0 hard drives, such as Maxtor's popular OneTouch drives, to any wireless rout

er. If you have a spare drive sitting around, this is a great way to put it to use. The Network Storage Link can even make files accessible from the Internet via any Web browser, a boon for business travelers who don't want to leave their desktops on 24/7 and possibly open to hacking.

Don't expect desktop drive performance from networked devices accessed over Wi-Fi, since file transfer rates will be limited by 802.11g network speeds. But for sharing files and even streaming media playback, they work just fine. Another big feature of network storage is for backup of your PC drives. Both the Buffalo and Maxtor units come with convenient automatic backup software that you can schedule in off hours.

2. Set Up a Wireless Home Media Network

Question: What is a home media network, and why would I want it? Can it be wireless?

Answer: Home media networking products that let you stream audio, photos and video from your PC to your stereo and TV are multiplying fast. The first such products streamed music only, but now complete media systems that handle virtually everything your PC can produce are hitting the mainstream.

If you have a Windows Media Center PC, the thing to get is a Media Center PC Extender, such as the Linksys Dual-Band Wireless A/G Extender. These are basically intelligent Wi-Fi receivers for data stored on your Media Center PC. You can access all the content on your remote PC with a wireless keyboard or remote, and your TV monitor.

If you don't have a Media Center PC, don't worry. You can still access all the media files on your networked PC via products like D-Link's MediaLounge DSM-320RD. The MediaLounge has a built-in DVD player as well as a card reader, so that you can stream discs and memory cards directly to your home entertainment system, as well as audio, video and photo content stored on your computer. You just connect the box to your stereo and TV, as well as to your wireless network, then run the guided setup on your Windows PC to find all your media. From then on, you can access it from your TV via remote control. The MediaLounge supports virtually every major photo, audio and video media type, including the Rhapsody, Napster and AOLRadio services.

If all you really want is to stream your digital audio collection, a lot of even simpler (and cheaper) choices are available. The two stars in this area are the Roku SoundBridge and Slim Devices Squeezebox V3. Both work with PCs and Macs, and multiple units can be placed around the house. For more wireless entertainment choices, see our Wi-Fi Entertainment Guide and 2006 Wireless Gift Guide.

3. Monitor Your Home with a Wi-Fi Webcam

Ask JiWire: I've seen ads for some wireless Web cams. How hard is it to set one up to monitor my home when I'm traveling?

Answer: The latest Wi-Fi video cameras have come a long way. Most vendors now have 54Mbps 802.11g models that can deliver much higher-quality video (and audio) streams with good detail and smooth motion than the original 11Mbps 802.11b models. With a Wi-Fi Webcam, you can place the camera anywhere within range of your wireless router, and then view the video from any Web browser, at home or on the road, thanks to built-in Web servers in the cameras themselves. You don't need a separate Web server, nor any Web video knowledge, although you will need a nearby power outlet and either a fixed IP address from your ISP, or a Dynamic DNS service like DynDNS in order to connect to the camera from outside the local network.

At the high end of the spectrum, the D-Link DCS-5300g Securicam has remote-controlled pan, tilt and 10X zoom features, so you can point the camera at anything in the room. It also has a motion detector with a feature that emails you a

video clip whenever motion is sensed. This camera will run you about $400.

For half that amount, you can dispense with the pan/zoom/tilt features, and get the Linksys WVC54G Internet Camera. The Linksys also has the motion sensor and email feature, and both cameras come with PC software that lets you set recording schedules for saving video to your hard disk. Naturally they also support Wi-Fi encryption

standards and password access so outsiders can't snoop on your video. Neither is rated for outdoor use, although you can probably use them in a sheltered porch area. To watch sample video from the D-Link camera, click here.

4. Slash Your Phone Bill with VoIP

Question: I read a lot about VoIP,

but it's still confusing. Just what do I need to sign up for VoIP, and can I then get rid of my regular phone line?

Answer: You are not alone in your confusion. While this has been a breakout year for VoIP, most users are still unsure about how best to implement it. VoIP lets you place phone calls over your broadband Internet connection, rather than over traditional landlines. Since Internet calls are essentially free, assuming you already have b

roadband, you can save big bucks on long-distance service -- locally, nationally and globally. And in contrast to cell phones, typical VoIP plans require no contract and cost just $19.95 to $29.95 per month for unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada. Those prices also include a raft of features like Caller ID and voicema

il that you would pay extra for with your landline.

