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Buying a Wi-Fi Router? Here Are the Features and Specifications That Matter

Read at NDTV Gadgets

If you're using Wi-Fi in your house, the odds are good that you just went with the free router that the ISP provides. It's convenient since you don't need to set up anything, and it saves both time and money.

And then the problems start - the network is slow, or doesn't reach most parts of your house - and there's not much you can do about it. Most people avoid buying a router themselves because of the complication of the specifications and the effort it takes to understand them.

You can try looking for alternatives yourself, but the router page on the company website or an e-commerce website doesn't provide you the details in a simple language that would help you make the decision. So you end up taking the path of least resistance and keep using the ISP's router.

That may work for some, but for most people it is advisable to invest in a better router, so you can get your home network working according to your needs. This way, you can make sure that the router is fast enough for your usage, and has enough range to cover your house.

Router with or without Internet

The most common use of a Wi-Fi router is to share an Internet connection between various devices, but that's not its only use. You can even use the router even without an active Internet connection to connect your devices like smartphones, tablets, TVs, computers to each other for streaming videos, file transfers and more. In such a case, you'll obviously have no ISP and will need to invest in a router of your own.

Most users, however, need a router to use the Internet connection on multiple devices. Now your Internet connection can either be cable or ADSL. If it's the former - you should check with your ISP to identify what kind it is if unsure - you typically wouldn't need anything other than the router. However, if you have a DSL connection - the kind supplied by the likes of BSNL, MTNL, and Airtel, which usually comes with a landline - you'll also need a ADSL modem. In such a case, it makes sense to buy a router with a built-in ADSL modem, which will take lesser space on your table and there will be fewer wires to manage.

However, these routers are a little bit more expensive - a standalone ADSL modem costs less than Rs. 1,000 so keep this in mind when comparing a router with built-in ADSL modem against a modem + router combo.

There are a lot of different numbers and specifications floating around, but these are the ones you want to keep in mind buying a router:

Router's Wi-Fi Standard (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)

The first thing you'll want to check is the Wi-Fi standard that the router supports. Older ones would be 802.11 'b' or 'g' - but almost all new routers also support 'n'. This standard - 802.11n - allows you to transfer data at 600Mbps (mega bits per second) theoretically, though some 802.11n routers come with top speeds of only 300Mbps (which translates to downloads of 37.5MBps or mega bytes per second).

The latest Wi-Fi standard is 802.11ac. It allows a transfer speed of 1.3Gbps. Of course, in practical scenarios the speed is reduced a lot. This means that 802.11ac allows you to connect more devices with high data transfer speed, thanks to better multi-antenna and MIMO (Multi Input Multi Output) support. MIMO allows multiple streams for a single connection for faster connections, particularly if you are doing multimedia activities.

Only a handful of phones and laptops support 802.11ac and the technology is more expensive at the moment than 802.11n routers. So which one should you go for? For now, the choice is simple - the 'n' standard is more than fast enough for your Internet connection in India, and it's more likely to be supported by all your devices. As a bonus, you save money too.

Router's wireless frequency (2.4GHz or 5GHz) Frequency of a router will decide how powerful your network would be for multiple devices. The two main standards are 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The key difference between these two is of interference and range.

Advantage of 5GHz frequency is that there will be less disturbance for each device, so they can attain maximum gain from the bandwidth," explains network engineer Hirak Patel. "And the interference from the other Wi-Fi networks is also very less." This means that if you are connecting lots of devices, or if there are overlapping networks in the same area (like a multi-story apartment building) then a 5GHz network is the better choice. The 5GHz routers are more expensive than the 2.4GHz routers, so you should go with the 2.4GHz ones, unless interference is a real issue with your network.

Speed of the router

Even if the router is following a certain standard, the actual speed depends on the hardware used in the specific model. The maximum speed in the router is usually specified in the spec sheet. You would have the speed written under "High Speed Upto". The slower router is often cheaper - and if the only use is going to be connecting devices to the Internet, then you should buy the cheapest one, considering that even 300Mbps is several times higher than the typical 4Mbps or 8Mbps connections in India.

If you're using it to stream movies inside your house from your computer to the home theatre, you might want to spend a little extra for more speed. If you want to stream full-HD (1080p) movies to your laptop or tablet a 300Mbps router would be more than enough. But to stream the content to multiple devices simultaneously, or to stream 4K content, 600Mbps routers are for you.

