HP Sketches New Vision For The Smart Home

By Michael Gros, CRN
6:15 PM EDT Mon. Apr. 02, 2007

http://www.crn.com/digital-home/198701912;jsessionid=ZYQ222PFU3QHQQSNDLRCKH0CJUNN2JVN

Hewlett-Packard, which has developed one of the most complete programs and some of the best-designed products of any IT vendor for the digital home market, is making big changes to its approach and is already causing some waves in its channel.

Slide Show: HP's New Vision For The Smart Home

Nearly every major computer vendor sells Media Center PCs, but HP has been one of the few to offer a PC with the looks and features to fit into the living as a robust home entertainment center. Its z560 and z565 Digital Entertainment Center (DEC) PCs are full-blown entertainment PCs but are the size of DVD players, and they include useful features such as bays for portable media drives and dual-TV tuners.

However, HP revealed last week that it will discontinue the line and concentrate on other products for the home.

"The thing that was very clear to us is [Media Center PC] solutions today are not that simple or easy to set up," said Ameer Karim, director of HP worldwide product marketing for consumer PC and digital entertainment products. "Now we're focused on bringing simpler, more intuitive solutions that are easy to set up, whether you're a CEDIA installer or a do-it-yourself geek."

HP is continuing to ship standard form-factor PCs running Windows XP Media Center Edition, and the Palo Alto, Calif., company is shipping its new Media Center-based TouchSmart PC, which includes a 19-inch touch screen. But the company's focus for the home is now on its new MediaSmart product line.

The first product in the line, the MediaSmart TV, began shipping last year and is in its second generation. The MediaSmart TV includes software that lets users access photos, audio files and videos stored on other devices on a home's wireless or wired network. The first generation of the MediaSmart TV was a 37-inch model, and the company is now offering 42- and 47-inch models, with 1080p as an option.

Later this year, HP and Microsoft expect to start shipping the next product in the MediaSmart line, the jointly developed MediaSmart server. The product is a combined storage device and server and is designed to be a central storage point for all digital content and allow users to access it from inside the home or over the Web. The MediaSmart products are compatible with other Windows-based devices.

In addition to positioning its MediaSmart product line as a way to make home entertainment easier to use, HP is aiming the products directly at the new Apple TV device. Both HP's and Apple's device let users pull video from a PC and access it on a PC, but HP is hoping to improve on the concept by putting the networking capability directly inside the TV.

Karim said the system also lets users access online music and video content from any source, compared with Apple's much more closed system.

"We think this is a good alternative for people looking for an option to Apple TV," he said.

Despite the changes to the product line, Karim said HP is still very committed to its home integrators and the digital integrator program it launched last year.

"We're still very passionate. We're willing to make major investments in the digital home and digital entertainment space. DEC is being discontinued for the time being, but we're re-evaluating solutions for the space," Karim said.

Yet Mike Seamons, vice president of marketing at Exceptional Innovation, a Westerville, Ohio-based home-control company partnering with HP, is apprehensive of the changes. Exceptional Innovation has worked closely with HP to offer its Life|ware home control and automation solutions on HP's Media Center PCs, and though Seamons said the partnership remains strong, the suspension of the DEC line is a big deal.

"It does leave a hole, as it was the central entertainment box that makes the Life|ware home control system come together," Seamons said. "The PC sits in the center of the system where all the television and content is aggregated. Without that product there, it will leave a void that other manufacturers will need to fill."

Seamons said his company is already in talks with other PC manufacturers to integrate their Media Center PCs with the Life|ware solution. In particular, his company is looking at Sony's new XL3 Digital Living System, which includes a Blu-ray DVD drive and a DVD library system.

Other possible candidates include the Denali, Rainier and M7 PCs from high-end system builder Niveus Media, as well as Alienware's new Hangar 18. The Alienware product is expected to start shipping this quarter and includes HDVD and built-in speaker amplification. "It would be much better for HP to have an entire product line end-to- end, but these other companies can fill the void," Seamons said.

Seamons also takes issue at HP's use of a proprietary user interface on the MediaSmart devices, instead of an open interface such as Media Center. Having a common interface makes the learning curve easier, especially if it's based on the common Windows design, Seamons said.

He also questioned HP's decision to not include Media Center Extender capabilities in the MediaSmart TV, which would have allowed it to easily connect to Media Center PCs.

Don’t buy an HDTV without reading this first

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/Ou/?p=458&tag=nl.e019

• Date: March 31st, 2007
• Blogger: George Ou
• Category: Fun Stuff, Hardware

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Forking out a few thousand dollars or even just a few hundred is a serious investment, and the last thing you want to do is buy an HDTV with lousy color rendition.  Navigating the minefield in consumer electronics is a confusing proposition even for the seasoned gadget geeks, so I created this survival guide to help you make a wise decision.  I'll explain the various types of HDTVs as well as cabling and testing the color depth of your display.

Projection HDTVs:
These typically use DLP, LCOS, or LCD technology (don't confuse LCD in this context with an LCD flat panel display, because this refers to a small LCD chip being used in a projection HDTV). The advantage of projection technology is that it's relatively cheap for a very large HDTV. For example, you can get a 72" projection HDTV that has 1920×1080 resolution from $2500 to $5000 depending on the brand and model.

The disadvantage is that they don't have as good a viewing angle and they're not as bright compared to LCD or Plasma. Sometimes the resolution isn't quite honest because they may advertise "1080p" non-interlaced capability, but you'll be surprised to find that it will only take an interlaced signal via the HDMI or analog component ports. The other problem is that they're often over-scanned, which means the edges will be chopped off. I found out the hard way that even my Windows Start and Task bar were completely chopped off at the edges. I actually had to use some neat driver tricks in my NVIDIA video card to compensate for the over-scanning by telling the driver where the image was being chopped off.  The color depth on projection HDTVs is also lacking compared to the LCD flat panel displays, though the higher end projection models don't trail as badly. Another problem I need to point out is that projection TVs take a lot of power.  My own 72" DLP uses about 250 watts of electricity when I hooked it up to the power meter. The lamps also need to be changed every four years or so, and they cost about $200.

The bottom line is that you get a lot of size for your money when choosing a projection model, but the quality can't compete with the quality of LCD flat panels.  Note that when I say the quality is lacking, that's only in comparison to LCD/Plasma flat panels, but projection is still vastly superior to older HDTV or TV sets. The main advantage of larger displays isn't necessarily because they look bigger; size allows you to place the HDTV farther away from the audience, which means you can have more people viewing it. If you don't mind sitting a little closer to a smaller but higher quality LCD flat panel, it will look just as big but it can't be viewed by as many people and it may not work for larger living rooms, even if there aren't that many viewers.

Plasma HDTVs:
Plasma displays can come in very large sizes equal to projection HDTVs, but they cost a lot more money for a given size. They can easily cost two or more times per inch than an equivalent DLP. A current 65" plasma HDTV that supports 1080p costs anywhere from $6000 to $10000.  The viewing angles, color depth, and brightness on plasma displays are vastly superior to projection displays. You also get true 1920×1080 non-interlaced resolution.

The problem with large plasma is they can cost as much as a cheap automobile and the price is constantly dropping. I wouldn't be surprised if the price dropped 30% next year while the quality goes up. I know people who forked out $10000 two years ago for a smaller 1366×768 resolution plasma, and they're probably kicking themselves now. Unless you just have too much money to burn, I can't recommend a large plasma display. Another word of caution is that there are some really cheap smaller plasma displays that have 1024×768 resolution that might sound like a good deal, but you're getting something that doesn't have square pixels. If you try to hook up a computer to it, it will look ugly and distorted making everything look fat. Any model that has a resolution of 1024×768 or less is obsolete and I would stay away from them.  [Update - I forgot to mention that plasma displays have burn-in problems.  I've seen first hand how bad the burn-in can be within just two years when the displays were used in a datacenter for monitoring mostly static images.  This isn't as serious when used for displaying video, but there can still be problems when there's letterboxing on the sides or top/bottom.]

The bottom line is that you can get a large high-quality plasma display but at very high cost. There are cheaper, smaller versions, but you're better off getting an LCD flat panel HDTV for about the same money and at better quality.

LCD HDTVs:
LCD HDTVs are typically very high quality and very expensive for a given size, but they have recently grown in size and dropped in price. You can easily find 32" LCD models with 1366×768 in the $500 to $800 range. 42" Models with 1920×1080 (1080p) resolution can be $1200 to $2000, while 52" LCD 1080p models go from $2300 to $3500. There are 60-plus inch models that are priced out of this world at even higher prices than plasma displays. Larger models will eventually come down in price but now is not the time for anything over 52". So for the cost of a 72" projection HDTV, you can get a 52" LCD model that has vastly superior image quality with none of the interlacing and over-scan problems.

[Update 4/2/2007 - One of the more interesting developments is the availability of the newest 120 Hz LCD HDTVs that offer frame interpolation. This means that 24-frame-per-second cinema sources can be cleanly multiplied by 5, and NTSC video sources with 30 frames per second can be cleanly multiplied by 4. The interpolation actually means that the display will create three or four additional frames in between each frame to fill in the gaps with an image that's somewhere between the original frames. That creates an extremely smooth and life-like look-and-feel. I can see where this might actually cause some issues with movie footage that deliberately shows a low frame rate for certain artistic effects, so the frame interpolation may undo those effects. The Sharp Aquos LC-46D92U, for example, boasts this kind of 120 Hz frame interpolated operation with a super fast response time of 4 ms and an ultra-wide viewing angle of 176 degrees. The 46" LC-46D92U costs about $2500 (probably a lot more from retail stores), which is on the expensive side. But we can expect the price of these to drop when more of the 120 Hz LCDs become common.]

