The common perception is that VoIP is so cheap because everything costs less on the net. There’s stiff competition, and a fraction of the overheads etc. However you need to take into account the history of the telcos and their relationship with computer networks, and the way data actually gets around the web. An knowledge of this is necessary to fully comprehend the mystery behind the VoIP vs. POTS pricing riddle.

Long before computer networks became important telcos were using digital communication. In the beginning the original digital voice circuit was used in Chicago in 1962 although ARPANET, the predecessor to today’s Internet, wasn’t in operation until 1969. The telecommunication companies used these digital circuits to make lots of voice connections over long distances something that analogue circuits were unable to do and they continue to use them for this purpose today.

Voice communication has a few unique characteristics. For one thing, it’s inherently real-time. You’d get frustrated if conversations consisted of long periods of silence followed by a burst of fast conversation to catch up with the conversation on the other end. To keep this from happening digital voice circuits provide guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). Once a connection is provisioned, you will always get all the bandwidth you need. It’s not just bandwidth though; latency is also carefully controlled by using small, fixed sized data packets. Essentially these networks were specially designed for voice communication.

When computer networks began emerging in the late 1980s) the {telecommunication companies wanted in. They already had a lot of infrastructure in place so they started looking at how they could send data over their existing phone lines. They came up with quite a few different technologies with different levels of success. But there was (and still is) an issue: data networks are fundamentally different than voice networks.

Data is transferred in packets, which can arrive in any order a long time after they have been requested, without causing any issues. Internet Protocol (IP) was designed to provide best effort delivery. Telecoms companies had an expensive network in place, so there was a lot of incentive to use it. After a few misses Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) was created as a compromise technology that could carry both voice and data. However it’s much less efficient than a network intended purely for data. The overhead for data transfers on ATM is more than 10link, compared to about one percent for an Ethernet running full-throttle.

Can you remember the time when laptops for gaming were not so obtainable? Even though they didn’t sell a significant deal they still generated the most in relation to other types of notebook computer. The cost was just too big to justify buying these types of notebook computer for potential buyers. If you a power hungry user they were just the best laptops you could acquire. Even though they did get everyone excited I don’t believe they sold in volumes because few people actually buy laptops that are overpriced. As bigger manufacturers see the potential in the gaming laptop market, stuff appears to have transformed.

In my view they could get away by retailing them at a higher price if they desired. With computers being perceived like commodities this is a great profit channel for them. Global manufacturers could certainly find it simpler to get people to buy these laptops. What would little system builders possibly do if their prices are undercut? Now potential purchasers will have much more choice it makes it difficult for the small system builders. I believe buying from a well know brand also gives the perception of greater value for money.

The notebooks being released by brand name manufacturers are all competing for the best laptop crown. I believe that small retailers may still have an opportunity. Now and then the smaller resellers could offer the latest parts quicker and hence provide faster specifications too. Usually a lot of evaluations of the specifications will be done and the tech savvy can decide what the better laptop actually is. In a few situations the performance is way more important than the looks for certain types of customers. As a potential consumer myself this is indeed all a good development for me. Premium technology will be available to everyone when prices are driven further down. Things change so quick in this business that I can’t precisely make any assured claims. High prices will stay and be normal with the best laptops is what I’m guessing. Although I still reckon effects will be good because of the saturated sector, we’ll have to see.

Demand for laptop computers is skyrocketing at the moment. Those searching for the new intel centrino 2 platform could be kept waiting as manufacturers have already mentioned potential shipment shortages. Laptop Computers have been a developing industry year on year for a number of years now and it look set to be that way. The technology is advancing in all directions simultaneously too.

I’ve seen an increasing number of customers asking for gaming notebooks. You can actually get a very high spec for your money these days because even the top notch technology is slipping into the mass market area very quickly. Gaming on notebooks is indeed a reality now with the advancements in technology. Additional positives to come from evolved manufacturing processes is compact, cooler parts that cater for sleeker, attractive cases. Gaming speed between laptop computers and desktops should forever favour desktops though, merely because desktops are always going to be considerably bigger and more powerful. The development of gaming notebooks means that they will become thinner and weightless in the years to come.

Speaking of gaming notebooks, the vast alternatives are attainable when they are custom built. Memory and hard drives are commonly high performance engineered parts in custom notebooks which enthusiats consumers like. By being able to remove some extras from the spec you can actually save money on components you will not use. Let me say it how it is. You probably aren’t like everyone else and so average laptop computers won’t do the job. Custom notebooks provide a fix to this. Increased levels of customer service and support can also be discovered when buying custom built notebooks. To a couple of buyers this is very important.

I think anumber of geeks are waiting for the next range of laptop computers. MiD’s seem to be an expanding niche right now. Its insane how technology developed for the 3rd world nations have become a trend in the developed countries. Giant lcd and extrodinarily lightweight, that’s what everyone should love. No doubt that companies already have their plans made up. It wouldn’t shock me to see minute gaming notebooks in the next forthcoming future. Every 12 months we witness new products so who knows what we will see next.

