February 3rd 2008 Mac Maintenance Sunday with Steve Stanger

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Open Source Typical Mac User Live

 

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-- INTRO:

 

Welcome to the Typical Mac User Live show. My name is Victor Cajiao and I am your host this evening. My regular Podcast Typical Mac User Podcast can be found at www.typicalmacuser.com and that shows is released bi weekly on Tuesday nights and Sunday nights.

 

 

 

If you are listening to the Talkshoe stream and want to be an interactive part of the show. All you have to do is sign up for Talkshoe at www.talkshoe.com (It's free) and get an ID

 

The you can Call Phone Number: (724) 444-7444

Talkcast ID: 3097 you will be asked top put in your talkcast ID and then you can put in the number you choose for your talkcast ID.

 

I also want to mention that with all the video content that has been coming out almost daily from me some of you may not have all that content. If you want it go to iTunes and hit the Podcast icon, now go to the listing for the Typical Mac User podcast and use the GET button to download any shows or videos you have not seen.  I know that many of you probably have not listened to the  Steve Wozniak interview , so go over and catch up.

 

 

 

 

Let's hear from our Sponsor Ambrosia Software

 

 

 

 

 

 

This evening I have a very special co host Steve Stanger who is the host of the Mac Attack Podcast http://themacattack.us/. Steve and I get togetehr once a month and focus on tips and tricks to keep your Mac running great and what to do when it's not. So Steve welcome. Tonight the focus is on all things networking.

 

 

 

 

 

Definitions(or some of what you'll see when you start to dig around in the 'Network' preference pane):

 

Caution: Those of you who like to "follow along" - Don't apply any changes to network settings during the show. You may lose your Internet connection for a few seconds, which may disconnect you from the show stream and chat and Victor and I want you to stick around for the whole thing.... :-)

 

  • IP Address: is a unique address that networkable devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other over a network.

 

  • Router: A network device that forwards data from one network to another. For example - from your home network to the Internet and from the Internet to a web server and back again. Internet packets (data) pass through many routers along the way.

 

NOTE: On a wireless router be sure to change the default user name and password. Also change the routers default SSID.

 

  • Firewall: software or hardware device for keeping a computer and / or network secure from intruders. A firewall allows or blocks traffic into and out of a private network or the user's computer.

 

  • DNS Server (Domain Name system): dedicated server or a service on a server that provides DNS name resolution in an IP network. It turns names for Web sites into numeric IP addresses. Translates human-readable computer hostnames, i.e www.example.com, into the IP addresses.

 

  • TCP/IP: A protocol for communication between computers, used as a standard for transmitting data over networks and as the basis for standard Internet protocols.

 

  • Ethernet: Used to connect computers in a company or home network as well as to connect a single computer to a cable modem or DSL modem for Internet access.

 

  • Wi-Fi (airport): High-frequency wireless local area network

 

  • WAP: (Wi-Fi Protected Access ) - designed to enhance the security of wireless networks. Created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, W.E.P. (or WEP)

 

  • WEP: (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - Older wi-fi security algorithm. A WEP connection can be cracked with readily available software within minutes.

 

 

---- (Victor, if it looks like we are running a little long we can cut here and move to the troubleshooting section) ----

 

 

  • NAT: (Network Address Translation) converts private IP addresses (IP's of from your home network) to public IP addresses for the Internet. NAT adds a level of security because it keeps your internal IP addresses private. NAT is the reason why you can share your single internet connection with multiple computers on your home network.

 

  • SSID: (Service Set IDentifier) The name assigned to a wireless Wi-Fi network. Remeber: the SSID is case-sensitive

 

  • MAC address: (Media Access Control address) - A unique serial number that identifies that network card. All networkable devices have at least one MAC address. Each network interface has it's own MAC address (i.e On your Mac - one MAC address for your Ethernet and another for your Aiport card and another for the firewire interface).