So just how do you do it? First, let's dispose of a couple of misconceptions. Namely, that you can immediately dispose of your landline. That's only true if you DON'T also need your landline for DSL, al

arm system monitoring, or TiVo service. Emergency calling is another problem area; 911 service from VoIP providers may be limited or nonexistent, and you'll need to have electricity on in order to use VoIP equipment, unlike traditional phones. Another common misconception is that you need computer software to use VoIP. While there are plenty of computer-based VoIP services (notably Skype), companies like Vonage offer a separate box that simply sits between your Internet rout

er and your regular phone handset, making installation a snap.

Assuming you want to go with a VoIP system, one handy tip for spreading it throughout the house is to use a cordless phone system with a single base station attached to your VoIP adapter, and then place the extra handsets in whatever rooms you like. The Vonage Help area has lots more great tips for VoIP usage.

For more on VoIP and how you can use it at home and on the road, see our Complete Guide to VoIP.

5. Email Photos Right from Your Camera with Wi-Fi

Question: What exactly is a Wi-Fi digicam, and why should I buy one?

Answer: Three companies have so far released consumer-oriented digital cameras with Wi-Fi: Kodak, Canon and Nikon. All let y

ou transfer pictures via Wi-Fi to a computer or printer, eliminating the needs for USB cables. Some do considerably more. Nikon's CoolPix S6 is a pocketable, slim 6-megapixel camera with a 3X optical zoom. It joins the earlier Wi-Fi-equipped 8MP CoolPix P1 and 5MP CoolPix P2, which are standard-size models. You can print to either a printer connected to your Wi-Fi network, or to a Wi-Fi-enabled printer directly. Nikon sells a $50 USB Wi-Fi adapter for PictBridge printers that will work with the camera. Another interesting feature in the three Nikon Wi-Fi cams is the ability to send pictures to your computer as you take them, bypassing your memory card altogether.

Canon's PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless is a compact 5MP, 3X optical zoom camera. In addition to transferring pictures wirelessly to computers and printers, the PowerShot is getting a firmware upgrade that will allow it to share pictures between cameras via Wi-Fi, and the SD4

30 allows direct saving of images to a connected computer while shooting, similarly to the CoolPixes. But its real claim to wireless fame is the ability to control the camera remotely over a Wi-Fi network with the Canon software, a feature we've not seen on any other consumer wireless digicam. You can preview your shots on your computer screen, and even zoom in and out. A USB Wi-Fi adapter for PictBridge printers is included free with the camera.

Kodak's second-generation 6MP EasyShare-one Wi-Fi camera is a horse of another color. Unlike the Canon and Nikon models, which only allow connections to home and office networks without login requirements, the EasyShare-one can connect at T-Mobile hotspots and send pictures via email, or upload them to the Web, no computer needed. This makes it a great travel companion.

Learn how to set up a VPN, how to cure dropouts, and where to find wireless print servers and storage solutions.

2007-03-16T23:11:00.000Z

Setting up a home or small business Wi-Fi net has become a relative piece of cake compared to the early years, thanks to self-installing software and better operating system support. But there are still some nagging questions that keep getting asked. Notably about dropouts, range and performance. And businesses have special needs in terms of secure remote access and public hotspot maintenance. We've got the solutions for these situations and more.

1. Troubleshooting Dropouts

Question: I frequently lose my Wi-Fi signal, usually right when I REALLY need to get online. Then it comes back a few seconds, a minute or even an hour later. What gives?

Answer: If you have a home Wi-Fi router, chances are you experience periodic signal dropouts with more or less regularity. There are several reasons for this annoying problem, some of which you can control, and some of which you can't, but here are some tips for dealing with the problem.

First, be sure you (and your close neighbors!) don't have 2.4GHz cordless phones or baby monitors in the house. This is the same frequency that Wi-Fi uses, and if someone is talking on the cordless phone, it will likely cause severe interference with your network. Cordless phones are available in several other frequencies, so just switch, or better yet, get rid of your landline altogether and switch your home number to your cell phone.

Second, check if the dropouts seem to coincide with the use of your microwave oven, or any Bluetooth devices, such as wireless mice, keyboards, and printers. These devices also use the same frequency as Wi-Fi, and can cause interference. Place your Wi-Fi router as far from them as possible.