If you're willing to place the display closer to you, the smaller LCD will look just as big as the projection model, but it will look much better. The quality won't be as good as a high-end 20" computer LCD, but it beats any other HDTV on the market. It's so good that you can even use it as a computer monitor without eye strain. The only word of caution is that the 1366×768 resolution isn't universally supported, and you need to make sure your video card and drivers can support that resolution or else things will look very ugly because of resolution rescaling artifacts. Personally, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have gone for the big cheap projection DLP and gone with the LCD.

ATSC tuners and free HDTV:
All newer HDTVs have built-in ATSC tuners, which means you can get free high definition content over the air. I'm one of those people who don't watch that much television, and I refuse to pay for cable or satellite.  If the HDTV you're looking at purchasing doesn't have an ATSC tuner or it doesn't have HDMI or DVI input ports, skip it. All you need is an outdoor antenna, though indoor models can still allow you to receive most of the digital channels, especially if you live in an area close to the broadcast towers. There's also no such thing as an "HDTV antenna," and any old antenna will work. Reader Zoraster pointed out that HDTV operates in the UHF band, which is all the channels above channel 13. VHF is channels 2-13, but there are some instances where HDTV is broadcast over VHF. If you have an old TV antenna on the roof with all the coax cabling in place, it will work fine if it supports UHF. I bought a $40 outdoor antenna and it brings me about 15 digital channels, many of which are high definition. All the major broadcast networks are available over the air in HD, and even if you intend to pay for cable or satellite, it's still a good idea to have the free HD content over the air so that you don't have to pay for local channels and HD.

Monster cable ripoff:

Consumers need to get the concept of "monster cables" out of their minds since they DO NOT apply to the digital world. There is zero difference in quality between the cheapest $12 HDMI to DVI cable versus the $100 gold-plated "monster cable."  Monster cables are a holdover from the analog era, where signal leakage results in a degraded image or sound. In the digital world, a data cable either works 100% or it doesn't work at all, and there is no degraded middle ground. Since nearly all digital cables work (return the rare ones that don't), there isn't a shred of difference between the cheap cable or the expensive monster cable. If you can't find an HDMI to DVI cable for less than $30 in a retail store, you can google "HDMI to DVI cable" and there will be plenty online vendors selling them for $12-$16 plus shipping. Don't be shocked to find HDMI cables that cost $60 to $150 in a typical retail outlet; just don't fall for it. The only place monster cables have any use is for the transmission of analog signals, such as the connection between your amplifier and your speakers.

How to test the color quality of an HDTV:
Once you decide what kind of HDTV you want to buy (read below), you'll want to test it before you buy it. I was discussing the issue of HDTV quality with colleague Justin James, who was in the process of buying a new LCD HDTV. We discussed how daunting it was to figure out the differences between an expensive and inexpensive model. Making matters worse, the stores usually don't show you an optimal image with the proper digital HDMI high-resolution video source.  Even when a clean digital signal is used, it still isn't easy to judge the quality of an HDTV. HDTVs are often placed in worse glare conditions than others, and the ones the store wants to sell most are often conveniently placed in to more favorable lighting conditions. Another trick is that some HDTVs are set to a very high contrast mode so that the images look vivid and bright, but the reality is that the shadow detail and/or highlight detail is sorely lacking. Even to the trained eye, judging the color depth on a monitor without a color gradient chart is difficult. So I've gone ahead and created some red, green, blue, and gray scale charts optimized for different resolutions for you to download. 

Armed with the color gradient chart and a laptop with high resolution output, Justin James planned to go to the store to check the quality of the HDTVs before committing his hard earned dollars. The downside to that option is that you won't be able to test the digital HDMI or DVI port, and many people may not have a laptop with a good enough graphics card that supports 1366×768 or 1920×1080. Another option is to buy the HDTV from a retailer that lets you take it back with no penalty, though this becomes difficult if the HDTV is extremely large. You can try to get the sales staff to show you as much as possible so that you can make a fairly good decision, but warn them that you will inspect the product at home and return it if it doesn't live up to expectations.

To test your HDTV, download the following image files and display them at full screen. Find the resolution appropriate for the model you're considering.

• For 1080p (1920×1080) resolution models
• For 768p (1366×768) resolution models
• For 720p (1280×720) resolution models
• For computer monitors that are 1680 pixels wide

The idea is that you should ideally be able to see distinct square color blocks from left to right and top to bottom. Realistically, you won't even see all of them, even on a good computer LCD, much less an HDTV. The only thing that will display all of them is a bulky CRT monitor. Computer LCDs can't normally match the color depth of CRTs unless you pay three to four times the cost of a normal LCD display for a very high-end LCD.  With most LCDs, you can tilt them forward and back to see more shades of color at either end of the spectrum, but not without losing color depth at the other end. The real question is how many color tiles can you see when you're at the optimum viewing angle without any adjustment and how many colors and shades can be displayed at once at a given viewing angle. Using these test patterns side by side is the only way most people can tell which display is the better one. Fortunately, with LCDs or plasma displays, you don't really need to worry about screen geometry distortion, so there's no need to do the grid line test.

While there may be some quality difference between more expensive and cheaper LCD models, just keep in mind that the cheapest LCD has higher quality than the best projection model. Assuming it passes the quality test, I personally tend to favor the cheaper LCD models than the more expensive LCD models because I can't see the more expensive models being worth nearly double the price if the cheaper model has the specifications and features I want.

Quote

CNET: Insider Secrets: Connect an Xbox 360 to your Windows PC

Got movies and music on your PC? We'll show you how to stream through your Xbox 360 right onto your TV screen.

Don't Let Bad Guys Pose as You

By Erik Larkin, PC World
Flaws let attackers trick a Web site into providing your personal information.

http://tech.msn.com/security/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3370140

Like a con artist who disguises himself as you so he can walk unmolested into your office building, a small but growing type of online threat takes advantage of Web site programming flaws to try to access your online accounts.
Google recently fixed such a flaw that malefactors could exploit to steal a Gmail user's full contact list. The threat used the arcane-sounding "cross-site request forgery" (CSRF) strategy. The ploy is similar to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, in which attackers booby-trap a trusted site by rigging it with links that take the visitor to malicious destinations. But whereas XSS attacks exploit the trust that a user has for a site, CSRF attacks exploit the trust a Web site has for a user, according to WhiteHat Security chief technology officer Jeremiah Grossman.
Once you are logged in to a Web site, it trusts all requests that come from your browser. So CSRF forgeries simply trick your browser into sending a request for, say, your contact list -- or as happened with a recently repaired flaw on the Netflix site, a request to change your movie queue or account details. Conceivably, such attacks could also allow someone to transfer money from your bank account, though that kind of theft would be much more difficult to pull off because of the higher level of security used by most financial institutions.
In the case of the Gmail flaw, if you visited a rigged site while logged into your Gmail account, embedded JavaScript code on that site could dispatch an invisible request to Google asking it to send your contact list to the site. You wouldn't even need to have Gmail open in your browser: If you chose the convenient 'Remember me' log-in option, or if you used the Google Toolbar or some other browser plug-in, you would be logged in as far as your browser was concerned.
"The attack would be pretty much invisible," Grossman says. What's more, he notes, it's next to impossible to tell whether anyone actively exploited the hole during the relatively short interval between its public release and its fix.
Though the CSRF threat isn't trivial, you needn't completely distrust the Web yet. Banking and other financial sites will automatically log you out after a set period of inactivity. And attacks must be specially crafted for each site. An attack that worked on Google wouldn't work on Yahoo, for instance.
Another reason not to panic is that CSRF-type exploits are still in their very early stages, and Internet criminals have easier, more reliable ways to make a buck -- such as by infecting computers with Trojan horses or creating botnets. But just as malware has grown much more sophisticated, CSRF threats undoubtedly will, too.
The NoScript Firefox add-on can safeguard you against some CSRF threats by blocking JavaScript on unknown sites, but many attacks permutations will still work, unfortunately. Also, these forgeries don't depend on a particular browser, and will happily trick a vulnerable site by means of Firefox, Internet Explorer, or any other browser. In general, though, because the flaws exist in Web sites, the sites themselves will have to generate the fixes.
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Google and Wal-Mart diagnose $4 trillion health care market

http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/?p=1148

Can the world's largest search engine and the world's largest retailer solve the nation's health care problems?

The U.S. health care market is projected to be a $4 trillion one by 2015.

Google Vice President Adam Bosworth and Wal-Mart Vice Chairman John Menzer are personally invested in seeking to improve the health care delivery system with the use of information technology, while improving their companies' bottom lines.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the two top execs yesterday reinforced corporate commitments to digital solutions for enhancing the delivery of medical services.

Bosworth is reaching out to users for advice on the "hard problem" of using Google Search to find and evaluate health care information.

