Tag: Internet

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Miscellaneous

Which Browser is Best for Your Needs?

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There are a variety of web browsers out there, and that variety is much larger than most people think. While most can list off the main ones: Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox, there are many more to consider. However, the real question remains: which one is best for you?

In a Nutshell: Probably Chrome…
The most used browser today is Chrome, with about 60 percent of the market share going to it. This isn’t an accident, as Chrome has historically prioritized the two things that Internet users want most – options and speed.

Chrome has always been fast, and despite some other browsers reaching comparable speeds, they just can’t match Chrome’s consistency in that arena. It also doesn’t hurt that Chrome has a remarkably simple interface that hides a massive amount of functionality, only supplemented by a huge extensions list.

However, Mozilla’s Firefox option has also exploded in popularity with its release of Quantum, which allows it to give Chrome a run for its money where speed is concerned. With additional security features and other useful elements, Mozilla is another tempting option.

Microsoft’s Edge browser is another option for many, especially if they prioritize the ability to easily share web pages through either email or assorted social networks, or to take notes on web pages and save them. Furthermore, as it was developed by Microsoft, the same company that develops Windows itself, Edge and Windows integrate quite well with each other.

…But It Depends
Of course, if your browsing tends to have a specific purpose or need, there are other browsers that may lend themselves better to your given objective. For instance, Opera has a feature called Opera Turbo, which can help make slow broadband speeds less of an issue.

Another option is Vivaldi, which would be ideal for those who want a customizable browsing experience. This browser lets a user create their own keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures, as well as provides far more options that effectively allow the user to customize their own browser. Those who are particularly concerned about their online privacy might prefer the inherent features found in the Brave Browser or in the Tor Browser, and those who frequently download things from torrents might prefer Torch Browser.

At the end of the day, your choice will depend on your preferences. COMPANYNAME can help you weigh your options and make the best choice for you and your business. Give us a call at PHONENUMBER today.

Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Know Your Tech: Proxy Server

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Your server room may be somewhat intimidating to consider. Wires everywhere, mechanical boxes that just sit there, lights blinking intermittently, and the distinct feeling that you probably shouldn’t touch anything – not even a proxy server, whatever that is. However, to help you get to know your tech, the proxy server is exactly what we discuss below!

What Is A Proxy Server?
Oversimplifying things, a proxy server is the device that keeps your end users and the websites that they’re accessing separate, but communicating. Making this a little less straightforward, a proxy server can act as many other things as well, adding to its usefulness in your business.

At its core, a proxy server is extremely useful as a kind of gatekeeper for your users’ browsing. Think of it as a kind of a spam filter for your Internet – instead of a user accessing a potentially infected website, the proxy server allows them to access the data, protecting your network much like a web filter and firewall would. The proxy server also caches the data from common web requests, speeding them up, all the while preserving a user’s privacy online.

A Few Benefits of a Proxy Server
There are a few reasons that a business may utilize a proxy server.

Privacy and Security – As we’ve mentioned, proxy servers have a definite use as a means to protect an organization’s privacy and security. This can be accomplished in a few ways. First, a proxy server is capable of altering some of the identifying information contained in the web request. By its doing so, the destination server has no way of knowing where the request came from originally. This keeps browsing habits and personal information protected.

Furthermore, a proxy server is able to encrypt web requests, protecting them from anyone who may try to sneak a peek. Known malware sites can also be blocked through the proxy server. Finally, your company can use a virtual private network (or VPN) in conjunction with the proxy, enabling secure and verified access.

Internet Control – Let’s face it, as great a tool as the Internet is, it can also be a considerable source of distractions. However, a proxy server allows you to both monitor and control the way the Internet is used. If certain websites are proving to be a distraction, the proxy server can block them, instead delivering the user a nice note reminding them to stay on task. Even if the website isn’t blocked, a proxy server can still be used to track how often a website is accessed, allowing you to judge if your employees are really being diligent in their work.

Speeds and Savings – Bandwidth is a very important consideration to make when your business relies on the Internet’s performance in order to function. A proxy server can assist your network performance by caching websites that are frequently visited, cutting the number of requests to that website to one, as opposed to however many employees are attempting to access it.

If you think that your network could benefit from utilizing a proxy server, call us! COMPANYNAME is the premier managed IT support specialist for AREASERVED, and we are more than ready to assist you with whatever questions you may have. Give us a call today at PHONENUMBER.

Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Technology Addiction is a Very Real, Very Scary Thing

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Technology has become essential to workplace functionality and personal productivity, but while the long hours spent glued to our tech during the workday are a necessity, the time we spend at home with our personal devices is definitely voluntary. However, more and more people – children especially – are finding it harder to let their devices power down.

This is the hallmark of technology addiction, or Internet addiction disorder (IAD). While it isn’t yet officially recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), IAD caught the attention of health professionals in the 1990s and 2013 saw the addition of Internet Use Gaming Disorder to the DSM-5.

What Makes IAD a Problem
Many of the features and trends that are widely taken for granted in applications today – autoplay, in-app purchases, and even notifications – are actually undermining our self-control. Instead of being able to set down the device and move on to something else, these tactics have made it so that we feel compelled to compulsively check these devices.

After all, you never know what you may miss if you don’t check right now.

Of course, needing to use technology for work and being addicted to technology are two very different things, but that doesn’t change the fact that children and adults alike have increasingly presented the warning signs of this addiction in their personal lives. That’s right – as much as the attachment to technology has stereotypically been framed as a young person’s problem, it can affect adults just as easily.

In a poll, 66 percent of parents felt that their teens were investing too much time into using their mobile device. No real surprise there, right? However, the same poll measured that 54 percent of children believed that their parents were checking their own devices too frequently as well.

Symptoms of IAD
IAD has a few warning signs and symptoms that present themselves in the behavior and mood of the person affected. Repeatedly checking for incoming text messages or updates and excessive social media use are common behaviors to keep an eye out for in your loved ones, and possibly in yourself.

Those afflicted with IAD also frequently feel euphoric while using their technology, and when they aren’t, often feel restless. IAD sufferers are prone to social withdrawal and experience diminished interest in activities not centered around a gadget. Some schools have even implemented technology fasts, where students have gone without their precious devices for a week. Teachers have noted that these students often exhibit physical symptoms of anxiety while their devices aren’t accessible. Students will reach for a device that isn’t there, all the while shaking and sweating.

How to Reduce Addictive Tactics
Above, we mentioned how many modern applications have features that encourage this kind of pervasive presence and dependence. To avoid these affects, it is probably best that these features are deactivated for non-essential applications.

Notifications are some of the biggest culprits of encouraging persistent use, so if the information isn’t essential to your professional or personal life, you don’t need an app trying to get your attention. Ask yourself: do you really need to be informed that your energy has been refilled in that mobile game you play more than you should? At the very least, using the mute notifications feature will help keep your attention from being pulled away when it shouldn’t be.

Many of the same apps that spam you with notifications are also the ones that encourage users to make those tempting in-app purchases that give the user an edge, or more frequently, extend the amount of time you can use the app before you have to wait again. This is most common in the free versions of these applications, so if you insist on using the app, it is more economical in the long run to just bite the bullet and pay for the app itself.

What piece of technology can you not bear to be without? Share it with us in the comments.

Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Tech Term: Bandwidth

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Here’s a question we want you to take a second to consider…How much do you rely on the Internet? The answer for almost everyone is that it is essential to your current quality of life. Technologies have been developed, industries have been launched, and literally billions of people use it every day, making it one of the predominant inventions in human history. At the heart of this phenomenal technology is bandwidth.

The term bandwidth, in the context of the Internet, is the volume of information per unit of time that a transmission medium can handle. Simply put, the larger the bandwidth your connection has the faster the data can move through the medium. Bandwidth is measured in the amount of data transferred per second, specifically megabits per second (mostly written Mbps or Mb/s). Megabytes, written MB is not typically used in measuring bandwidth as a connection that is advertised as 15 MB is actually 1.875 Mbps since there are eight bits in every byte.

Most Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, will sell packages of a certain megabits, but if you really want to ascertain the bandwidth your computer is running on, your best bet is to use one of the numerous Internet speed test sites like the one at speedtest.net.

The best analogy, and the one that we’ll use, is that of plumbing. It’s said that data is to available bandwidth as water is to the size of a pipe. As bandwidth increases more data can be transferred through it, just as a larger pipe passes more water. Increasing bandwidth, or finding a larger pipe, will allow for even more data/water transfer. For the average user that only uses a couple of apps, a web browser, and doesn’t stream media, a small bandwidth connection will work fine. For tech-savvy families or very small businesses that have multiple devices connected to the Internet at once, they will find they will need more bandwidth to do the things they want to do seamlessly. Larger businesses will need enterprise-level bandwidth of multiple hundred Mbps.

