As Webopedia notes, routers are located at the gateways of networks. They are responsible for keeping data flowing between networks and for keeping networks connected to the Internet. Whether you are in the market for a new router, are currently relying on a router for an Internet connection or are just curious about computer networking technologies, learning about the different types of routers can be helpful. Writer Bio

Netflix’s Watch Instantly is one of the most popular services for streaming movies and television shows on the Internet. However, you can also watch your Netflix streaming movies on your television as well. Several different devices do support Netflix’s streaming video service, some of which you probably already own. Writer Bio

A server connection timeout error is a common error that almost everybody runs into when surfing the Internet. Web programmers also must contend with server connection timeout errors when they write programs that access Web-based databases and applications. If you are just trying to access a Web page, resolving the error is typically straightforward. On the other hand, if you are accessing a Web-based application or database that requires that your client application talk to the server-based application, resolving the error can require a detailed analysis of your client and server-side application program....

News, especially in the age of social media, changes rapidly. One of the primary ways to stay connected with the news is through mobile communications, and in particular, SMS. SMS, or short message services, is the official name for text messaging, and Facebook has adopted SMS to allow users to receive and respond to notifications they receive through status updates, comments, private messages or changes with a profile in real-time....

If you’re a tweep, or Twitter user, you can post your thoughts, tell friends what you’re doing and follow interesting people. Twitter users mark their posts – called tweets – with abbreviations that pack information into 140 characters. Some of these signs are the same shorthand you use in texts and email messages. Others are called hashtags, Twitter’s way of marking tweets so they add up on your timeline to constitute trending topics: subjects that dominate the conversation on Twitter because many users tweet about them at the same time....

A load cell is a transducer that converts force into an electrical signal – usually measured in mV (millivolts) per V (volts) excitation – using an instrumentation amplifier. Load cells come in dozens of varieties. The most widely used is the strain gauge (which measures the change in resistance of electrical current, caused by strain). Writer Bio

As demands for higher bandwidths rise, both phone carriers and cable providers continue to enhance their infrastructure. Cable providers no longer hold a monopoly on fiber service and phone carriers now offer this service in many major metropolitan areas. What impact does fiber optics have on Internet service and does it make sense to upgrade from DSL? Here are some facts about the two technologies and some factors to consider....

Thee difference between Wi-Fi calling and Wi-Fi data is that the former is a subset of the latter on a cellular phone. Wi-Fi calling is designed to help connect calls in places cellular networks can’t reach by enabling a wireless access point to act like a range extender or signal booster for mobile phones. Calls made over Wi-Fi are handled through Voice over Internet Protocol instead on whatever Internet connection the Wi-Fi access point is connected to instead of the cellular network....

When spending hundreds of dollars on a new TV, most people want to make sure that they are getting the most bang for their buck. If you discover extra functionality on the TV, figuring out how to use it is important. With a Sharp TV, it may have an Ethernet port on the back, which can add a number of features for your use. Writer Bio

Converter boxes have become important in the wake of the switch to digital broadcasting. Essentially, if the type of signal your TV shows are broadcast in is not one that your TV set will receive, you need some kind of converter box to convert the signal. This might be a digital-to-analog converter box or a cable TV converter box. There are several reasons why you might need one of these devices....

Online threats may be common, but they should still be taken very seriously, especially if they are coming from someone you know. If you are receiving such threats and you know who they are coming from, you have a few options depending on the severity of the threats and if you feel like you are in danger. Regardless, online threats are illegal by federal law, so they should be reported to the authorities in your area....

When you stream a video online, you computer attempts to play it while it is downloaded to a temporary folder on your computer. This allows the video to start almost immediately so you don’t have to wait. If you have a slow connection, your video will play faster than it will download, resulting in a pause for buffering.

McAfee’s antivirus software comes with plenty of functions and features, but this plethora of options can cause problems on some computers, especially older ones. McAfee offers the ability to scan your computer and update automatically, but these operations take up RAM and bandwidth, giving you less power to work with. McAfee can also slow your computer if it isn’t built to handle it; if you have an older machine, it might not meet its system requirements....

Regardless of whether you use a Blackberry, Android, iPhone or Windows phone, any photos or personal data will be irretrievably lost during a factory reset. You can’t get it back unless you have it backed up first. That said, the effect of wiping all the data on a phone is sometimes helpful.

While Wi-Fi has upward of 10 times the bandwidth potential as cellular 4G Long-Term Evolution with the latest standard updates, in real world situations, Wi-Fi performs a few times faster at best. Which provides better performance is contingent on signal strength, network congestion and data plan caps, rather than the technology’s never-seen-in-real-life theoretical top speed. Rest assured that LTE and Wi-Fi are both capable of meeting your bandwidth needs. Writer Bio

Updated June 26, 2017 Though the DS was home to nearly 2,000 games, we’re going to put it back to work a little more creatively, with some quirky software you never knew existed. And since the DS is more than 10 years old now, you don’t have to be embarrassed to whip one out of your pocket – it’s officially retro-chic tech. Produce Your Own Synth Album How: ‘Korg DS-10 Synthesizer’ from Xseed and Korg Known across the music industry for its synthesizers, Korg cemented the DS’s unlikely place in the music scene by releasing a digital version of its classic MS-10 pocket synth on Nintendo’s handheld in 2007....

Viruses and malware can wipe out important data, steal vital information and incapacitate your computer. Once it is infected, it can be days or even weeks before your system is clean and safe again. The key to curing common computer viruses is to avoid them to begin with. The following five guidelines can help prevent these malicious programs from gaining a foothold on your system. Writer Bio

A network interface card contains an Ethernet adapter for connecting the computer to a wired network. A NIC can provide a faster, more reliable and more secure connection than a wireless network card. However, NICs are less portable and often less convenient than using a wireless radio to access the Internet. That’s why many computers, including laptops, provide both a NIC and a wireless radio, which gives you the option to choose the way you connect to the Internet depending on the circumstances....

As cell phones become increasingly prevalent among both adults and youth, many schools face an important question of policy – whether or not to ban the phones on school grounds. Arguments both for and against allowing cell phones at schools tend to boil down to appropriate use and the effects of the phone’s presence. Educators looking to make a decision for or against phones in the classroom generally need to look at both the positives and the negatives about allowing such devices....

Whether you use a PayPal account to make online purchases, shop or sell on eBay, or simply to protect the details of your financial accounts from the people with whom you do business, you may want to share your account with someone else. PayPal makes this possible under certain circumstances for people with whom you have specific types of relationships. Some of these situations enable you to determine how much access you grant to the people you include on your account....