Router's antenna range

There is no straightforward method to measure the range of the WiFi router, since it depends on a wide variety of factors.

"You always need to consider the environment you're in. Also, your home or office's architecture plays a major part in the range of a particular router", explains US-based network consultant Pranav Rajpara. You can instead look at the dBi ratings of the antenna of the router, which will be included in the specifications.

In a small to medium sized apartment, 2-4dBi is sufficient, according to Rajpara. If you have many obstacles (walls, other household electronics like a fridge or microwave) between where you will be sitting and your router's position, you will need a router with higher dBi ratings.

Walls play a large part in blocking the WiFi signals. Concrete walls and even thin wooden doors create a hindrance for the signals. A study says that the signal strength gets very weak after 3 to 4 walls. So if the router you got from the ISP isn't up to the mark, you must look at this dBi specification, and go with a higher number.

Router ports, security, and additional features

If you have a small office and desktop computers in place, check for the number of LAN ports available to connect. This can often be more convenient. Newer routers also provide additional USB ports. That would help you connect the printers for network printing or a hard drive for file-sharing. Once again, the router you buy has to match your needs - if you're connecting just your phone and laptop to the Internet, then you should choose a router without extra ports instead. Some routers come with extra features, like Apple's Airport Express which has AirPlay support. It comes with a 3.5mm port where you can connect any speakers and wirelessly stream music from your PC, Mac, or mobile.

For security, check if it supports 128 bit encryption, and WPA2 standard compatibility. These are pretty standard now so you don't have to worry much about this.

Conclusions

While the free router you get from your ISP is a good way to get connected quickly, if you're facing any problems then you should consider investing in a router yourself. Following the advice above, you know what to look for if you want to expand the range of your network or have a new Internet connection; if you need more range or more speed; if you're planning on sharing files and streaming video between your devices or if you're just planning on connecting your laptop and mobile phone to the Internet.

A basic user can get decent a 150Mbps or 300Mbps routers from Rs.800 onwards - stick to well-known brands like Netgear, Asus, D-Link, Cisco Linksys, not for any other reason but because there will be a lot of documentation on the Internet if you're ever having trouble and need help figuring things out.

If you're in a large space and getting the connectivity to the router is difficult, look for one with a higher dBi rating. Is network interference an issue because of all your neighbours' routers? Look for a 5GHz router for your own connection instead. Unless you're an advanced user with very specific needs for very high speed data transfers, you shouldn't have to spend more than Rs. 2,000 on a router, and it could make a pretty big difference.

Messenger at F8

Posted by Technoplanet Enterprise on Sunday, March 29, 2015

Microsoft launches on-demand Azure backup and recovery

Read more at: Techgig.com

Microsoft has announced new preview features for Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery to provide more flexible backup and recovery options for enterprise private and public clouds.

The new features come as part of Microsoft's Availability on Demand service for enterprises with a hybrid cloud strategy, and are aimed at helping those customers move and manage data and applications across on-premise and cloud environments.

The features are targeted at Microsoft's IT pro customers, and follow the company's mobile developer focused announcement this week of Azure App Service.

The Azure Backup feature update will let enterprise run online backups of Windows and Linux VMs deployed in an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) setup and restore them as needed.

It's designed to support enterprises with on-premise deployments to move capabilities to Azure, such as disaster recovery, analytics, backup, cloud bursting, migration, and development and testing.

To cater for for scenarios where an enterprise network is congested, customers can ship initial backups to the nearest Azure datacentre using the Azure Import/Export service.

The new Azure Site Recovery features, also currently in preview, lend Azure to use as a substitute disaster recovery site, which customers can use to protect VMware virtual machines and physical servers.

Microsoft says the service will offer "near-zero recovery point objective", meaning that data is mirrored to the offsite location constantly. Customers can also choose to configure Site Recovery so as to minimise lost data and switch back to the on-premise VMs when their datacentre recovers. Customers can also use the feature to test new versions of their application and treat is part of their cloud migration strategy.

Microsoft's Azure API Management Premium also hit general availability, allowing customers to host an API Management instance in multiple Azure datacentres and have them automatically synchronised in different regions.