Your Internet connection isn’t the only place where bandwidth comes into play. If you have a website, you will have to pay for a bandwidth level that is commensurate with the traffic and data interaction. In many cases, the more bandwidth you need, the more you will need to pay for hosting.

For more information about technology terms that confuse you, visit our blog, or contact our technology professionals at PHONENUMBER.

Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Tech Term: Cookies Defined

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Chances are, if you’ve spent any amount of time around a computer, you’ve heard of browser cookies. What you may not have heard, is what these cookies do. For today’s Tech Term, we’ll explore what cookies are, and what they do.

What are Cookies?
A cookie is a sample of information that a website stores on a user’s computer in text format that only that particular website can access. This information, made up of name-value pairs, informs the website if you have ever visited before and allows it to personalize your experience as a user. These cookies are often removed once the browser window is closed down, but they can be designed to last longer.

Cookies are what enable a website to “remember” that you are logged in and allow you to change particular settings without them reverting back the next time you navigate to a new page. Furthermore, cookies can allow websites to remember your browsing tendencies and suggest things that might interest you, even if you haven’t logged in. This is especially apparent on ecommerce sites that offer you products that might interest you based on the products that you’ve viewed in the past.

Are Cookies Dangerous?
In a word, no. All these pieces of data are viewable only by the website that delivered them. This means that Website A can only see cookies that it has delivered, and its cookies are likewise hidden from Website B. As a result, if Website B was attempting some malicious activities, the information that Website A has stored is safe.

However, some cookies are used for purposes that may be unwelcome to some users. Have you ever been browsing for a particular item on Amazon, and then notice that the other websites you visit are displaying advertisements for related items? This is the result of an advertising cookie taking note of what you have demonstrated interest in, thereby allowing it to customize the advertisement to best fit your interests.

Clearing Cookies
Of course, you can remove the cookies that your browser has accumulated by using the Clear Private Data tool. However, this will also erase any saved login credentials that you do want websites to have saved. The majority of browsers have ways to workaround this by whitelisting some websites as trusted to save cookies.

Are there any other Tech Terms you’d like defined, or do you have more questions about cookies? Reach out to us at PHONENUMBER and let us know!

Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Tech Term: Modems and Routers Defined

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The Internet is an amazing tool, only bolstered by our ability to access it wirelessly – but what do you know about the devices that allow us to access it, namely, modems and routers? Do you know what each does? For today’s tech term, we’ll dive into exactly that.

First, it is important to understand that these devices serve two different purposes, each critical to the end goal. By working together, the modem and the router create a usable network for you to leverage.

What Does a Modem Do?
A modem is what actually connects your local network to your Internet service provider, and therefore, the Internet. It allows information to pass over without any kind of filtering.

What Does a Router Do?
Your router is what bridges the gaps between the devices on your network and the Internet through either a wired or wireless connection. It also features protections like firewalls to thwart potential threats coming in from the Internet.

Despite this, it may not be entirely necessary for you to include a router, especially if you only want a particular device to have Internet access.

Combination Options
There is also the option to consolidate these two devices into a single one, although this doesn’t fit everyone’s needs. Using a modem/router combination limits what you can do with your network, and if your 2-in-1 device dies or is damaged, you lose all of your networking capability. Alternatively, a malfunctioning modem or router can be swapped out and replaced relatively easily, with less of a capital investment.

COMPANYNAME can assist you in setting up a network that meets your business’ needs optimally. Call us at PHONENUMBER for more information.

Categories
Best Practices

Tip of the Week: Resolve a Poor Internet Connection By Following These 3 Steps

b2ap3_thumbnail_internet_connectivity_speed_400.jpg When the Internet goes down in the modern office, chaos ensues. The only way to subdue the panicked masses is to provide answers and to resolve the issue, ASAP. If you happen to find yourself in such an Internet-less predicament, then be sure to follow these three troubleshooting tips.

Is Everything Plugged In?
This may seem like a rather trivial thing to check, but sometimes the worst problems happen because the obvious is overlooked. When your Internet connection fails, be sure to check key components of your network like your modem and cables in order to make sure that everything is plugged in. Considering all of the activity that goes on in a work space, it’s important to keep in mind that accidents happen and equipment can get bumped and the wrong devices can get unplugged. Remember, looks can be deceiving and even a loose cable can be the culprit, so giving your cable connections a firm jiggle may prove an easy fix.

