by Ben Greenwood, founder and editor of TechDrink.
There’s almost nothing more annoying than slow speeds, lagging and buffering – especially if you’re gaming or streaming. And Ben Greenwood from tech blog TechDrink agrees. In fact, he’s guest blogging for us today about his bugbear – wireless routers – and how to improve your home’s wireless connectivity.
Just read on and let us know what you make of his post …
Super-fast broadband is a reality for most people these days, with many households enjoying speeds of at least 20Mb and some as much as 120Mb and upwards. Those speeds are only going to get faster as technology improves, but all too often people are let down by their wireless connectivity.
It’s all well and good having the fastest broadband available to you but it’s really of very little use if you have to remain close to your wireless router to enjoy it. This is of particular annoyance to gamers and those who enjoy streaming movies and music to portable devices like laptops, tablets and even smartphones.
There are, however, some key things you can do to increase the range of your wireless router so you can enjoy the full benefits of your super-fast broadband from any room in your house and even your garden.
It’s common practice to hide your wireless router from view. Unfortunately, this also restricts the range of the thing. Tucking the hardware behind the TV, sofa or bookcase might keep your living room looking nice, but when you wander upstairs with your laptop or tablet and realise that your signal strength has dropped or your connection has been severed completely, the aesthetics of your home will not seem so important.
Instead of hiding your router, place it in a prominent position. It doesn’t have to be in the centre of your living room floor, but it does need to be unrestricted by things around it. Try high up on a book shelf, on an end table or even on your mantelpiece.
Placing it on a windowsill may seem like a good idea too, but your router could receive interference from other wireless networks in your street. By all means give it a go, but be aware that if you don’t get the boost in connectivity you were hoping for, that could be the reason.
Other potential causes of interference include microwaves, cordless phones, security alarms and even baby monitors. Take all these into account too!
Wireless routers can operate on one of eleven channels. The one that you’re on might not be the best one for your area, so try using some of the other channels until you get the best one in terms of connectivity and range. This may also help you to get round issues with interference from other wireless networks in your area.
Switching channels isn’t a hugely technical operation, but refer to the user manuals that came with your router to ensure that you don’t make any mistakes.
Using extra hardware with your router can help to boost your WiFi’s range and connectivity significantly.
The types of hardware you can use include:
Wireless Repeater – this will pick up the WiFi signal from your router and boost it to increase its range. Repeaters are becoming more affordable and should provide a solution to your problem. Of course, it’s another piece of hardware to find a home for and you’ll need to take the same factors into consideration when finding a place for a wireless repeater as you will when looking for somewhere to put your router.
Wireless Amplifier / Booster – this hardware attaches directly to the wireless router and is a cheaper option than a repeater. However, the benefits may not be as great, as it simply takes your existing signal and increases its strength. This doesn’t provide much in terms of range. Be sure to get a bi-directional booster in order to increase the speed of uploads and downloads.
Antenna Replacement – if your router allows it, you can unscrew the existing antenna and replace it with a better one to increase the power of your WiFi signal. This can boost speed and range too, although not by nearly as much as using a wireless repeater will.
While the routers supplied by ISPs do the job nicely for most homes, those requiring a bit more in terms of power and range could consider replacing their router with a more powerful version.
The likes of Buffalo Technology, TP Link and Netgear provide more powerful wireless routers than the standard versions given to you when you have your broadband installed and you can get these routers from most computer stores. They can be relatively expensive but they do provide a long term solution and will ensure that you can connect to your wireless network from any room in the house or even your garden!
It may sound daft (and contradicts the title of this article somewhat) but a wired connection is almost always going to out-perform a wireless one, and will be far less susceptible to packet loss, latency and reductions in speed. Don’t be fooled into thinking this means you need to traipse ugly cat-5 cable all over your house either.
Powerline/HomePlug adapters are a reasonably priced alternative that let you use the electrical wiring in your house to create a network. Using this network you can connect devices in separate rooms just by connecting them to a nearby Powerline adapter using a short length of cat-5 cable.
Make sure you do your research though. Powerline adapters will only work on the same ‘phase’ and are still susceptible to speed deterioration the further apart the two adapters are. If you’re wanting to take full advantage of the speeds fibre optic broadband has to offer then it’s recommended you buy Powerline adapters with an advertised throughput of at least 200Mbps.
