Technically Easy

Category: Internet

All posts that are related to various aspects of the Internet can be found within this group.

How I Stream HD Movies Without Using WiFi

I have mentioned in previous posts that I have setup and configured a Plex media server in my home. This server allows me to stream my collection of movies, T.V. shows, photos and home videos to any electronic device that is connected to my home network.

For mobile devices, I don’t stream the highest quality video file that I have saved on my Plex server. Instead Plex will stream a smaller copy of the video to the mobile devices. The copy is also HD (720p at most) with stereo sound. When viewed on a mobile device, the content looks great.

The issue was streaming the best video quality to either of my two HDTVs. One HDTV is located on the same floor as my WiFi router and uses a Roku 3 to connect to the Plex server. The second HDTV is located two floors down in the basement, and is a Roku TV.

I can stream HD content from the Plex server at the highest quality (1080p with surround sound) without any issues. Unfortunately, streaming the same content to the second HDTV in the basement was not doable because of the weak WiFi signal.

The issue

My issue was determine how to stream HD movies without using WiFi, and without running Ethernet cables.

Many people that stream HD content in their home may run Ethernet cabling between the rooms in their house. For me that isn’t a viable solution.

All the rooms in my house are finished, including the basement, so running cabling through the walls is not an option. With the router and HDTV being at the opposite ends of the house, it is more difficult to run Ethernet cable between the devices.

I needed another solution. Luckily, there was an alternative.

The solution

I have written about powerline technology in the past that allows me to transfer data over the existing powerlines that are in my home. This technology has been around for years, and the network speeds have been increasing over that time.

Previously, I was using Actiontec PWR511K01 500 Mbps adapters, but one has failed after several years, so I stopped using them. They provided decent speeds and worked better than WiFi.

In my case, I now live in a different house then when I first began using powerline adapters. The biggest issue that I saw in my house is that I have aluminium wiring on the main and second floor and copper wiring in the basement.

I took a chance on using the powerline adapters to connect the HDTV in the basement to the router on the second floor. For high-quality HD content, I needed to buy faster adapters than what I previously used. This would ensure I had a fast connection to the HDTV from the router and provide better quality streaming.

Gigabit powerline adapters and streaming 4K content

I bought the Netgear Powerline 1200 and Extra Outlet (PLP1200-100PAS) adapters because of the gigabit ports. Realising that I wasn’t going to reach gigabit speeds with powerline adapters, I still figured they would be faster than WiFi.

After plugging in the adapters, I was glad I bought the extra outlet ones because they are huge. The adapters block the second outlet in the wall, so the extra outlet comes in handy. After connecting one adapter to the router, and the second to the HDTV using Ethernet cables I tested out the connection.

The adapters established a connection in seconds, even when one was connected to aluminium wiring and the second to copper.

I tested out the connection by streaming HD movies from my Plex server to the HDTV in the basement. The content streams full quality from the Plex server, over the powerline adapters, to the HDTV without any stuttering.

Next I wanted to run a more intensive test – streaming 4K content since the HDTV is a 4K television.

Using both Netflix and YouTube, I streamed 4K content to the HDTV without any problems. After playing 4K content for several hours from Netflix, there wasn’t a single pause or stutter when streaming. I didn’t play the 4K YouTube video for as along, but there wasn’t a single stutter during playback.

After the tests were successful, I bought a second set of the Netgear Powerline 1200 adapters. I connected the first HDTV to the router using the powerline one of these adapters. Now I can easily stream HD content to both HDTVs without any issues, even at the same time.

As for the Actiontec adapter (one still works), I connected that to the VOIP phone modem. It connects to the Netgear powerline adapters without any issues, as well.

The conclusion

The powerline adapters allow me to stream HD movies without using WiFi. Even over different wiring, the adapters have worked flawlessly and have allowed me to stream 4K content without any stuttering or buffering.

August 10, 2016
Cloud Computing – The Basics You Need to Know

Has it ever crossed your mind that you might lose data that is stored in various devices or hard disks? Is it secure to store data on them? What if a virus infects it?

