Children and Technology: how young is too young?

The generation gap is getting bigger and bigger the more technology advances. We see it every day with children, yes CHILDREN have better phones than you do. How often do you see it in the work place or a social setting where everyone in on their phones and not talking?. Well it’s worse for the children of today. Gone are the days where you would go out, climb and tree and hurt yourself!

Studies are showing how big of a role social media and technology play a part in a Childs life today. The average age for getting a smart phone is currently 10.3. Children use their phones overwhelmingly to text and 31% of parents surveyed said their kids have texted them even when they’re in the same house together.

There is of course a useful safety feature on a smart phone of being able to use the GPS to track your child. Although this doesn’t not sound like a fun part of growing up as that is the last thing you would want being a teenager, it certainly has a time and a place. While not many parents have embraced the ability to use Smartphones’ GPS capabilities to track down their kids, the number who has used this function doubled from 7% in 2012 to 15% in 2016.

Phones have risen on the list of devices kids look to for entertainment on car trips and remain second only to iPads and tablets as the engagement option of choice for the road.

  • Tablets have taken off for this purpose, increasing in usage from 26% to 55%.
  • Phones come in at 45%, up from 39% in 2012, and DVDs have fallen to third place in the car with 35% reporting usage today, versus 48% in 2012.
  • The once popular Nintendo DS now dropped to a distant fourth choice at 24%, down from 40% four years ago.

Parents’ restrictions (texting, social media platforms, apps, timing) on their kids’ phones increased from 14% to 34% since our last survey. Proving to be most common form of punishment for todays technological geeks. Especially as 50% of children will have social media account by the age of 12.

  • Social media consumes kids today as well, as most score their first social media accounts at an average age of 11.4 years old. The largest percentage of kids – 39% – got their first account between ages 10 and 12, but another 11% got a social media account when they were younger than 10.
  • Facebook and Instagram represent the most-used social platforms among kids, with 77% using each. But Twitter continues to climb with 49% of kids, and a newer entry, Snapchat, with 47%. No other social media platforms have a significant presence on kids’ radar.

What are your thought on this topic? Do your children have smartphones? How much do you monitor their use and what they are looking at? Let us know.

Do you know the difference between mbps and mb?

Data and download speeds are all that we barter for when it comes using the internet nowadays. How much data you have is all the phone companies have left to reel you in with on a new offer. Lets break it all down and look at what the differences are.

A bit is the fundamental unit of information that we use in our computing and also in communications. The word ‘binary digit’ is shortened to form the word ‘bit’.  Therefore, we use bits in all our binary digit computations. The computation and communication here mean the digitals ones.

A byte is the unit of information that is used in digital fields and is equals eight bits. We generally address the memory spaces in terms of bytes and it forms the smallest addressable unit of memory space that is been used in computer related technologies. It is referred as ‘B’ in the digital electronics and we should note that it forms the different notion from that of a bit. So an eight-bit can also be called as a byte or simply with ‘B’.

Notions for Bits and Bytes:
We shall write the above-mentioned notions here, to understand it better.

1 bit = is denoted as ‘b’.
For example, it can be written as 1 b.
It’s bit length = 1.
1 Byte = 8 bits is denoted as ‘B’.
It’s bit length = 8.

The capitalisation of alphabets means a lot in these notions. A bit is simply written as ‘b’ whereas a byte is written as ‘B’. As already noted, what they are and what values they can hold. The letter ‘m’ here means Mega. The value 10is noted simply as Mega so that we can use it in our digital computations with better understandings. When we find a notion as ‘mb’, it means megabits and ‘MB’ means Mega Bytes. So noting the capitalisation of the betters can mean a lot.

The abbreviation ‘mbps’ means megabits per second and it is always used to denote the speed of transmissions. You might have heard it when you opted for a broadband connection. This is what you are sold your broadband on and what you are sold and what you get are two very different things. You can always check the download and upload speeds you are getting online.

Hopefully this will arm you with the information to help you make better decisions in understanding the differences between mbps and mb.

More Ubiquiti Wi-Fi Installations

Here at Geekabit, we have fallen in love. A love that has lasted at least a good year, and one that gets deeper with every experience.

We’ve fallen in love with Ubiquiti Networks, and their ever-evolving selection of Wi-Fi related goodies, which we use for our client installations and temporary event Wi-Fi work on a weekly basis. And it’s a true love.