Finally, the company delivered a few updates to Azure Active Director including automatic password rollover to help protect company owned social media accounts, as well as multifactor authentication that can be set up for more sensitive applications.

The Highest-Paid Big Data Skills

read more at: Techgig.com

Yes, “Big Data” has become one of those buzzwords, along with “cloud,” that’s way overused these days. But it’s clear that employers want tech pros who can analyze massive datasets and deliver actionable intelligence: According to the most recent Dice Report, firms in several states consider data-analytics skills a critical resource, one that they’re more than happy to shell out big bucks to obtain.

Dice found that a full 24 percent of survey respondents in Seattle had Big Data skills—an unsurprising twist, considering the number of data-hungry firms (such as Amazon and Microsoft) that call the surrounding region home. Close behind it was Portland, with 22 percent, followed by Silicon Valley with 20 percent, Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (and its heavy contingent of federal agencies) with 19 percent, and Atlanta with 17 percent.

Check out the latest analytics jobs.

Whether startups and tech giants on the West Coast or federal contractors in Washington, D.C., there’s clearly a demand for analytics abilities. But which of those abilities pay the best? Here’s Dice’s list of the top seven, by average annual salary:

Cassandra: $128,646
MapReduce: $127,315
Cloudera: $126,816
HBase: $126,369
Pig: $124,563
Flume: $123,186
Hadoop: $121,313

That doesn’t include perks or other incentives, of course. “Big Data” might be a buzzword… but it’s one that can prove lucrative for those with the aptitude for crunching it.

Post by Technoplanet Enterprise.

10 Free Online Courses That Can Benefit Every Entrepreneur

Read more at: Techgig.com

Every entrepreneur can benefit from continued education. Whether you are just starting out and handling multiple roles within your company or an experienced business owner -- enrolling in an online course is always a good way to improve your knowledge and has never been easier or more affordable.
Long gone are the days of taking evening classes at local colleges and paying tuition. You can now take excellent courses in the comfort of your own home for free.
Here are ten free online courses that every entrepreneur can benefit from.

1. 21 Critical Lessons for Entrepreneurs

This two-hour video course by Docstoc CEO Jason Nazar takes his real-world experience and breaks it into several video lessons that discuss all the important steps of running a successful business, from vetting an idea and raising money from investors to scaling and growth strategies.
There are a lot of coaching and training programs online that are put together by individuals that don’t have real business experience. They make their money by teaching and not by doing. Nazar’s insight is truly valuable because he has been there. He has used the information he is sharing to grow Docstoc into a successful business.

2. New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs

Some entrepreneurs prefer not to seek outside funding, opting to bootstrap -- but the majority of startups would welcome funding with open arms if they knew how to secure it. This is what this online course from the University of Maryland covers, as professor Michael R. Pratt explains what you need to do in the early stages of your business to prepare for funding, where to source funding, how to pitch investors and venture capitalists, as well as how to close funding.
There is a lot more to the process than putting together a business plan and a pitch deck and firing it off to any investors or VC that you can find. Part of being successful is being prepared -- and this course helps entrepreneurs be prepared before going after funding.

3. Introduction to Web Development: HTML

Every business has an online presence these days, meaning every business has a website. Some tech startup founders are very computer savvy and can write code in their sleep. Other business owners, such as a restaurateurs or retailers, might not have the same knowledge and experience. So what do entrepreneurs do that don’t have a coding or programming expert on their team? They pay ridiculously high rates to companies to make simple website changes.
A lot of the small changes and tasks can be completed in-house with just a little HTML knowledge -- exactly what this course delivers. You aren’t going to become a world-class developer after taking this, but you will have a thorough understanding of how to create HTML web pages and make changes and edits to existing pages.

4. Scaling Operations: Linking Strategy and Execution

This course from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University is a five-week lesson that shows you how to correctly build an operation that is both stable and scalable. There isn’t a single entrepreneur that starts a business hoping to stay small.
The two professors, Gad Allon and Jan Van Mieghem, cover everything from the correct framework, marketing, outsourcing and strategy required to scale efficiently and successfully.

