Google is going to build out high speed networks

Google announced today that they are going to be building out high speed fibre networks to bring high speed internet connections (1 billion bytes per second).

Why would they do this?  Are they going to take on Cox, ComCast and Qwest?  Nope.  They just want to see our internet connections get faster.  Why?  The faster we surf, the more we surf.  The more we surf the more pages we view.  The more pages we view, the more ads we see.  Since they serve the lion's share of Internet advertising, they win when the networks get faster.

OK so now we know why its important that the Internet speeds up, but why build out their own networks to do so?  That's simple.  Building out a network costs money, lots of money.   The phone and cable companies don't want to spend money where they don't have to, so they don't.  If Google threatens to do it for them, they loose the revenue, sending the scare throughout the industry, and lighting some well deserved fires under some pretty cold butts, as the expression goes.

Another case of Google making major changes to the world we live in.  I welcome the pressure from Google.  We live in in the country that invented the Internet, yet we are number 15 for high speed access to it?  Why?

To read the Google Press release Go Here.

The Argument Over Google Street View Continues

In Germany recently, the argument over Street View has continued to bring controversy to Google's "Do no harm" mantra.

For those who don't know about it, Google has several vehicles that travel around the world taking video, then converting to still pictures, the view from the streets.  This is kind of a helpful thing to have when using their mapping service (http://maps.google.com) to get around.

In Germany a group found the Google Car and followed it, flipping it off, and flashing it.  To read the full article in USA Today go here.

This article just struck us as funny, so we thought we would share it with you.  It brings up the controversy between making the world's information searchable and privacy.

I had this blog entry completed, and I just found another case of people posing in the Google Street View, a scuba diver walking across a street?  Or sitting in a chair?  check it out: http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2010-02-10-n33.html

Setting Up Your Home Computer Wireless Network With Security

So you want to setup a wireless network at your house.  Isn't it as easy as heading to the electronics store and buying a Linksys device and plugging it in?

Well, the short answer is yes.  If you buy a wireless device, and plug it into your network in the correct configuration, sure you will get a default wireless network, but where is the security?

Why do you need security, aren't you just surfing the web?  It's not like you are going to be storing State secrets.

Part of the reason why you need to have a secured wireless network is because of your neighbors.  If they notice that you have an unsecured network, they are might hop on it, and stop paying for their own, causing your network to slow down.

What if they do some surfing that is illegal?  There was a case in Essex, VT where the police arrived at a house of a suspected child porn downloader.  After much questioning, and interrogation, plus searching of the suspects computer network, it was determined that the actual suspect was someone using an unsecured wireless network.

Do you need to secure your network?  Depends on how much you like to gamble.

Phoenix Geeks can come out and configure the security of your wireless network, usually in a 1 hour visit to your house or business, but here are the steps.  If you need help with following these instructions, call us 602-999-9404 or 802-899-0749, or email us at sales@phoenixgeeks.com.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are assuming that you are using a Linksys wireless device.  This is the most common device sold.  You can follow the concept of what is discussed if you are using a Belkan or other device.

First, plug your laptop or desktop into one of the four ports on the Linksys device with a network cable.

Once you have plugged in your computer, then open your web browser.  Go to http://192.168.1.1 (click this link if you have this blog loaded behind the network).  You will be prompted for a userid and password.  The default password is admin with no user name.

Once you are logged in, click on the wireless link at the top.

Rename the Wireless Network (SSID) to something that means something to you.  It doesn't matter what, but I never use spaces, as a rule.

Then click on save.  If you are connect via the wireless, you will need to reconnect to the router at this time, using the new network name.  This is why we recommend connecting via the cable to set up the router, as you will keep having to reconnect to different networks with different settings otherwise.

Next, change the security mode to wpa personal.  Change the wpa algorithms to tkip.  In the WPA Shared Key, enter something, anything.  This key is your security, so make it something that you can remember, but not too easy to guess.

Click on Save.  

Your network is now secure.  Check for a future blog entry to see how to connect your laptop or computer to the secured wireless network.

Again, if you need help setting this up, Phoenix Geeks is available to come out or give you a hand over the phone, via the 'Net or in person.  Give us a call at 602-999-9404 or 802-899-0749.

Choosing an IT services provider.

In many businesses these days a lot of the work will be done on a computer, a large percentage of businesses in the UK are office based and so that means a lot of workers will be relying on not only their own PC working but also the supporting network and servers working behind the scenes. There are lots of businesses that can suffer dearly if their computer systems and networks were to fail or be down for any period of time.


The reason many companies will have moved to a computerised system is because of the speed and instantaneous nature of the online world. Without this some businesses could suffer especially if their business is an online retailer or of a time sensitive nature. It's therefore vital that you arrange for your computers and networks to be supported by IT technicians and that they are able to cater to your business' needs.


A lot of companies will choose the first IT support company they can find in hope of making sure that they are covered as soon as possible but some thought should be given to ensure you get the best coverage for your company that will be responsive and thorough to ensure the smooth running of your business.


Choosing a local company is vital since when you need an engineer to visit your workplace you want them to be able to get there quickly. So choosing an IT support company that is near to you or a larger business that has mobile engineers who cover your area is important. With regards to callouts you need to be sure of how quickly the company can react to your problem, this tends to be based on things like how quickly your call will be dealt with, typical times for common faults to be resolved and whether any faults can be resolved over the phone or by the IT support connecting remotely to your machine or server.


One aspect that some companies may not realise is the scalability of your service; you may have a large company where multiple sites could have similar problems at the same time. You would ideally want to have the same kind of service you would if you had only one small office, so checking how many machines/users the support company can cope with is important as well as how many other companies they support too.


Phoenix Geeks is your one call IT company.  We provide runs network cables and provides support for cell phones, computers, laptops, servers, networks.

Dedicated Managed Hosting - Many Benefits for Your Business

Managed hosting services offers a complete solution where a hosting provider is responsible for maintaining your servers and perform other administrative tasks. They can look after your web hosting services for you and will likely to be cheaper than if you do it yourself.

Two types are available - dedicated managed hosting or shared managed hosting. Dedicated simply means that you get your own servers to yourself without sharing with other users. Dedicated is faster but more expensive. For most, the shared model still yields good performance depending on traffic.

Having dedicated managed hosting provides a near 100% uptime 24/7. The support and responsiveness for technical issues are generally much better than in other traditional models.

It saves you outlaying capital for the purchase of your own hardware, software and maintenance related tasks making it very affordable indeed.

It also allows companies to focus on their other core computing needs while letting someone else look after their web servers and the hosting of their websites.

The benefits including the ROI you will get from managed web hosting far outweighs any disadvantages if there are any. Let your provider look after your security and other technical issues associated with running web servers.

They can also offer other functions including database hosting, private networks and some security products. These normally comes with services such as load balancing, database hosting, managed storage, connectivity, monitoring and reporting. This ensures that your systems are guaranteed to always run efficiently resulting in optimum performance.

Physical maintenance of equipment may cost an additional fee depending on the hosting provider you use.

Some packages also give you certain control over the configuration of your servers if you need some control.

It may be worth your while to consider managed hosting for your company or even for your own use.