FInally, check to be sure that your neighbors don't have competing Wi-Fi networks on the same or a nearby channel. In the U.S., Wi-Fi channels range from 1 to 11, each focusing on slightly different frequencies in the 2.4GHz radio band. But you can't simply set your router to channel 4 if your neighbor uses 3 and expect that to fix things. Wi-Fi channels overlap, just like those on your FM dial. That's why you see spacing between radio stations, and the bigger the station, the more space it takes up due to a stronger signal that spills over into neighboring airwaves.

With most Wi-Fi routers, you need a spacing of 5 channels or so to get rid of interference. So channels 1, 6, and 11 could be used by three different access points in the same area without much trouble. Super-G, MIMO and draft-802.11n routers, however, bond two channels together to achieve their faster throughput, and their signals spill over into virtually the entire 1-to-11 channel band. There's really only room for one regular Wi-Fi channel in the same area as a channel-bonding router, so you'll need to space them as far apart as possible.

To see what channels are being used, look at the list of available access points given by your Wi-Fi card software. You can also use a Wi-Fi sniffer program to detect closed networks that don't broadcast their SSID, such as Kismet for Linux, and KisMac for Mac OS X. Once you have a list of surrounding access points and channels used, coordinate with your neighbors to select non-interfering channels for your routers.

If some neighbors won't budge, you can probably blast them out with the stronger signals from a MIMO or draft-802.11n router with intelligent antenna technology, such as the 240Mbps Linksys SRX400 or the 270Mbps Netgear RangeMax Next. They have much greater range and performance than standard routers. It's an expensive solution, but a pretty sure one.

2. Extending Your Home Wi-Fi Net

Ask JiWire: My house has a detached garage with an in-law apartment over it. My Wi-Fi network doesn't reach the apartment. Is there any solution other than getting a second DSL line? I can't exactly string Ethernet cable over the driveway.

Answer: Well, we actually know some people who HAVE strung Ethernet cable between the second floors of their houses to share a network, but we won't name names. There are better options. Assuming even a long-range draft-n router like those mentioned above won't bridge the gap, the next best alternative is to use your existing electrical system. With HomePlug networking, you simply plug adapters into the wall, and your computing devices into the adapters, and you're done. Combination Wi-Fi access points and routers with HomePlug let you plug in Wi-Fi access points in remote locations to extend the range of your network.

HomePlug 1.0 products provide 14Mbps performance over the powerline portion of the network (similar to 802.11b), and are available from numerous vendors. Two examples are TrendNet's 125Mbps Wireless PowerLine Router, and Netgear's Wall-Plugged Range Extender Kit. The Range Extender is the perfect solution to your problem.

HomePlug AV products with better than 100Mbps performance (similar to wired Ethernet and enhanced 802.11g) are just coming out. As its name implies, HomePlug AV is designed to be used to distribute HDTV and other digital media signals around a house as well.

3. Setting Up a Secure VPN Router

Ask JiWire: I have a small business and want to be able to connect securely to the local network server when I'm on the road. I use GoToMyPC, but that's pretty slow and cumbersome. Is there a simple way to connect to the server directly, and still be safe at a Wi-Fi hotspot?

Answer: There a lot of options, but all center around one word: VPN. Most network servers (and individual PCs) can be set up to for Web access, so that you can connect directly through a remote browser to upload and download files. Assuming you have Web access configured, the other part of the equation is security. That's where VPN comes in. Virtual Private Networks are secure encrypted "tunnels" between two endpoints: your computer on the road, and your home or business network. Most major Wi-Fi router vendors offer VPN models with built-in support for one or more simultaneous remote VPN connections. And prices are not much more than regular routers, starting around $150.

Netgear's ProSafe 802.11g Wireless V PN Firewall 8 (FVG318) supports up to eight remote users at a time, who can be working at home, or at a hotspot. You can also connect multiple offices with a single tunnel between each location. Another example is Linksys' Wireless-G VPN Broadband Router (WRV54G), which supports up to 50 remote users.

But you don't need to set up your own VPN for just one or two users. Individual VPNs like those in JiWire Hotspot Helper will keep you secure at any hotspot, and require little or no configuration.

4. Sharing Printers via Wi-Fi

Question: I have a home Wi-Fi net and broadband connection, but I would also like to be able to use my printer wirelessly. Should I get a Bluetooth printer or a Wi-Fi adapter?

