This is one of the most frustrating problems that a broadband user faces. The ISP will probably blame the router. The router vendor will probably blame the ISP. The solution usually lies somewhere in between, but no one seems to…

Review of the Basics We’re often asked at SmallNetBuilder what the advantages are of using a “high-end” or “enterprise” grade firewall, such as a Cisco PIX, Juniper Netscreen, etc., over a consumer-grade router. To get a good start on the…

I often see questions in the forums from people struggling with one of the most basic tasks in creating a home network: what to do when you run out of ports in your router. The answer is to just connect…

Knowing how fast your network can move data is a question for more than just tweakers and speed demons. It’s a key skill to have when testing out wireless, powerline, MoCA and other “alternative” (to Ethernet) networking technologies. Fortunately, it’s…

Introduction We often hear from people who have two (or more!) routers in their LAN and are trying to get Microsoft File and Printer sharing running among all their computers. This ProblemSolver will explain why this doesn’t work by default…