I know some of you must have used DropBox or One Drive for storing all your precious data just to keep it secure and in reach all the time. All of this data gets stored in a cloud.

A cloud refers to an IT environment that has no limits for storing data. The symbol of the cloud is used as a metaphor for the internet as the cloud and the internet both, have no boundaries.

There are many clouds that are easily accessed via the internet. But there is single difference i.e. the Internet provides open access to many Web-based IT resources whereas, a cloud is a private zone area.

The usability of a cloud for computer backup is pretty useful. The delivery of computing services via the internet is known as Cloud Computing. It allows both business and individuals to utilize hardware and software that are being managed by third parties at different locations.

For instance, some of the places where cloud services are offered include social networking sites, webmail, file storage, and online business applications.

The model of a cloud computing is designed in such a way that it allows continuous access to a computer’s resources and information from anywhere, any time – with a network connection.

Here are a few amazing things that you need to know about cloud computing in order to reap its benefits:

Two versions of cloud

The two most popular versions of the cloud are Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-service (SaaS). With SaaS, you can use a cloud service provider for hosting your enterprise applications and you can easily store its associated data on the servers.

By doing this you can gain access to the SaaS applications through your Web browser. But your company has to pay each month depending on the number of users.

Computer Mate Inc. is a software-based medical service; one of the best example for SaaS. As with IaaS, this cloud service provider actually helps you by offering virtual servers, storage, virtual machines and connectivity resources to run your applications on a pay-as-you-go basis.

However, you will be considered responsible for their maintenance and installations.

Flexible offers by Cloud Computing Service

Considering the dynamism of today’s business world, cloud services have made companies reach a new level and it is applicable to almost all the needs that a company may require.

A cloud service can is perfect for the companies as they can easily test the services and in case they don’t like them, they can easily go for another service next month. Example, for your new application, you need something latest but you are not sure about its growth.

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Thus, a cloud computing service lets you expand and contract IT resources in sync with those cycles.

Cloud Computing gives you a fresh start

Those companies that are thinking about expanding, need a much larger server to be able to store all their confidential data. Their need of powerful virtual machines to run their applications is efficiently met by Cloud Computing.

They give the companies what they exactly need instead of buying new servers which can be pretty expensive.

The Cloud is economic

There are many data centers that are running out of space and they are forcing companies to either build new data centers or pay a huge amount of money for expanding the existing centers.

Here, cloud computing wins the race as it allows companies to move their applications on their provider’s infrastructure as it would help them save a lot of money through their comparably cheap payment programs.

Most cloud services offer a minimum of 5GB of free storage, which you can expand through a premium membership of the service. These services provide individual as well as business packages.

The Cloud frees staff for other projects

In any company, IT members are always busy in maintaining, managing and troubleshooting equipment or an application, thus, their maximum time is taken by these tedious jobs.

Cloud computing can be of great help to them as it offers management and infrastructure services allowing the company to offload all the tasks and as a result, free the extra IT members so that they can work on other important projects.

This can have a positive impact on a business’s productivity levels.

Additionally, Cloud Computing can help the companies in other ways as well such as making them more responsive to the changing market conditions while generating great revenue.

Moreover, if you wish to learn Cloud Computing, there are many online learning platforms such as Udemy, Zeolearn, and Cloud Academy where you can enrol and learn the basics of cloud computing.

Author bio

I am a Freelance writer by day and sports fan by night. I write about tech education and health related issues (but not at the same time). Live simply, give generously, watch football and a technology lover. Find me on twitter @ericadsilva1.

May 13, 2016
How IT Companies Can Use Video Conferencing to Enhance their Operations

IT companies can use video conferencing in a wide variety of potential applications ranging from its use in IT support services to helping the company communicate with its different branches that are in multiple international locations.

Knowing what video conferencing can do and how you can utilize it to its fullest is an advantage that should not be ignored.

Video conferencing and customer service

Conference calls for IT support via services like Blue Jeans has become an increasingly prevalent tool in the customer service arsenal of various tech companies.

