Unified Comms
Cloud Services
SurfEDGE
Managed Security
Inbound Voice
Wireless Solutions
Access Solutions
Consultancy
Training
What is WirelessEdge Broadband Internet?
WirelessEdge broadband Internet is a high-speed connection to the Internet, which is always on. WirelessEdge broadband is delivered via an external Antenna, fitted to the side of your property.
WirelessEdge offers a range of 3 services, with speeds from 512kbps to 1Mb. At speeds upto 20 times faster than dial-up connections (narrowband) this is an ideal service for online-gaming, on-line shopping, VPN to work, integration to X.10 devices and access to educational web sites with quick downloads.
back to top
What does an "always on" service mean?
Always on means that broadband is a permanent connection to the Internet. A broadband connection lets you access the Internet from the minute you switch on your computer. A broadband connection is different to a narrowband connection as you don't need to 'dial up' using a standard modem connection. You can control outgoing and incoming access to your broadband connection if you install personal firewall software.
back to top
What about security?
We make every effort possible to keep our network secure. However, we do recommend that you use personal firewall software to secure your own connection to the Internet. You are responsible for your own security while online.
back to top
Can I access my company VPN(Virtual Private Network)?
Yes you can. We have quite a number of customers who access their corporate VPN and we are fully compatible with it (unlike certain other 'big brand' ISPs!).
back to top
What is a Firewall?
A firewall sits between your computer and the rest of the Internet, filtering out unwanted traffic and foiling attempts to interfere with or take over your computer. Firewalls can be separate devices, which is very common today, or simply pieces of software for your own computer, which is also fairly common. Separate firewall devices are often preferable because their very simplicity makes them less likely to have unknown security problems; however, it is still important to keep up with "firmware updates" released by the manufacturer; otherwise your firewall may be vulnerable to attack. "Cable/DSL routers" and similar devices sold by companies like Linksys provide simple firewall capabilities, which are adequate for most home users.
back to top
Can I catch a virus from a web page?
Yes, in several ways. While in principle the web is designed to be safe, security flaws are sometimes uncovered in web browser software, and unscrupulous people have been known to exploit them. Fortunately, there are three major steps you can take to protect yourself effectively:
Do NOT click "yes" or "OK" when asked if you wish to install extra software or "Active-X controls" when you visit a web page, unless you have come to a company's web site specifically to download software, or you are installing something well-known and reasonably trustworthy such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, Macromedia Flash Player or RealPlayer. If you know what you are doing and have up-to-date antivirus software, you can install optional programs, but NEVER agree to the requests of dialog boxes that pop up asking you to install extra software when visiting a completely unrelated web site. Install the frequently required plug-ins mentioned above; they cover most situations in which optional software is needed. Naively agreeing to install useless and dangerous Active-X controls is the most common way for a virus or other unwanted software to infect your computer from a web page. Internet Explorer users with Microsoft Windows: run Windows Update frequently or automatically. See the Microsoft Windows Update page. When Microsoft is made aware of security holes in Internet Explorer that could allow a program to install itself without the user agreeing to it, they provide security fixes in this way. If you do not get these updates, your computer WILL be vulnerable, even if you refuse to install Active-X controls.
Install quality antivirus software, and ALLOW IT TO FETCH AUTOMATIC UPDATES. If your antivirus software icon is blinking at you, it is probably asking your permission to go fetch crucial updates you must keep its protection up to date; click the icon and answer those prompts. Symantec offers Norton Antivirus, and McAfee Security also provides a quality antivirus program. Good Windows antivirus software is not free. If you must run Windows, it is something you will have to pay for.
Although this FAQ is not really about email programs, it is worth mentioning that most viruses exploit similar problems with email software. If you must use Outlook Express, be sure to use Windows Update as mentioned above. Never open attachments unless you clearly understand their importance -- even if you know the sender, there is an excellent chance that their computer is infected, and has sent you a copy of a virus after pillaging the sender's address book. Install quality antivirus software and keep it up to date as mentioned above.
back to top
What is a Username?
A username is a name that identifies you to your ISP. This is similar to your bank account number. It is unique to you and forms your account. The username also forms your e-mail address. E.g.: username@wec.com. (There is currently no username required for access to the Internet.)
back to top
What is a Password?
A password is a name or group of numbers that you use to provide a secure connection to your ISP. This is similar to your PIN for your bank account. Both the username and password should be kept secret and not shared around, since you are responsible for these. We recommend you change this regularly and to a non-dictionary word or term. (There is currently no password required for access to the Internet).
back to top
What is E-mail?