Answer: While Bluetooth can be found in some new printers allowing direct printing from your Bluetooth laptop, using a Wi-Fi print server makes much better sense. With Bluetooth, you'll need to be within a few feet of your printer, and you won't be able to network the printer for use with other computers in your home. With Wi-Fi, you can print from anywhere within range of your router, and from any computer.

You can either buy a Wi-Fi router with a built-in USB or parallel print server (depending on your printer's interface), or a separate print server that communicates wirelessly with your router. We prefer the separate approach, since it doesn't restrict your router choices, and you can replace or upgrade components as new technology emerges.

Two good Wi-Fi print server options for Windows users are the Belkin 802.11g Wireless Print Server, which has dual USB 1.1 ports for connecting two printers to your network, and the Linksys Wireless-G PrintServer, which has one USB 2.0 port and one parallel port.

Mac users should consider Apple's AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express routers, which have built-in USB print servers that support both Mac and PC clients, as well as AppleTalk printers. The new AirPort Extreme, due in February, is a draft-802.11n model.

One catch with print servers is that they generally don't support the fax/copy/scan functions of all-in-one printers. They only support printing. So you won't be able to send or receive faxes or scans between your computer and the printer. You can still use the standalone fax and copy features of the printer, of course. If you really need a wireless multifunction solution, consider HP's OfficeJet 7140 All-in-One, which has 802.11b/g support and color print, flatbed fax, scan, and copy functions, and works with both Macs and PCs.

5. How to Set Up a Free Hotspot

Question: I would like offer free Wi-Fi Internet access in my cafe, but am worried about liability and management issues. What are my options?

Answer: Free Wi-Fi can be a great way to bring in new customers, especially at off-peak times, and in high-traffic areas where people with laptops or Wi-Fi PDAs are likely to congregate. While you can go the bare-bones do-it-yourself route, plugging in an off-the-shelf router and hanging out a shingle, it's best to install some type of management software that at the very least puts up a splash screen with a liability disclaimer, protecting you against possible misuse of your hotspot.

One easy solution that fits this bill is SputnikNet Express. The completely free Sputnik Agent software can be uploaded to inexpensive Linksys routers, and includes the ability to display a 640x480 splash screen of your design. No computer is needed to manage the system.

If Wi-Fi users quickly overwhelm your free hotspot you can convert to a paid Sputnik system, or choose one of the many other "hotspot-in-a-box"-type solutions that come from major wireless ISPs who'd love to add your site to their nationwide networks. Boingo, Cafe.com and Surf-and-Sip all sell kits for the individual hotspot owner; Boingo even allows you to list free hotspots in its network. You can find information on all these hotspot solutions, and more, in our complete guide to Creating Your Own Hotspot. And, of course, be sure to register your location with JiWire for a free listing in the world's largest hotspot directory -- accessible on JiWire.com, Google, Yahoo!, CNET, USA Today, and many other JiWire partner Web sites.

Top 25 Wireless Tips & Tricks

2007-03-16T23:01:00.000Z

1. Setting Up an Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi Net

Question: How do I set up a wireless network between two computers without a router? Can they share an Internet connection this way?

Answer: The ability to create a quick and dirty network between two (or more) computers or PDAs is an underutilized Wi-Fi capability that is really quite simple to set up. You can even connect Macs and PCs this way. First, be sure both computers are disconnected from any router. Then set manual IP addresses so that the two computers will be able to see each other on the network (normally a router performs this task). They should each be something like 192.168.2.x, where x is a number from 1 to 255 and different for each computer (more than two computers can be in the ad-hoc group). The subnet mask for each should be 255.255.255.0.

Then open your Wi-Fi adapter setup utility (unless your card has a proprietary setup program, this means opening the Windows Wireless Connection Manager in the Windows XP System Tray or choosing "Create Network" from the AirPort menu in Mac OS X). Then make sure the adapters in each computer are set to "Ad-Hoc" mode (as opposed to "Infrastructure," which is for connecting to routers), with the same SSID (case-sensitive) and channel number. They should also be in the same Wi-Fi mode, such as b, g or enhanced-g, as applicable. A MIMO card in MIMO-only mode won't be able to talk to a plain-g card, for example. Don't bother with encryption if it's just a one-time connection in a non-public place. If you do need encryption for a regular connection, get things working without encryption first, then add the same type of encryption on each end, with the same password.