For the speed these are the best laptop computers.

To pass the CCNA exam, you’ve got to master quite a few services and routing protocols that may be new to you. Between RIP, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, and switching, there are hundreds of details you’ve got to absorb! It’s easy to spend all your time on those topics and not pay proper attention to “easier” technologies, and then all of a sudden on exam day you can’t quite remember the details of those particular services.

One setup you’ve got to be more than familiar with is directly connecting serial interfaces on Cisco routers. This is also a valuable skill to have in your home lab, since it allows you to add segments to your network setup.

A Cisco serial interface is operating as a DTE by default. The problem is that when you take a cable and connect two routers directly by their serial interfaces (with a DTE/DCE cable, that is!), they’re both waiting for the other to send them a clock rate. One of the interfaces must act as the DCE and that interface must send the clock rate.

If you can see the DTE/DCE cable, you can tell by looking which router has the DCE interface connected to it - the letters “DTE” or “DCE” will either be molded into the connector itself, or if it’s an older cable there should be a little piece of tape on the cable that tells you what the interface type is. But what if you have no access to the cable, or there are other cables all around it and you can’t see what type it is?

Run the command “show controller serial x”, with x representing the interface number the cable’s connected to. There will be quite a bit of output from this command, but the information you need is right at the top:

R1#show controller serial 1

HD unit 1, idb = 0×1DBFEC, driver structure at 0×1E35D0

buffer size 1524 HD unit 1, V.35 DTE cable

I left off the 16 or so rows of information that comes after this, but this is the information we need right now. If R1’s got the DTE cable end, the other router should have the DCE end:

R3#show controller serial 1

HD unit 1, idb = 0×1C44E8, driver structure at 0×1CBAC8

buffer size 1524 HD unit 1, V.35 DCE cable

We know now that R3 needs to supply a clock rate to R1. There’s a hint of a problem in just that little bit of command output - do you see what it is? Let’s run show interface serial1 to get more information.

R3#show int s1

Serial1 is up, line protocol is down

The line protocol is down because there is no clockrate being supplied by R3. If there has been, we would have seen that in the output of show controllers serial 1.

This is simple enough to fix, though! We’ll use the command clockrate 56000 on R3’s serial1 interface, and the line protocol will soon come up.

R3(config)#int s1

R3(config-if)#clockrate 56000

1w2d: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial1, changed state to up

This is a simple concept, but there are a few details you must keep in mind! For a home lab configuration, you’ll need a DTE/DCE cable to make this work. If you cannot see the cable connectors, run show controllers serial x to see if the router has the DTE or DCE end of the cable attached. On the interface with the DCE attached, use the clockrate command to bring the line protocol up. It’s just that simple!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, visit the website and download your free copies. You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNA exam with The Bryant Advantage!

Motorola Razr for CDMA Users

Motorola is marketing different phones for men and women. Moto’s
newest line of pink and blue Razr offspring seems to assume that
there are men who will prefer blue and women who will want the
pink one. They’re probably right!

The classic Silver Motorola Razr captured the lion’s share of
new cell phone buying over the past year or so, causing Motorola
to encroach on Nokia’s enviable leading position.

Motorola is planning to cash in on its huge success with the
razor thin look and feel of the original Razr v3. The NPD Group,
a leading cellular market researcher, found that Motorola cell
phone sales accounted for 30% of the 31.6 million cell phones
sold in the third quarter of 2005. The Motorola V3i with iTunes
software and the Pink and Blue cell phones promise to give
Motorola an ever-increasing share of the cell phone market.

People who care about how they look or want to make a statement,
will be the first to get their Motorola Razr fix. These Razr
thin phones are ceating a lot of attention - making them
must-haves in some circles.

Mazal Tov!

The Motorola Razor family is growing by four new members;
Motorola RAZR Pink (RAZR PNK?) and Razr Blue, (RAZR BLU?) plus
two new versions - Motorola CDMA RAZR for Verizon with EVDO and
Motorola RAZR V3i (with iTunes). The new Razr phones include all
the great features as the original models. The Blue and Pink
versions are really style updates designed to make your cell
phone an accessory - like a stylish watch.

The new CDMA version of Razr (for Verizon) will satisfy the
appetite of Verizon Wireless subscribers who have long ogled
over Cingular and T-Mobile’s Razr offerings. The Razr V3i aims
to redeem Motorola’s slightly tarnished reputation when it comes
to MP3 phones. Unlike the Rocker which had only music going for
it, with the Razr V3i the MP3 capability is essentially an
add-on.