Isn’t it strange that you can find out a lot about a restaurant on the web or about a movie, but not about a doctor? In fact you usually don’t even know who to go to and just accept whoever your general practitioner recommends? You clearly don’t just eat at restaurants other restaurants recommend, even though you might take it into account. Now admittedly there is a difference here. When it comes to food, you know what you like and the worst that can happen is you don’t like it. But when it comes to your health you may not know what is best, and you can’t necessarily tell if we’re getting the best possible care. Still, here is a common situation: You’ve been diagnosed. Your primary care physician and you have discussed it and it is clear that you need a specialist and your doctor has referred you to one, but you’re wondering how you know who is the best out there for you. How do you know whether they cover your insurance? How do you find them? Today, often you just take your doctor’s referral.

Menzer is making a $1 million Wal-Mart commitment to create a University of Arkansas and Blue Cross Blue Shield research center "aimed at identifying and addressing gaps and roadblocks in the application and delivery of health information technology, and replicating proven applications that are working to benefit patients and providers":

The goal of the Center for Innovation in Health Care Logistics will be to put the right materials in the hands of doctors and nurses where and when they need them; It also aims to eliminate the threat of medical errors arising from wasteful and unreliable practices in health care supply networks.

The Center's work will help fill a large information gap in the health care system. "The best example of this need was Huricane Katrina. Medical records, entire family histories, were gone in an instant, and the entire region is still recovering from this massive loss of information."

The "always low-prices" Wal-Mart wants information technology-based systems to bring "visibilty and tracking to every level of health care procurement and distribution":

Experience shows that such transparency leads to significant cost savings by eliminating duplication and confusion, enhancing collaboration among participating organizations and avoiding mistakes that can lead to dangerous errors.

The "organize the world's information" Google wants individual, dedicated online databases to record and store personal data pertianing to "every single medical and health-related event" for effortless retrieval and sharing, as Bosworth evangelized last December, a Google Health URL.

What else do $144 billion market cap Google and $194 billion market cap Wal-Mart want to accomplish in the high-stakes, big money health care market?

Wal-Mart:

$4 generic prescription program in all of its U.S. pharmacies,
Dossia organization to provide framework for private electronic personal health records,
"Better Health Care Together" campaign for "four common sense principles for achieving a new American health care system by 2012."

Google:

We have tried to enlist the help of the health community to help us know which links contain medically reliable information, sift these reliable links so that they tend to show up relatively earlier in the search results, and then let you decide which groups in the health community you trust. If you go to Google and type in [Lipitor], for example, and then you click on the “For patients” link and look carefully, you’ll see that the search results often include at the bottom the word “Labeled By,” followed by words like NLM and HON. NLM stands for the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library, and HON stands for Health on the Net Foundation, an organization which is in the business of certifying web sites with health content that is reliable. These are organizations that have marked the part of the web that this link in the search results points to as medically reliable. It seems that we at Google may not have done a great job of making this clear enough. Unfortunately, many of you either don’t notice these words when you’re searching about health questions at Google or have no idea what they mean. Clearly, we can do better at making this kind of labeling noticeable.

Lipitor manufacurer Pfizer, and Lipitor resellers, however, have no problem being noticeable at Google.com.

Liptor official Web site: Number one AdWords position and number one SERP rank,
Lipitor retailers: Seven out of eight AdWords "Sponsored Links" slots.

How much is the pharmaceutical industry estimated to have spent in 2006 on consumer advertising? Over $5 billion.

The market for Electronic Health Records is also pegged at about $5 billion, by 2015, according to Kalorama Information.

Google's interest in the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) market is well-timed.

Bruce Carlson, associate publisher, Kalorama Information:

The best type of market is one with a guaranteed pool of new customers, and that describes the EMR market in the U.S. Budgeted IT spending by healthcare organizations in 2007 and 2008 will create a robust marketplace for both existing players in EMR and new entrants.

If most healthcare entities had already adopted an EMR system, it could be said that current market leaders should remain in their market share positions. But because there is only a 23% EMR adoption rate in the U.S., the current list of top companies may not reflect the list we will see in 2015. (as cited by Healthcare IT News)

Google and Wal-Mart are undoubtedly working their hardest to ensure they will make their respective marks in the multi trillion dollar U.S. health care market well before 2015.

ALSO: Google Health URL trumped by Steve Case? and Microsoft to battle Google in online healthcare and Google’s Ten Commandments

Prep Your PC for Vista

By Jamie Bsales

http://computershopper.com/howto/prep_your_pc_for_vista

Microsoft Windows Vista, the long-awaited successor to Windows XP, is finally here—but is your system ready for it? If you own an older PC, chances are it falls short of the hardware requirements you'll need to enjoy the new OS in all its glory. Fortunately, getting your system Vista-ready is a task you can undertake at home. In a few simple steps, we help you determine what components your PC needs and how to install them.

Step 1: Determine the Vista version you want
Vista certainly makes a strong case for itself. Aero, its slick new 3D interface, delivers translucent effects and smooth animations, as well as a more intuitive way to manage your open windows. Aero works only on PCs that have a powerful-enough 3D-graphics engine installed, however.
Vista's not just good looks. In terms of features, Microsoft has added a host of security, search, and performance enhancements in its latest Windows, as well as data-migration and -backup tools. (See www.microsoft.com/windowsvista for details.)
Of course, upgrading an operating system isn't a task to be undertaken lightly. You always face the risk that a legacy device or an aging (or custom) application won't work with the new OS. Before you begin, gauge whether the benefits of the upgrade outweigh the cost and potential pitfalls.
If you're sold on an upgrade, you'll need to determine which version of Vista is right for you. Vista Home Basic ($199, or $99.95 for those upgrading from a registered copy of Windows) delivers enhanced security and a data-migration assistant, as well as the new Instant Search feature, which lets you quickly find a file on your hard drive by entering a relevant keyword. You don't get the Aero interface with Vista Basic, but its hardware requirements are fairly lenient: an 800MHz or faster processor, at least 512MB of RAM, and DirectX 9-compatible graphics.
Vista Home Premium ($239, or $159 for the upgrade version) delivers the same benefits as Home Basic, plus the Aero interface and all the multimedia features formerly found only in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (photo, video, and music management; TV recording and playback; and the living-room-friendly, couch-side user interface). Also, you can more easily collaborate and share documents, using the new Windows Meeting Space feature. To run Vista Premium, you'll need a 1GHz or faster CPU, 1GB of RAM, a DirectX 9 GPU with at least 128MB of dedicated video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 2.0, a TV-tuner card (optional), a 40GB or bigger hard drive (with 15GB of available space), and a DVD-ROM drive.
The top of the line is Vista Ultimate ($399, or $259 for the upgrade), which adds data-backup and -encryption capabilities, as well as native remote-access features. It has the same hardware requirements as Vista Home Premium.

Step 2: Download the Upgrade Advisor
Microsoft makes it easy for users with Windows XP machines to determine exactly what new hardware their target PCs may need, thanks to its free Vista Upgrade Advisor tool. Download and install the tool, then launch the Advisor. It automatically scans your PC and generates a handy printable report that tells you which system, device, and program issues you need to address before you can upgrade to Vista.
On an older PC, for example, you'll likely need to add more RAM and a more powerful graphics card. (We'll address these upgrades in Steps 3 and 4.) If the Advisor recommends that you upgrade your PC's CPU and hard drive, too, it's time to rethink your plan. The cost of all those new components, plus the OS itself, is likely more than you'd pay for a whole new Vista-equipped PC.

Step 3: Install the recommended amount of RAM

Press each RAM module firmly into its slot, then snap up the plastic tabs to hold it in place.

If your PC lacks enough memory to support Vista, you'll need to add more RAM. Check your PC's documentation for the type of RAM your model of motherboard accepts. If you don't have the manual or it doesn't specify, don't worry: Most online and retail computer-parts makers have a database they can check to determine the right RAM for your model. Just be sure to have the exact manufacturer, model name, and model number of your PC handy. We recommend that you upgrade to at least 1GB of RAM for Vista. You may want to install the additional RAM as a pair of identical modules, instead of one big module—assuming your motherboard has the slots to accept the pair. Doing so can confer the small performance benefit of a dual-channel memory configuration.
To install the new RAM, first power down and unplug your machine. Never open the case with the power cord still attached, as juice could still be flowing inside the chassis, even if the power button is off. Also, be sure to touch the metal chassis frame before you work inside the case. With the power cord disconnected, the machine is no longer grounded, and static from your hands (called electrostatic discharge, or ESD) could damage internal components.
Locate the RAM slots on the motherboard, and flip down the plastic tabs that hold the module or modules in place. Handling a module only by its edges, press the new memory firmly into place (the module's edge will be keyed to match the slot) and flip up the tabs to lock it in.
If you need to install a new graphics card, too, don't button up the case just yet. But before carrying on with the graphics card, first reconnect your monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord, then boot the machine to check that the RAM is working. If the machine fails to boot, power down, unplug, and check that the module is seated properly. If all goes according to plan, you should be able to see the new RAM amount listed on Windows' System Properties pane. (Double-click the System icon in Control Panel.)

Step 4: Install the new graphics card

Slide the new graphics card into place, then screw down its bracket to fasten it securely.

