Please note that you may not be able to do this yourself if you are on a network. In larger companies this is controlled through a print server or can only be done by authorized individuals. You may need to contact your computer staff or network administrator.

What if you can’t print?

Here are some reasons:
1. The printer is out of paper. I have seen people try to print over and over again only to find out the printer is out of paper. Normally an error will appear on their screen. Most people are persistent that they can beat the system. They seem to think they are actually dealing with a living being.
2. It isn’t turned on. This is also a big one. Again! Yes again! People will constantly try to send to the printer with out ever checking it physically. Even though these printers are not supposed to be turned off, do not assume anything.
3. The power plug is disconnected. Maybe somebody moved it or just unplugged it for some reason.
4. The data cable is disconnected. Maybe somebody just bumped it or whatever.

The above reasons are approaching the problem as a physical one. The problem could also be that the driver is corrupt. This is the program the makes it work. The operating system could have something wrong with it.

How can I fix a software problem? If you are authorized to do this yourself do the following:
1. Start by uninstalling the printer program.
2. Reinstall the program.
3. Test it.
4. If it still doesn’t work try the printer on a different computer.
5. If the printer works you know something is wrong with the operating system.
6. If it doesn’t work your printer could actually be bad.

What could be wrong with the operating system?

Although many things could be wrong, check for viruses. Another possibility is that the driver you are using is not compatible to the operating system. As an example: if you are using Windows XP you must have an XP driver. A windows 98 driver may not work. If a current driver is not available you can try to use compatibility mode. If that doesn’t work, you may need to purchase a new printer.

You may need to contact the network administrator if you are on a network. It could be possible the printer you want to use is not shared on the network. Even if it shows up in the setup screen it may not really be connected due to this problem.

Another problem

If you are on a network the network cable may have become disconnected or went bad. However, if it did you will not be able to do anything associated with the network.

By: Dennis Levenhagen

There are a number of performance-related issues that typically occur with WANs, which has led to the development of various WAN optimization techniques. These issues can include redundant transmissions, ‘chatty’ protocols, and packet delivery issues. Some of the common techniques used to achieve WAN optimization include: Bandwidth Management; Caching; and Protocol Optimization. Multiple vendors offer WAN optimization appliances that use a number of these techniques to process the IP traffic traveling between the sites over the company’s WAN. Not every solution uses the same techniques, thus the benefits can vary, which is important to understand when researching a vendor or supplier.

Bandwidth Management allows applications to have set limits and minimums with regard to how much bandwidth they use. For example, this technique would allow you to put a limit on the amount of bandwidth an especially avaricious application can use. Conversely, bandwidth management can ensure that less-used applications always have a guaranteed amount of bandwidth allocated to them.

Caching allows several copies of important files, especially larger ones, to be stored in multiple locations. This prevents users from having to download files as large as 20MB or 100MB across a WAN connection every time they need to view or make edits to it. Additionally, whenever modifications are made to one of these cached files, the network doesn’t have to transmit the entire updated file to every one of its multiple locations. One the portions of the file that have been edited are sent.

Communication protocols for digital computer network communication have features intended to ensure reliable interchange of data over an imperfect communication channel. It is basically a way of following certain rules so that a system works properly. Protocol optimization restricts the amount of electronic chit-chat that occurs between sites when communication protocols send their necessary back and forth confirmation messages.

The implementation of these various techniques by using WAN optimization appliances has been said to reduce the usage of bandwidth by as much as 50-95% between offices communicating over the WAN. For many companies this means thousands of dollars of savings, particularly when costly solutions like multiple MPLS networks are being to ensure network reliability. For others, the value of WAN optimization is that global collaboration allows the company to undertake tasks that it previously couldn’t. Regardless of the benefit or the need, understanding the latest in WAN Optimization techniques can have a substantial benefit on the performance of a modern corporation.

By: Charles Hughes

The Best Wireless Network in Speed

The fastest and the best wireless network available at the market today is draft 2.0 802.11n standards. This is the latest industrial standards today – the future technology, but it is still not ratified yet. Even though it is not finalized yet, mostly all the wireless manufacturers ship their lines of wireless products based on this draft standards. The recent manufacturers ship their products and claimed that the wireless network can provide the speed up to 300 Mbps. However, this is all theoretical, in a sense, due to the fact that routers never achieve the maximum throughput they’re rated at (802.11b at 11 Mbps and 802.11g at 54 Mbps).

Wireless –n router is not guaranteed to work with the final 802.11n standard when it arrives in another year or so. Why, then, should you invest in pre-release technology with iffy chances of operability in the future? Because, this draft version is assured to be backward compatibility with the current industrial standards 802.11b and wireless 802.11g wireless devices, and can be used to fill in the gaps of your wireless network today. Besides, when the draft 802.11n has been ratified officially as the fastest wireless industrial standards, it is widely believed that there will be no hardware changes. The only thing you need to upgrade is the firmware that will be freely downloaded from the official vendor’s websites. Even some vendors design their products with the capability of download the recent firmware automatically when it connects to the internet.