The Motorola has not made a statement about the chosen carrier
for the Motorola v3i many are speculating that Cingular is the
choice. Besides being Razr thin like the original Razr v3 the
new v3i has added appeal with the inclusion of the Apple i-Tunes
software like on the Motorola ROKR released in September in by
Cingular, Apple and Motorola. Cingular just slashed the price of
the Motorola ROKR by 40% and several leading cell phone dealers
like AmericanCell and YouNeverCall now have the Motorola phone
available for free with the purchase of a new Cingular plan.

Until now the Motorola Rokr is the only cell phone around that
plays tunes from the iTunes Music Store. Another new addition to
the ever increasing Motorola Razr family is new Razr VC which
operates on networks of CDMA standard wireless EVDO. Christmas
holiday season shopping has now been enhanced with the inclusion
of the Razr V3i which sports a 1.23-megapixel digital camera
with 8x digital zoom, video capture and a full-screen
viewfinder.

Additional features include a hot plugging memory card, a
display with sixty-five K color support and built-in Bluetooth.
For the late summer-early fall season Motorola earned a profit
of $1.75 billion on revenue of $9.42 billion. Motorola stated
that its monetary gains for this period were all due to the
tremendous success of the Motorola Razr v3. Now Motorola is
hoping to further push its financial gains for the next quarter!
We’ll wait and see.

Rizeon in the UK seem to be getting some good reviews on the internet yet I had never even heard of them until browsing through the notebook forums. Their whole laptop range seems to be focused on the high end of the performance bar, featuring Intel core 2 duo processors and aimed towards enthusiasts and gamers.

Buying a Rizeon laptop is not cheap. As they are all performance focused the starting prices are usually £600 up but after comparing some other prices I think it’s fair to say they are some of the best value laptops around. Spec for spec they usually work out cheaper and they don’t even skimp on the quality of internal components. According to their site they include brands like Seagate, Kingston and Intel. They do pride themselves on supplying highly reliable, quality laptops. Rizeon’s website is rather easy to use and it’s good to see the large range of upgrade options available. I always prefer custom laptops because the mass market laptops you see in computer stores just lack performance components. Rizeon’s current range varies from 13.3inch up to 17inch systems with the latter being primarily positioned as a gaming laptop because it features the Nvidia 8800m GTX video chip, the fastest available today. I must say I’m very impressed on first impression. It’s good to see that you can buy high spec laptop computers without having to pay the premium prices like when buying from the larger brands. Sure there are other manufacturers doing similar things but they seem to be targeting other markets or trying to battle with the big boys in the industry which is usually a losing battle. You do get a lot for your money with Rizeon So I’d recommend checking them out.

You know you should take care of your computer, but you don’t know what registry is and what’s the difference between hard-drive and memory stick is. Don’t worry, these tools will do it for you and you don’t even have to set them up.

O&O Defrag Professional (O&O Software GmbH)

The new O&O Defrag Professional Edition for Windows-based workstations unlocks the hidden performance of your computer. This software will optimize your hard disk in Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows NT 4 Workstation, securely repacking fragmented files together for more efficiency.

O&O Defrag’s O&O OneButtonDefrag Technology lets you sit back and relax while the optimal defragmentation configuration is tailored directly to your system. A job is created and then executed, making performance improvements on your system noticably faster. Even in large networks, this sort of automation can lead to unbelievable savings in network administration resources.

Webroot Window Washer (Webroot Software)

Many people do not realize that Internet browsers, as well as many other software products, store information about what they have been doing on their computer systems. Anyone can simply turn on your system and see exactly what you have been doing on your computer. Also, the tracks that are left behind can take up large quantities of valuable hard drive space. Recovering this space can be very beneficial by improving the overall speed and performance of a computer.

Cleaning up the history of your activities can be a tedious chore of manually removing each history file or entry. If privacy and disk space are to be maintained, this process must be performed every time you use your computer. Window Washer can automatically clean up your browser’s cache, cookies, history, recent document list, and much more! Window Washer can run in the background and clean up your tracks when you are done surfing the internet or any other time you choose.

Acronis Disk Director (Acronis)

Acronis Disk Director Suite is disk partitioning software that allows you to automatically or manually resize, copy, and move partitions without losing data. It also lets you reorganize the hard disk drive structure and optimize disk space usage. Acronis Disk Director Suite provides a powerful, reliable, and easy-to-use way to manage booting of multiple operating systems on a single PC.

Disk Director’s integrated Disk Editor program is the only utility in a consumer-level package that can read and write raw data directly from NTFS disks, and only experts should touch it.
The interface is packed with essential tools for jumping to special disk sectors like partition tables and boot sectors. The help system is a detailed technical reference to disk structures.

Download Links:

http://www.deprice.com/oodefragpro.htm

http://www.deprice.com/webrootwindowwasher.htm

http://www.deprice.com/acronisdiskdirectorsuite.htm

John Deprice runs a website devoted to PC tools specifically for newbie users. Visit it at http://www.deprice.com/utilities-8-1.htm