Assuming you need more graphics horsepower to run Vista's Aero interface, installing a new graphics adapter is the next hurdle. First, determine which type of add-in card your motherboard will accept (AGP or the newer PCI Express, or, failing either of those, old-style regular PCI) by checking the documentation or online knowledge base. (If all else fails, you'll need to look at the internal slot on your motherboard, and match it to diagrams of graphics-card slots you can find online.)
To ensure your system's longevity, pick a recent midrange graphics card, such as the $130 EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GS we used. This will give you plenty of overhead not just for Vista, but also for moderate 3D gaming.
Follow the steps of powering down, unplugging, and protecting your machine from ESD, just like you did when installing the new RAM. Locate the open slot for the graphics card on your motherboard and remove the small metal strip at the rear of the PC to make way for the rear-facing connectors on the new card. Seat the card securely, and screw its bracket into place. Button up your machine, power it on, and install any drivers that came with your new card.

Step 5: Uninstall incompatible apps, install Vista
When you ran the Vista Upgrade Advisor, the utility generated a list of programs installed on your PC that have known incompatibilities with the new OS. You'll need to uninstall those programs (using the Add or Remove Programs utility in Control Panel) before installing the OS.
Once that's complete, your PC should be up to par, so pop in the upgrade disc, install Vista, and enjoy the new view.

35 Easy Fixes for Network Problems

Here's help for real-world hassles--from dead spots to security threats to streaming-media hiccups.

Becky Waring

Thursday, March 22, 2007 01:00 AM PDT

Illustration: Diego Aguirre

Networks are dandy when they hum along behind the scenes, but all too often they fail. When your printer goes AWOL or your Skype calls break up every time your spouse starts watching YouTube, it's time to get your geek on and learn what makes your network tick. Here are some tried-and-true strategies--and some new tricks--to help you make your network behave.

Nail the Basics

Hands down, the most common network problems are disappearing Internet connections, printers, and PCs.

Lost connections: Usually these can be solved by rebooting your broadband modem, network router, and/or computer. But if you have to do this repeatedly, your router and PC settings are likely culprits.

Start by extending your router's DHCP lease time (the amount of time the router reserves an IP address for a device on the network) to a period of at least a week. You can access this setting through your router's browser-based firmware.

If disconnects are affecting a laptop, check the power management setting for its network adapter. In Windows XP, go to the Device Manager's Network Adapters area, find your adapter, and select Properties. Under the Power Management tab, uncheck the box that turns off the adapter when power saving kicks in. Your battery may run down a little quicker, but you'll have a stable network connection.

Domain-name system (DNS) services are another possible factor that can contribute to lost connections. DNS servers are the PCs on which your ISP stores the databases that it uses to translate individual URLs (like www.pcworld.com) into their corresponding numerical IP addresses on the Internet. If you receive messages informing you that Web pages can't be found or that e-mail can't be retrieved, try using the DNS servers at OpenDNS.com in place of those at your ISP. Start by accessing the wide-area network (WAN) settings in your router's browser-based firmware; then change the IP addresses for DNS to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.222.220. OpenDNS is free, and it blocks known phishing sites.

Disappearing printers: If your shared USB printer seems to come and go with a mind of its own, make sure the computer it is attached to isn't hibernating. If possible, connect your printer to a desktop PC (as opposed to a notebook), and leave it on. (To cut back power consumption, allow the display--rather than the PC--to go into sleep mode.)

In Windows XP, also verify that 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks' is installed for all network adapters so that switching between wired and wireless networks doesn't kill printer sharing. In XP, go to Control Panel, Network Connections, and (for each network adapter) right-click the device and select Properties. If you don't see File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks in the window that appears, click the Install button to add it.

Photograph: Robert Cardin

Better yet, set up a print server so that you don't have to worry about working through a host PC. Some routers have built-in USB printer ports; stand-alone print servers plug into your router. If you use a multifunction device for printing, look for a print server that also supports scanning, such as D-Link's USB RangeBooster G Multifunction Print Server (list price $100).

Invisible PCs: In many cases, network file-sharing problems stem from improper workgroup and PC naming.

Make sure that each computer has a unique name; multiple PCs identified as 'Desktop' or 'Dell' can cause mixups. Don't use spaces in names (Windows ME and earlier Windows OSs don't support it), and don't create names of more than 15 characters. Also, confirm that all PCs use the same workgroup name. The default name in Windows XP Home is 'MSHome'; in older versions of Windows and in Windows Vista, it's 'Workgroup'. To change either the workgroup or the computer name in XP, click Start, Control Panel, System, and choose the Computer Name tab.

The Vista difference: Still having major unresolved sharing issues? It's time to consider upgrading to Windows Vista. The new operating system's Networking and Sharing Center lets you know which sharing features are enabled and makes configuring them easy. Vista's Link Layer Topology Discovery automatically detects network devices and allows you to see their locations on a Network Map.

Break through firewalls: Vista's firewall is smart enough to permit sharing within a workgroup. But if that's a problem with XP's firewall, try a free third-party utility. ZoneAlarm's Trusted Zone feature lets workgroup computers communicate.

Or sidestep XP's file and printer sharing complexities altogether by adopting a program such as Network Magic ($30 for three PCs, $40 for five, and $50 for eight). Like Windows Vista, Network Magic (one of our 100 best products of 2006) puts all sharing and networking functions in one place, and it simplifies sharing folders and printers. A special mode even protects shared folders when your laptop is connected at a Wi-Fi hotspot, a major security concern. A free version of Network Magic provides Internet connection repair and wireless network protection, but only the paid version supports printer and file sharing as well.

Print Across Networks and the Net

You brought your corporate notebook home, but now you find that you can't print on your home network--or over a VPN connection to a printer in your office. What to do? IP printing, which most newer networkable printers support, is your best bet. You'll need the printer's IP address (get it from your IT staff, or check with your printer vendor on how to find it--by printing a test page, for example). Then run the Add Printer wizard in XP's 'Printers and Faxes' window. Check Local Printer, and under 'Select a Printer Port', choose Create a New Port and Standard TCP/IP Port in the drop-down menus. Enter the printer's IP address, click Next, and you will initiate the usual printer installation routine, where you can pick a driver (either Windows' default driver or the vendor's driver, if you have it).

Beef Up Security

The only way to guarantee the security of your network is to barricade it from the outside world--no Web, no e-mail, nada. But you need not adopt NSA-appropriate tactics to keep your data reasonably safe.

Put up walls: The road to a secure home network begins with a hardware firewall. Most routers have one, but those built into some inexpensive routers rely on NAT (network address translation) alone rather than using SPI (stateful packet inspection) technology--a superior approach designed to ensure that your computers receive only data they have specifically requested. Be sure, however, to change your router's default password when you set it up, and periodically thereafter.

Establish a second line of defense at each computer by turning on automatic Windows Updates, and installing antivirus, antispyware, and personal firewall software. Either buy a security suite (Symantec and McAfee offer ones that cost about $70 each) or use individual best-of-breed utilities like Webroot Spy Sweeper ($30), BitDefender antivirus ($30), and ZoneAlarm firewall software from Check Point (in its basic form, ZoneAlarm is free).

Whichever approach you take, don't rely on Windows XP's Windows Firewall for your protection, because it can filter incoming data only. ZoneAlarm and other third-party firewalls are bidirectional, protecting both incoming and outgoing information. Windows Vista's firewall is bidirectional, too, but you have to configure outgoing filtering yourself in a screen that you reach by typing wf.msc at a command prompt (for directions on how to proceed, see "Windows Vista Includes Two Firewalls?" from the Ask Dave Taylor Tech Support Blog). Vista also comes with Windows Defender antispyware, but not antivirus software.

Keep things simple by using the same utilities on all your PCs (look for economical "family packs"). Then install them while signed in on an administrator account, or--if appropriate--work with the parental controls found in many packages (and in Windows Vista). Keep your password secret: Remember, your network is only as secure as its weakest link.

Cover the airwaves: Firewalls and security suites are futile against packet sniffers that capture wireless traffic on a given frequency. Use the strongest encryption standard your Wi-Fi equipment supports: From strongest to weakest, the options are WPA2, WPA, and WEP.

Intruders armed with readily available software can break into WEP in minutes, rendering it virtually worthless except as a method to prevent bandwidth hogging by your neighbors. We recommend that you invest in new adapters if necessary to ensure that you can make the switch to WPA. To provide both your old and your new adapters with maximum security, choose a router that offers a simultaneous WPA+WPA2 mode.

Regardless of anything you may have heard to the contrary, neither using MAC (Media Access Control, a unique hardware identifier) address filtering nor turning off SSID (service set identifier--basically your Wi-Fi network's name) broadcasting is an effective security measure. Both are easier to bypass than WEP, and they can create connection and administration hassles.

MAC address filtering, for example, requires you to enter a device's MAC address into your router's firmware to authorize it to connect to your network. But anyone listening in can spoof your authorized MAC addresses on their own equipment. Similarly, sniffers can detect even nonbroadcast SSIDs, so turning off broadcasting only makes it harder for legitimate users to connect to your network.

Safe travels: Open hotspots are notorious sources of infection. For true security on public networks, use a virtual private network to encrypt all Internet traffic between your computer and an intermediate server. Companies often run their own VPN servers for employees; or you can sign up for a VPN service such as WiTopia PersonalVPN ($40 per year) or JiWire Hotspot Helper ($25 per year). (Full disclosure: PCWorld.com relies on JiWire to power its HotSpot Finder.)

Next, in your Wi-Fi settings, turn off ad hoc (computer-to-computer) networking and prevent automatic connections to nonpreferred networks. In XP, you can change both of these settings by clicking the Wi-Fi icon in the system tray and selecting Change advanced settings. Under the Wireless Networks tab, click Advanced, followed by Access point (infrastructure) networks only. Also, uncheck Automatically connect to non-preferred networks.