For manufacturing, warehousing, education and large residential home projects, we’ve managed to cut down our installation and configuration times, leading to less client down-time and an overall happier experience for our installation team and end user experience.

A few weeks ago, sat in an outside bar/club on the banks of the River Rhine in Berlin, one of our team looked up to the roof, and amongst the twinkling lights, was the familiar blue hue of our new love. We’ve seen them in France, in the most unlikely places across Africa, and even North Yorkshire.

As our business has expanded, working predominantly from London and Cardiff, we’ve seen a huge surge in demand for Ubiquiti devices, and can see this only continuing. There’s a trend throughout almost every market to look for better quality and better prices, people have begun to recognise that good doesn’t always mean expensive.

And as we all know, love, like Wi-Fi needs a good experience. It shouldn’t have to be an expensive one.

xx

Wi-Fi Frequencies: An Overview

With all of the current and future Wi-Fi frequencies and technologies are really getting confusing, with that in mind theres actually more than you realise. So let’s take a look at what’s out there and what’s coming up, as well as trying to make it as simple as we can.

There are two common well known dominant Wi-Fi frequencies used by 802.11a/b/g/n systems, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Almost all modern Wi-Fi devices are made to operate in one or both of these frequencies. These frequencies now dominate most of our homes.

The same basic OFDM technology used by 802.11a in 5 GHz is also used in a 4.9 GHz public safety band. This band is 50 MHz wide it requires a license and is only available in some regulatory domains. There are specific and limited purposes for this band so you won’t see a lot of commercial interest or attention here.

The FCC also opened up 50 MHz of bandwidth in a 3.6 GHz licensed band. OFDM is used here as well. In the US this band requires a license but usage is not limited to certain technologies, so the band will be shared.  There aren’t many benefits to this frequency band and the interference avoidance requirements represent a moderate R&D requirement without much ROI.

You’ve most likely heard about this PHY spec in development. It builds on 802.11n MIMO technology in 5 GHz and seeks to expand on the HT PHY with a few developments that are a natural next step. 802.11n gave us 40 MHz bonded channels. 802.11ac will give us 80 MHz channels and, likely, 160 MHz channels.. 80 MHz bandwidth will get us past the gigabit rate threshold. MIMO will also be expanded to 8×8, but since client devices aren’t adopting that type of power hungry radio anytime in the near future (or ever), 8×8 will be used for MU-MIMO. MU-MIMO allows an AP to transmit simultaneous downlink frames to multiple users (MUs).

VHT 60 GHz (802.11ad) — This PHY opens up a fresh use case for Wi-Fi in the form of very high throughput at short range. There are a lot of challenges getting the kind of range that would be useful to enterprises. We’ll see short-range, high bandwidth applications, but there are still failings to see the exciting benefits that have been touted in the press.

White-Fi (802.11af) — The TV whitespace frequencies between 50 and 600 MHz have also created some exciting buzz in the past several months. There are many articles out there discussing the limitations and benefits of this band. The main issue with this frequency is that contiguous bandwidth is in short supply, so we see a handful of 6 MHz-wide channels, which will yield lower transmission rates than 802.11a/g. The merits of a low frequency are fairly well known; that is, despite the throughput-deficient bandwidth, the range and coverage is advantageous. Rural broadband applications are the evident winner with this technology where coverage is more important than bandwidth and high user density.

It is also worth mentioning 900 MHz. Back in the 1990s, 900 MHz was a popular pre-802.11-Wi-Fi frequency. It is an unlicensed ISM band. This is a semi-popular broadband frequency with decent range and limited throughput. Many vendors use proprietary PtP and PtMP solutions here for wireless distribution, but they are not defined by 802.11 and they are not designed for client access.

Wi-FI frequencies in brief:

  • 50-600 MHz TV Whitespace — Good range, low capacity.
  • 900 MHz — Proprietary PtP and PtMP. Decent range, slow rates.
  • 2.4 GHz — Well-known and used.
  • 3.6 GHz — Little-used, licensed band.
  • 4.9 GHz — Licensed public safety band.
  • 5 GHz — Well-known and used, the future of Wi-Fi.
  • 60 GHz — Short range, very high throughput.
WLAN vs WI-FI

Image result for wlan vs wifiThe ease and convenience are the main factors in improving data communications. Whenever possible the main goal is wanting the least amount of affect in connecting yourself to others. Todays current technological advancements are enabling more of us to transmit and receive information without the hinderance of physical connections. Certainly, for network administrators and engineers, nothing presents more ease and comfort than the wireless means of connecting devices.