E-mail or Electronic mail is a software application that lets you send messages or small files to other people who have E-mail accounts. E-mail is like writing a letter, placing it in an envelope addressing it then dropping it off at the post office. With E-mail all you do is connect to the Internet, open your E-mail software (normally part of your browser) click on mail, and new message. You have to address the E-mail in the same way you address a letter. Then you click on send and the E-mail is sent. WEC currently support SMTP relay so new users can keep their original POP3 and SMTP Servers if required.
back to top
So what is my E-mail address?
Your E-mail address could be your username@yahoo.co.uk. To send an e-mail to a friend you need to know what their E-mail address is. The best way to do this is to give them your e-mail address and ask them to send you an E-mail.
back to top
What is FTP?
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and it is used for uploading and downloading files. (In plain English, it's the way to send and receive programs or documents of any type between computers.)
back to top
What is an URL?
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. An URL is what you use to search for things on the Internet. (In plain English, it's a web page address.) E.g. www.wirelessedge.net. Types of URLs include: file://pathname = File stored on your local computer's hard drive, ftp://hostname/pathname = File on an FTP server, http://hostname/pathname = World Wide Web page, mailto:address = Email, telnet://hostname:port = Telnet to a site.
back to top
What is a web browser?
When you sit down and look at web pages, you are using a web browser. This is the piece of software that communicates with web servers for you via the HTTP protocol, translates HTML pages and image data into a nicely formatted on-screen display, and presents this information to your eyeballs -- or to your other senses, in the case of browsers for the vision-impaired and other alternative interface technologies. Web browsers also appear in simpler devices such as Internet-connected cell phones, like many Nokia models, and PDAs such as the Palm Pilot.
The most common web browser, by a large margin, is Microsoft Internet Explorer, followed by the open-source Mozilla browser and its derivatives, including Netscape 6.0 and later. Apple's new Safari browser is gaining popularity on Macintoshes running MacOS X, and the Opera shareware browser has a loyal following among those who are willing to pay for the fastest browser possible, especially on older computers. The Lynx browser is the most frequently used text-only browser and has been adapted to serve the needs of the vision-impaired.
back to top
What are web pages?
Every web site is made up of one or more web pages -- like the one you are looking at right now! This text is part of a web page, and is written in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to text with hyperlinks, tables, and other formatting, web pages can also contain images. Less commonly, web pages may contain Flash animations, Java applets, or MPEG video files. For more information and an example, see the HTML entry.
back to top
What are top-level domains?
Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are the last part of every domain name. In other words, the top-level domains are .com, .org, .edu, .uk, .net, and so on.
There are two types of top-level domains: two-letter country domains, such as .uk (United Kingdom), and three-letter domains, such as .com, .org, and .net. National domain names follow the ISO 3166 standard two-letter codes for each country. The International Standards Organization adds new two-letter codes to the ISO 3166 list when the United Nations publishes an updated bulletin of country and region codes. You can learn more about this on the web site of the International Standards Organization.
Once a two-letter code has been assigned, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority then identifies the responsible authority within that country that should be permitted to register subdomains within that country's domain. Some national domains, such as .tv (Tuvalu, a small island in the Pacific), have become available for commercial registration.
"Generic" domains, such as .com, .org, .edu and .net, are created and overseen by the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). The original generic domains were .com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org. Additional top-level domains added in recent years are .biz, .info, .name, .pro, .aero, .coop, and .museum.
Any entity can register a domain in .com, .net, .biz, .info, and .org, although .org is typically used by nonprofit organizations and .net is typically used by Internet Service Providers. .aero is reserved for the international aviation community, .coop is reserved for cooperative businesses, .museum is reserved for museums, .name is reserved for individuals, and .pro is reserved for "licensed professionals," such as lawyers, doctors and accountants.
back to top
What is a web server?
Web servers are the computers that actually run web sites. The term "web server" also refers to the piece of software that runs on those computers, accepting HTTP connections from web browsers and delivering web pages and other files to them, as well as processing form submissions. The most common web server software is Apache, followed by Microsoft Internet Information server; many, many other web server programs also exist.
back to top
What is HTML?
HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, is a simple markup language used to make web pages. Although all modern word processors and many specialized tools can be used to make web pages without learning HTML at all, learning HTML itself is a useful way to learn more about the web and provides more control over the results. Luckily, HTML is very simple and quite easy to learn.
back to top
What is a hyperlink?