You can also share an Internet connection with computers on your Ad-Hoc network. In Windows XP, go to the Network Connections control panel, click on the connection you want to share, then choose "Change settings of the connection." Click on the Advanced tab, and then turn on Internet Connection Sharing. In Mac OS X, open the Sharing control panel in OS X and click the Internet tab, then turn on sharing. Note that you do this ONLY on the computer that is physically connected to the Internet, not on the computers that will share the connection. This is also a great way to share a hotel room Ethernet connection.

2. Sharing Files Over Wi-Fi

Question: How can I share files between two computers over Wi-Fi?

Answer: One of the great things about home Wi-Fi networks, is that not only can you share a fast Internet connection, you can also use the network to share files among all the computers in your house. But at the same time, you probably don't want to open up your entire directory to your kids (and their friends). Here's how to share files safely with Windows XP Simple File Sharing.

First, organize files you expect to share, such as photos, music, and the family calendar, into their own folder or folders on your hard drive. Then decide who else should have access to these folders, and if you want to require a password for access. Finally, configure Simple File Sharing access permissions using the steps detailed here.

On a Mac, sharing files is even easier. Just put any files or folders you'd like to share in your Public folder, then open the Sharing panel under System Preferences and turn on Personal File Sharing.

You can also share files over an ad-hoc network by following the ad-hoc connection tips above first.

3. How and When to Turn Wi-Fi OFF

Question: For my job, I have my laptop mounted in my vehicle. As I drive around various cities, I'm always getting an annoying popup asking if I want to connect to a Wi-Fi net. Seems as if everybody and their uncle has a Wi-Fi network in their home. How can I avoid this annoying popup everytime I go by a hotspot?

Answer: First of all, the popup is not just annoying, it's a sign that you are leaving your computer unprotected. For every time you get the popup, there are probably several other times where your computer is automatically attaching itself to a network with a familiar SSID like "linksys" or "tmobile." Since these networks would be unencrypted, you could be vulnerable to hacking.

We always recommend that users turn Wi-Fi OFF when on the road between hotspots. Turning it off not only makes sure you can't accidentally associate with a hotspot, it saves precious battery life. To turn Wi-Fi off in Windows XP, simply left-click on the wireless network icon in the system tray and choose "Disable."

This also removes the icon from the tray, so to turn Wi-Fi on again, you'll need to open the Network Connections Control Panel (from the Start Menu), then just double-click on your wireless connection to enable it again. (Note that you can also disable the Wi-Fi adapter from this Control Panel.) That's all there is to it. If you expect to turn Wi-Fi on and off a lot, you might want to create a shortcut to this control panel.

On the Mac, turning Wi-Fi on and off is even easier. It's the first option under the AirPort menu in the Finder. You should also turn off Bluetooth between uses. Bluetooth is not as critical security-wise, but also uses a lot of power on your laptop.

4. By the Numbers: Real-World Throughput Rates for DSL & Wi-Fi

Ask JiWire: Why is the upload speed for Internet connections always so much slower than that for downloads? I have to send a lot of large pictures to clients and it is faster to do this at Starbucks than at home with my DSL line! And why does my Wi-Fi router say 300Mbps when I'm lucky to get a fraction of that?

Answer: What you are experiencing with your DSL line is the difference between asymmetric connections with differing up/down speeds, and symmetric ones, where bandwidth is the same in both directions. Most home DSL lines are asymmetric, with uploads much slower than downloads, since ASDL allows for voice connections on the same line. Symmetric DSL is also available, but is more expensive and requires a dedicated line. Similarly, dedicated T1/T3/T+ lines are symmetric. T-series lines are even more expensive than SDSL, and offer speeds starting at 1.5Mbps. Businesses are the primary users of both SDSL and T lines, since they may be hosting a Web site, or have a large number of users sharing a line.

ADSL typically supports data transfer rates from 1.5- to 9Mbps downstream, but only 16- to 640Kbps upstream. Upload rates vary by provider, but are usually 15 to 50 percent of download speeds. That superfast-sounding 1.5Mbps DSL line you're paying extra for may be only giving you 125Kbps for uploads -- about three times as fast as dialup! The kicker is that all T-Mobile Hotspots (such as Starbucks) use at least T1 lines, so assuming you're not sharing the line with a lot of other users, your upload speeds will indeed be much faster at a hotspot than at home.

