Technology Ideas

  Networks are networks. Despite best efforts to keep things smooth all the time every day, things happen. Here’s a look at some common network issues, some tips for quickly resolving them, and even better, how to prevent them from occurring again. 1. Duplicate IP Addresses When two devices attempt to share a single IP, you see the dreaded “Address Already in Use” error — with no ability to access the network. The Quick Fix: The blame for this often rests with your router’s default DHCP configuration. DHCP is probably trying to assign your new device an address at the beginning of your subnet, and another device may already occupy these low-numbered addresses with static IPs. If you’ve just introduced a new device or server to your network, it may have its own DHCP server. Simply disable the DHCP server on that device to restore sanity to your network. The Preventive Measure: You can take one simple step to avoid IP conflicts by modifying your router’s configuration to begin assign...

  Networks are networks. Despite best efforts to keep things smooth all the time every day, things happen. Here’s a look at some common network issues, some tips for quickly resolving them, and even better, how to prevent them from occurring again. 1. Duplicate IP Addresses When two devices attempt to share a single IP, you see the dreaded “Address Already in Use” error — with no ability to access the network. The Quick Fix: The blame for this often rests with your router’s default DHCP configuration. DHCP is probably trying to assign your new device an address at the beginning of your subnet, and another device may already occupy these low-numbered addresses with static IPs. If you’ve just introduced a new device or server to your network, it may have its own DHCP server. Simply disable the DHCP server on that device to restore sanity to your network. The Preventive Measure: You can take one simple step to avoid IP conflicts by modifying your router’s configuration to begin assign...

  You might want to acquaint yourself with The Most Misunderstood Windows Setting of All Time. It’s the best written document on the relevant background for LMCompatibilityLevel. Review the NTLMv1 Known Problems and Workarounds for the most comprehensive resource available for the various problems associated with NTLMv1 being turned off. Note that NTLMv1 use can result from misconfigurations in a great number of places. And those misconfigurations can happen anywhere in the “authentication chain”. Misconfigurations can happen on the client endpoint, on a member server that provides the service the endpoint connects to, or any domain controller leveraged by the two. Most misconfiguration comes down to one of two things: the Windows LMCompatibilityLevel or browser configuration. If you are looking for the quickest way forward, we’d suggest using group policy to set a LMCompatibilityLevel=5 (“Send NTLMv2 response only. Refuse LM & NTLM.”) across all your computers. Doing this will...

  You might want to acquaint yourself with The Most Misunderstood Windows Setting of All Time. It’s the best written document on the relevant background for LMCompatibilityLevel. Review the NTLMv1 Known Problems and Workarounds for the most comprehensive resource available for the various problems associated with NTLMv1 being turned off. Note that NTLMv1 use can result from misconfigurations in a great number of places. And those misconfigurations can happen anywhere in the “authentication chain”. Misconfigurations can happen on the client endpoint, on a member server that provides the service the endpoint connects to, or any domain controller leveraged by the two. Most misconfiguration comes down to one of two things: the Windows LMCompatibilityLevel or browser configuration. If you are looking for the quickest way forward, we’d suggest using group policy to set a LMCompatibilityLevel=5 (“Send NTLMv2 response only. Refuse LM & NTLM.”) across all your computers. Doing this will...

  In many cases, once a Wireless router has been installed, we find a place in our home for it and forget about it. As long as all our devices are set up and connected via the Wi-fi network, that’s all that matters, right? Wrong! Probably many of you don’t realize, but the Internet router is one of the most important devices in our home. It’s the gateway to our Internet access and also prone to exploits by cybercriminals who can sneak into our devices and get access to our system. Let’s not forget that we live in the age of data breaches, ransomware attacks, and many other online threats. Thus, you should be worried about the security of your home network and take all the needed security measures to increase Wifi security. The only measure most people use to protect their home network is to set up a password and prevent neighbors and other people from taking control of your data. But we have to be more serious about security and do more than just setting a simple password. A seriou...

  Networks are networks. Despite best efforts to keep things smooth all the time every day, things happen. Here’s a look at some common network issues, some tips for quickly resolving them, and even better, how to prevent them from occurring again. 1. Duplicate IP Addresses When two devices attempt to share a single IP, you see the dreaded “Address Already in Use” error — with no ability to access the network. The Quick Fix: The blame for this often rests with your router’s default DHCP configuration. DHCP is probably trying to assign your new device an address at the beginning of your subnet, and another device may already occupy these low-numbered addresses with static IPs. If you’ve just introduced a new device or server to your network, it may have its own DHCP server. Simply disable the DHCP server on that device to restore sanity to your network. The Preventive Measure: You can take one simple step to avoid IP conflicts by modifying your router’s configuration to begin assign...