In Windows Vista, turn off the Vista Network Discovery feature (which allows other computers to see you on a network) when you're at hotspots. Vista will switch it off automatically if you designate a connection as 'Public', but alternatively you can disable it manually in the 'View Network Status and Tasks' control panel.

Add a Second Network for Safety

Illustration: Diego Aguirre

If your kids open lots of ports on your router for games and video chats, or if you want to run a home Web server or public Wi-Fi network, consider setting up a second router to isolate these risky activities from the rest of your network. In a nutshell, you plug one router into the other, and assign each a different starting IP address (such as 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1). Then you attach your servers--or the at-risk PCs--to the router that's directly connected to your broadband modem, and all your other computers to the second router. Internet traffic to and from the unsafe area will not reach your secure subnetwork at all.

Speed Up Transfers

If your Wi-Fi downloads take forever, network backups bog you down, or your Slingbox won't sling, give these tips a try.

Use wires whenever possible: A wired network (ideally one based on wired ethernet) is inherently more reliable and usually much faster than the open airwaves. There's generally no reason for you to locate a network storage drive at a distance from your router, so instead plug it in to an available ethernet port. The same goes for a network printer.

Get gigabit: Most recent PCs have built-in gigabit ethernet, which means that they can transfer data at a whopping 1000 mbps--but only if your router also possesses a gigabit switch. For network backups, the extra throughput can mean the difference between an all-night operation, and one that completes itself in a fairly short amount of time. Wi-Fi gigabit routers run about $150.

Buy matching Wi-Fi gear: To achieve the top speeds promised by the latest Wi-Fi standard, draft-802.11n, every wireless device on your network must have a draft-n adapter (price: about $100 each). Be sure to update the firmware on any draft-802.11n devices regularly, as vendors are now bringing the first products into compliance with the second draft of the standard, and this should help with interoperability.

Change the channel: The biggest obstacle to good Wi-Fi reception is no longer distance (since most MIMO and draft-n routers provide whole-house coverage), but interference resulting from nearby networks: In any urban area, you'll probably see a long list of available networks. And because the 2.4-GHz band that 802.11b, g, and most new n gear operates within has only three nonoverlapping channels, networks neighboring yours are likely to degrade your throughput. In fact, the latest 802.11n draft effectively mandates a 50 percent reduction in performance when your network is in the presence of other active Wi-Fi networks.

To minimize interference, install and run a utility such as the free NetStumbler to determine the signal strength and channel of each available network; then set your router to the channel that is farthest from those of the strongest nearby networks. (A router's automatic channel selection feature does this for you.)

Photograph: Robert Cardin

In addition, you might consider getting a dual-band draft-n router, such as the Buffalo Nfiniti Dual Band Router ($299), which supports draft-n traffic on both 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands. This lets you keep older 802.11b/g devices on the relatively crowded 2.4-GHz band, while using the uncluttered 5-GHz band (consisting of some 20 non-overlapping channels) for your high-bandwidth apps such as video streaming, as new 5-GHz draft-n products arrive.

Get Media-Ready

When it comes to smooth video playback and voice-over-IP phone calls, speed alone isn't always enough.

Try powerline: If you can't install ethernet, consider adopting powerline (rather than Wi-Fi) gear. Several powerline technologies support near-ethernet speeds; in our tests with streaming high-definition video, HomePlug AV was the least susceptible to interference from other electrical devices.

Products such as Linksys's PowerLine AV Ethernet Kit ($180) move data over your home's electrical wiring. Adapters plug into standard wall outlets; to set up the network, begin by connecting one adapter to an available ethernet port on your router. Then add other devices by running cables from their ethernet ports to other plugged-in adapters. You will not have to worry about overloading your wireless network with high-definition video streams, and performance will be far more reliable than on a wireless network, especially in a large home.

Upgrade your Wi-Fi: If you still want to use wireless for streaming media, make sure that you get draft-802.11n gear: Not only is it fast, but it has so-called quality-of-service (QoS) technology that prioritizes media streams, VoIP phone calls, online game play, and other particularly time-sensitive applications. And don't forget to upgrade your firmware to Draft 2.0 of the standard; practically all of the biggest Wi-Fi vendors are expected to be posting free firmware upgrades to Draft 2.0 by the time you see this.

Photograph: Robert Cardin

Invest in a gaming router: Does World of Warcraft rule your house? For advanced gaming, a specialized router helps deliver maximum performance for both Internet and local multiplayer game play; this is especially important if several users access the network in your household simultaneously. Gaming routers have QoS prioritization, are tuned to reduce network latency, and usually have faster processors, all of which increase the responsiveness of PCs on the network. Linksys's Wireless-N Gigabit Gaming Router ($200) supports draft-802.11n Wi-Fi, gigabit ethernet, and game tuning.

Make Better Backups

Too often, people plan to use a network drive for regular hard disk backups, but never actually do so. Maybe the network share isn't mounted (visible to your backup program) when backup time rolls around (add it to My Network Places to avoid this situation). Or the system to be backed up is turned off, asleep, or on the road. Or the backup is interrupted. Here's how to increase your odds of success.

Choose network drives carefully: Shared network storage drives come in two basic types: regular external USB drives designed to attach either directly to the USB storage port included on some routers or via an ethernet adapter such as D-Link's $80 Express EtherNetwork DNS-120 Network Storage Adapter; and network-attached storage (NAS) drives that have built-in ethernet.

If you go with a USB drive, you can usually detach it from your router and plug it into a PC (say, at another location) if you like. USB drives tend to be easier to set up, and you may use an old USB hard drive you already have as your storage device.

True network drives, in contrast, have their own processor and OS, and can be attached only to your network. They generally have many more features, and they normally allow setup of private user accounts ("shares") as well as public areas of universal access. The models topping our Network-Attached Storage Devices chart are the Infrant ReadyNAS NV (about $900) and the Maxtor Shared Storage II (about $750).

For best security and performance, use a NAS drive that has gigabit ethernet (buy a gigabit router if you don't have one) and RAID 1 or 5 redundancy. Don't risk losing a 500GB music collection stored on a NAS drive without any backup; the best way to maintain a copy of your NAS drive is to mirror it using a RAID array.

Whichever type of drive you choose, make sure that it's large enough to accommodate future growth. Backups often fail because the backup drive is full. We recommend setting aside 1.5 to 2 times the storage capacity of your current network for your backup drive; double that if you intend to mirror your network drive.

Perform incremental backups: By copying only files that have changed since the most recent previous backup, you'll vastly reduce the load on your network, and the length of time it takes to do a backup. Cobian Backup (free) can perform full or incremental backups with or without compression, and can encrypt your data for better security on shared network drives.

Keep your PC awake: The need to ensure that your PC is up and running at backup time may seem obvious, but offline computers are the most common cause of failed backups. Don't turn off your computer at night--just let it hibernate. And make sure that your backup software can wake up your computer. If it can't, use XP's Scheduled Tasks wizard (under Programs, Accessories, System Tools) to wake it up at backup time; for more on how to set this up, see "Schedule Your System to Start Automatically."

Multiplatform Network Backups

If you have several PCs running different operating systems that you plan to back up on one network drive, you may run into a problem with file names that work fine on one system but are illegal on another. If you truncate or change the names when you back up the files, the backups won't be useful. So instead of using USB-attached storage devices, which usually can be formatted only as Windows drives, purchase a NAS drive that offers specific support for each platform you use; afterward you can designate shares as appropriate (for instance, Windows or Mac).

Add a Mac

Okay, you've networked your Windows PCs. But now a new Mac is in the family. How will it fit in? Will it work with your printer? Will you be able to share files with it the way you can with your PCs?

In most cases the Mac OS X operating system provides everything you need to connect your Mac to your Windows network and share files and printers. You can plug your new Mac into your wired network or access your wireless router, just as you would with a new PC, by selecting your SSID from a list of available Wi-Fi nets and then entering your wireless encryption key. All recent Macs support WEP, WPA, and WPA2.

In order to share files and printers, the Mac cleverly assumes the guise of a PC. It does so by implementing the SMB/CIFS Windows file-sharing standard and using Windows workgroup naming. The default workgroup name for any Mac is Workgroup; however, you can change this name to MSHOME, for example, by running the Mac's Directory Access utility, which also supports the Windows Active Directory (used by corporate servers).

Next, turn on 'Windows Sharing' in the Mac's Sharing Preference Pane and enable each of the user accounts that you'd like to be able to share. The new Mac should appear as a member of your workgroup when you browse your network.

After selecting it and entering your user name and password, you'll be able to navigate the Mac drive and copy or upload files by dragging and dropping. This works in both XP and Vista.

Similarly, you can print from your Mac to shared Windows printers via SMB, though the setup process is not obvious. In the Mac's Printer Setup Utility, click Add. If your Windows printer does not show up in the resulting list of available printers, choose the More Printers button, which brings up the Printer Browser.

Now select Windows Printing and Network Neighborhood from the drop-down menus. Your local workgroup will appear in the window; when you select it, you'll see a list of shared printers to choose from. Thereafter, the Windows printer will appear in the Mac's Print dialog box.

If all of this sounds like too much of a hassle, consider buying Pure Networks' Network Magic for Mac ($30 for three Macs, $40 for five, $50 for eight). A preview version is available for download. It promises to do for the Macs on your network what its Windows counterpart does for PCs.

