Gigabit Wi-Fi: 802.11ac

It’s been about 5 years since 802.11n wireless routers and devices hit the market. I remember the first N draft routers. The performance was wonky. Unstable speeds and lost connections.

Even though 802.11ac specification won’t be finalized until sometime in 2013, Netgear will be selling an 802.11ac Wi-Fi router, the R6300, which will debut in May. Netgear boasts that it will be 3 times faster than 802.11n, backwards compatible and allow HD streaming goodness throughout your home.

802.11ac will run on the 5Ghz channel and uses wider channels to move more data. And there’s some question as to whether residential users will get very much at all out of .11ac, as home Internet connections (to say nothing of residential-class Ethernet switches and router ports) top out well below the 1.3Gbps that a three-stream, 40-MHz. .11ac product can nominally reach.

Realtek Network Controller Deep Sleep Mode: SOLVED

The Realtek Network Controller was not found. If Deep Sleep Mode is enabled Please Plug the Cable.

This just happened yesterday and we tried all the posted remedies. Pulling out the RAM chips for up to 10 minutes, unplugged the power supply to the motherboard, fiddled in the BIOS settings to disable/enable the on-board LAN, patted our heads and rubbing our belly. Nothing worked, same stupid error. (Sure, pulling out the RAM chips and such might work for some of you, but didn’t work for us)

Short of having to re-image the drive, we decided to strip out all the cards off the motherboard. Pulled off the USB card, video card, sound card, PCI Express card and the RAM chips. Cleared off the motherboard! (we left the power supply cables attached)

Put back in the RAM chips ONLY and booted it back up. Ok, the realtek network controller is now loading correctly. So we started adding back the cards to identify the culprit. (Which turned out to be The PCI-Express to PCI Adapter Card)

We were unable to reassign the IRQ for that device so we just left it out and VOILA! SOLVED.

Once you get it up and running again be sure to do the following:

Open Device Manager:
1. Go to Start
2. Click Control Panel
3. Choose System and Security
4. Click Device Manager (under System)
Open Network Controller properties:
1. Double-click Network adapters to expand it
2. Double-click the Realtek Network Controller
Turn off Deep Sleep mode:
1. Choose the Power Management tab
2. Untick “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”

Bye Bye Vista: End of Support

Tomorrow, April 10, 2012 -Windows Vista will exit Mainstream Support and enter Extended Support. This means that no free support, no further service packs will be created, nor will future IE versions (such as IE10) be available for Vista.

Also, no new non-security hotfixes will be created or be available without an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement (EHSA). This will last for 5 years before support for Vista completely ends in 2017.

Say bye bye to Vista and go get a new computer peeps!

OneNote Connection Error on Android

Had an issue with OneNote on my Droid yesterday. OneNote wouldn’t sync and after the usual tech tricks we do, because that’s what we do, I sent an email at 8:16 PM, to: aOneBug at Microsoft dot com.

Unable to access OneNote via Android due to connection error this evening.
Has worked in the past for account:
REDACTED EMAIL ADDRESS

Can login to Skydrive. Issue appears to be with Onenote server via Android.

To my surprise, I received a response from the OneNote for Android team at 12:27 AM.

Thank you for your interest in Microsoft OneNote for Android. We are aware of a connection problem from OneNote to the notebook in SkyDrive currently. We have just applied a fix that we believe you can now sign in again. Please let us know if it still doesn’t work.
Your valuable feedback did help us to understand the problem. We appreciate that a lot. Thank you.

Kind Regards,
Flora Li

Thanks Microsoft! Problem resolved and you actually took care of it swiftly and effectively.

How to Add Windows 7 Computer to Windows Home Server 2011

Just finished installing Aweico’s WakeOnLan add-in for Windows Home Server 2011 and Small Business Server 2011 Essentials (and yes, I bought the Pro Version) so I could wake up my army of computers before I put the coffee on in the morning.

However, I noted one of my Windows 7 Ultimate systems didn’t have the server connected software installed. So, I surfed the web for a bit and found that all posts where telling me to just Open up Internet Explorer and type: http://[servername]:55000 – replace [servername] with the name of your server.

After two failed attempts and another yahoo stating to type in \\servername\software, I knew that it just isn’t that hard to do.

So I headed over to Microsoft Download Center and snagged the Windows Server Solutions Find My Server Wizard tool. Downloaded the cab file to the Windows 7 PC I wanted connected to the SERVER.

Open the Cabinet file by double clicking on it. Right click on the FindMyServer.exe and extract it to the desktop.

Once you double click on the FindMyServer.exe the correct path and port will opened up this:

Click on Download software and follow the prompts to install.

Much easier than trying to figure out where the connector software is or what port you should be using.

Oh, and Aweico’s WakeOnLan is a must have!