If you’ve any wi-fi optimisation tips of your own then please share them with us by leaving a comment below …
This blog post was written by Ben Greenwood – the founder and editor of TechDrink, a technology and social media news and opinion blog based in the UK. For more tips on improving your wireless signal, take a look at our Help & Support pages.
by Jon Smith, an e-marketing specialist at Insight UK.
More of us are shopping online and there’s no doubt that the internet’s changing the ways we interact with brands and businesses. Here, Jon Smith – an e-marketing specialist – gives us his view on how things have changed as the internet has become more widely available.
Whether you’re an interested shopper, or run your own business on or off-line, read on and let us know what you make of his post …
Recently on a family trip to Bristol, I sat reading a book to my 4 year old niece, when all of a sudden she jumped up and disappeared, only to return with an iPad in hand. She then proceeded to give me a lesson in how to play Angry Birds!
Whilst I was impressed, it also got me thinking about how technology has changed since I was that age, and how this has changed the way we interact not only with each other but also with brands and businesses.
Super-fast Broadband:
When I was a teenager, online shopping was still regarded with mistrust and broadband was a relatively new technology which many households could not afford. As we fast forward to 2012, the world could not be more different; the penetration of broadband access in internet-enabled homes is now at 94% and more than a quarter of users have super-fast broadband*.
So the million dollar question is – what does this mean for brands and businesses? The consumer purchasing process has been the most severely affected, at every stage, from the search for information to the actual point of purchase.
According to Verdict Consulting, online retail sales accounted for 7.9% of all UK retail spending in 2012 – a figure they’re expecting to grow by up to 41.5% by 2014*.
The simplicity and flexibility of online shopping is causing customers to make their purchases online, making an e-commerce site a necessity for any retail business. Mothercare is a textbook example, having recently closed 111 stores across the UK to focus on its e-commerce business***.
Brand Interaction:
Not only are customers purchasing goods and services in new ways, they’re also interacting with brands and businesses in different ways. Customers now choose to interact with brands via social media, using these channels to create conversations about the products or brands they love or hate.
It is vital for businesses to be a part of these conversations and to be able to manage their brand perception.
As the internet economy has developed, so has the complexity of the services that are available to individuals. Cloud computing services are now readily available to anyone with an email account, creating a generation that is more technically self-sufficient than previous ones.
The Internet is, without a doubt, going to continue to strongly influence the way in which individuals interact with brand and businesses. As broadband speeds increase and mobile technology improves, a strong online proposition will only become more important.
How has the Internet influenced the way you and your family pay for goods and services? Leave a comment and let us know …
*(UKOM APS/Netview May 2011 quoted in IAB: H1 2011: Internet Advertising worth £2.26 billion)
**(Verdict Research as cited by digitalstrategyconsulting.com, April 2011)
***(Guardian Mothercare to close 111 more stores, April 2011)
This blog was written by Jon Smith, an e-marketing specialist at Insight UK, a leading provider of IT services and solutions.
It’s not just 15 years since Plusnet was born – it’s also 15 years since Garry Kasparov was beaten by an IBM computer in a 6 game chess match.
Read on for more about the match and the future of AI, and find out how you can you’re your broadband to help you to play like a Grand Master…
On May 11 1997, Garry Kasparov became the first world chess champion to be defeated by a computer in match play under standard tournament time controls. The IBM computer, known as Deep Blue, beat Kasparov by 31/2 to 21/2 in the six-game match.
We’re marking the 15th anniversary of Deep Blue’s win by taking a look at the famous match and the future for AI – and showing you how you can use your home broadband to help you to learn chess or improve your game.
Kasparov’s match with Deep Blue is the probably the most famous human vs. computer chess match in history – but it wasn’t the first time that the Russian Grand Master had tested his skills against a machine. He had beaten a computer known as Deep Thought – named after the computer in Douglas Adam’s ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ books – easily in 1989.
Kasparov first played against Deep Blue, which had been designed by the same team of scientists as Deep Thought, in Philadelphia in February 1996. Deep Blue won the first of the 6 games, but Kasparov went on to win the match.
In May 1997, a rematch took place. Deep Blue had been heavily upgraded and had been given the nickname ‘Deeper Blue’ as a result. Twice as fast as the original version, it could now calculate more than 200 million positions per second – and, although Kasparov won the first of the six games, Deep Blue took the match, winning the second and sixth games. The third, fourth and fifth games of the match were draws.