5. How to Make Money Online: The Passive Income Business Plan

My company brokers the sale of online businesses, so I understand firsthand how lucrative online-based businesses can be. This course lays out a simple, yet effective, way to make money online. The goal of the 12-hour video course is to explain how to execute a plan to make $5,000 in monthly passive income by creating 10 websites that each produce $500 in monthly revenue.
While this is a basic introduction to online business, it does provide helpful information for entrepreneurs that have contemplated starting an online business but weren’t sure how to start. It’s a good first step for those interested in making money online -- as are these online business models.

6. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills

Being able to negotiate is a skill that every entrepreneur should master. Business contracts, vendor contracts, lease agreements and employee contracts all require negotiation. George Siedel and the University of Michigan have put together a video course that consists of more than eight hours of practical education that breaks down the negotiation process into four parts.
This is also a great course to have your sales team complete -- there isn’t a single sales professional that cannot benefit from additional negotiation education. The fundamentals taught in this course can be applied to virtually any sales scenario.

7. Foundations of Business Strategy

Think you would gain a competitive advantage if you understood how to position your company to maximize your value creation? Professor Michael Lenox, from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, has created a seven-hour video course designed to help entrepreneurs understand competitive markets, analyze structure and capabilities, as well as how to determine competitive positioning.

8. Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management

Look back at the last project you completed -- did it go as smoothly as you would have liked? You could have the best plan but if it isn’t executed properly you could potentially miss a deadline or fail entirely. Not only does this course put together by the University of Virginia explain how to properly plan a project, but it also explains what to do when things don’t go as planned.
Understanding how to react when things go wrong is equally as important as understanding how to execute a project that is going to plan. Have your project manager or department heads take this course with you and really increase your company’s effectiveness.

9. Entrepreneurship -- From Idea to Launch

If you are just starting a business or are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, this course is for you. With nearly 40,000 individuals already completing this course, Dr. Jeff Cornwall explains practical steps to take an idea and turn it into a successful business.
Currently a professor of entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., Cornwall walks the talk. He took a nine-year break from the education world to co-found Atlantic Behavioral Health Systems. This course is a great introduction to the world of entrepreneurship that is taught by someone who has actually launched a company.

10. Marketing in a Digital World

Every single business needs to have a digital footprint these days -- there are no exceptions. While you can always just hire a digital marketing firm to handle everything it is a good idea to have a full understanding of what a digital marketing campaign consists of.
Along with discussing digital promotion, this course also dives into the creation of digital products. Many businesses -- the publishing industry for example -- are converting to digital products. This is a four-week course by Aric Rindfleisch of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that is a must for new entrepreneurs as well as seasoned business owners that haven’t quite grasped digital promotion.

Buying a business can be a shortcut to success online. Why start something from scratch when someone else has done all of the hard work for you?
This short guide by my company walks through the whole process of buying an online business from initial identification all the way through to successfully closing a sale. You can get free access to it here.
Have you taken any free online courses that you found to be highly valuable and might be of interest to other entrepreneurs? Share your favorites in the comments section below.

Snapdeal to hire 1,000 in next two quarters for regional push

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46589117.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

MUMBAI: E-commerce firm Snapdeal plans to hire 1,000 employees - who know particular geographies well - for their regional centres in the next two quarters, in an attempt to help the company stay closer to local sellers.

Each centre will have an M&A and an accounting team and around 500 employees will be hired in both groups. "We will follow the hub-andspoke model and these employees will go and get the merchants from local markets," says Saurabh Nigam, VP - HR.

Hiring will be centrespecific, so Chennai and Hyderabad in the South; Jaipur, Jalandar in the North; Surat, Ahmedabad and Pune in the West and Kolkata in the East are some of the regions identified. Snapdeal has created recruitment teams for each centre and even roped in hiring agencies for the local hiring.

Those with experience in sales will be on the company radar in these regions. As of now, 300 such employees are on board and the rest will be completed in next two quarters, adds Nigam. The company has a workforce of around 5,000 employees and is one of the largest recruiters in engineering and management campuses from the e-commerce industry.

Co-founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the e-commerce firm, along with Flipkart and Amazon, form the holy trinity in India's $12-billion online shopping market.

Besides Softbank injecting $627 million last October, Snapdeal's investors include eBay, BlackRock, Ratan Tata, PremjiInvest, the personal investment arm of Wipro Technologies chairman Azim Premji, hedge funds Myriad Asset Management and Tybourne Capital.