Online Resources for Networking Problems

Are you looking for help with a networking problem? Chances are you'll find the advice or instructions you need at one of these sites.

Practically Networked: The leading home and small-business networking site, with tips and tutorials on everything from setting up file sharing to using dynamic DNS services. The troubleshooting guides are invaluable, and an active peer-help forum is another great resource.

SmallNetBuilder: A bit more techie than Practically Networked, with articles dedicated to such specialized topics as how to set up LAN parties and how to crack WEP encryption. You will also find very good FAQs and tutorials on general networking issues.

Wi-Fi Planet: The place to go for truly deep wireless tutorials and testing. Don't miss the site's articles discussing SSID spoofing and the use of VPNs at public hotspots. Has an active discussion area, too.

CERT Home Network Security: A comprehensive and unbiased guide to home network security, maintained by the Carnegie Mellon-based Computer Emergency Response Team, a federally funded Internet security research and development center. The guide also serves as a fantastic primer on networking terms and technology. It's required reading for the network administrator in your home.

SecurityNow: Great network security resource, with transcripts of Steve Gibson's and Leo Laporte's weekly SecurityNow podcasts, which translate complex security issues into plain language for a broad spectrum of visitors.

Shields Up: Also from Steve Gibson, a very popular free Internet security test site. Go here to find out about holes (such as open ports) in your network that potential hackers could exploit, as well as useful tips on how to close them.

Port Forward: Need help removing roadblocks obstructing desirable traffic to and from your network? At this site you can examine a comprehensive list of ports used by Internet games, streaming video, and other applications, with port-forwarding setup guides for most popular routers.

DynDNS: Most ISPs assign IP addresses dynamically, meaning that yours is always changing. But if you need a fixed IP address for your Web server, Webcam, or media streamer, DynDNS's Dynamic DNS service will provide it--and will do so free of charge for home users.

MacWindows: Your best resource for cross-platform problem solving, including details on how to connect Macs to Windows servers and vice versa.

Security Checklist

1. Use a hardware router, even if you have only one computer.
2. Change your router's default password to ensure that intruders can't fiddle with your settings.
3. Use a bidirectional personal firewall, such as ZoneAlarm.
4. Turn on automatic updates to keep your Windows OS secure.
5. Use both antivirus and antispyware utilities, and make sure that you keep them up-to-date.
6. Configure file sharing carefully if you're sure you need it--and if you don't need it, turn it off.
7. Use the strongest Wi-Fi encryption scheme that all of your wireless equipment supports.
8. Turn off ad-hoc Wi-Fi networking and automatic connections to networks you're unfamiliar with.
9. Install a second router to isolate at-risk PCs on your network (for details, see "Add a Second Network for Safety").
10. Use a VPN when traveling, to avoid picking up a virus that could otherwise spread to other PCs on your network when you get home.

For more tips on secure computing, visit the Spyware & Security Info Center at PCWorld.com.

Becky Waring is a Berkeley, California-based freelance writer specializing in wireless technology and digital media.

Making The VoIP Call

Entering the IP telephony market is just the first step -- next comes choosing the solutions path to follow

 By Jennifer Hagendorf Follett & Marc Spiwak, CRN Tech
12:00 AM EDT Mon. Mar. 26, 2007
From the March 26, 2007 issue of CRN Tech

Two years ago, Barry Goldstein found himself at the foot of a path he could not refuse to take. It was time for Goldstein, the president and CEO of CT Networks, a Hauppauge, N.Y., solution provider, to move into the VoIP market.

The 23-year-old company had its roots in traditional telephony, but Goldstein began to see that the road CT Networks was traveling was coming to an end. "We come from the legacy PBX world: It's a dead model. It's gone. It's history," Goldstein said. "I started to see opportunities falling away to hosted service providers. That was my first clue that this game was going to be about bandwidth."

That's when Goldstein made the decision to invest in the VoIP and data integration expertise his company would need to take the new path toward IP communications. That's also when a new set of decisions presented themselves: Once a solution provider like CT Networks decides to move toward VoIP, it sees quickly that the path actually diverges into three, with an array of potential vendor partners representing each one.

An IP-PBX can be a dedicated piece of equipment from vendors such as Avaya or Cisco Systems. Solution providers can also integrate their own system using software such as the Asterisk open-source IP-PBX platform. Or they can take the hosted approach, offering services from companies such as 8x8, Covad Communications Group or M5 Networks.

Each path has its own benefits and detriments, which means solution providers need to choose based on their business models, the level of investment they wish to make and the types of customers they want to go after. Goldstein took a blended approach: He built an IP telephony practice on partnerships with Cisco, Inter-Tel and NEC and added newer players in the hosted VoIP space such as Covad and M5 to target smaller customers.

The journey, while necessary, wasn't easy. "It's been incredibly painful for us," Goldstein said. "To become authorized by Cisco to get IP telephony reseller status—we're Premier-certified in IP communications—you have to have many Microsoft engineers, many Cisco engineers, many sales experts, parts experts and IP voice experts."

The investment in new salaries alone in the first year of CT Networks' transformation totaled $400,000 to $500,000, part of a year-one investment Goldstein puts at close to $1 million. It's a move that seems to be paying off. CT Networks' IP communications practice has reached about $20 million in product and services sales. "We're just beginning to reap the benefits now," he said. "It's just starting now that we are winning the big deals."

Like CT Networks, D&D Consulting, a 15-year-old networking and security integrator in Albany, N.Y., also saw the move toward VoIP as a matter of survival. "To stay competitive in the networking space, you have to get into VoIP. Otherwise, you're going to go out of business," said Chris Labatt-Simon, president and CEO of D&D. "The choice was either do it or get left behind in networking, which is a major piece of our business."

It took three months of soul-searching to determine what path and what vendors were best for D&D, a process that included looking at the solution provider's current capabilities to determine what holes needed to be filled and whether potential vendor partners would be able to fill them, Labatt-Simon said.

D&D's path to VoIP now lies with a single partner—Avaya—largely because of its service and support capabilities, Labatt-Simon said. The company expects to begin selling IP communications solutions within the next few months.

What solution providers like Goldstein and Labatt-Simon illustrate is the importance of up-front research and planning. The investment in both money and personnel can be substantial, profits are not likely to come immediately and the right vendor partner can help make or break a difficult transition.

Keeping It In-House
By far, the majority of solution providers building IP communications solutions today are doing so with vendors whose product lines include dedicated IP-PBX boxes. In many cases these vendors carry recognizable names, offer full-bodied channel programs and have broad product lines that include routers, switches, security, applications and other building blocks of IP communications solutions.

The use of VoIP can, in some cases, reduce long-distance charges for companies, particularly if they are connecting multiple sites. But solution providers say the real benefits of premise-based solutions come from productivity gains achieved by deploying unified messaging, mobility and video applications.

"One of the key lessons we learned is that IP telephony is not necessarily going to save money for the customer," Labatt-Simon said. "Most organizations that implement it spend more on it, so cost-savings is not an end result of implementing VoIP. What it can do, however, is increase the quality of customer service and increase productivity throughout the organization."

In-house IP-PBXes can be found to target a wide range of customers, from SMB specialist Allworx's 6x platform, which supports up to 30 users, to high-end systems from players such as 3Com that support tens of thousands of users. A modern IP phone system installation for a business of 50 users typically costs upward of $40,000 for the IP-PBX and the phones and $450 a month for a T1 line.

Premise-based solutions also offer flexibility. Solution providers can choose pure VoIP offerings from players such as 3Com or Cisco or they can opt for a hybrid system from the likes of Avaya, Nortel Networks or Allworx.

Allworx's 6x hybrid system lets users migrate at their own pace, said Allworx CEO George Daddis. While analog lines support fax machines and legacy phones, the system also delivers VoIP functionality and can be used with any Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) 2.0 phone at the same price point as an old analog key system. "The 6x is our key system killer," Daddis said.

In addition to deciding whether to go with a pure-play or hybrid system, solution providers need to consider other factors. SIP represents the future of VoIP. It is built on top of the standard IP stack using the UDP/IP standard, and most IP-PBXes and the phones that go with them support SIP. These systems typically use an Open Architecture Interface, making it easy for software developers to write applications.

Simple SIP phones typically have simple text display and navigation buttons. But proprietary IP-PBX systems offer much greater functionality. Cisco offers advanced IP phones that use XML to call Web pages from the IP-PBX to the phone screen for configuration, customization and added functionality.

Such phones with color LCD screens can be programmed to display things such as stock quotes, company logos and an array of services. In hotels, a phone's display can be customized for returning customers, and maids can access a menu to set a room's status to ready. In the education market, teachers can check attendance records. And in hospitals, doctors can check patient records without having to carry any other devices.

Using advanced IP phones is like having a PC in every room. The phones can also be programmed for use as database connections, to set up conferences from lists of users, bring up pictures and business cards of different employees and more. Customizing these systems is far too complicated for the average user, which creates opportunities for solution providers.

Doors Open To Open Source
Solution providers that want to integrate their own PC-based systems can turn to open-source VoIP software such as Pingtel SIPxchange and Asterisk. Asterisk solutions offer high-end features at a lower cost than offerings from rival vendors, said Chad Agate, co-founder and CEO of NeoPhonetics, a solution provider in Tinley Park, Ill., that integrates a VoIP solution based on the Asterisk platform.

