Explainers are posts that explain different concepts or ideas.
You must have heard of “VPN”. You might even be using one right now and want to brag about how it keeps your network “secure” as if you knew better. So, what exactly is a VPN? Is it all that good? If you have these questions or, for some reason, …
March 2022 was when I first entered the realm of 10Gbps Internet with a Sonic fiber-optic plan, which has since proven to be an excellent service, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a game-changer moving from Comcast’s Xfinity cable Internet. The fast speed aside, Sonic has …
Wi-Fi access points (WAPs, or APs) are wireless host devices that can handle multiple Wi-Fi-enabled clients simultaneously. In that sense, they are similar to extenders, with one significant difference: the way they connect to the network. An AP connects to the existing network, namely your router, using a network cable, …
You want to blanket your sprawling property with fast Wi-Fi, but extending electrical power to the far side of your yard or that tight attic corner proves mission (close to) impossible. Don’t give up! That is when PoE, or Power over Ethernet, comes into play. You’ll learn all about it …
If you have been following my router reviews, you’ll note that I have increasingly mentioned the “online privacy risks” notion. An example is Amazon’s popular eero hardware. As I mentioned in some of those posts, I was so concerned about the privacy risks that I often felt hesitant to plug …
This post helps you deal with the situation where you want to improve your home Wi-Fi network yet can’t (or don’t want to) get rid of your ISP-provided gateway (or any existing router). It’s a question of Single NAT vs. Double NAT. If those “NAT” terms seem scary or strange, …
On January 8, 2024, the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 program, making the standard official. However, the Wi-Fi 7 story started way before that. Since the second part of 2021, this latest wireless standard has been the talk of the town, with the first routers becoming available starting …
By now, you must have heard of 5G as a significant upgrade to how mobile devices — phones and tablets with data plans — connect to the Internet. As such, it’s slated to change how all devices connect. First available in the US in 2018, 5G has proven to have …