Every time you click on a link on a web page, such as the link you may have clicked on to reach this page, you are following a hyperlink. See also the URL entry.
back to top
What is HTTP?
In order to fetch a web page for you, your web browser must "talk" to a web server somewhere else. When web browsers talk to web servers, they speak a language known as HTTP, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This language is actually very simple and understandable and is not difficult for the human eye to follow.
A Simple HTTP Example
The browser says:
GET / HTTP/1.0
Host: www.wirelessedge.net
And the server replies:
HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Content-Type: text/html
<head>
<title>Welcome to WirelessEdge Communications!</title>
</head>
<body>
The rest WirelessEdge Communications home page appears here
</body>
The first line of the browser's request, GET / HTTP/1.0, indicates that the browser wants to see the home page of the site, and that the browser is using version 1.0 of the HTTP protocol. The second line, Host: www.wirelessedge.net, indicates the web site that the browser is asking for. This is required because many web sites may share the same IP address on the Internet and be hosted by a single computer. The Host: line was added a few years after the original release of HTTP 1.0 in order to accommodate this.
The first line of the server's reply, HTTP/1.0 200 OK, indicates that the server is also speaking version 1.0 of the HTTP protocol, and that the request was successful. If the page the browser asked for did not exist, the response would read HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found. The second line of the server's reply, Content-Type: text/html, tells the browser that the object it is about to receive is a web page. This is how the browser knows what to do with the response from the server. If this line were Content-Type: image/png, the browser would know to expect a PNG image fle rather than a web page, and would display it accordingly.
A modern web browser would say a bit more using the HTTP 1.1 protocol, and a modern web server would respond with a bit more information, but the differences are not dramatic and the above transaction is still perfectly valid; if a browser made a request exactly like the one above today, it would still be accepted by any web server, and the response above would still be accepted by any browser. This simplicity is typical of most of the protocols that grew up around the Internet.
back to top
How do I translate web pages?
The major search engines have offered a web page translation service for some time now. Specifically, Google Language Tools provide a way to translate any web page between any of several languages. Use the "translate a web page:" option on that page.
back to top
How do I do research on the Web?
Start with a search engine; type in your question, or the most important words of your question. As of this writing, Google remains by far the most effective search engine, and the majority of all web searches are done through Google or a search engine that is "powered by" Google.
back to top
How do I erase my browsing history?
In Internet Explorer, follow these steps:
1. Make the following sequence of menu choices:
Tools -> Options -> Internet Options -> General
2. Click "Delete Files," then "OK."
3. Click "Delete Cookies," then "OK."
4. Click "Clear History," then "Yes."
In Netscape or Mozilla, follow these steps:
1. Make the following sequence of menu choices:
Edit -> Preferences -> History
2. Click "Clear History"
Other browsers offer similar functions; investigate their menus thoroughly. These techniques prevent other users of the machine from accidentally or casually discovering your browsing habits. Professionals could still find traces, by examining deleted but not yet reused files on your hard disk, for example.
back to top
Can a web site tell who I am?
When you visit a web site with typical web browser software such as Internet Explorer, your software does not normally volunteer any information that can be used to identify you directly. Your email address is not given to the web server. Your web browser does hand over the following information:
1. Your current IP address. This is the address your computer currently has assigned to it on the Internet, and looks like this (just an example): 172.16.55.22. Your ISP's records can be used to determine who called into what account at what time, and what address was assigned to them during that time.
Some users do have "static" (unchanging) IP addresses, which run a greater risk of revealing your identity.
2. The page you came from, known as the "referring URL." This is a useful convenience for webmasters and does not normally compromise your privacy, as the site still does not know who you are. There are products available that will block reporting of this and other information, however.
3. Miscellaneous information less important to your privacy, such as the name of your web browser software.
4. Cookies. Web sites that wish to know whether the same person has returned again another day have the ability to set a user-identifying "cookie" which is recorded by your computer. In theory, this is harmless because the site only knows that you are the same person, returning again -- not your name. However, the trouble begins when you give your true identity to one site that requires cookies. Now, that site does know your real name, and they can pass this information to other sites you visit, which can then set a cookie of their own to establish their own lasting awareness of your actual identity.
These are the pieces of information that are given out under normal circumstances. Security bugs in your web browser software can be another source of potentially serious privacy problems. When a serious security bug is found in a web browser, it can be exploited to run any program on your computer.
