If one thing can be said about telecommunications technology, it is this: it is constantly changing. Developments and discoveries are constantly being made by the brains and professionals at the top of communications technology, and new products are emerging all of the time. It is hard not to feel as though you are constantly “behind” when it comes to computers, internet, phones and the like – one day, you make a purchase and are at the top of the game, and a week later, a new product is released and your purchase feels obsolete.

In recent years, it has become virtually impossible for everyone beyond Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to stay on the cutting edge of the world of telecommunications technology. Those of us who waited hours for those first iPhones were met with dismay when a few short months later not only did prices drop on the devices, but announcements were made of newer versions for the coming year. Similar emotions are felt daily when it comes to wireless internet, laptop computers and even GPS systems.

As much as we hate to admit it, the idea of purchasing an expensive technological tool, toy or device only to find out that a newer version is coming out in a few short weeks makes us cringe. So how can you make sure that you’ll be able to stay, at least for a little while, on the very cutting edge of telecommunications technology? Take few cues here, and increase your chances:

1. Do Your Research

No need to head to the library and open an encyclopedia or take out books – head online and check out the technology sections of regular news sites. Any big developments, such as new releases or business moves, will be easily accessed here. Go to the websites of the big players in the technological areas in which you are interested – the cell phone companies, the wireless internet providers, the computer manufacturers – to find out what’s next. If you are especially computer savvy, check out the websites of technology-dedicated magazines or information sources. Here, you’ll find detailed, insider information about what’s to come with WiMax or what to expect with 4G.

2. Shop Around
Once you’ve made a decision that you want to add to your telecommunications technology collection, don’t be in a hurry to buy. Check with sellers online and in your area to find the best deals. Things like warranties, repairs and replacements are important, and you will be surprised to find out how different suppliers deal with such issues. Furthermore, prices will definitely vary. Find out if any sales are around the corner, and be willing to wait a month or two before you buy.

3. Enjoy

This may seem like the most obvious piece of advice, but it is not. Enjoy the smart phone or laptop computer you’ve purchased – even when something new comes onto the market. If you spend all of your time worrying about having the newest wireless air card with the fastest wireless broadband or owning the sleekest cell phone with the best GPS system, you will miss out on a lot of what your technological toy has to offer. Furthermore, think of it this way – every time a new toy or updated version comes out, you’ll be just that much closer to having an excuse for replacing your existing telecommunications devices.

By: Jason Tandle

Pros: Big hard drive, plenty of ram, bright screen, perfect size for lugging around, very low price.

Cons: No Wireless N, Existing memory must be removed to upgrade to 4gb.

Summary: Great little laptop for students and business professionals. Handles office applications, email, and internet with ease. Low price.

For the price of one of those tiny and virtually useless netbooks, you can have a real laptop. With the Athlon 64 processor, 2gb of RAM, dvd drive, and 160gb hard drive, you will have enough power to run all your office applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Suites, and Quickbooks.

For normal office and student use, having Windows Vista running on a full power processor Athlon 64 1.60ghz with 2gb of ram is a must. The 160gb hard drive should give you enough room to store all your documents and projects along with your itunes/mp3 library for the next couple of years. At least until it’s time to replace this laptop with the latest and greatest.

The 14″ screen is bright and clear. Whether you are writing your paper, calculating your portfolio, or just watching your favorite dvd, you will enjoy a sharp 1280×800 resolution. There is also an external vga port to hook up the laptop to an external monitor. You can even run in dual screen mode with the laptop showing one window and the external monitor showing Add a wireless keyboard and mouse and you will have a virtual desktop replacement.

You shouldn’t need to upgrade the ram above the 2gb already installed unless you’re working with larger graphic files and heavy duty software like Adobe Photoshop CSx. However, if you find you need to upgrade the ram, then you have to remove the 2gb already installed into the only two available slots and replace them with two 2gb sticks. It’s a relatively easy process that you can do yourself. There is very little you can do with the 2gb you take out. I suppose you could try craigslist or ebay.

The only other thing I think I should address is the lack of wireless N. This is not really a con. Basically, I don’t know of any wireless hotspots that offer wireless N, so the built in wireless g will work everywhere with plenty of speed. At home, wireless g is still faster than most cable/dsl providers can pump through your modem anyway. However, wireless N is theoretically 4x faster and has 4x the range of wireless g. Since wireless g can more than handle even the current fastest internet speeds available, you may not care about wireless N for a long time. However, wireless N does offer a slight advantage in range. This would allow you to roam around your office and/or home without worrying about your signal strength. So if you have a wireless N router at home or in the office, then you might want to consider adding a wireless N USB adapter if (on the rare chance) you’re constantly loosing your wireless connection.

All in all, I would highly recommend this laptop to anyone who is not a heavy graphic designer or gamer. For normal office and student use, it’s more than powerful enough and at under 6 pounds, is a comfortable size and weight to carry around. As of this writing, it’s currently being offered at ValueAuthority.com Laptop Reviews for $379 with free shipping! Why bother with a netbook when you can have a real notebook for the same price?

