Use Wi-Fi Hotspots Wisely

How To Protect Yourself

The ugly fact is that someone with enough skills and determination can hack into any network, and all but the most secure, private connections can be hacked by someone of average skill and enough determination. Consequently, the most important thing you can do to use Wi-Fi hotspots wisely is to lock down your data and system.

We urge you not to surf without a firewall. If you do not have firewall software installed, turn on Windows’ built-in firewall protection. Because many users have third-party firewall software, we won’t detail these instructions here. You can locate available firewall programs by browsing to windows.microsoft.com and searching under Firewall (your version of Windows).

The next step is to secure your data. Windows Vista/7 give you the option of selecting a network profile (Home, Work, or Public) when you connect. Always select Public unless you trust the network and its members. Doing this prevents other computers on the network from discovering your PC and turns off the File And Printer Sharing feature. You can tweak any of these settings in the Network And Sharing Center: right-click the network icon (a monitor or series of bars, potentially with a red X or starburst on top) at the bottom right of your display. Select Network And Sharing Center in Vista; Open Network And Sharing Center in Win7.

In WinXP, File And Printer Sharing is turned off by default unless you enabled it.To see if it is enabled, right-click the network (monitor) icon at the bottom right of your display and select Open Network Connections. Right-click the icon for your wireless device and click Properties. Under the General tab, deselect the File And Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks checkbox to turn sharing off globally. When you return to a safe environment, you can re-enable this feature when necessary. In Vista/Win 7, you can also turn off the File And Printer Sharing feature manually through the network connection properties in Vista/Win7, but it’s easier to let Windows do it for you.
 

How To Connect
Through Windows
 

To connect to a wireless network, rightclick the network icon and select View Available Wireless Networks (WinXP) or Connect To A Network (Vista). In Win7, select the Network icon. 

A menu will pop up displaying available networks. Each OS will identify whether networks are secure. If the network you want is open, select it and click Connect. We advise not connecting to an open network unless you know it is the one you seek. Hackers set up open networks with friendly sounding names hoping that unsuspecting individuals will hop onto them.
 

If you are connecting to a secure network, or if you don’t know the name of the network you want, contact the network host. You’ll need the network name (also called an SSID) and, if the network is secure, a security key or passphrase. Select the desired network and provide the key if prompted. (See “How To Evaluate Security” before you complete this step.)

If you use WinXP, your network card may manage network connections, leaving you unable to connect using our instructions. To give Windows control, click Start, select Control Panel, click Network And Internet Connections, and select Network Connections. Right-click your wireless connection and click Properties. Click the Network Settings tab and select the Use Windows To Configure My Wireless Network Settings checkbox.

How To Set Up A Manual Connection 

If you cannot locate the network you want (some networks choose not to broadcast their SSIDs), you can set it up manually. In addition to the network, name, and credentials, you will need the network security protocol and encryption type (TKIP or AES).

To set up a manual connection in WinXP, open the available networks list as described
previously and click Advanced or Change Advanced Settings (depending on the service
pack you have installed). On the Wireless Networks tab, click Add. In Vista/Win7, open the
Network And Sharing Center. In Vista, click Set Up A Connection Or Network at the top
left of the display; in Win7, click Set Up A New Connection Or Network (under Change Your
Network Settings). Select Manually Connect To A Wireless Network and click Next.

In Vista/Win7 the Network And Sharing Center is your portal to setting up new connections, changing network profiles, and more. 

Provide the information exactly as you were given it (uppercase and lowercase). In Vista/Win7, you can opt to see the characters as you type for confirmation. If the network is WEP and you do not see this option, select Shared. Select an encryption type if you have one. Otherwise, keep
the default. After entering all this information configuring the desired settings, click OK or Next to connect.

Windows XP/Vista/7 all provide a wireless connection display that lets you determine if a network is secure or open (WinXP displayed).

How To Evaluate Security
 

Most private, and also some public, networks use one of several security standards to protect users and themselves from intrusion. You’ll encounter WEP, WPA, and possibly WPA2. The Wireless Network Connection dialog box may provide the network type. If not, here’s a hint. WEP security keys always contain 26 characters. WPA and WPA2 security keys are eight to 63 characters in length.

WinXP does not offer network profiles, but you can turn off File And Printer sharing through network connection properties.