Taking the following steps can enhance your privacy:
Read the privacy policies of web sites before giving them any personal information. Remember, however, that companies can be acquired, and the acquiring company may not be bound by the privacy policy.
Install security fixes for your browser. Always obtain these directly from the organization that created your browser! In the case of Microsoft Internet Explorer, make sure you are using the free Windows Update service. Set your browser to ask first before accepting cookies. In some cases you may need to go ahead and accept them, but most sites will let you in without them.
Use a personal proxy server that strips out as much identifying information as possible.
Of course, there are many other ways to compromise your privacy on the web, but these also apply to traditional off-line businesses. Giving your personal mailing address, email address and phone number to a company that later goes bankrupt and sells its assets, including its customer lists, is a common way to find yourself on many new unwanted mailing lists.
back to top
What is ActiveX?
ActiveX is Microsoft's technology for signing plug-ins that adds additional software to your computer when a web page is accessed. If all goes well, you will be asked whether you want to trust a plug-in from that particular company and you will have the option of saying no. In principle, this is a useful way to allow the installation of worthwhile add-ons, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, Macromedia Flash Player and RealPlayer. However, if you do not run Windows Update regularly, all will not go well -- there have been security flaws in Internet Explorer in the past that have resulted in software being able to install itself without permission.
If you do not have a specific, clear reason to want and trust the software you are being asked to install -- that is, if it is not the Macromedia Flash Player or the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader or something similarly crucial that you really need -- SAY NO!
back to top
What is Flash?
Similar to Java, Macromedia Flash is another technology that allows animations, interactive forms, games and other jazzed-up features to be embedded in web pages. Macromedia Flash Player is a well known and trustworthy plug-in that users should feel comfortable installing. The Flash plug-in can be found on Macromedia's web site.
back to top
What is Java?
Java is a technology that allows small programs, known as "applets," to be embedded in web pages. For instance, a web page using Java could contain an interactive weather map, a live display of subway trains, or a video game, without the need for the web server to do all of the work. Unlike normal software such as .EXE files, these "applets" cannot access or delete your personal files unless they ask for and are given express permission to do so. As of this writing, Java is no longer included as standard equipment in Microsoft Internet Explorer, and unlike most other browsers, Internet Explorer does not make it convenient for the user to install the Java plug-in. Unfortunately, this means that most users will be unable to access your Java applets unless they install optional software manually. However, if you choose to use Java on your site, you can invite your users to download the Java plug-in from Sun's web site, using the "Get It Now" button on that site. As an alternative, see the Flash entry.
back to top
Is it safe to shop online?
The safety of online shopping is determined by several factors:
Honesty. Any merchant, online or offline could steal your credit card and use it to buy things. Know the reputation of the company you are dealing with. A google search for the company may turn up horror stories -- or good experiences.
Connection security. Make sure you see the "lock" icon in the lower left or lower right corner of your web browser, OUTSIDE the web page itself. This indicates that the connection itself is encrypted.
Data center security. Your credit card might or might not be kept encrypted and/or promptly deleted after use on the merchant's computer systems. Again, know the reputation of the company you are dealing with.
back to top
What is a secure site?
A site that uses the https: protocol to ensure that a third party between the sender and the receiver cannot steal your information. See also is it safe to shop online?
back to top
Why do web pages load so slowly?
All web pages? Or just some of them?
If the answer is "just some of them," the pages you are trying to load may simply be popular pages on overloaded servers. There is not much you can do to speed up a slow web site you don't run, although customers of Wirelessedge Communications Broadband Internet benefit from automatic caching of popular pages that makes popular content available to customers more quickly. Of course, some pages are slow because of their content. A page made up of text will be faster to load than a site made up of large photographs. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it takes much longer to transmit! Full motion video really requires a broadband connection for adequate performance.
If the answer is "all web pages," you probably have a slow connection to the Internet. 56k dialup modems are slow. Most "broadband" connections, such as WirelessEdge are roughly 20 times as fast as a 56k modem at its theoretical best. 56k is shorthand for roughly 56,000 bits per second, or roughly 7,000 characters per second. And in practice, "56k" modems almost never run at this maximum speed. While various "web accelerator" programs exist, some do not work, most provide only very small benefits, and some carry spyware and adware programs that can potentially harm your computer's performance in serious ways. "Registry tweaks" and other tricks may offer very minor perceived improvements, at some risk of causing problems for your computer.
back to top