  This is actually a tweak. NoLMHash is the name of the Registry value (on Windows XP and Server 2003) or key (Windows 2000) that you set to turn on this tweak. In Group Policy on Windows XP and higher, the setting is called "Network Security: Do not store LAN Manager hash value on next password change." Using this setting, you can turn off creation of LM hashes across a domain or system. Ideally, this setting will never have any direct impact on security because if it does it means your domain controller has been hacked; but just in case, we recommend disabling storage of LM hashes. In most cases, the primary benefit of this setting is that it breaks compatibility with Windows 9x. NOTE:  If bad guys have access to your password hashes, you have already been hacked. Cracking hashes will not give them any additional access on the domain where they came from. Cracking hashes will only allow them to access other domains where the same users are using the same passwords. In addit...

  Networking tools for Windows are typically command-line programs or desktop applications. Under Windows 10, there’s a third format: apps that you download from the online Microsoft Store. Here we’re highlighting 10 networking tools that are available in the Microsoft Store and can be pinned as tile icons on the Windows 10 Start menu for convenient access. They’re all useful, and they’re all free. All My LAN lists your network's IP address, its profile name, and its maximum upload and download speeds. The amount of data that has been sent and received over the network is depicted in two line charts. By moving a slider, you can adjust the charts to represent the amount of data that was transmitted throughout the current day or up to the last 30 days. The charts can be combined to view as one chart. This app can also scan for any multicast DNS services or UPnP devices that are connected to your network. Clicking the name of a found device or service pulls up information about it, su...

  Windows 8.1 displays pop-up help tips by default to educate users on where to access functions such as the Charms and Start button. Although useful, the help tips can be annoying to experienced users who have performed a clean install of the operating system. To disable these tips, either change the registry settings associated with the help tips or edit the associated settings from the group policy editor. After altering the settings, you need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. Regedit Step 1 Type "Regedit" (without the quotation marks) from the Windows 8.1 Start screen, and press "Enter." Step 2 Select "Yes" if prompted to confirm that you want to allow the program to make changes to your computer. Step 3 Click the small triangle next to "HKEY_Current_User" to open this root key, and then open the "Software" key. Step 4 Open the "Policies" key, and then open "Microsoft." Step 5 Open the "W...

  The art of networking is no easy feat. And as networking jobs encompass more than just networking, it’s not going to get any easier. It’s going to be about embracing advancements in data gathering, automation, and programming languages. In fact, it’s going to look a lot like DevOps. Here are five skills you can develop to meet the changing tides of the networking industry. Learn a Language It never hurts to learn a new programming language. To keep up with automation, network engineers need methods and tools to programmatically control equipment. This is where languages can come into play. If your organization is using software-defined networking (SDN), keep in mind the networks offer interfaces to scan and monitor automatically. Fully understanding the language these programs are speaking gives you an upper hand. Automation tools like Chef can handle some of the grunt work, freeing up time for your networking pros. But admins should still understand the process of writing their ...

  Applies LAN technology to address user needs; determines the department's information management needs for the acquisition of add‑on hardware and software; reviews product comparisons and makes recommendations for the acquisition of software and hardware to support the network; prepares requests for the acquisition of hardware and software; confers with vendors to devise plans for installation projects; oversees the installation of hardware and software systems; provides assignments and technical direction to lower level network technicians engaged in hardware installation and hardware and software first echelon maintenance; performs application and operating system product installations; develops preliminary configuration for add‑on hardware and software; monitors network performance; ensures response time is within acceptable limits; provides problem resolution for user problems from beginning to end; identifies and refers unusual or difficult network problems to the maintenanc...

  To design and build a two-tier campus network architecture is everything like a three-tier hierarchical design and maximizes performance, network availability, and the ability to scale the network design. It is common to campus networks where the aggregation or distribution layer is merged with the core layer to create a unique and fully functional network for a good sized campus. However, many small enterprise networks do not grow significantly larger over time. Therefore, a two-tier hierarchical design where the core and distribution layers are collapsed into one layer is often more practical. A “collapsed core” is when the distribution layer and core layer functions are implemented by a single device. The primary motivation for the collapsed core design is reducing network cost, while maintaining most of the benefits of the three-tier hierarchical model.. To design and build a two-tier campus network architecture, a number of considerations must be taken into account. A key he...

