What does 4G mean and what’s next?
"4G" is advertised by many mobile phone providers and is an indicator of how fast the connection speeds are on mobile phones and tablets. 4G actually stands for 4th generation cellular network hardware. Implementing 4G has been a revolutionary mark for providers. The hardware and software required to obtain speeds that should be able to reach as high as 20 mb/s when completely implemented. The technology for the speeds varies based on which provider you ask.
The most common term is LTE, which stands for Long Term Evolution. Another software, known as WiMax, which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is comparable to LTE and also enhances speeds that rival common Internet Providers as it compares to current Wi-Fi speeds. You may also hear about HSPA+, which stands for High-Speed Packet Access, and is really a glorified improvement to 3G connections under the mask of 4G speeds but has potential to reach the same speeds when the full hardware is rolled out by providers.
With all these advances technological terms you really probably only want to know what the best deal for your money is and where you can get the fastest speeds. Coverage for 4G networks is limited by provider and typically only available in larger cities, although it is expanding and expected to reach more areas as its popularity increases.
Since the rage is all about 4G you may be wondering what comes after this. Well, technically it will be 5G but really shouldn't be a concern at the moment. 4G still needs to expand to cover more areas and customers and once coverage is expanded it needs to be perfected to allow devices to get optimal speeds. It still has a long way to go before it can be utilized by the mainstream mobile phone user, but has significant potential to replace primary internet providers.
Wireless modems vs wireless hotspots
More and more, we are getting used to the idea of being able to access the Internet no matter where we are. With the spread of smart phones and tablet devices, coupled with the ever-expanding 3G and 4G wireless networks, it seems like people are constantly connected. However, while you can always rely on 3G and 4G outside of your home, you also have to figure out what kind of wireless connection best suits your home environment. Basically, there are two options: you can purchase a wireless internet hotspot, or invest in a wireless modem, and both will keep you connected inside of your home. The following is a brief comparison (based on data from wirelessinternet.net) to help you choose between the two, if you are looking to set up your home with a wireless network.
Wireless Modem – If your home has already had a wireless Internet connection for a few years, you are likely using a wireless modem. These are the popular modems you have likely seen in people’s houses that are usually about the size of a book, with small antennae and a plug that goes into a normal outlet. The downside of these machines is that they do have to be plugged into a home outlet, meaning that they provide wireless connection within your home, but no further, and they are not portable. However, they do provide quick and reliable wireless internet connection for multiple devices at once.
Wireless Hotspot – Perhaps an increasingly common tool for wireless Internet service, the main benefit of a wireless hotspot is that it is portable, usually pocket-sized. These hotspots bring you a wireless connection using the 3G and 4G networks, meaning that you will be able to connect wherever these networks are present. For many people, this portability is the most important feature of a wireless internet provider. However, because of its smaller size and dependence on the 3G and 4G wireless networks, a wireless hotspot has limits in terms of data storage; also, it does need to be charged from time to time.
There is not necessarily a right answer between these two different wireless providers. But before you invest in one or the other, it is prudent to do a bit more research and figure out for certain which one will better suit your needs. The above comparison lists the basics for you, but you may want to give a closer look to the similarities and differences between them, and the benefits that each one offers. Either way, you will soon be connected to a quick and reliable wireless network.
Disabling Zimbra View Mail Button on Administrator Console
I've been searching for a solution to disable the "View Mail" button in Zimbra's Administrator control panel. I think this "View Mail" button is not necessary and further more it is privacy breach as administrator can see all emails inside an email account.
The new version 6.0 Network Edition seems to be able to do that as it already has Role Based delegation. However, since there are only less than 10 persons that going to use the mail server, I don't think NE edition is necessary for me.
Currently I'm testing the open source edition of Zimbra 6.0 and have been looking at its code, but unfortunately I can't find a way to disable or at least hide that "View Mail" button.
I joined the Zimbra forum and shoot a question there but it seems the community has no idea either on how to disable it. Zimbra is open source so I think it should be able to be modified, it just a matter of removing a button from its GUI, it's not changing the functionality of its core code.
