PCtechblog » Internet & SEO

Is peer-to-peer software killing your network?

Eamon Gallagher — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:32:01 +0000

In recent weeks, various customers have reported issues with their broadband connections where it can disconnect intermittingly throughout the day. The problem may only even manifest itself on certain days creating huge difficulties in narrowing down its cause. Obviously this creates a huge strain on the working day and we’ve only recently managed to find the cause. We found that peer-to-peer software such as uTorrent, Bitcomet, Bearshare and Limewire have been the primary source of the problem. In all cases, the software was not even in use. This means that simply by having the software on the pc can impact the stability of your network.

There are also different symptoms of having this software installed such as fluctuations in the actual speed of your internet access. Again, this can all occur without even using the software. The fact that it’s running in the background chewing up bandwidth is one thing but the number of ‘open connections’ it creates are ultimately being persecuted by the Internet Service Provider. For each of the symptoms there are varying fixes, such as patches to the software, tweaks to its configuration and modifications to the port settings on the router. None of which will be suggested here.. The only fix on offer here is to remove the software from your pc.

Once removed, your network stability will return to normal. For more information regarding this topic, we have posted the solution to I Found A Fix.

I hope you too have Found A Fix.

Google Local Business Centre – It’s Free!

Eamon Gallagher — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:34:16 +0000

Whenever I meet with someone interested in setting up a new website I try to put an equal amount, if not more, of an emphasis of the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) side of things. There’s no point in having a nice website if no one knows where it is. The same applies to your business premises in that your customer should be able to find your location in as few clicks as possible. The Google Local Business Center is a free service that allows business owners to list their physical location using Google Maps. Take a look at the video below for more information. Please feel free to contact us if you need help setting up your listing and we’re more than happy to offer suggestions to optimise your listing for better rankings. Also, see how specific keyword targetting worked for us (picture at bottom of page).

Look at how optimising for specific keywords has allowed us to catch the number 1 spot for ‘Business IT Solutions Dublin’.

Locking down employee internet access

Eamon Gallagher — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:02:46 +0000

How much time do you think your average employee spends on the Internet during office hours? The answer, if taken from legitimate studies, is an astounding 2 hours per day. That’s 10 hours a week! From updating their Facebook profile, to sending out Twitter alerts, checking personal emails, tracking eBay items, or simple day-to-day internet browsing, YOUR EMPLOYEE’S are spending vast amounts of YOUR TIME on the World Wide Web.

Why not prevent this at source? You can simply enable web filtering at the broadband level and remove access to specific sites instantly. You can choose from a range of categories such as ‘Gambling , ‘Social Networking’, or ‘Violence’, etc and block all such sites at once. If a website has been included by mistake, you can specify that it never be blocked. Say Goodbye to IrishJobs.ie or Daft.ie and setup Web Filtering today! No Server required, we only need to change your internet settings on the company router, setup your account and implement your criteria for future web browsing in the workplace.

Eircom DNS Woes -Quick Fix!

Eamon Gallagher — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:59:22 +0000

Eircom is working on repairing its DNS Servers after they confirmed outage across their system. Users are currently experiencing slow load times for web pages, erroneous redirects and general inability to surf the web properly. We’ve posted the following fix which should get you up ad running very quickly;

By using OpenDNS instead of Eircom, you will be able to use their DNS Servers for web access. To do so, change your broadband DNS addresses to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. You can follow the steps here.

Back to the old and never again to Beta

Eamon Gallagher — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:29:19 +0000

Like most, when I heard the next version of internet explorer (IE8) was around the corner, I thought northing of trying out the beta version. Especially since it was in Beta 2! The new version of IE has a host of new & interesting features.

They consist of;

InPrivate Browsing

Internet Explorer 8 can disable adding any of the websites you visit to your Browsing History, should you choose to enable this option..

Accelerators

Accelerators allow you to complete your everyday browsing activities more quickly and even discover new services. You can start mapping, translating, emailing, and more in just a few mouse clicks.

Web Slices

Keep up with changes to the sites you use most. Add a Web Slice and you won’t have to go back to the same website again and again for updates on news, stock quotes, online auctions, weather, or even sports scores.

Search suggestions

Search smarter with detailed suggestions from your favourite search providers and browsing history. See visual previews and get suggested content topics while you type in the enhanced Instant Search Box.

SmartScreen Filter

New security features help to protect you against deceptive and malicious websites which can compromise your data, privacy, and identity

Compatibility View

Internet Explorer 8′s built-in Compatibility View button enables you to display websites that were designed for older browsers. Simply press the Compatibility View button if you see display problems on a website like misaligned text, images, or text boxes. It’s located next to the Refresh button on the Address Bar.

As great as IE 8 will be, I have learned to never install any beta software on a machine I intend to work on. Patience is definitely a virtue! The browser would consistently crash, network connectivity was intermittent and some websites would not display correctly (despite the compatibility view add-in).

In the end I had to remove the software and go back to Internet Explorer 7. I have absolutely no doubt that Microsoft will iron out the problems during the beta testing but I have learned to forget about seeing it first, and to learn from other peoples mistakes, not my own.