Kasparov made a number of allegations about the rematch, including claiming that whilst the Deep Blue team could study hundreds of his previous games in order to help them to programme the computer, they denied him access to information about Deep Blue’s past games.
He also stated that he believed human chess players intervened during the course of the games, particularly the second – an allegation which IBM strongly denied. According to IBM, the only human intervention took place between games, something which the rules allowed for.
The Kasparov vs. Deep Blue rematch and the controversy surrounding it later became the subject of a documentary, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003), directed by Vikram Jayanti:
In the 15 years since the match took place – and Plusnet started – huge leaps have been made in the field of Artificial Intelligence. As far as computerized chess goes, it’s improving all the time. In 2005, a computer named Hydra beat British Grand Master Michael Adams; in 2006, world champion Vladimir Kramincik was defeated by a program called Deep Fritz; and Pocket Fritz, a PDA programme, won the Mercusor Cup in Argentina in 2009.
But developments like this are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the computing and AI. One of the many features of AI which is constantly being developed, for example, is natural language processing. And according to a report by the Centre for Future Studies [.doc] commissioned by us earlier in the year, this is likely to be driven further forward during the next 15 years:
“By 2027, a computer could pass the “Turing test”, with humans being unable to tell whether they are speaking to a machine or to another human. CGI characters will be indistinguishable from real people,” was one of the predictions made in our report by expert futurist Dr. Frank Shaw.
We can’t all play chess like Deep Blue or a Grand Master – but you can use your Plusnet home broadband to help you improve your game. Whether you’re just starting out or having been playing for years, you’ll find websites and online resources to suit you.
Here are just a few ways in which you can use broadband to help you make the right moves:
• Get some great tips at a dedicated chess site – Chess is one of the most popular games in the world, so it’s not surprising there are some great chess websites out there. One of the best resources on t’internet is Chess.com – it’s packed with articles, video tutorials and puzzles, and also has a virtual chess coach feature, online chess tournaments and games, and forums where you can talk to other chess players.
• Shop online – Whether you’re looking for a chess board, instructional books or the latest chess software, you’ll find it all online. You can shop at big retailers like Amazon or, for something a little different, head to a specialist chess store. The London Chess Centre, stocks a great range of products for chess fans and you’ll also be able to order copies of Chess Magazine, its flagship publication, via the site.
• Check out some classic moves – YouTube’s the place to go if you want to learn from the Grand Masters. There are some fantastic videos on the site which show classic games, move by move, including the controversial Game 2 of Kasparov’s 1997 match against Deep Blue:
Do you remember the Kasparov vs. Deep Blue 1997 rematch? What did you think about it? Do you play chess online? How do you use your broadband to improve your chess game? How do you think developments in AI will affect us in future? Let us know below…
New research shows that more people are switching broadband suppliers, looking for cheaper broadband, better customer service and increased data allowances. At Plusnet, delivering cheap broadband and great customer service is at the centre of everything we do – and we’ve won a few awards for it too. So, this piece of news definitely grabbed our attention.
Read on for more about the research – and to find out what we’re taking from it …
You’d be forgiven for thinking that broadband speeds would be one of the top 3 deciding factors for people choosing between broadband deals – especially with all the current talk about fibre optic broadband. But new research has shown that cost, customer service and data allowances are topping the list for people thinking about making the switch from one ISP to another.
According to uSwitch, new data from Roy Morgan Research has shown that 48% of broadband users who switched suppliers made the move to a new ISP because they were looking for cheaper broadband. 41% changed because they were looking for better customer service, and 33% made the move to another supplier because they wanted bigger data allowances.
Providing cheap broadband has always been important to us, and we know that price is becoming a top priority for more and more people, now that times are tough. It’s good to see that people are getting savvier and are looking for better broadband deals instead of giving up t’internet – especially as Race Online stats show that the average household can save £560 a year by using the internet to shop online and pay bills, meaning that broadband can really earn its keep.
We earned a 4-star “value for money” rating from Which? – the independent consumer watchdog – earlier this year. The ISP Awards 2012 named us Best Budget Broadband. The uSwitch Awards 2012 rated us ‘Best Value Home Broadband’. And our fibre optic broadband deals are the cheapest in the market. So we like to think that we’re doing you proud when it comes to value.
We were really glad to see that customer service has become more important when you’re choosing an ISP. Providing outstanding customer service is something that we really pride ourselves on – and we’re always trying to improve and make sure our customer service stands out from the crowd.
