Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

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Issue 623 •19January–1February 2022

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ONSALE

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2

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OnsaleWednesda y2February

LearneverythingNEWthatyoucando

HOWTOMASTER

WINDOWS11

• •Free at last!
  Whatyounolonger have to pay
  foronline


• •Draw&writeonyour tablet
  Getthe rightstylus foryour needs

WHICHDEVICESARECOMPATIBLEWITHWI-FI 6?

We’vealreadyshownyouhowtoadd
Wi-Fi6toanoldcomputer,butyouwon’t
needtodothisifyourmachinehasthe
technologybuiltin–followourWorkshop
belowtocheck.Almostallnewlaptops
haveWi-Fi6,alongwithmanyofthe
latestdesktopPCs.Wealwaysincludea
device’sWi-FistandardinitsSpecifications
atthebottomofreviews,socheckthose
carefullybeforebuying.Wi-Fi 6 isso
powerfulthatwe’llplacemoreweighton
itinourreviewsinfuture.

Phones,tabletsandprinters
ManynewphonescomewithWi-Fi
6too,includingtheHonor5 0 (£ 400
fromwww.snipca.com/4 0350 ),
whichwegaveaRecommended
awardinIssue 622 (page26).

Google’s newPixel 6 phone(seereview

Issue6 20 ,page 2 8, picturedbelowleft)

evenhasWi-Fi6E,whichexpands

thestandardtoincludethe 6 GHz

band–asexplainedonpage56.

Tabletmanufacturersarealso

addingthetechnology.Lenovo,for

example,builtitintotheYogaTab 13

(£ 650 fromwww.snipca.com/4 0132 ,

picturedabove),whichwegavea

WORKSHOPCheckifyourcomputerhasWi-Fi 6

1

PresstheWindowskey,typedevice

andlaunchDeviceManagerfromthe

menu.Scrolldownto‘Networkadapters’

andclickthe>totheleftofthesection

title,thencheckthedetailsofyour

wirelessadapter.Here,oursisshownto

bean8 02 .11acdevice^1 ,whichisWi-Fi5.

If it supportedWi-Fi6,it shouldinstead

show8 02 .11ax.

3

Scrolldownthepropertiesscreenuntil

youseetheProtocolentry,alongside

whichWindowswilldetailthekindof

networktowhichyou’reconnected.Here,

we’reusingaWi-Fi 5 network^1 .Thiswill

allowustogain themaximumbenefit

fromtheWi-Fi5componentsinour

laptop,butwouldn’t bethemost

appropriatechoiceifwehadaccessto a

Wi-Fi6networkandourcomputer had

thenecessaryWi-Fi6componentsinside

or pluggedinviaadongle.

2

If yourPCdoesn’tsupportWi-Fi6,you

canupgrade it usingaUSBdongle(see

Workshop onpage 54 ). However, if it does

support8 02 .11ax–oryou’veperformedthe

upgrade–you needtomakesureyou’re

connectedtoaWi-Fi6network.Tocheck,

open Settings(pressWindowskey+I),then

click‘Network&Internet’. Click‘Wi-Fi’ on

theleft,thenclickthepropertiesbuttonfor

thenetworktowhichyou’recurrently

connected^1.

Recommendedaward in Issue621 (page

24). It also come swithMicrosoft’s

Surface Go 3(seeour reviewinIssue 619,

page 23), whilefor iPads, visitApple’ssite

(www.snipca.com/40575)and look under

the802.11a xheading. You’ll also need

printers wi th Wi-Fi6,suchasBrother ’s

DCP-J1140DW(£135 f romwww.snipca.

com/39967,picture dabove), whichiso ur

newfavourite printer (see page 32).

WI-FI 6

WHYYOUMUST

UPGRADETO

Ournewfavouriteprinter,Brother’s DCP-

Lenovo’s newYogaTab 1 3comeswithWi-Fi6 J1 140 DW,supportsWi-Fi6

1

(^11)
Google’s Pixel6has Wi-Fi6E, which
workswiththe 6GHz band