Sometimes some customers have a hard time setting up whatever product they purchased and they require the assistance of a customer service agent to do it. However, there are cases where even the best tech support rep is unable to understand what has gone wrong without some visual cues.

This is where video conferencing tech support enters into the picture, through the use of a web cam or even the customer’s phone, a tech support representative will be able to take a look at what they are doing and analyze exactly what the customer had been doing wrong.

Visual analysis is simply superior to blindly gropping in the dark along with the client.

This is one of the reasons why the use of video conferencing has become an increasingly popular customer service tools since it helps to prevent instances of frustration between both a customer and a tech support representative as well as saves on the amount of time spent figuring out what the problem is.

Connecting with different departments and branches

One of the issues that IT companies immediately encounter as they expand into new markets is the problem of properly conducting an inter-department meeting to discuss potential strategies.

The sheer amount of different departments across multiple countries make such a meeting difficult to achieve and this is why the use of video conferencing has grown to be a much needed aspect of present day IT company operations.

Through the use of present day video conferencing technology, people from various branches and departments in the enterprise can connect with one another via a conference call and thereby facilitate a meeting that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

Conducting interviews

Another advantage of IT companies utilizing video conferencing is that this enables HR departments to conduct interviews regardless of a person’s location.

Some IT companies such as Microsoft and Apple hire professionals from places like India, Japan and the Philippines. Physically going to these sites and conducting the interviews can be a costly endeavor, especially when you take into consideration the cost of renting out an appropriate venue.

This is why conducting a video conference interview is a great cost saving measure since all you would need to do is send the interviewee a link and have them click it an appointed time for the interview to commence.

As a result, you could have an interview with a potential employee for the company from the comfort of your office.

Training sessions

Another advantage of utilizing video conferencing in IT companies is its use in various training sessions. Technically, a trainer doesn’t need to be in the same room as an employee to help them understand new processes and systems.

With the virtual systems currently in place as well as the capacity of various programs to help a teacher view the progress of students with their training in real-time, the physical presence of a teacher is not essential.

IT companies can take advantage of this by implementing training sessions that make use of video conferencing so that a trainer could help teach batches of students from multiple different locations at the same time. The company could save thousands of dollars that would have gone into the transportation and accommodation costs of the trainer.

Collaboration

Collaboration across multiple departments is also better facilitated through the use of video conferencing. The problem with emails and phone calls is that they are extremely limited when it comes to enabling multiple people to collaborate and discuss a particular idea.

The back-and-forth interaction required for such an endeavor often requires people to be in the same room; however, this requirement can be circumvented if the people involved utilized video conferencing. All they would need to do is set up the right video cameras and speakers, and it would seem as if they were there in the same room as their counterparts.

All in all, video conferencing holds a lot of untapped potential that IT companies are only now utilizing.

As the technology progresses, it is likely that video conferencing will become a commonplace technology to the point that people may start using it instead of physically going to work.

April 26, 2016
Who Is Your Social Media Talking To?

In real life, if you were talking to a customer who was right in front of your face, would you ignore them or simply talk at them? No, you wouldn’t. You would most likely listen to them (we’d hope, anyway), and you’d take into account everything from who they are to what they are saying – good or bad.

Social media should be an extension of how you treat your customers in person which is simply in a way that allows you to talk to a lot of them at once. It must be personal, as pointed out in Digital Marketing Magazine, because the more human you can be, the more sales you’ll make through it.

Audiences differ!

Just as you would in a physical conversation, you talk to people on social media differently depending on who they are.

For example, if you are marketing to teenage girls, you need to use a totally different tone of voice and different content compared to if you were marketing on a business-to-business basis to predominantly older people, as an example.

You can actually try breaking into new markets through social media, however. It’s a great way of reaching the people you’ve always wanted to attract, but have never quite managed to.

As social media expert Rowan Grace Evans points out, you’ll need to ensure that you’re tailoring your approach to each new market, as they will vary geographically, between generations, and depending on lots of other factors as well.

How do you reach your audience?

Once you’ve established exactly who your audience are and who might be interested in your product, you have to figure out how you’re going to talk to them.