By: Robert Rogers

Having multiple computers at home can be made more convenient if you set up a wireless network. This will allow you to connect to the other computer even without having to be physically in front of that other computer.

You should have the requisites first-your computers, a DSL connection, a wireless router, wireless PCI. If you are using a laptop, it should have wireless PCMCIA card. But in the latest models of laptops, this has already been built-in. As for your desktop, you can direct a LAN cable to the router provided that the router is positioned close to it or make it wireless ready by purchasing the wireless PCI card.

Step 1: You need to connect the wireless router first. Turn off your computers first and concentrate on connecting this. Remove the Ethernet cable from the modem you currently have and plug it at the back of the router. The end part is still connected to your computer but leave it as it is for configuration.

Step 2: In the package containing your router, there is another Ethernet cable. Connect it between the WAN port of the router and the Ethernet port (where the first cable used to be located) of your modem. Switch the modem on to check if it is picking up internet signals. If green or red lights appear, it is already picking up signals.

Step 3: Now you can plug the router to the power source and wait for it to boot. It will undergo diagnostics first so wait for it to process. Afterwards, blinking lights will start to appear. Now you can turn on your desktop computer.

Step 4: The next step is configuring the settings of your router using your computer. The router comes with a manual and small disc. Insert the disc on the CD-rom and follow the start-up guide. Enter the WEP and WPA information needed. You can find this in your manual. Make sure you change the default settings of the router and keep the password. If you want to make your network more hacker-proof, you can also change the SSID name.

Step 5: Switch on the wireless connection of your laptop and enter the password. If it is not wireless ready, you can install the PCI card. This is also the same with your desktop computer. But don’t worry, the latest computers are already wireless-ready. After that, you are now ready to make a local area connection and connect all your computers in one network.

By: Alan Cassidy

Internet Connection Sharing allows a 802.11 card or a cellular laptop card Internet connection to be shared. USB laptop Internet cards are used for more than laptops. Sometimes, they are the main access for a business or home for Internet. In these cases, there may be other computers or devices that need Internet access as well. With Internet connection sharing, these devices can connect to the Internet through the ethernet port of the primary computer. The computer can be set up as a router or bridge, using Internet connection sharing or connection bridging.

The easiest option is to use Internet Connection Sharing. Open your network connections in control panel, right-click the laptop card, select the advanced configuration, and use the advanced tab to set the checkbox marked “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.” Then, click on the settings box, and check all of the services that you want to share. If you don’t know, just check them all.

Internet Connection Sharing causes the primary computer to act just like a router. It will assign IP addresses on the local network to every device that you plug in. It is the easiest way, because you just turn it on and it works. In some cases, it may cause a problem for the device to be on a secondary network.

If a routing solution won’t work, you can build a bridge within the primary computer. Building a bridge still allows sharing, but the IP that comes through is the same IP that was assigned to the main device. The two devices share the same IP address. This one is good if you are at a location that connects through a menu, such as some coffee shops or hotels. If you have a plug-and-play device, it may lack a screen and keyboard for you to log in. If you add a bridge, the plug-and-play device will share the same IP that the computer already obtained.

The bridge can often be a problem. The wireless card will often refuse to cooperate, and you will end up having to do some geek work. To set up the bridge, control-click the connections you wish to bridge. Then select “Advanced” and “Bridge Connections”. It takes time to build the bridge, and much longer if you decide to delete it. Once it is set up, your secondary device should be able to share the same IP as your main device. If the wireless card in the main device won’t connect to the Internet, move on to the next step.

Open a command window, and type in netsh bridge show adapter This will show you the number of the wireless adapter. We want to force compatibility mode to enable for the wireless adapter. Assuming it is adapter 1, the command would be netsh bridge set a 1 e This is telling the system to set adapter 1 to enable. After this command, do the show command again to be sure that the change took. After this, your wireless connection should work.

This is great stuff, as long as you don’t expect it to work as fast as a router solution. If you are setting up a permanent home or office network, you may want to call your cellular company for a router recommendation. Expect to pay $100-$200 for a router that can use an air card for a WAN.

By: Greg Hency

Many Internet users own desktops but in the recent years, more and more people are now buying laptops instead of desktops. The configuration of laptops is different from desktops and these differences are quite prominent. The first thing that you should look for when you are buying a laptop is the battery life. Make sure that you buy a laptop that has a very long battery life so that you will be able to use wireless internet for a long time without charging it. Do not blindly trust what the manufacturers are telling you. You should do some research to find out about this. It will be useless to buy a laptop that can only last for a few hours.

The next thing that you should consider when you are out to buy a laptop, apart from wireless internet , is how much the laptop weighs. You should not get a laptop that is very heavy because if it is heavy then it will be lying on your desk most of the time instead of being mobile. If the equipment is too heavy then you will not want to carry it around with you.

