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Showing posts from July, 2012

USB to Nokia Safe Charger

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USB to Nokia Safe Charger This simple project shows you how to make a USB powered Nokia cell phone charger. The advantage is that it weighs much less than the bulky AC adaptor, and can be used wherever you have a computer or a laptop. I use this thing all the time now! What do I mean by “safe charger”? Honestly I’m not sure. I’m just going on what I was able to infer from what I read off my multimeter. What I found was that the voltage across the nokia charge pins was rapidly fluctuating from Vdd to about 4 volts above Vdd.  It would not do to have ~9 volts injected into a 5 volt bus! Thankfully, all you need to do is stick a diode in there and that’s that. So the diode might not be needed, but it’s safe! Thus, “Safe Charger”. So far, it charges my phone just fine, but slightly slower than the wall wart that came with it. I think so, anyway. It’s hard to do any real comparison because I sacrificed my only nokia wall wart to make this charger. I live dangerously! DISCL

How to Improve WiFi Reception

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Warnings If you replace your router's firmware, it may void your warranty. If not done properly it can damage your router irreparably. If you turn the power up too high on a modified wireless router it may suffer permanent damage. Steps 1 Put large furniture along the exterior walls of your home . 2 Minimize mirrors . All metallic surfaces reflect WiFi signals, including the thin metal layer found in most mirrors. 3 Place your router in one of the following locations : Near the center of the house Off the floor, ideally on a high shelf As far as possible from your neighbor's Wi-Fi router (which, of course, you've made sure is using a different channel) Away from cordless phones and microwaves, which operate on the same 2.4-Ghz frequency.(There are some cordless phones that are Wi-Fi friendly) Keep antennas as far away from power cords and other computer wires as possible. Those cords and wires

How to Find the MAC Address of Your Computer

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Steps Windows Method 1 1 Click on the  Start  button . 2 Click on  Run . 3 Type  cmd  and press  Enter . 4 At the command prompt, type  ipconfig /all  and press  Enter . Don’t forget the space. 5 Look for  Physical Address . This your MAC address. Make sure you get the physical address of the correct network adapter - usually there are several listed. Windows Method 2 1 Connect to a network . This method is only applicable if you are currently connected. 2 Open  Network Connections . If you don’t have a desktop icon for this, find the connection icon in the taskbar (the lower right-hand corner of the Windows toolbar) and click on it to either bring up your current connection or a list of available networks. . 3 Right-click your connection and select  Status . 4 Click "Details" . Note that, in some v

How to Connect Two Wireless Routers Together

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How to Connect Two Wireless Routers Together This step-by-step guide describes how you can configure and connect two wireless routers together to extend the range of WiFi signal in your home network. If you wish to extend the range of your Wifi  network, you can purchase an additional wireless router and connect it to your existing router with an Ethernet cable. The setup is pretty easy, inexpensive and the best part is that your two routers need not have to be from the same manufacturer so, for example, you can easily connect your Linksys (Cisco) router to a router from say Netgear or Belkin.   For instance, I am using a 30m long Ethernet cable to connect my two routers – one is a Linksys WRT 160N (N based) and other one is a WRH54G (G based) and the setup works just perfect. How to Connect One Router to Another For this example, let’s assume that you have an OLD_ROUTER and a NEW_ROUTER. Step a: Make sure your old router is working. Connect the Broadband modem to

How to Create a Wireless Network

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Things You'll Need Wireless adapter/modem/receiver (internal or external) Wireless access point/router/transmitter/hub/switch (always external) only necessary if you need to do more than communicate between two PCs in your house. A way to write down your passwords Before You Get Started 1   A boxed wireless router Understand the difference between town-wide wireless broadband (IEEE 802 .16/WiMAX/Mobile broadband) and a home wireless network (IEEE 802.11) . This article deals only with the latter, generally known as WiFi (which requires no subscription, no roof aerial, and no roof-mounted dish). Wireless routers are variously known as gateways, access points, transmitters, hubs and switches. They are generally external and will be known as routers for this article. Wireless adapters are also known as modems or receivers and can be internal or external. Setting Up the Network 1 Get a router . To create wireless network you need a wi