Marketing Donut have gone to great lengths to explain how to approach key influencers who might help bridge the gap between you and your customers.

Influencers are people who your audience already connect with or trust. If they have a perceived affinity with those influencers already, it’s natural that, if you can partner with those influencers, you too will form a relationship with them over time.

You should take time to get to know the audience, as automated posting can cause them to become disinterested – automated Facebook posting decreases likes and engagements by as much as 70%, as found by Digital Buzz Blog, for example.

Therefore it follows that you shouldn’t simply reach them with promotional content, and you should also use social media for customer services purposes, too. You can be transparent, reply immediately, and give people a great, personal experience of your brand, which in turn can act as great PR.

Why do all of this?

Why invest in marketing at all? The answer is simple. Return on investment.

Even small businesses report at least 5% of sales through this channel, and that’s 5% you wouldn’t want to miss. Social Media Today have collated some handy facts, and you can’t ignore them – 78% of people say a brand’s social media influences their purchasing decisions, so make sure that whatever you’re doing is encouraging them to buy.

Profits are important at the end of the day, but you won’t get there without putting in the effort first.

April 13, 2016
Increasing Concerns Over Social Media Privacy Issues

The very idea of social network was to give people a platform through which they can interact with different people belonging to various cultures, inhibiting around varying parts of the world, and share their thoughts, humor, jokes, and feelings just to kill their time.

Gone are the days when we were ardent users of MSN messenger and various chat rooms – now the internet has taken a giant leap in the form of social sites that are even more advanced and entertaining.

But with these innovation come calamities – you are giving yourself out in front of people you don’t know, on a platform that you aren’t even sure if it is keen enough to keep you secluded from identity thieves and online bullying, which is why there is a rise of privacy issues on the social media.

And there’s no stopping to it, until you, yourself step up and decide to take preventive measures for the sake of your identity online.

Thanks to social media, we know what our friends were doing in the last weekend without us, and they very well know that we were sitting alone at home enjoying a movie via the status updated about it on Facebook.

But with this minute-to-minute update is only making our barricaded life easy to deteriorate for the people who want to harm us. Sure, the social media want us to be more open about our lives on various social sites by asking us questions like “what’s happening?”, “what’s in your mind?”, “See what your xyz friend is doing right now” and many more.

And we know why they do that – all information we put is indirectly bringing dollars to their pockets.

Since the internet is always buzzing, it is hard for the sites to keep a check on everyone’s privacy. Security programmers have tons of things up in their sleeves and increasing numbers of interactions per second and users’ count aren’t doing them any favor.

This ultimately leads to a colossal threat on security as a whole. Indeed there are various private sites that take immense security measures like Just10, but the public sites aren’t like that. And while most of these sites are on the breach of exploiting security and privacy issues, the only way this matter can be resolved is via users.

Those people who are putting up too much information over the internet have to take more meticulous approach to what they share and with whom they share.

Even to cover up the potential threats users have regarding their security issues, social network like Facebook have set more privacy control in users hand for who will be able to watch the things they are doing. But even with loops of security settings, not everything is protected and identity thieves or hackers are breaking loose, still deciphering ways to threat users.

This is why if a person is posting something online, they should think twice that although they are putting up pictures on a machine, the other side has actual people who can see things clearly.

If you do not like dozens of people come walking around in your house and checking your new outfits, why would you allow hundreds of your Facebook friends to even look at your cloth’s pictures?

Other problem comes when you allow random people to interfere in your online world. Seeing a friend request looks ravishing, but chances are that the person is probably an imposter, who is using someone else’s identity.

If you are following someone thinking they were with you in high school, make sure to confirm their identity first – don’t be afraid to be skeptical here, no one is going to judge you for that.

The new evolving completely private social network could be an answer to people who want extreme privacy settings. But will there be any social network that doesn’t breach security issues? We hardly doubt that.

Any system that is complex always houses vulnerabilities. The only way the weaknesses can be resolved only by operators who are subjected to put few load on it.