A very important feature, other than wireless internet for laptop, which most buyers miss when they are buying a laptop, is the quality of the laptop’s build. You must be aware that laptops do not come cheap and many people try looking for cheap ones. On the other hand, if you buy a cheap one then the keys will begin to fall off or the case will begin to creak after some time. This is something that you do not want. You should never get a cheap laptop because the build quality is not going to be good and you cannot enjoy your laptop.

It is normal for all the laptops to have wireless internet for laptop networking technology. This is because wireless internet for laptop is more popular among laptops than among the desktops. When you get the laptop, make sure that you get a wireless internet for laptop connection so that you will be able to connect to the wireless internet for laptop anywhere and any time you want to.

By: Ofir Chai

D-Link has launched its portable router, mypocket DIR-457, a tiny wi-fi router that can use and distribuite a 3G Sim Mobile data connection. So this is a solution for users who move about a lot or those who have problems accessing Internet because of signal coverage. It’s useful also to connect Ipad to Internet if you do not own a 3G version of the Apple toy.This router allows to bring 3G speed connection to devices equipped with Wi-Fi, such as iPod Touch or Nintendo DS. In this way, you can download your favorite music from iTunes,or download applications and games, surf the web and share content.

Once the Sim-data from any operator providing 3G connection has been installed, myPocket can connect up to 16 people in wireless mode, while the rechargeable battery has a three-hour reserve and provided there are no obstructions the unit can transmit up to a maximum of 100 metres. Download speed for DIR-457 can reach 3.6 Mbps and uses wpa/wpa2 and firewall password protection.

It’s also equipped with a really handy slot for a micro-sd card so you can save and share files (such as picture, mp3, movies, games, text) within your own network. Microsd is a flashmemory cards, the smallest available commercially, that was originally invented by SanDisk, it measures about the size of a fingernail.

This portable router is convenient for traveling and it comes with an attractive traveling case which also provides accessories including cables and a power adapter. Discover how to get best wireless air card coverage for your router and how to extend home wireless coverage.

By: Valeria Ricci

The HP Compaq NC6320 laptop computer is a great option for those in the market for a high-end laptop computer. Specifically designed for business use the NC6320 comes packed full of features like a 15 inch wide screen monitor featuring a glare reduction coating, integrated broadband wireless internet card, and a super fast Intel Core Duo processor.

Weighing in at just over 6lbs the NC6320 is no lightweight, but with the amount of features it carries and the quality of the external case we feel this is a fair compromise. One of the many features that impressed our reviewers the most was the impressive battery life lasting nearly six hours of continuous use. When compared with competitors that barely last 4hrs the battery capacity of this laptop is second to none. We also enjoyed the one touch WiFi connectivity that made logging on to wireless networks hassle free.

Our reviewers appreciate this convenience because more then once we have spent the majority of our time searching for available networks and trying to connect rather then actually browsing the internet. Tack on addition features like a built in DVD / CDR and Bluetooth technology makes this laptop one of our top five picks for 2009. Additionally, if you want to hook up desktop speakers, printers, or a full size external mouse the multitude of USB ports and connectors make it easy to do. Paying just under $1800 for a laptop may give the average person a serious case of sticker shock, but those who demand quality and performance could pay substantially more for a laptop with fewer features then the NC6320.

By: Eric Herskowitz

Here’s what you need to know (and do) to connect your laptop to a wireless network and get Internet access.

First off, let’s talk common sense. Before you access any wireless network, especially one in a public place, you must have anti-virus software installed and up-to-date on your laptop. Your laptop should also be current with all Windows Operating System Updates.

That said, the next thing you need is to have a laptop with wireless networking capabilities. If you’re not sure whether yours does, do the following to check it out: Click on Start | Connect To | Show all connections, or Click on Start | Settings | (Control Panel) | Network Connections Under “LAN or High-Speed Internet” you should see a wireless connection icon. (If not, see below about installing a wireless network card). Assuming you have wireless capabilities, continue on doing the following: Right-click on the wireless connection icon. In the pop-up menu, select “View Available Wireless Networks.” In the “Wireless Networking Connection” window, click on the appropriate wireless network. Check the box that says “Allow me to connect to the selected wireless network.” An icon in the lower right hand corner of your desktop should eventually appear stating that you are connected. Open your browser and visit any website you want. If authentication is required on the wireless network, you will be redirected automatically to a login page where you’ll have to log in using an approved Network User Name/ID and the correct password.

That’s all it takes.

Note: If your laptop does not already have built-in wireless networking, you will need to purchase and install, or have installed, a Wireless Networking Card. There are many brands of wireless networking cards. Just make sure you buy a card that is 802.11b or 802.11g compatible. Linksys cards are an excellent choice and I recommend them highly. If you choose another brand, be certain that the card is WiFi Certified. (For a list of 802.11b and 802.11g certified cards, please visit the WiFi Alliance website.)

By: Ara Rubyan