Unlike other broadband providers, we’re upfront about everything we do – we even let our customers moderate our forums so you know we’re not editing or controlling what you read about us.
We’re based in the UK, our number is free to dial, we don’t use scripts in our call centres and we try to solve any queries in one call instead of transferring you from one advisor to another. And, every month, we ask 4,000 customers how we’re doing and use their feedback to help us to improve our service.
You can read more about how we’ve been improving our customer service here.
If you use Twitter then don’t forget to follow us either for the latest news and information regarding any known service-affecting problems. We’re also available most days to answer any questions you might have or give any open support requests you might have a friendly nudge in the right direction.
We’re not surprised to hear that more broadband users are looking for bigger data allowances – especially following the UK launch of Netflix.
Back in January, when Netflix launched in the UK, we blogged that we thought we’d see increased demand for data and streaming, especially as our own early stats indicated that you were making a bee-line for the new service – with Netflix traffic accounting for 60Mbps of our overall bandwidth at peak times – a figure that continues to increase as more and more people take to streaming movies online.
Plusnet Extra comes with a 60GB peak-time usage and those in a fibre-enabled area who have Plusnet Extra Fibre have a healthy 120GB to play around with. All of our products also offer unlimited usage between Midnight and 8.00am each day so you can download to your heart’s content during the early hours.
Are you surprised by the stats? What do you think of our customer service and value? What do you look for when you compare broadband deals?
This week see’s the launch of Spring Online with Silver Surfers’ Day – a digital inclusion campaign that aims to get more older people using t’internet. To celebrate, we’ve put together an infographic celebrating the Silver Surfer and showing why Grandpa’s cooler than many give him credit for.
Just read on to see our infographic and to find out more about tech-savvy older people and what they’re doing with their broadband …
Older internet users might have been dubbed ‘Silver Surfers’ because of their greying locks, but like the Marvel hero, they’re whizzing around the web at lightning speeds. According to research we released late last year, older internet users are so tech-savvy that they’re putting younger folk to shame …
• 72% of over 55s claim to understand basic internet jargon – like bandwidth, Wi-Fi, router and download – compared to 61% of 16-24s.
• Less than1% of Silver Surfers try to use Twitter as a search engine – unlike 7% of 25-34s
• Less than 1% of Silver Surfers have emailed their bank details to a friend – compared to a less respectable 3% of 25-34s
• Fewer than 1% of Silver Surfers try to use a normal screen like a touchscreen – unlike an embarrassing 7% of 24-34s
• Just 1% of Silver Surfers have tried to attach a dongle to their TV aerial – compared to a cringeworthy 8% of 25-34s.
We thought we’d mark the start of Spring Online by celebrating the older gent. And you can see our infographic below. He’s online dating, streaming, shopping online and playing Angry Birds – and representative of your tech-savvy Silver Surfer. Not bad, eh?
Silver Surfers aren’t just men. Loads of older women are taking to the web-waves too.
You might have thought that older ladies would never swap their bingo dabber for online gaming but our research has shown that just over 24% of women over 55 like playing bingo online. But they’re not alone – 50% of 16-24 year olds play too. Erm … eyes down ladies.
And that’s not all. According to Mintel, a massive 55 per cent of older women are logging on to Facebook and Twitter regularly. Even though they might tag their grandkids in the odd embarrassing snap, using social media to stay in touch with friends and family can only be a good thing – especially as Race Online stats show that 11% of over-65s always or often feel lonely.
According to Race Online, 8. 2 million people in the UK are digitally excluded – and 39% are over 65. What’s more, Martha Lane Fox – the UK’s Digital Champion – has said these older people are unfairly missing out on communicating more with friends and family, and from saving cash with money-off promotions.
As Plusnet is a Race Online partner, we’ve been helping to show some older first-time internet users how to make the most of t’internet and cheap broadband. And you can help too. Everyone in the UK’s being encouraged to spend an hour showing older people how to make the most of the net. You can find out more and sign up to be a digital champion at RaceOnline2012.org.
Here at Plusnet we're always trying to use clever open source things to make our lives easier. Sometimes we write our own and make other people's lives easier too!
We're a Yorkshire-based provider selling broadband and phone services to homes and businesses throughout the UK. Winner of the ISPA 2010 'Best Consumer Customer Service ISP' Award, we're proud to offer the UK's best value standalone broadband.
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