Turn Your Technology Off and on Again
It’s rather comical how many technology woes are remedied by simply turning a device off and on again, yet it’s a troubleshooting method that’s wholeheartedly recommended by IT technicians because it routinely does the trick! One piece of equipment you’ll want to restart first is the modem. If that doesn’t do it, then try restarting your wireless router or PC.

Now, before you go and compulsively restart everything, you’re first going to want to pause and apply some logic to the situation by asking some basic questions. For example, if the Internet is out on your workstation but it’s working on another office computer, then you know it’s an issue with your PC and not the network. If your smartphone lost Internet signal but the signal your PC that’s wired into the network is working fine, then you’ll know that you’ve got a problem with your wireless router and not the modem itself.

Call Your Internet Service Provider
If you go through the previous two steps and you’re still experiencing issues with your Internet connection, then the problem may lie with your Internet service provider. While it’s certainly a relief to learn that the problem isn’t your fault, it’s nevertheless annoying to still have to deal with lost productivity. If you do contact your ISP regarding the issue, they should be able to confirm if it’s an issue on their end, and they may even be able to help by giving you an estimate of when the issue will be resolved. This insight will allow you to better manage your downtime by helping you know what to do next, like sending your staff out to lunch early while the Internet is being fixed instead of having everybody sit around with hands in their pockets.

Bonus Tip: Have a Backup Plan
While we’re on the topic of lost productivity, it’s good to remind business owners about having a business continuity plan that includes backup solutions that allow employees to continue working while the Internet is down, like apps that aren’t totally dependent on the Internet and perhaps a way to connect mission-critical devices to a 4G wireless signal.

While it’s common for businesses to lose Internet connection every so often, it shouldn’t happen so frequently that it eats into your bottom line and causes serious problems. If this is the case, then you’ll want IT professionals to take a look at your network. COMPANYNAME can perform this task for you by discovering the issue and taking the necessary steps to get your network connections working at optimal levels. For assistance troubleshooting any of your company’s technologies, give us a call at PHONENUMBER.

Categories
Security

The “S” in HTTPS is More Important Than You May Think

b2ap3_thumbnail_secure_web_browsing_400.jpg It would be an understatement to say that security, particularly encryption, is important while browsing the web. Though it was only recently that encryption became a major pain point for government regulation, encryption has been around for a very long time. The average user can get a taste of online encryption through the average website security certificate.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol, with an S on the end for “security,” is designed to protect a website visitor’s privacy by encrypting information sent from the website to a receiving server. Ordinarily, the connection wouldn’t be private, so data can be accessed while it’s in transit. This is why HTTPS is commonly used on pages that require sensitive credentials, like passwords, usernames, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and so on. For example, banking institutions and other accounts that are linked to financial credentials (like any payment pages on websites) need to be using a security certificate to guarantee the user’s security.

One good way of describing online encryption is like a pipe. A normal HTTP connection is like a transparent pipe that you can see through. Hackers can collect data while it’s in transit because the pipe is see-through. Now, imagine the same pipe, only with an opaque hue to it. You can still see the insides, but they’re hidden and jumbled to the point where you can’t get a clear image. This is what it’s like for hackers to see encrypted data; they may have stolen it, but it’s locked down and indecipherable, making it essentially worthless.

The main thing that the average business owner must understand about HTTPS and online encryption is that you need to drill best practices of handling data into your employees as early and as often as possible. Before entering sensitive information into any website, be sure to look for the following abnormalities:

  • A lack of a security certificate: Before you enter any information into a website, make sure that it’s protected by a security certificate. You can verify that a website is secure by clicking on the green padlock icon next to the URL’s name in the address bar. It’s important to keep in mind that, while SSL and TLS might largely seem like the same thing, SSL is an antiquated security protocol that, thanks to vulnerabilities like POODLE (a man-in-the-middle exploit), could be dangerous.
  • Suspicious URLs or domain names: Sometimes hackers will create a site that looks exactly like a banking institution’s website, and use it to steal credentials. They will use sneaky tactics to make you think that what you’re looking at is the real deal, but look for out-of-place letters, numbers, or symbols in the domain before thinking you’re in the clear. Basically, the site that you’re on should be the institution’s official site. If something looks out of the ordinary, contact the organization through the information that you have on file.

For more great tips and tricks on how to stay safe online, be sure to contact COMPANYNAME at PHONENUMBER.