TechLife Australia – September 2019

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WI-FIHOTSPOTSARESAFEIF

PASSWORD-PROTECTED

NotallWi-Fihotspotsemploy

WPA2-PSKencryption,evenif protected

bya password.Neversurfona public

Wi-Fihotspotwithouta VPN–

Windscribe(windscribe.com) offers

10GBmonthlybandwidthforfree.

5GHZWI-FIISALWAYSBETTER

THAN2.4GHZ

5GHznetworksaremuchfasterwhen

you’reclosetotherouter,but2.4GHz

networkshavegreaterreachand

performbetteratrange.

IT’SEASYTOFINDDEVICES

CAUSINGINTERFERENCE

Interferencecanemanatefromallkinds

ofsources– evendefectiveballastson

fluorescentlightscancauseRF

interference.

THEINTERNETONLYSLOWS

DOWNDURINGPEAKHOURS

If you’rea heavyinternetuser–

particularlywithcertaintypesoftraffic

• thenyoumayperiodicallyfallfoulof
  yourISP’sfairusepolicy,evenif your
  planoffersunlimiteddownloads.When
  thishappens,yourconnectionmaybe
  temporarilythrottled.

DISABLINGSSIDHIDESYOUR

WI-FINETWORK

Evenif youstopyournetwork

broadcastingitsSSID(thenameyou

givea Wi-Finetwork),hackerscanstill

easilydetectit usingsoftware–

andmanycomputerscanstilldetect

thepresenceofa networkevenif it’s

notnamed.

NETWORKINGMYTHS

DISSPELLED

Common network issues

FIVE PROBLEMS THAT OFTEN AFFLICT HOME NETWORKS, DISCUSSED AND SOLVED.

APPLE REMOVED BACK to My Mac

from macOS Mojave, so you’ll need a

third-party solution to give you access to

your Mac – and any of its files – while you’re

on the road. If you’re looking for a free (for

personal use) alternative, try AnyDesk.

Download the Mac version from anydesk.

com and open the disk image; double-click

the AnyDesk icon inside it, then click

‘Install AnyDesk on this computer’ and wait

a moment.

After the app reopens, make a note of the

AnyDesk-Address, then go to AnyDesk >

Preferences > Security and choose ‘Unlock

security settings’. After entering your

account password, set Interactive Access to

‘Allow always’ then tick ‘Enable unattended

access’; you’ll need to set a password here.

Going forward, whenever your Mac is on,

connected to the internet and running

AnyDesk, you’ll be able to connect to it

from other computers, plus your iPhone or

iPad, for remote control purposes.

If your want to connect to a

PC that’s not on the standard

workgroup, you’ll need to

add it.

Connect to Windows PCs

Back to My Mac replacement

TO SHARE FILES to and from PCs, go to ; >

System Preferences > Sharing and tick File

Sharing, then click Options. Make sure ‘Share

files and folders using SMB’ is ticked. Tick your

own username below only if you’re going to

access your Mac’s storage from a PC.

Click Done.

If your PCs aren’t using the standard

WORKGROUP name, go to your Mac’s

Network prefs, then click the Locations pop-up

menu and choose Edit Locations. Select

Automatic, click the gear button and choose

Duplicate Location. Rename this and click

Done. Now click Advanced > WINS tab. Click

+ under WINS Servers and enter your router’s

IP address. Next, click the Workgroup pop-up

menu and type the name of your workgroup.

Click OK followed by Apply, then restart

your Mac.

If your PC doesn’t show up in Finder under

Shared, press command-K. Type smb://pcname

or smb://192.168.x.y, substituting 192.168.x.y

with your PC’s IP address to see if you can

connect manually. Enter your PC’s username

(minus the @email.com bit if it’s a Microsoft

account) and password when prompted.

If your Mac isn’t showing up under Network

in Windows, try typing \\MAC-MINI

(substitute MAC-MINI with its NetBIOS name,

as recorded under the WINS tab above) or

\\192.168.x.y (your Mac’s IP address) to

gain access.

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