Networks are networks. Despite best efforts to keep things smooth all the time every day, things happen. Here’s a look at some common network issues, some tips for quickly resolving them, and even better, how to prevent them from occurring again. 1. Duplicate IP Addresses When two devices attempt to share a single IP, you see the dreaded “Address Already in Use” error — with no ability to access the network. The Quick Fix: The blame for this often rests with your router’s default DHCP configuration. DHCP is probably trying to assign your new device an address at the beginning of your subnet, and another device may already occupy these low-numbered addresses with static IPs. If you’ve just introduced a new device or server to your network, it may have its own DHCP server. Simply disable the DHCP server on that device to restore sanity to your network. The Preventive Measure: You can take one simple step to avoid IP conflicts by modifying your router’s configuration to be...

Internet security has a pretty high priority in our technology filled world. The safety of your private information and the safety of your computer should always be a primary concern. Browser-based email providers, such as Yahoo!, AOL and Hotmail, have spam and junk mail filters to keep your privacy and computer safe. By viewing the spam or junk mail settings and filters your email provider has in place, you can find out your level of security and make adjustments as needed. Step 1 Open your Web browser and go to the webpage of your email provider. Step 2 Log into your email account. Step 3 Find "Settings" or "Options" on the main screen of your email page. Typically, this is located on the right-hand side towards the top. Some email services have it located on the left. Step 4 Select "Spam" or "Junk" mail settings from the Settings or Options menu. Step 5 View the filter settings if they are available from your em...

The art of networking is no easy feat. And as networking jobs encompass more than just networking, it’s not going to get any easier. It’s going to be about embracing advancements in data gathering, automation, and programming languages. In fact, it’s going to look a lot like DevOps. Here are five skills you can develop to meet the changing tides of the networking industry. Learn a Language It never hurts to learn a new programming language. To keep up with automation, network engineers need methods and tools to programmatically control equipment. This is where languages can come into play. If your organization is using software-defined networking (SDN), keep in mind the networks offer interfaces to scan and monitor automatically. Fully understanding the language these programs are speaking gives you an upper hand. Automation tools like Chef can handle some of the grunt work, freeing up time for your networking pros. But admins should still understand the process of writing ...

Windows 10 Creators Update introduced a number of changes to the user interface, so disabling Smart Screen can be a bit confusing. In this article, we'll see how to properly disable SmartScreen in it. The SmartScreen filter is a technology which was initially designed for Internet Explorer to protect users from malicious websites and web applications. It was integrated with IE8 and IE9 (as the successor to IE7's Phishing filter). Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft implemented Internet Explorer's SmartScreen feature directly into the operating system so files are screened for being potentially harmful. SmartScreen is also integrated for Windows Store apps. If enabled, the Windows SmartScreen filter sends information about every application you download and run to Microsoft’s servers, where that information will be analyzed and compared with their malicious apps database. If Windows gets a negative feedback about the app from the server, it will prevent you from ru...

It's becoming clear that Microsoft is having a quality control problem when it comes to updating Windows 10. On September 10, the software giant began the rollout of update KB4515384 for devices running the May 2019 Update (version 1903), and shortly after the release a number of users started reporting problems with the Start menu and search, followed by audio issues with certain games, and now, it appears that the update has a bug affecting network connectivity. According to several reports on Reddit and Microsoft forums (via Neowin), after installing update KB4515384 on Windows 10, some wireless network adapters will stop working, and reinstalling the latest device driver doesn't fix the problem. Microsoft seems to have already acknowledged the issue and explains that the compatibility bug is happening with Intel Centrino 6205/6235 and Broadcom 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapters on specific models of NEC devices. for more information :  microsoft lan

Windows 10 Creators Update introduced a number of changes to the user interface, so disabling Smart Screen can be a bit confusing. In this article, we'll see how to properly disable SmartScreen in it. The SmartScreen filter is a technology which was initially designed for Internet Explorer to protect users from malicious websites and web applications. It was integrated with IE8 and IE9 (as the successor to IE7's Phishing filter). Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft implemented Internet Explorer's SmartScreen feature directly into the operating system so files are screened for being potentially harmful. SmartScreen is also integrated for Windows Store apps. If enabled, the Windows SmartScreen filter sends information about every application you download and run to Microsoft’s servers, where that information will be analyzed and compared with their malicious apps database. If Windows gets a negative feedback about the app from the server, it will prevent you from ru...