WLAN, short for Wireless Local Area Network and sometimes called Wireless LAN, is a network of computers over distances of a few hundred feet that uses high frequency radio signals to transmit and receive data. The network can also connect multiple computers to a central information system, a printer, or a scanner. This provides mobility in networking  and therefore frees us from the awkwardness of relying on cables for connectivity. 

Simply put, WLAN allows peer-to-peer data communications and/or point-to-point within a relatively small area, a building or campus setting for example. Conventional LANs typically use twisted pair, coaxial wires or in some cases optical fibres. WLAN removes these physical connections and uses electromagnetic wave signals instead to transmit and receive data within the network. Potentially the transmission is not as fast as the one provided by a conventional LAN however for most users, average and industry professionals alike, the slower transfer rate is a minor limitation and does not pose a problem.

WI-FI means Wireless Fidelity. The term is actually a trademark name used to brand products that belong to a category of WLAN devices. The devices or hardware branded with the WI-FI trademark is based on the standards stated by IEEE 802.11. In most cases, WI-FI is considered by the majority as synonymous to the actual standard itself.

An association of companies all around the globe called “The WI-FI Alliance” endorses WLAN technology and the products involved with it. This alliance also certifies various hardware and devices if they measure up to the standards of interoperability. It should be mentioned that there are numerous devices that indeed conform to the standards but are not certified by the WI-FI Alliance and therefore, do not sport the WI-FI logo. The reason for this is the cost and hassle of the certification procedure.

A WI-FI (ready) device effectively means that it is ready for use in a WLAN. Such devices range from desktop computers, laptops, notebooks, to smartphones, palm tops, and other small devices.

 

Siklu EtherHaul-2X00 Series

1 Gbps connectivity between two sites is sometimes necessary and an E-band set of radios that work within a 70-80 Ghz frequency is a viable solution.  The benefits of these radios are vast and varied.  Being relatively cheap makes them popular and this coupled with the fact that they are easy to deploy and manage makes them a Wi-Fi winner.

Siklu have created a solution in an E-band set of radios that will provide 2 Gbps connectivity over up to 7kms.  This wider channel width solution is able to work at lower modulations which makes it a great option compared to others on the market.  The EH -2X00 delivers 2Gbps full duplex point to point wireless connectivity making it robust and futureproof.

Being small in size, the tiny footprint allows easy site acquisition and an easy installation.  Moreover, the E-band spectrum is uncongested and offers a quick licensing process compared to other options.  Spectrum protection is maintained whist the cost is still relatively cheap.

The EH-2X00 series offers a great price per MB but alongside this its lower installation costs make it unbeatable in price.  The new model is based on an evolved version of a Siklu’s field proven platform making it extremely reliable.  This reliability cuts the cost of site visits which contributes to its exceptional value for money.

With 16 non-overlapping channels available to it, the EH-2X00 is able to deploy dense networks over greater distances and offers a great solution for those looking for 1Gbps between 2 sites.

Coffee shop cyber-security – how high is the risk?

It’s fair to say that the media has a way of taking an idea and running with it, which can often create hysteria.  This week we’ve been reading a lot of stories about internet security in public spaces and have been questioning the findings.

 

Ipass have just published their 2017 security report and the findings have been interesting.  Coffee shops have been flagged up as public networks where hackers can most easily access other people’s data.  The findings stated that CEO’s present the greatest security risk to businesses as they are often working remotely and therefore connect to public wi-fi which could pose a risk.  Of course, CEO’s are in possession of valuable information and so the risk to a business could be colossal. Interestingly, the report states that many organisations have stepped up their security measures and don’t allow employees to connect to public networks due to concerns about internet safety.

 

These findings have not only raised questions for businesses but have also raised questions about our everyday safety and how reliable public wi-fi really is.  However, there are ways to ensure that you are always secure.  VPN’s can help to create a safer connection by encrypting information travelling to and from a device.  Using a VPN can inhibit these attacks and keep your information safe so we thoroughly recommend looking into that as an option.  The reports are interesting and raise valid points about cyber security.  However, it’s always worth bearing in mind that there are ways to reduce your risk.  Get in touch to find out more!