A side note is that cable and cellular modem data rates are also asymmetric. Cable modem standards provide for a maximum of 30Mbps downstream and 10Mbps up, but this is divided between all users in your area, and individual rated speeds are typically 500Kbps-6Mbps down and 256-750Kbps up. For cellular carriers, there is only so much space in the wireless frequency bands they own, so they purposely divide the limited number of "slots" unevenly between up and down data. Most people do a lot more downloading than uploading, so more slots get allocated to downloads. EV-DO Rev. A has vastly improved upload speeds over the Rev. 0 version, however.

To measure the real-world upload and download speeds you are getting from any of these connection types, use CNET's Bandwidth Meter or SpeedTest.net

And what about those Wi-Fi speeds? Sometimes we can get blinded by the numbers on the router box: 108Mbps, 125Mbps, or even 300Mbps with the latest generation of draft-802.11n routers. Actual data rates are always going to be much less, but just how much throughput should you expect to get under real-world conditions?

The rule of thumb is that you'll start with about half the stated throughput. So for a plain vanilla 54Mbps 802.11g, we'd be happy to get 27Mbps out of it, and double that for an enhanced-g 108Mbps router. Then you need to cut that number even further depending on the distance from your router, the number of simultaneous users, and whether you're using encryption. Throughput drops dramatically with distance, as signal strength decreases. So even with a 300Mbps router, in our house we would get barely 80Mbps in the upstairs rooms, even less with encryption.

Similarly, simultaneous users will cut available throughput. Home routers have only ONE Wi-Fi radio, which must maintain communication with ALL the Wi-Fi clients attached to it. So even if all equipment were in the same room at maximum signal strength, two clients downloading large files at the same time would cut throughput for each by more than 50 percent, since there is also overhead involved. And throughput will be shaved even more when you are running mixed networks of different types of clients, such as 802.11b, g, and n, or if you are in range of neighboring Wi-Fi nets or 2.4GHz cordless phones, which can cause interference. <

What all this means is that to get the maximum throughput under any given load, the best strategy is to start out with as fast a router as you can buy. Starting out with a draft-n router like the Netgear RangeMax Next won't actually give you 300Mbps throughput, but it WILL give you nearly five times the performance of a typical g router.

5. When Bluetooth Doesn't Bite

Ask JiWire: I bought a Bluetooth headset so I can use VoIP services with my laptop when I'm at Wi-Fi hotspots. The headset seemingly "pairs" with the laptop, but I don't get any sound. What gives?

Answer: Unlike Wi-Fi equipment, which can interoperate at least at a basic 802.11b or g level, different Bluetooth devices support only specific capabilities, called "profiles," appropriate to their function. For example, a headset has no need to be able to receive an image from a Bluetooth camera, nor sync data from a computer. Likewise, a camera has no need to connect to a headset or a mouse. While these examples are obvious, there are so many different Bluetooth profiles, with new ones cropping up all the time, that there are many instances of seemingly logical connections that can't be made. Not all laptops support the headset profile, although they may support the Serial Port, Fax, Dial-up Networking, and Synchronization profiles, among others.

Adding to the confusion is the emergence of new stereo audio Bluetooth profiles designed for listening to music from portable players, which may also be phones or laptops. As a rule, you should check that any device you buy supports the specific profile(s) you need, including any copy-protection schemes. But all is not lost in your case. Since laptops have USB ports, you can usually add Bluetooth "dongles" that support whatever profile is missing from the internal Bluetooth stacks. Just be sure to turn off the built-in radio so as not to confuse things.

In the future, Bluetooth will get both simpler and more complex. Pairing will become much easier, but encryption will be improved, and bandwidth will get much higher, enabling cordless VoIP handsets, fast audio and video data transfer between home entertainment system components, and more. For a roundup of current Bluetooth devices, including the best headsets and hands-free car kits,

Download wireless tools

2007-03-16T22:41:00.000Z

kismet – One of the key functional elements missing from NetStumbler is the ability to display Wireless Networks that are not broadcasting their SSID. As a potential wireless security expert, you should realize that Access Points are routinely broadcasting this info; it just isn’t being read/deciphered. Kismet will detect and display SSIDs that are not being broadcast which is very critical in finding wireless networks.