WEP is the least secure and easiest to crack; treat a WEP network as you would an unsecure network, setting its profile to Public unless you absolutely must communicate with other PCs.
WPA and WPA2 are more impervious to cracking, so you can use a profile that is more open,
such as Work, if necessary (or tweak the settings in the Public profile to open things up as needed.)
 

Take Charge
 

At the end of the day, the responsibility for protecting your assets lies with you. Using
common Internet precautions is also a good idea. Before you provide sensitive information, be
sure you are at a secure site. The Web address should begin with https instead of http and your
browser should display a padlock icon or other security confirmation. Check with your email
provider to see if you can encrypt your email messages. Another precaution you can take is to
turn off your wireless adapter when you are not using the Internet. To turn wireless off, rightclick
the icon for your wireless connection in the System Tray and select Disable.

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Sync Your Media with Every Device in Home

Do you want to stream your media in different devices of your home? Microsoft and Apple have both improved the overall home networking experience on Macs and Windows computers — making it easier to share content on a local network — but still, users want to access that content via other devices.

Thank god, a growing number of companies are developing software and services to make sharing content across devices easier. We’ve used some of these free services and have listed below :

1. MediaRover (Mac and Windows)

About It: MediaRover software automatically collects, stores, and organizes every family members' songs and playlists in a shared folder on the network. Add a song to iTunes on any computer in the house, and everyone in the family gets a copy to put on their iPods. Change the metadata in any library in the MediaRover family and everyone gets the same groomed data. MediaRover's combined central library is also available to streaming devices on the home network. Point your Sonos, Squeezebox, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, media server, streaming DVR, or streaming Blu-Ray player at the MediaRover library and play your entire family's combined collection anywhere in the house.

Price: Free

Why We Like It: MediaRover is one of the best ways to manage and merge multiple iTunes libraries. When used with an NAS, it’s also a great way to keep a backup of all of your music files across a home network.

Who Should Use: Families with multiple computers and iTunes accounts will find MediaRover useful. Even if you just have one iTunes account, MediaRover is a great way to keep music synced across machines.

[ Download MediaRover ]

 

2. XBMC (Mac, Windows, Linux, Apple TV)

About It: XBMC, recursive acronym for "XBMC Media Center", is an award winning free and open source software media-player and entertainment hub for all your digital media. XBMC is a cross-platform software available for Linux, Mac OS X (Leopard, Tiger, and Apple TV), Microsoft Windows operating-system, as well as the original Xbox game-console. With translations to over 30 languages for a worldwide audience.

Price: Free

Why We Like It: XBMC got its start as a media player mod for the original Xbox. Over the last 8 years, the project has continued to evolve and add features, as well as support for new platforms. The popular Boxee media center software is based on XBMC. XBMC is powerful, customizable and once set up, relatively easy to use.

Who Should Use: Once configured, XBMC can be safely used by people of all technical stripes. The initial configuration process, though, might be daunting and overwhelming for someone who isn’t well-versed in the minutia of HTPC setup and with the nature of setting up shared folders over a network. To get the most out of XBMC, users really need to spend time playing with the options (there are tons of them) and settings. Still, the out of the box experience is a nice compliment to a computer or laptop hooked up to an HDTV.

 [ Download XBMC ]

 

3. Libox (Mac and Windows)

About It: Libox makes it easy to access all your local high definition media from anywhere, and share it with friends and family as well. Signing up is quick and easy, using either your email address, or you can choose to connect Libox to your Facebook account. Once you’ve signed up and activated your account, you will be prompted to download the application, which is currently available for both Windows and Mac. It allows you to easily access your files remotely and share them with other Libox users. Libox offers unlimited storage, and allows you and your friends to access your files at any time, at the caveat that your computer has to be turned on, but you do not need to leave the application itself running.

Price: Free

Why We Like It: Libox is very easy to set up and use and is a great way to keep your content accessible across devices. It is a great way to solve the “what computer is that video/photo/song on?” dilemma. The latest editions to the iPhone app make sharing and accessing media from a mobile device even easier.

Who Should Use: Libox is for users who primarily access content from a computer or a mobile device. Although TV apps are in the works, Libox is a computer/laptop/iPhone/iPad device for now.