March 11, 2016
4 Profitable Ways to Monetize Your Website

If you’re the owner of a website or blog, you know how much work goes into those all-important page views. Dedicated individuals create new and engaging content on a regular basis, carefully curate photos, and utilize social media channels to draw in visitors.

Unfortunately, for many of these website owners and bloggers all of this hard work elicits little in the way of income. However, you’re also likely very familiar with the royalty of bloggers who are pulling in six figures per year, and others who make enough of a profit to offset the amount of work they put into their sites each month.

How do they do it? There are several ways to monetize a blog or website, and while a great deal of your ability to do so depends on qualifiers such as Domain Authority and the amount of engagement you have with your readers, some ways of making a profit require very little work on the part of the blogger.

If you’d like to start making money from your site or blog these are four great ways to get started. However, a great way to kick off this strategy is to look at your site as a business and as yourself as the boss. If it works out well, you could find your blog becoming your main job, enough you apply for a business credit card. Might seem far-fetched now, but it could happen.

1. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a relatively easy way to generate income from your website, especially if you have a history or product reviews or you recommend products to your readers. Essentially, your site acts as a go-between for the merchant and the buyer and you receive a percentage of the purchase prices.

Amazon is one of the most popular merchants who utilize this method. As a blog owner you’ll place a sidebar ad on your site, and when your readers click through and make a purchase, you get paid. There are several ways to maximize this option, such as working with a niche retailer if your site is a good fit; and as passive income this type is very attractive.

2. Google Adsense

Working with Google Adsense is very straightforward. You simply go through their registration process and add the provided code to your website. In many cases you choose the types of companies whose ads will appear on your site, and in the case of a high-traffic site, businesses may even bid to have their ads show up on your site. Some accounts work by page views alone, and some accounts require that your readers actually click through the ads.

The downside to this method is that it can take months to see any revenue generated, and even when you are paid, it may only be a few dollars. However, some bloggers can make several hundred dollars per month, and the key to this is increasing your page views.

3. Sponsored Posts

If you’re a blogger with a reasonable number of page views per month and a solid social media engagement, you could be contacted about hosting sponsored content on your site. Sponsored content usually consists of a blog post that contains one or more links to a specific company. The content is generally geared toward your niche so it appeals to your readers.

The amount paid for sponsored content varies widely and is usually related to the stats of your site. Content marketing companies may be the ones requesting a sponsored post or the request could come from the company itself. Regardless, it’s best to be sure that the content is a good fit with the overall niche of your site.

4. Market Your Own Services

If you’ve built up a solid reputation as a writer or other skill that you’ve mastered via your website or blog, why not use your site as a virtual resume? Many writers, web developers, and social media specialists have honed their skills through their websites, and now offer these services to others.

By adding a tab to your site that details your experience and references you could find yourself getting paid to do the things you’re already doing on a daily basis. Of course, it’s not always that simple. Unless you already have a large following who might take notice of your new strategy, you’ll need to do some self-promotion.

More and more people are making a great income from their websites, and with a few of these simple strategies you could be one of them. Take some time to learn more about these options and how they might best fit with your site, and then get started on your way to a more profitable website.

January 21, 2016
Impact of Emerging Technology on Online Videos

For some time now online videos have begun to slowly but surely supplant written content as the medium of choice to reach people on the internet. In fact, some sources even pin 2015 as the year when online videos finally fully came into their own.

As much as that may be the case however, there are several emerging technologies that seem set to alter that landscape even further – and in some interesting ways too.

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October 23, 2015
How and Where to Start Your First Social Media Campaign

A social media campaign is something that will not begin with a bang. If you’re thinking that the campaign will begin as soon as you post your first tweet, you’re wrong. The campaign goes on in a subtle way, and does not show immediate effects. It takes a lot of time, so if you’re not ready to invest a few hours every day (and a couple spare minutes every now and then) to social media, you should look for agencies in Melbourne and Sydney.

Depending upon your brand and the scale of your campaign, there can be various ways to start your social media campaign. Here are a few tips to help you out.

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October 4, 2015