Find a Network Term Most Popular Tutorials The most daunting part of upgrading to Windows Vista may be trying to figure out where in the layers of menus the networking and file-sharing options are hidden. It may not be something you do everyday, but having the supplies and know-how to whip up a network cable on the spot can be very handy. Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router — and by extension, your network — is as secure as possible. Most Popular Reviews If you have a home network, you'll welcome the easy file sharing, remote access and the image-based backup features of Windows Home Server.

Iomega's fourth generation StorCenter Network Hard Drive brings many of the features found in higher-end storage devices down to an attractive price. This free tool delivers many of the same capabilities that you'd find in pricey network monitoring tools. As long as you don't mind tinkering, The Dude is a decent network utility that should be worth the download. Some ISPs (most notably MediaOne) use your NIC's MAC address to authenticate your service. When you change the computer that you have connected to your cable modem service, you usually have to call up Tech Support and give them the MAC address of the NIC in the new machine. Since hardware routers have the equivalent of a NIC on their WAN port in order to connect to your cable modem, you would have to do the same thing if you're installing a router. Recently, however, some ISPs have started to recognize the MAC addresses of popular routers and disconnect service if a router is detected.

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Fortunately, many router manufacturers are including the capability to either set the router WAN port MAC address to anything you want, or copy it from a computer connected to the router LAN side. You can check the Router comparison chart under 'Mac addr. Clone' to see which routers support this feature. Then consult the router's documentation for directions on using the feature. If you use the feature, make sure you copy the MAC address from the computer that was used when your cable modem service was installed.

You can find the MAC address by using the winipcfg command in Win95 & 98, ipconfig command in Win NT, and the Info Button on the TCP/IP Control Panel on a MacOS machine. Look for 'Adapter Address', 'MAC address', 'Hardware Address', or a number containing six pair of Hexadecimal digits such as: 03-EF-DF-5D-3E-23. After you set the new address, you'll probably need to power down your router, power cycle your cable modem, then power up your router in order to properly connect to your ISP.