[ Download Libox ]

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Network Burst Hack / Trick

You Probably heard about “Burstable bandwidth” or “Network Burst” if not then Let me tell you about it.This feature mostly isn’t available for Normal Home Users but plans like Leased Line. This feature ensures that you can get a Burst in the Network when the Traffic or the Load over the network is too much. That means that the current bandwidth can be so called “OverClocked” or “SuperCharged” with more 2way Bandwidth (Incoming as well as Gigged up Outgoing Bandwidth).
So why is this trick not so famous one around you may ask me.Here is the reason. First of all you need to comply to a few conditions as given below.
* You have to be a Broadband User Using xDSL (ADSL etc) / Cable / NOP (Net On Cable) .
* Your ISP should be using Network Equipements of “Cyberoam INC” (excludes Datacard , BSNL , WLL users ).
* You should be Using “Cybroam Client” as your Network Manager (This should be provided by your ISP).

Screenshot of “Cyberoam Client”


Now if you fullfill all of the above mentioned Points then this Trick will work for you.
Now in the Older Versions of Cyberoam Client there was a Security loophole (Ver 1.3.1.1) , this loophole let us do the Bandwidth Boosting.

But how can we do this ?
Here is the Logic - Inside the Network we are Connected to the Gateway , But the Thing is that In the older version Gateway’s Network managing softwares aren’t so good at monitoring and hogging bandwidth so the management part’s job is left on the Cyberoam Client.

And this is how it works

1 > The PC Starts the Cyberoam Client.
2 > Cyberoam Client Tried to Fetch the Data Regarding the Bandwidth the User Should get from the Server.
3 > The Server returns the Bandwidth Information after a Successfull validation of User’s Login Info.
4 > The Cyberoam Client Starts an Internet Connection and manages the Bandwidth (Both Incoming and Outgoing) so that we can’t exceed the Bandwidth limit we are allocated with.

So how are we gonna do network burst ?
A very simple answer , We need a trick that will let the net connection be consistenly live and the Management of Bandwidth shouldn’t be there.To do this we simply have to make the Client crash and have to keep the connection alive and really busy so that the “Logout” command doesn’t reach the Server and so we will be able to do this in a Simpler way.
Overall explanation of the Trick , Start a connection , Start a file download to fill up the Multiple Connection Bandwidth at highest then crash the Bandwidth Manager and the Download Speed should be reaching at its highest levels now.
This happens because as soon as we crash the Client the Client tries to Send a “Logout” command over the network , but due to heavy traffic (Full usage and consistency of Bandwidth) the Response is Slow so eventually the Client Crashes due to a Hung Up condition and losses control over the Bandwidth and we can now use the Bandwidth to the Full extent as we can. Here is a Pictorial Tutorial for that.
First off all i want to clarify that the Time i Compiled this Article i had a 128Kbps Connection .
Screenshot As given Below is of www.speedtest.net

You should Note that i posses a 128 KBPS Plan in which the maximum reachable limit is 16 Kilobytes per seconds so technically i can’t exceed this limit of 16 kilobytes per seconds
To do this trick after you start your PC , Login to Cyberoam Network Manager ,
Start uTorrent and download a torrent file from the net and allocate the space for that torrent file and start downloading , now as i already did that i am gonna skip a few steps.


Now i am gonna show you the uTorrent window , in which i am currently downloading a file which is more than 900 MB , now look at that horrible speed here , its around 10 kbps , So how about a gigged up speeds here , ok.
Now there are two ways to Crash the client.

1 > End / Kill the Task From “TaskManager”

2 > Exit the Client When Highly Packed Bandwidth downloades are going on/
We are gonna perform a Simple “Exit” here and that should be enough if Heavy Downloads are going on.
So after you are Started with the uTorrent Job. Just Right Click on the “CyberoamClient” icon and Select “Exit” as shown above.
Now carefully look at the Download speed of the Torrents , They would have increased.
Mine Increased like this sequence.

After that got changes and increase in Speeds like these given Below

And even after applying the Same trick as above i was able to download Open Solaris November 2008 Edition of 687MB under 20 Mins with avaerage speeds like “487 kbps”.


I use this trick to download much bigger files (Mostly Torrents which are heavily seeded).
Note : This trick will work on Connections which are active now.Due Net disconnection no new connection request can reach the servers however Older and Consistent connections will persists.Works with Bit-Torrent Clients , IMs , Download Managers like IDM , FlashGot , FDM etc.
If you still got any questions regarding this Trick the do feel to Post Below. Thanx

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