Asterisk may be the most popular option. Digium, the Huntsville, Ala.-based creator and primary developer of Asterisk, claims the software has an installed base of more than a half-million users. More than 500 people have contributed to the current version, and there are plenty of online resources and books that cover it in detail. It is most commonly deployed on Linux but can be installed on Microsoft Windows.

"Open source is advanced enough to be accepted in Fortune 500 companies, and you don't have to be a Linux guru to get it going," said Jim Webster, Digium director of software technologies.

Most any standard PC makes a fine Asterisk platform for just a couple of calls. For a system that will support 100 users, a typical server running at 2GHz or 3GHz with 1 Gbyte of RAM is sufficient. Other pieces may be required, such as interface cards for analog phones and T1 lines and transcoding cards to offload and increase the number of calls the IP-PBX will support.

Digium sells all the hardware a solution provider will need to build a fully functional PBX. Digium also sells the Asterisk Business Version, which costs $995 and includes warranty, support, maintenance upgrades, help with bug resolution and access to custom development support. The package supports 40 simultaneous calls, which should be enough for 160 users. Upgrade licenses for an additional 40 simultaneous calls cost $695. A single Asterisk server can support a maximum of 240 simultaneous calls, and software is available that allows multiple Asterisk servers to be clustered together.

Digium also offers a developer kit consisting of a small appliance with an embedded processor and flash-based memory. There are no hard drives or fans, so the appliance is completely quiet. It supports up to eight analog lines or it can be set up as IP only. The kit costs $2,195 to $3,995 depending on the level of training a partner requires. The appliance is intended to encourage VARs to build applications for Asterisk.

But the company is also planning to launch an appliance for end users that should help ease deployments. "There is a whole group of resellers who love to add value through their Linux expertise and integration expertise and who are willing to do that level of integration. That market is growing," said Steve Harvey, vice president of worldwide sales at Digium. "But most customers don't want to mess around to get their hands that dirty to make a phone system work."

Some solution providers, like CT Networks, still have their doubts about whether open-source telephony solutions are stout enough for enterprise deployments. "The problem is there's so much legacy programming and the PBX gets so complicated with T1 circuitry and functionality that goes to five-nines reliability," Goldstein said. "Open-source has a long way to come before it's a candidate for enterprise environments."

Hosted VoIP Solutions
The easiest option is to go with a hosted service. And for some customers, solution providers find it just makes more sense to use a hosted service from vendors such as 8x8, Covad or M5 rather than installing premise-based systems, particularly for small clients. Like Centrex services in the legacy phone world, hosted IP voice systems are ones in which the routing equipment is located remotely. In the case of newer services, the connections in and out of a building are IP-based.

"Once they look at the benefits and the costs annually, in most cases, it's a no-brainer," said Adam Eiseman, CEO of Lloyd Group, a New York-based solution provider that partners with M5.

Hosted VoIP services are useful when parts of a company are situated in dispersed locations with each one having only four or five phones. It would be impractical to install an expensive phone system in every location. Instead, a cable modem or DSL connection, along with a bunch of IP phones, are all that's needed. The hosted service then provides all the functionality such as voice mail, call forwarding and transfers, and even when lines are located in different parts of the country, it is completely transparent to callers.

Customer benefits from a hosted system include easier mobility and survivability in the event of disaster because none of the important phone equipment, save for the phones themselves, is located on premises. It also makes it more economical to set up temporary phone systems. Another benefit is that there are little or no startup costs.

Solution providers stand to gain a similar benefit. Since there is little on-site equipment and the service provider is responsible for quality, some VARs have found that offering hosted VoIP services is the fastest way to build a profitable IP telephony practice. Such partnerships typically require little up-front training and offer recurring revenue streams.

"It allows you to get into it and almost profit from day one," Eiseman said. "We also sell Cisco phones and infrastructure [to support the service] at a comfortable margin."

Another key benefit to both partners and their customers is that they often get more attention from the smaller hosted VoIP providers. "You're getting rid of Verizon. You no longer have to deal with them,"said Benjamin Irvine, CEO of Octopus Networking, another M5 partner in New York. "You can now have a smaller customer-focused group that's focused just on you."

According to David Immethun, senior director of sales at 8x8, more than 6,000 businesses are now using the Packet8 Virtual Office service, and hundreds of new customers are joining each month. "Hosted is better for SMBs because the TCO is easiest to calculate, compare and substantiate," Immethun said. "You don't have to purchase any expensive equipment. All you need is broadband."

The Packet8 Virtual Office service, for example, costs $40 per user, per month for unlimited calls throughout the U.S. and Canada. Another package costs $20 per user, per month for 250 minutes with unlimited inbound calls. The phones cost $100 each, or they can be rented for $10 each per month, thus eliminating any up-front costs. Solution providers that want to set customers up with the Packet8 Virtual Office service get an inside sales rep, single payouts and residuals. According to Immethun, they can earn up to $10,000 for signing up a 100-user site.

A hosted service breaks geography limitations, as virtual lines can be set up anywhere. Each extension gets its own number, and additions, moves and services are all included. New features are added for free as they become available as customers have no IP-PBX to upgrade.

Getting the Packet8 phones set up is easy. Existing Ethernet wiring and routers can usually be used. A QoS router is recommended, but 95 percent of 8x8's customers don't have a QoS router. Old hubs often have to go, as they are known to cause packet collisions. The Packet8 phones plug into an Ethernet port, and PCs and other equipment can plug into the two Ethernet extension ports on the back of the phones.

While some partners said they have customers with up to 350 users happily existing with hosted VoIP services, others say they prefer to limit rollouts to much smaller firms. "If you've got 12 phones in three buildings throughout a metropolitan area, hosted may work for you," Goldstein said. But once users get above 25 phones, he said, it makes sense to own an IP-PBX.

Some solution providers shun the hosted VoIP path entirely because they don't like the loss of control. "We have a philosophy here that we like to put the success of D&D in the hands of D&D," Labatt-Simon said.

All Paths Lead To IP Telephony
Regardless of the path they take, many solution providers are in agreement that IP communications is the way of the future, and that building a VoIP practice is essential to their survival.

"You won't exist in three to five years if you don't build your focus on routers, switches and IP telephony," Goldstein said. "Your business will be declining, declining. I see it with my peers. They're moving into smaller offices."

For Goldstein and solution providers like him, it's the path toward IP communications that has made all the difference.

The Facts Of Business
Service Revenue
Solution providers on average report receiving 60/40 split on service-to-
product revenue from IP telephony engagements.

Average Deal Size
The median deal size on IP telephony deployments is about $20,000, but the average is $187,000, bolstered by large deal sizes ranging up to $3 million.

Sales Cycle
Nearly half of the respondents report that the typical sales cycle for IP telephony solutions is less than three months.

Recurring Revenue
Most IT telephony solution providers receive some recurring revenue, but nearly one-third get less than one-fourth the value of initial engagement in the fist year. Another two-thirds get from 25 cents to $50 of recurring revenue for every dollar of deployment revenue.
BASE: 56 SOLUTION PROVIDERS OFFERING IP TELEPHONY
SOURCE: CRN MONTHLY SOLUTION PROVIDER SURVEY, JANUARY 2007

IP Telephony Adoption Curve
Solution providers are of like mind when it comes to forecasting a steep adoption curve for IP telephony. A sizable 62 percent place it in the "early majority" phase, when a mass market should open up, while only 7 percent put it in a "late majority" phase.

Making Plans
The number of solution providers delivering IP telephony solutions should grow strongly. Nearly 27 percent of respondents currently sell IP telephony solutions and services, while another 24 percent are planning or considering doing so. Another 40 percent have no interest.

For those of you who have a wireless network at home or at work I thought this article would be helpful information.

http://computershopper.com/feature/200704_ten_fast_fixes_for_wi-fi_problems

Ten Fast Fixes for Wi-Fi Problems

By Rik Fairlie

1. I cannot connect to my router. How do I resolve this?
This is a wide-open problem with an almost limitless range of causes and solutions, but here are several actions that might do the trick. First, make sure your router is configured for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). If it is, try disabling and re-enabling the DHCP function. If that doesn't work, disable wireless security and see if you get a connection; sometimes a mismatched Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key can drop the IP address. You should also check for electrical interference from competing devices such as cordless phones, baby monitors, alarm systems, and microwave ovens. Disable all suspect devices, then recheck your Wi-Fi connection. If all else fails, reboot the router and all computers on your network.

2. What steps should I take to secure my Wi-Fi network?
Routers typically offer at least two common forms of security: WEP, and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption. Both are easy to enable, although you'll get maximum protection from WPA. To activate security, go to your router's browser-based administration tool (the default address for most routers is http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.1) and look for the wireless-security area. WPA requires you to enter a simple security phrase (eight to 63 characters), or, with some routers, a more secure (but much harder to remember) 64-digit key. Similarly, WEP demands that you choose from 64-bit or 128-bit encryption, and enter an alphanumeric hex phrase, with some routers giving you the option to enter a simpler ASCII phrase. In addition to enabling wireless security, you can also disable the broadcasting of the Service Set Identifier (SSID, or network name). Doing so can make the network more difficult for hackers to see. Also, make sure to enable the router's hardware firewall (more on that later), and change the router's default password. And do not enable file sharing, unless you really use it. This will safeguard your personal files from interlopers.