I'll spend some more time to investigate on how to do this and post the result on next blog post.
Install rTorrent Using CURL in Different Path on Centos Linux
After I posted an article titled "Installing libTorrent and rTorrent on Linux Centos" one of my reader have a concern about dependencies as Centos already have older Curl installed by default.
One way to avoid dependencies problem with Curl is by compiling the newest version to another directory and then compile rTorrent to use that Curl installation and not the old Curl installed by default on Centos. Below is the step-by-step how to install rTorrent with Curl installed in another directory:
Installing Squid NT on Windows 7
Squid is a caching proxy server that can help reduce internet bandwidth usage and improving response time of loading a website by caching and re-using frequently opened web page. Squid reduce the bandwidth usage and accelerate the website loading by caching static website objects such as images, flash objects and text files, with some modification Squid can cache larger files such as PDF, MP3, executables, flash videos, etc.
Installing TinyProxy as Squid Proxy Server Alternative
Tinyproxy is a light-weight HTTP proxy daemon for POSIX operating systems. It is distributed using the GNU GPL license version 2 or above, so we can download it and install it on our Linux server freely.
Tinyproxy is a light-weight alternative for the well known Squid proxy server. It’s really memory efficient so it will run perfectly fine in small VPS (Virtual Private Server) and being used for several users. Several features of Tinyproxy are:
- Small footprint: Tinyproxy requires very little in the way of system resources. The memory footprint tends to be around 2 MB with glibc, and the CPU load increases linearly with the number of simultaneous connections (depending on the speed of the connection). Thus, Tinyproxy can be run on an older machine, or on a network appliance such as a Linux-based broadband router, without any noticeable impact on performance.
- Minimal requirements: Tinyproxy doesn't require anything more than a POSIX environment to build and operate. It can use additional libraries to add functionality though.
- Easily modified: If you're looking to build a custom web proxy, Tinyproxy is very easy to modify to your custom needs. The source is straightforward, adhering to the KISS principle. As such, it can be used as a foundation for anything you may need a web proxy to do.
- Anonymous mode: Allows you to specify which HTTP headers should be allowed through, and which should be blocked. This allows you to restrict both what data comes to your web browser from the HTTP server (eg., cookies), and to restrict what data is allowed through from your web browser to the HTTP server (eg., version information).
- Remote monitoring: Using the remote monitoring feature, you can access proxy statistics from afar, letting you know exactly how busy the proxy is.
- Load average monitoring: Tinyproxy can be configured to watch the load average on most platforms, and start refusing requests when the load reaches a certain point. You may recognize this feature from Sendmail.
- Access control: You can configure Tinyproxy to only allow requests from a certain subnet, or from a certain interface, thus allowing you to ensure that random, unauthorized people will not be using your proxy.
- Secure: With a bit of configuration (specifically, making the log file owned by nobody and running it on a port > 1024), Tinyproxy can be made to run without any special privileges, thus minimizing the chance of system compromise. Furthermore, it was designed with an eye towards preventing buffer overflows. The simplicity of the code ensures it remains easy to spot such bugs.
Squid NT on Windows 7
I wrote an tutorial article for Talk Web Id on how to install Squid Web Cache on Windows 7. It have step-by-step tutorial beginning with downloading the Squid zip package until setting the browser to use the proxy server. You can read the article here: http://www.talk.web.id/2009/08/installing-squid-web-proxy-server-on-windows-7/
Squid Transparent Proxy Server on Windows Server 2003
In this article I’ll talk on how to setup a transparent proxy on Windows Server 2003 using Squid NT. Squid NT is a port from Linux base proxy server called Squid. I have successfully installed and configured Squid transparent proxy on Windows Server and here is how I do it.
Installing Squid NT is very easy, first you can download Squid NT here, and then you can follow my old tutorial here: http://markus.revti.com/2007/06/installing-squid-cache-for-windows/
Although installing Squid NT is easy, however configuring transparent proxy on Windows version of Squid is a bit tricky as Squid NT have its limitation. From Squid NT website it’s stated: “Transparent Proxy: missing Windows non commercial interception driver”.