The Best Wireless Network in Network Coverage

Selecting the best wireless network should provide the technology with the farthest network coverage. A current technology widely adopted by the manufacturers to provide the farther wireless network coverage is the combination of wireless –N and Multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) antenna technology. MIMO uses multiple transmitter and receiver antennas to improve the system performance. MIMO technology relies on multipath signals. Multipath signals are the reflected signals arriving at the receiver some time after the line of sight (LOS) signal transmission has been received. MIMO technology combined with the wireless –N creates robust signals for maximum range and speed with reduced dead spots.

Some manufacturers embedded their product with their own competitive technology for better network coverage. For example D-Link introduces Extreme –N technology to provide the speed up to 14x faster and provide 6x the range farther when compared to 802.11g wireless devices.

The Best Wireless Network in Security

Selecting the best wireless network, you should think about the best security the network can protect against any threats. As a general rule, you should employ a level of security that corresponds to the sensitivity of the data on your network. Unlike wired systems, which can be physically secured, wireless networks are not confined to the inside of buildings. They can be picked up as far as 1,000 feet outside of the premises with a laptop and a gain antenna. This makes WLANs inherently vulnerable to interception.

The latest industrial wireless security standard is WPA2. WPA stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access which is a certification program created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks. This protocol was created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).

The other features you should consider in selecting the wireless devices for the best wireless network is the Quality of Services (QoS) feature which capable of providing the prioritization of the data stream.
With wireless routers (without the QoS feature), all wired and wireless traffic, including VoIP, Video Streaming, Online Gaming, and Web browsing are mixed together into a single data stream. By handling data this way, applications like video streaming could pause or delay. With Intelligent QoS Technology, wired and wireless traffic is analyzed and separated into multiple data streams. These streams are then categorized by sensitivity to delay, so applications like VoIP, Video Streaming, and Online Gaming are given priority over Web browsing. This enables multiple applications to stream smoothly to your TV or PC.

D-Link introduces Gamer Lounge DGL-4500 with intelligent QoS technology which is designed specifically for gamers in mind.

The last but not the least for the best wireless network you can also consider the dual-band feature of the wireless access point and also the wireless clients. With the dual band technology, the wireless devices support 2.4GHz & 5GHz wireless signals at the same time. This allows you to check e-mail and browse the Internet using the 2.4GHz band while simultaneously streaming High-Definition (HD) movies and other media on the 5GHz band.
With the best wireless network, it is not perfect if you do not deploy the antivirus software for each of the computers on the network. See also the Internet threats and antivirus software.

By: Ki Grinsing

There are many type of Networking but commonly used networking are mentioned below: -

LAN – Local Area Network

A LAN is connected network devices over a relatively short distance, in a networked office building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN, though sometimes one building will contain a few small LAN and occasionally a LAN will span a group of nearby buildings. The simplest and easiest way is the peer-to-peer connection network. This is when two or more computers are directly connected to each other. LAN is used in small office, in a building or in group of buildings.

WAN – Wide Area Network

A WAN is a geographically-dispersed collection of LAN. A network device called a router connects LAN to a WAN. In IP networking, the router maintains both a LAN address and a WAN address. LAN and WAN were the original categories of area networks, while the others have gradually emerged over many years of technology evolution. Internet is the largest WAN example. a LAN based on WiFi wireless network technology. WAN is much more complex and requires connecting devices or hubs from all over the world.

MAN – Metropolitan Area Network

A network spanning a physical area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city. A MAN is typically owned an operated by a single entity such as a government body or large corporation. It area coverage is 0-10 KM.

Network Advantages:
• Software and other application can be shared.
• Computers can communicate
• Files and data storage can be shared.
• Peripheral devices like printer, scanner etc. can be shared.

Networks Disadvantages:
• Hackers and viruses can easily attack the system
• If there is a problem with server then it can may affect other computers

Following characteristics are also used to categorize different types of networks:

Protocol : The protocol defines a common set of rules and signals that computers on the network use to communicate. One of the most popular protocols for LAN is called Ethernet.
Topology : The geometric arrangement of a computer system. Common topologies include a bus, star, and ring and mesh topology.
Architecture : Networks can be broadly classified as using either a peer-to-peer and client/server architecture.

These are the technologies to set a networking of computer and take the benefits of it. This network connection sharing and services interact through a communication link. A computer network is very useful in a business. Often a company will have created more than one computer and it is often very beneficial for all computers on the network of offices.

By: Kewin Lawton