3. How do I open ports on my router?
Certain functions and applications—personal Web servers, IP Webcams, home FTP servers, and online games—require that you open ports on your router to allow outside requests to be sent to an internal computer on a home network. This procedure, called port forwarding, is pretty straightforward. First, you'll need to find out which ports you need to open for your particular application or service. Then, you'll open those ports on the router. All models vary slightly, but the process is similar. Open your router's configuration tool, and find a tab labeled Port Forwarding. Enter the service or software name, then type the Start Port and End Port numbers. If you're opening one port, enter the same number in both fields. Select TCP as the protocol, then click OK. Check your router's Web site for instructions for your specific brand or take a look at Port Forward, for help.

4. How do I extend the range of my wireless signal?
Improving a wireless signal is an inexact science that's part voodoo, part trial and error. No two homes are alike, and no two solutions will work for everyone, but here are some common guidelines. First, position your antenna on a high perch clear of obstructions. (The wireless signal radiates down.) Keep in mind that certain things will interfere with the signal: objects with high water content, metal, and dense building materials such as brick, stucco, and concrete. So avoid blocks of liquid (fish tanks and water coolers), and metal pipes and construction.
If antenna positioning doesn't help, you can get an extender (or "repeater"), such as the Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G, available for around $90. Devices like this will boost your range from 50 to 75 feet, but they can be tricky because they require setup and configuration. A somewhat easier (if visually less elegant) approach is Wireless Garden's Super Cantenna. This $39.95 tripod-mounted, high-gain antenna connects to your router and can be pointed at a specific area to amplify the signal. It's easy to set up, but it ain't pretty.

5. How do I automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network without having to manually connect the first time?
If you just want to connect fast to any available network, you can set your notebook to do so automatically. Go to Control Panel > Network Connections and right-click your current wireless network. Then click Properties > Wireless Networks > Advanced. Make sure the radio button next to "Any available network (access point preferred)" is on, then check the box "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks."

6. Which wireless channel should I use?
Wireless 802.11b and 802.11g routers have 11 channels in the United States (in Europe, 13), and most routers come set to channel 6 as the default. If you experience interference—from a neighbor's router, for instance—you can change your channel to solve the problem. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are non-overlapping channels; other channels overlap a bit. So if your neighbor's network uses channel 6, change your router to 1 or 11. You'll typically find channel settings on the router's basic wireless-settings page. Just click the drop-down menu and select an alternate channel, then save the settings.

7. How do I share files on a wireless network?
First, you'll need to set up a workgroup and make sure that all PCs are assigned to the same workgroup. Next, enable file sharing in Windows. First, right-click on the folder you want to share, choose Sharing and Security from the right-click context menu, then click the Sharing tab. Put checks in the boxes labeled "Share this folder on a network" and "Allow network users to change my files" to enable others to modify the documents. Finally, click OK.

8. Should I allow other people to access my Wi-Fi service? What are the dangers?
Some users see no harm in sharing the Wi-Fi love, giving neighbors and even total strangers free access to the Internet. Others maintain that piggybacking can open their networks to potential danger. The decision is yours, but if you choose not to encrypt, make sure to disable file sharing. Assuming you have your hardware firewall turned on, the worst that probably will happen is that your throughput will drop if your piggybacking neighbors crank up BitTorrent every evening. If you want to determine whether others are using your unsecured network, most routers have a page that lists all the wireless clients currently connected.
Most people, however, are not comfortable with the idea of allowing just anyone to use their wireless service. In theory, the practice can make your network vulnerable to hackers, since anyone who uses your wireless signal is on your home network. Malevolent users, for instance, could release nasty viruses or hijack your PC. That's not terribly likely, but you should avoid the possibility by using WPA to protect yourself and keep others off your network.

9. Should I worry about packet sniffers grabbing my information when I browse the Web at public hot spots?
Yes, you should at least consider this possibility, although whether you do anything about it depends on the sensitivity of your data and your level of paranoia. Anyone can install packet-sniffing software that will enable him or her to eavesdrop on what you do at a public hot spot. These snoops can read your e-mails and see what Web sites you visit, but they will not have access to the files on your laptop, unless you have file sharing enabled. Also, they cannot see any messages or Web pages sent over the secure server connections typically used by banks and e-commerce sites. (Look for https:// in the URL.)
If you use a VPN to access your corporate network, you can use it at hot spots to encrypt all transmissions and shield them from packet sniffers. If you don't have a corporate VPN but frequently use public hot spots, you might consider a consumer VPN service such as the PersonalVPN from Witopia ($39.99 per year, www.witopia.net) or BlowFish from HotSpotVPN ($10.88 to $13.88 per month, www.hotspotvpn.com). These employ powerful 128-bit encryption to protect your data as it is transmitted.

10. What is a hardware firewall? If my router has one, do I need to run the Windows firewall or other third-party firewall software?
Most wireless routers have a hardware firewall that safeguards the network by providing both incoming and outgoing protection. A hardware firewall will include network address translation (NAT) capabilities that make your PC invisible to anyone trying to attack it. If you enable the hardware firewall, you probably don't need a third-party software firewall. You should still run the Windows firewall, however, because it keeps a low profile and will stop basic worms if your PC gets hit by a drive-by downloader.

Hello and welcome to what I hope will be a joyous outing. Yes, oh yes, I have taken it upon myself to try my hand at the world of blogging. While this might to be scary to most, I assure you that I didn't have to take the training wheels off at all and I still was able to make it across the street safely.

Well to most, technology is one of those big scary things that nobody really wants to deal it. I mean, if given the choice between a root canal and dealing with a computer that's having problems, many would go with the root canal.

Well before I get too long winded in the first real post I will end now, and save up for another time. Yeah, Yeah, I know I didnt really say anything, but sometimes it what you dont say is what people really hear.

Vista Sales Could Boost PC Recycling

As businesses and consumers upgrade to meet Vista's demands, old hardware needs to be dealt with.

Ben Ames, IDG News Service

As customers line up to buy new PCs capable of running Microsoft's new Windows Vista OS, vendors like Dell and Hewlett-Packard are preparing to process a surge of discarded, outmoded computers.

Dell advises its customers running Vista Premium to use a PC loaded with a dual-core processor and 2GB of memory. As customers upgrade to meet the new standard, they face the question of how to dispose of their outmoded machines without dumping toxic lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium into local landfills.

Large Vendors Offer Free Recycling

"As enterprises deploy Vista, they may increase their rate of replacing, refreshing or updating PCs, and we're certainly happy to work with our customers on the disposition of machines they take out of service," said Michael Cuno, a spokesman for HP.

Vendors such as Apple and Dell offer free recycling for anyone returning those companies' old PCs. Dell also runs a network that donates working computers to local nonprofit groups. HP directs consumers to drop-off points at retail stores, but advises its business customers to lease their hardware instead of owning it.

Dell said it was too early to tell if Vista adoptions would be fast enough to drive a surge in consumer recycling, but the company did say it had recorded an increase from 22.7 million pounds of equipment collected from customers in 2004 to 39 million in 2005. The challenge in predicting future rates is that individuals don't always dispose of their old hardware immediately, said Dell spokesman Bryant Hilton.

"We often see, at least anecdotally, consumers who purchase a new computer 'pass down' the old system within the household," Hilton said. "If you have the latest and greatest running your home entertainment center, maybe the system that still works just fine but is no longer cutting-edge is good for other household uses. What we of course do not want is the old computer to end up in a closet or storage for the next several years, and that's where the challenge of consumer education comes in."

Castoffs Create Business Opportunities

Corporate IT managers who discard outmoded PCs face more complex challenges than consumers, since they must also worry about protecting valuable trade secrets and employees' personal data saved on hard drives, and since environmental safety regulations vary widely between states or countries, said Jim O'Grady, managing director of technology value solutions for HP Financial Services Americas.

O'Grady's division treats that stream of discarded computers as a business opportunity, finding new users to buy 94 percent of the 600,000 computers and parts delivered annually to HP's facility in Andover, Massachusetts. The factory sends only 6 percent to its recycling plants in Roseville, California and Nashville, Tennessee. Worldwide, HP handles over 1 million PCs returned at the end of their leases each year.

That number could jump in 2007, since customers scramble to upgrade their hardware after each jump in technology--such as the launch of multicore processors, the advent of flat-panel over CRT monitors, or the release of Windows Vista.

"That's what we saw with dual-core [processors]; it made a big difference, the adjustment had been fairly steady before then," he said.

HP Accepts All Comers

HP accepts hardware from all vendors, often receiving servers built by competitors two decades ago. In the Andover warehouse, workers peel shrink-wrap off pallets loaded with CRT monitors, stacks of Toshiba Satellite and T3100 notebooks, EMC Symmetrix and Clariion storage arrays, and servers like the Appro, Digital Vax, and Compaq Alpha. Dell Latitude notebooks and Compaq Deskpro desktops are piled on shelves, with their peripherals sorted into nearby crates.

The technicians clean dust and rust off the frames, and decide whether they can resell the entire machine or just its most valuable parts, like the processor or optical drive. They prepare hard drives for resale by wiping personal data clean with either powerful magnets, software overwrites, or physical destruction.

Most PCs never reach recycling stations. HP says that owners turned in only 7 million of the 70 million computers that became obsolete in 2003, delivering the rest to municipal solid waste handlers, many in developing nations overseas that lack the environmental regulations or technology to process such toxic e-waste.