 

Read the full report here:

https://www.ipass.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/iPass-2017-Mobile-Security-Report.pdf

Battle of the best connection

This week, our interest in maintaining incredible internet connection has lead us to finding out which countries Wi-Fi is performing best.

 

And the results have been interesting…

 

Rotten Wi-Fi’s latest findings show that the UK is surprisingly quite far behind other countries in terms of interest speed.  Public Wi-Fi has become a pretty essential part of everyday life for most of us and the demand has certainly increased in recent years.  Interestingly the UK falls behind countries such as Lithuania and Switzerland when comparing the average download speed.

 

Although we do come in behind Lithuania, Singapore, Denmark and Switzerland in terms of internet speed, we are placed ahead of the USA and Germany.  In fact, the USA and Germany haven’t been doing so well in recent years and their internet speed hasn’t made the top 20 until this year.  The latest findings show that countries such as Latvia, Hungary and Estonia are still ahead of Germany and the USA in terms of download speed.

 

Lithuania tops the charts with the fastest public Wi-Fi, followed closely by Denmark.  Fast and effective public Wi-Fi is hugely important in the modern day and we’ll be interested to see if the UK can develop their Wi-Fi speed to keep up with the demand in the coming years.
Data source: www.rottenwifi.com; November 2016

Image Credit: Alto Digital

Dreaded Dead Spots

We’ve all been there.

 

You’ve set out to do some work in a coffee shop and after ordering your coffee and finding the perfect corner to settle down in you realise the Wi-Fi doesn’t work there.  ‘Typical’ you think as you pace around with your device in hand trying to find a connection.

 

This week we’re trying to discover what it means to have a Wi-Fi dead spot and how to avoid these cursed spaces.  

 

There can be so many reasons for these dead spots but the main ones are building interferences ie – thick walls or awkwardly placed Wi-Fi access points that can’t reach certain areas.  With that in mind, it can be quite easy to fix these mysterious dead spots which makes it all the more frustrating when you come across one.

 

If you find a dead spot in your home or business space the first thing you can do to try and close up these dead spots is to re-position your access point.  Often central locations suit access points best, where they can get away from thick walls or fire exits which can all interfere with signal.   

 

That brings us to our second suggestion – removing obstructions and ensuring that your access point is free of any interference.  Often clients don’t realise how easy it can be to eliminate these obstructions from the area.  If you identify anything near the access point that you think could be causing problems then remove it and see if the dead spot remains – in most cases dead spots require a trial and error approach. Other electronic devices and thick metals can be a source of interference that often go overlooked but it’s worth getting to the bottom of the issue and ensuring that you try removing as many obstructions as possible to see if that affects the dead spot.
If you need more advice on how to avoid these frustrating dead spots then don’t hesitate to get in touch.  It’s always helpful to get an expert opinion if the problem persists.

Wearables wreaking havoc

This week at Geekabit we’re talking about wearables.

Wearables are the newest fitness craze and it seems that social media is full of people uploading their data.  Everyone is tracking their heartrate and their steps these days and we’re not complaining.  Wearables are a great advance in technology that can benefit health so we’re all for the latest craze.

However, we are not for the congestion that has inevitably increased since wearables became a ‘thing’.  Wearables are often Wi-Fi enabled, however ones that aren’t can really cause problems since the Bluetooth that they operate off of uses the same 2.4Ghz frequency as most Wi-Fi services.

The initial cause of disruption is just the fact that people have gone from having one device to having two or three which puts pressure on the network.  Not only that but as we previously mentioned, there is the danger that your 2.4Ghz band will get congested by wearables operating using Bluetooth.  As people become more and more attached to their wearables and start to take their data seriously, it is becoming hugely important to have a Wi-Fi service that can handle the demand.

Luckily we know a few tricks that can help solve these issues and make sure that your customers don’t get frustrated by the congested W-Fi.  An easy way to solve the congestion is ensure that fewer devices are operating on the network, as every device is using up bandwidth.   It might pay to get a separate network for personal use or for employees if your network is based in a place that is used by both customers and employees.  As always with these things, a survey is a great idea.  A Wi-Fi survey will tell you exactly what is going on with your network and how much it can take vs what pressure is being put on it.  This is hugely helpful to any business experiencing Wi-Fi problems which have potentially come about by increased pressure on the network from wearables.

If you think that your network is being affected by  wearables then don’t hesitate to contact us to gain some useful advice on how to solve these issues.