 

  • Subnet Mask: (Simple Answer) - A subnet mask is a way of telling your computer or router what network addresses it can consider local and which are remote.

 

 

 

General Network Troubleshooting:

 

  • Check for loose Ethernet and power cables, are they plugged in all the way? Check the lights on your modem & router, if your router has lights.

 

  • Power cycle your router and modem (unplug, wait 30 seconds) plug back in. Many times both the router and modem need to be cycled together.

 

  • Utilize Network Utility ('Applications' folder > 'Utilities' folder > 'Network Utility' app)

 

'Info' tab - use pull down menu to select network interface. Most current Macs will show three network interfaces - Ethernet port, Wireless Network Adapter, FireWire. View IP Address an Link Speed here.

 

'Ping' tab - ping local host (your own computer, a.k.a loopback address) 127.0.0.1. This is a good test to determine if the internal circuitry of the network interface is functioning.

 

You can also ping web sites by URL. You can also ping a URL and see what the IP address for the URL is.

 

NOTE: Not the perfect test of connectivity from you to a server on the Internet due to the fact that many servers are set up not to return pings.

 

'Traceroute' tab - running a traceroute can determine what "hop" between you and a server may be slowing things down between you and a remote server. (Even after finding out who the culprit is there's still nothing you can do about it. This will show you that it is not necessarily something on your computer causing the network slow down.)

 

 

 

Lets hear from our Second Sponser (If I have one)

 

 

 

 

Problems staying connected wirelessly:

 

  • Check the number of 'bars' (Four bars, strongest signal).

 

  • Move wireless router for better coverage and/or adjust antennas (if your router has them).

 

You can also use an application like iStumbler (http://www.istumbler.net/) to see your signal strength and if you have a Mac laptop you can (carefully) navigate your home or office to find out where the signal starts to degrade. This can be helpful in determining the placement of your wireless router or access point.

 

NOTE: it's really not recommended that you walk around with an open laptop - BE CAREFUL!

 

  • If you are having problems staying connected Wirelessly try setting up a wireless location on your Mac. To do so, go to the 'Network' preferences pane and set up a location that is set up just to use your Airport card. Remove or uncheck all other listed network interfaces. (The interface to do this differs between Tiger and Leopard).

 

By default, Mac OS X has one location named Automatic, and all available Internet interfaces are turned on. 'Network interface' may be a Ethernet, AirPort card, firewire or other device used to connect to the Internet. Apple says that the name Automatic is to remind you that Mac OS X automatically searches all active network ports for your connection to the Internet.

 

The reason for setting up a specific location for your network is that sometimes the Mac gets confused as to what network interface it should use. But from what I understand this isn't totally Apple's fault. Some routers may contribute to this issue. I never got a definite answer to as which routers or why? But this fix works. This was more of an issue in 10.3 and 10.4. I haven't heard of this or experienced this issue in Leopard.

 

(Search 'Help' from with in the 'Network' preference pane for "Adding a network location" for more info for your specific version of the OS).

 

 

 

Helpful Links:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHOW ENDING:

 

 

Well I want to thank Steve Stanger from the Mac Attack Podcast http://themacattack.us/ for being with ust tonight. You definetly want to subscribe to his podcast and listen to each episode and some of the past ones. I sure do.

 

Next Sunday at 8PM Easter my co host the CEO Of the Omni Group XX Case. We are going to dicuss all of the Omni group applicaitons and open the floor for your questions to him.

 

 

 

The Typical Mac User Podcast can be found at www.typicalmacuser.com and that shows is released weekly on Tuesday nights. This show will be release in my sream late tonight. If you haven't subscribed to that show yet, head over to the web site at www.typicalmacuser.com and hit the ONE BUTTON iTunes subscription.

 

For now this is your Host Victor Cajiao saying, enjoy the rest of your Sunday

 

 

When adding, put a star "*" and space " " before items.

Use hyphens "-" to cross items out

 

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