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• Tips for Securing Your Home Router
Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router — and by extension, your network — is as secure as possible.
Most Popular Reviews
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If you have a home network, you'll welcome the easy file sharing, remote access and the image-based backup features of Windows Home Server.
• Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive
Iomega's fourth generation StorCenter Network Hard Drive brings many of the features found in higher-end storage devices down to an attractive price.
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This free tool delivers many of the same capabilities that you'd find in pricey network monitoring tools. As long as you don't mind tinkering, The Dude is a decent network utility that should be worth the download.
Windows XP Networking Myths
There are lots of good sources for Windows networking information. And despite
all the great web sites, Usenet news groups, books, friends, and colleagues
available to help out, not everyone gets it all right.
Here are some common beliefs about Windows networking that just aren’t true.
You’ll probably run into some of them as you look for help with your Windows
XP network. Don’t let your troubleshooting get sidetracked by them.
Misconception: Windows networking requires the NetBEUI protocol.
Fact: Nothing in Windows networking has ever required NetBEUI. All network functions
are available using TCP/IP.
Explanation : Windows 95 installs NetBEUI by default,
so some people think that it's required. You can remove
NetBEUI and use a different protocol in Windows 95. All
later versions of Windows install TCP/IP by default.
Explanation : NetBEUI is an unsupported protocol in Windows XP. That
doesn’t mean that it won’t work. It means that Microsoft recommends not using
it, and that they won’t provide technical support if you have problems with
it.
Misconception: Windows 95 can't read a shared disk on another networked computer
if the disk uses the FAT32 or NTFS file system. Windows 95/98/Me can't read
a shared disk on another networked computer if the disk uses the NTFS file system.
Fact: The file system of a shared disk is irrelevant. Every computer knows how
to read its own disk and make its contents available to other computers over
the network.
Explanation : The original release of Windows 95 can't read a FAT32
partition on its ownlocal hard disk. Windows 95/98/Me can't read
an NTFS partition on their own local hard disks. These restrictions don’t
apply to networked disk access.
Misconception: It isn't safe to use TCP/IP for file sharing on a
local area network, because other Internet users will be able to see your files.
Fact : TCP/IP is unsafe only when all of these statements are true:
The computers are connected to a hub or switch, and a DSL or cable modem
is connected to the uplink port.
Each computer receives its own public IP address from your Internet service
provider.
There's no hardware or software firewall blocking outside access.
In that case, use NWLink IPX/SPX or NetBEUI for file sharing and un-bind
file sharing from TCP/IP.
Your network is isolated from the Internet, and it's safe to use TCP/IP for
file and printer sharing, in these common configurations:
All of the computers connect to the Internet through a hardware
router.
One computer has an Internet connection and shares it with the other computers
using a program such as Microsoft's Internet
Connection Sharing.
Misconception: A network with Windows XP Home Edition can have a maximum
of 5 computers. A network with Windows XP Professional can have a maximum of
10 computers.
Fact: There’s no limit to the number of computers that can be connected
to a network.
Explanation: Windows XP Home Edition allows a maximum of 5 other computers
to access its shared disks and folders simultaneously.
Windows XP Professional allows a maximum of 10 other computers
to access its shared disks and folders simultaneously.
Misconception: Un-install the Qos Packet Scheduler
component in your network connections. It reserves 20%
of the available bandwidth for XP’s own use and slows
down your network and Internet access.
Fact : Windows XP doesn’t reserve any bandwidth
for itself. 100% of the bandwidth is available for programs
that you run. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base article
Windows
XP Quality of Service (QoS) Enhancements and Behavior
for more information.