Windows 8 – Preview Begins

Installed Windows 8 on a Virtual Box. Note* to get my exchange account working, I needed to use the proxy exchange server address. It’s sort of clunky on a regular PC, but the preview begins. (Already gave the Developers Preview a whirl and it was just ok)

Here’s the link to get started:

Download Windows 8

UPDATE: Literally! Updates already for Windows 8! Man, that’s rush to preview, huh? (and yes the updates crapped out the OS. Doing a “refresh” now)

Create Outlook Items in OneNote

My favorite app of the year, (so far) is OneNote for Android. Yes, it is available for the iPhone too. (User reviews are average, 3.5, but it really is much better than other note taking apps)

Setting up OneNote 2010 on your PC is straightforward and just requires a few quick steps. Be sure you sign up for a Windows Live ID first if you don’t have one. After you install the app, you are required to log in to your Windows Live account. Sign in with your Windows Live ID  to access the “cloud” based OneNote via your Droid or iPhone.

And there you go and there you have it! Access to notes on the web, on your phone and on your PC.

Yes, I know I make it sound really simple, but it is. Here are some helpful links:

• Setup a OneNote Notebook
• OneNote for Android
• Sync OneNote to Skydrive

I wanted to set an alarm on my notes to remind me of important things, like when to shop or when to golf. On your PC, highlight any notes, links, pictures, etc that you have taken in OneNote. Then, Right Click on the notes, picture, etc. Scroll down to Outlook Tasks and set a flag. Right Click on the flag again and you can set the task options. Nice!

 

via Microsoft Office

Bring Streaming Content to Your TV

You prefer outdoor games and don’t play games on your computer.  You want to bring some streaming content to your HD goodness TV but don’t want to buy an Xbox or Playstation 3. What do you do, what do you do?

How do you get Netflix, Hulu Plus, or your own videos and  pictures to stream to your TV? Let’s look at some of the options, shall we?

The obvious would be to replace your DVD player, with the Sony BDP-S580 - 3D Blu-ray Disc Player.

Features include:

• Built-in Wi-Fi
• Internet streaming to Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Hulu Plus and more.
• A free Media Remote app for your iPhone/iPad or Android phone.
• Blu-ray 3D™ playback capability
• Multi-room music with PartyStreaming. (We like PartyStreaming)
• Wireless connect to your PC to stream music, photos and videos.

Cost = $129

But wait, there’s more!

I have always read good things about the Western Digital WD TV Live Media Player. It’s another wireless media player that plays music, movies, photos and a handful of internet streaming apps.

Features include:

• A plethora of supported file formats, including playback of playlists (PLS, M3U, WPL)
• Play content from network drives and/or USB drives
• Programmable remote control included
• On-screen keyboard or attached your own USB keyboard (bonus typing!)

I like this a bit better because it can play my music playlists, comes with a remote control,  and I don’t really need to replace my current DVD player.

Cost = $129

What else is out there? How about an Apple TV? Of course it’s wireless and has access to your Apple stuff.

• Access content in your iTunes and iCloud accounts and on iDevices
• Limited selection of apps

Doesn’t do much but access the iCloud and iTunes. Ok…

Cost = $99

There is the Logitech Revue with Google TV. But I am not going to bother with comparing it. Why? When the CEO of the company states that it “brought closure to the Logitech Revue saga” by making plans to let inventory run out this quarter and that there are “no plans to introduce another box to replace Revue.”

(Yes, they just updated the firmware to Android 3.1, but it hasn’t solved Google TV’s core content-access problems) NEXT!
Cost = $159.99

And finally…

Roku has 4 different models that you can choose from that offers lots of sports, music and news options. However, it doesn’t offer YouTube or access to your computer.

Cost = $49 to $99

Hope this article helps to answer which media player you should add to your never ending array of gadgets!

 

HP Recalls Laptops – Faulty Batteries

Sorry HP, you just don’t make my recommendation list anymore. You did it to yourself by making substandard equipment (printers and laptops with crappy batteries), worse than average customer support and vacillating as to what your game plan is. (HP sells, doesn’t sell it’s PC Division, HP shutting down or selling the webOS division, Dear Meg Whitman…)

So what! You had to pay a paltry $425,000 fine for not issuing a recall quickly enough, and for knowingly selling laptops with batteries that could catch fire or overheat. What do you care, makes more sense to pay fines then to deliver quality products or excel in customer satisfaction.

Here’s HP’s list of affected laptops:

and HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program:

Here is the link to check, report and/or replace your battery: HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program

Thanks go to PC World for this article.

Android Apps of 2011

I have an Android phone and loaded it full of app goodness. Only paid $1.99 for SkyDroid, a fantastic Golf GPS app that I use all the time. Makes for better golf. I digress..

Besides that and Evernote, Google Maps, Search and Voice, the other apps are just there if I need them.

Course, I am rather indifferent when it comes to word games, new social networks or streaming services. (although I did stop and pause to look at the GoLauncher EX and I’m Getting Arrested apps)

However, you might want to beef up your Android device with some freebies. Because you know how we like FREE!

Here are some recommendations: via Best Free Android Apps of 2011 | PCWorld.