Like most people who know a thing or two about computers, I often get asked to help out friends and family when something’s not working. As long as their questions aren’t about printers I don’t really mind. It can be a real eye-opener to see how even the most basic settings sometimes puzzle users. Especially when it comes to networks.

Most people have no clue as to how the most important box in their network setup works. I thought I’d try to clarify. It’s really not that complex, and it might help you troubleshoot issues should they arise.
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I came across another ad today that advertised high end HDMI cables as offering “superior image quality”. You’d think with all the controversy surrounding Monster cables in the US consumers would know better by now, but apparently, that’s not the case. Most of that controversy was around cables that transport analog signals, but with HDMI it gets even more ridiculous. That’s because HDMI is digital.
More Don’t buy expensive HDMI cables!

When our DLS connection failed a couple of weeks ago, it became clear to me that we needed a backup of some sort. I looked into business DSL subscriptions, but if you need a fast guaranteed repair time, the monthly rates start to look like mortgage payments. That’s why I decided to get a second consumer broadband line and hook try to somehow tie them together into one, easy to use local network. Thanks to a great router by Draytek and some clever tips from various forums, this turned out not to be very difficult at all. Here’s what I did.

More How to easily set up a redundant internet connection

Last week’s internet failure in my home has made it very clear to me that I need a backup. Even my wife, who frequently works from home using Citrix, had a lot of trouble getting anything done. We really need to be online all the time. So the first thing I did was sign up for a second home broadband line. I’ll soon have both a cable and a ADSL(2+) connection. Now all I need to do is tie them together.
More Where have all the dual WAN routers gone?

Ziggo is a new cable company here in The Netherlands, that was formed when three major television providers (including mine) recently merged. They introduced their new philosophy in what is probably the worst-recieved TV commercial of the year, so they rubbed me the wrong way even before I had to contact their support desk today. If it wasn’t already clear, this is going to be one of my ‘incompetent companies’ posts…
More Ziggo support