(Kismet Screenshot)

Attaching to the Found Wireless Network

Once you’ve found a wireless network, the next step is to try to connect to it. If the network isn’t using any type of authentication or encryption security, you can simply connect to the SSID. If the SSID isn’t being broadcast, you can create a profile with the name of the SSID that is not being broadcast. Of course you found the non-broadcast SSID with Kismet, right? If the wireless network is using authentication and/or encryption, you may need one of the following tools.

Airsnort – This is a v ery easy to use tool that can be used to sniff and cra ck WEP keys. W

hile many people bash the use of WEP, it is cert ainly better than using nothing at all. Something you’ll find in using this tool is that it takes a lot of sniffed packets to crack the WEP key. There are additional tools and strategies that can be used to force the generation of traffic on the wireless network to shorten t he amount of time needed to crack the key, but this feature is not included in Airsnort.

(Screenshot of Airsnort in Action)

CowPatty – This tool is used as a brute force tool for cracking WPA-PSK, considered the “New WEP” for home Wireless Security. This program simply tries a bunch of different options from a dictionary file to see if one ends up matching what is defined as the Pre-Shared Key.

(Cowpatty Options Screenshot)

ASLeap – If a network is using LEAP, this tool can be used to gather the authentication data that is being passed across the network, and these sniffed credentials can be cracked. LEAP doesn’t protect the authentication like other “real” EAP types, which is the main reason why LEAP can be broken.

(Asleap Options Screenshot)

Sniffing Wireless Data

Whether you are directly connected to a wireless network or not, if there is wireless network in range, there is data flying through the air at any given moment. You will need a tool to be able to see this data.

Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) – While there has been much debate on the proper way to pronounce this utility, there is no question that it is an extremely valuable tool. Ethereal can scan wireless and Ethernet data and comes with some robust filtering capabilities. It can also be used to sniff-out 802.11 management beacons and probes and subsequently could be used as a tool to sniff-out non-broadcast SSIDs.

(Screenshot of Ethereal in Action)

(Yahoo IM Session being sniffed in Ethereal)

The aforementioned utilities, or similar ones, will be necessities in your own wireless security toolkit. The easiest way to become familiar with these tools is to simply use them in a controlled lab environment. And cost is no excuse as all of these tools are available freely on the Internet.

Protecting Against These Tools

Just as it’s important to know how to utilize the aforementioned tools, it is important to know best practices on how to secure your Wireless Network Against these tools.

NetStumbler – Do not broadcast your SSID. Ensure your WLAN is protected by using advanced Authentication and Encryption.

Kismet – There’s really nothing you can do to stop Kismet from finding your WLAN, so ensure your WLAN is protected by using advanced Authentication and Encryption

Airsnort – Use a 128-bit, not a 40-bit WEP encryption key. This would take longer to crack. If your equipment supports it, use WPA or WPA2 instead of WEP (may require firmware or software update).

Cowpatty – Use a long and complex WPA Pre-Shared Key. This type of key would have less of a chance of residing in a dictionary file that would be used to try and guess your key and/or would take longer. If in a corporate scenario, don’t use WPA with Pre-Shared Key, use a good EAP type to protect the authentication and limit the amount of incorrect guesses that would take place before the account is locked-out. If using certificate-like functionality, it could also validate the remote system trying to gain access to the WLAN and not allow a rogue system access.

ASLeap – Use long and complex credentials, or better yet, switch to EAP-FAST or a different EAP type.

Ethereal – Use encryption, so that anyt

hing sniffed woul d b e diff icu lt or nearly impossible to break. WPA2, which uses AES, is essentially unrealistic to break by a n ormal hacker. Even WEP will encr ypt the data. When in a Public Wireless Hotspot (which generally do not offer encryption), use application layer encryption, like Simplite to encrypt your IM sessions, or use SSL. For corporate users, use IPSec VPN with split-tunneling disabled. This will force all traffic leaving the machine through an encrypted tunnel that would be encrypted with DES, 3DES or AES.

Finding Wireless Networks with tools

2007-03-16T22:23:00.000Z

Finding Wireless Networks

Locating a wireless network is the first step in trying to exploit it. There are two tools that are commonly used in this regard:

Network Stumbler a.k.a NetStumbler – This Windows based tool easily finds wireless signals being broadcast within range – A must have. It also has ability to determine Signal/Noise info that can be used for site surveys. I actually know of one highly known public wireless hotspot provider that uses this utility for their site surveys.