Introducing Speed Meter Pro, the latest offering from Pure Networks to help make your home networking experience easier and more reliable. Speed Meter Pro takes the guesswork out of troubleshooting “Why is it slow?” and helps you quickly identify and resolve issues that may be slowing down wireless, network, and Internet performance.

Speed Meter Pro monitors your entire network (PCs, devices, Internet connection speed) and looks for common issues that can have an impact on how your network and PC are responding. Unlike other computer-specific performance monitoring products, Speed Meter Pro looks across your entire network, helping you to keep all connected devices running at top speed. Best of all, it's easy to use.

Simply install Speed Meter Pro on all of the PCs in your home network and it begins monitoring them, your wired and wireless network connections, and the Internet to identify issues that could be causing slowdowns. It displays easy-to-understand alerts that quickly show you where the problem is and how to fix it. For example, if your computer performance suddenly seems slower, Speed Meter Pro can tell you if other users on your network are doing tasks that are hogging bandwidth, if your wireless signal is weak, if other common household electronics are impacting your wireless signal, or if your computer is low on memory.

There are several reasons why a network could be slow, and Speed Meter Pro can tell you what's happening right now on each computer and your entire network. It also keeps track of past network performance issues and connection speeds so you can see how your network is running over time.

Check out Speed Meter Pro and see how it can help keep your network running at top speed, without spending valuable time troubleshooting by yourself.

Pure Networks recently conducted a survey of home and small business computer users and asked the following question: "Do you consider using the private Wi-Fi Internet connection of a nearby neighbor or business stealing?" Almost 50% responded that they did not think it was stealing to use someone else's wireless connection to the Internet. So, it's a free-for-all out there. Will your neighbor's kid be printing his school report on your connected printer? Probably not, but he could if your wireless network isn't locked down with common security measures.

To help you check your Wi-Fi network's security, Pure Networks is offering a free wireless network security scan tool. It lets you quickly check for wireless network security issues and other computer and Internet security problems. The tool scans your network, lists any wireless security problems it finds, and provides information about how to fix wireless router and computer security problems.

It gives your network a "score card" showing results for your computer, other devices and computers on your network, wireless security settings, and Internet threats. For each category, it shows any issues it finds and offers ways to fix them. It's a quick and easy way to see how your network security measures up, and how to fix any vulnerabilities it may have.

Here's a list of things the free wireless network security scan can detect:

• If there are unknown computers or devices on your network.
• If the default password or network name is used on your router. This is a common security problem and takes only a few minutes to change.
• If your wireless router's firmware is up to date. Running the latest firmware helps keep your router more secure.
• If you're using wireless data encryption to protect the information being sent around your wireless network. This is perhaps one of the most important security features you can use on a wireless network. See the article on the Network Magic website for help with setting up wireless data encryption.
• Whether ports on your router have been changed or opened. Open ports can allow hackers onto your wireless network.
• If your computers are using firewall and anti-virus software.

Try the free wireless network security scan tool and see how secure your wireless network is. It only takes a few minutes to run and can give you valuable information about making your home or small business network safe from intruders.

I used my first computer in college (yes, I'm that old) and thought it was the coolest thing ever. As I passed through different companies and computers got more and more accessible, I became a die-hard computer user and bought one for myself. Years later, when I had children, I vowed they would learn to use the computer at a young age and become proficient users who were not afraid it as my parents and many of my siblings were. So when my kids could barely reach the desk, I bought early reader programs, games where they fit virtual shapes into virtual containers, counting games, and the like.

Now, as young tweens and middle schoolers, they are indeed proficient computer users, and I'm wondering if that was such a wise choice! They want to be on the computer A LOT to window shop, play online games, and email friends. My daughter's math book is on a CD-ROM, so she uses the computer every day to do her homework. And if she misses a day of school, the class notes for that day can be accessed online from her teacher's Web site. All wonderful things, if those were the only things kids do online.

As most parents know, there are scary things on the Internet. Things such as chat groups with predators, unwanted pop ups to inappropriate sites, gambling sites, sites to purchase prescription drugs, the list goes on. And even seemingly harmless places such as many social networking sites hold dangers. Online bullying and hurtful gossip happen every day, often blindsiding children before they know what happened.

So what's a parent to do to keep their child safe? We want to trust our kids and let them make their own decisions, but kids may not be aware that who they're talking with on the Internet may not actually be a "13 year old boy from Oregon who likes skateboarding and the Jonas Brothers." It may be someone else. And really, as parents, who has time to stand by their child every time they're on the computer and monitor what's happening. (For sure your child won't like it!) Even if we could, sites come and go every day, so chances are, there's a new site your child is hearing about at school this very moment. How can you monitor what you don't know?

The Network Reports feature in Network Magic can help. It monitors computers in your home and emails you a report each day showing the Internet sites visited. The report can be sent to any email address, so you can get the reports even if you're not at home. This helps in two ways: it shows you what sites your child is visiting, and educates you to the new sites your child visits as they appear. This takes care of the "how do you monitor what you don't know exists" problem. If your child is visiting a new site you've never heard of, this provides a way to know.

The Network Reports also show the time of day the computer was in use. So if you set specific times for your child to use the computer for surfing and IM'ing with friends, you can monitor that it's being adhered to. The real benefit of using Network Reports to me is it lets my children have some freedom when using the computer. They know that I'm "watching" them via Network Reports. So they take responsibility to follow our online surfing rules, and I don't have to stand behind them as they use the computer.

Here are some more tips for Internet safety from KidsHealth:

• Become computer literate and learn how to block objectionable material.
• Keep the computer in a common area, not in individual bedrooms, where you can watch and monitor your child.
• Share an email account with your child so you can monitor messages.
• Bookmark your child's favorite sites for easy access. One minor typing mistake can take them from "Legos" to "Legs," with drastically different results.
• Spend time online together to teach your child appropriate online behavior.
• Forbid your child from entering private chat rooms; block them with safety features provided by your Internet service provider or with special filtering software. Be aware that posting messages to chat rooms reveals your child's email address to others.
• Monitor your credit card and phone bills for unfamiliar account charges.
• Find out what, if any, online protection is offered by your child's school, after-school center, friends' homes, or any place where he or she could use a computer without your supervision.
• Take your child seriously if he or she reports an uncomfortable online exchange.
• Forward copies of obscene or threatening messages you or your child receives to your Internet service provider.
• Call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678 if you are aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography online. Contact your local law enforcement agency or the FBI if your child has received child pornography via the Internet.

If you're like me, you're always meaning to take a minute and back up your hard drive, but first you have to find a blank CD-ROM, decide what you want to back up, start backing up, and then find another CD-ROM because the first one filled up so quickly.

There's a better way. Why not back up everything automatically? Sound good? Then check out our new offering with Carbonite, a leading provider of online backup. According to Carbonite, every year 43% of computer users lose irreplaceable emails, documents, photos and other files. Don't be one of them. When you purchase Network Magic Pro, you receive 6 months of free online backup with Carbonite. It automatically backs up everything on your computer so you don't have to choose what to back up depending on time or space requirements. It's always on, always backing up your files. It's easy to install and set up and begins working immediately. Then, sit back and relax, knowing that your data (and Las Vegas pictures) are safe and secure.

Wouldn't it be great to have an onsite computer geek to just "make it all work" so you can concentrate on your customers? Then install Network Magic on all of your computers and see how it can help keep your home office running smoothly:

• Set up printer and file sharing from any computer in your home. You can print from any computer, and move files from one computer to another without having to e-mail them back and forth.
• Get a notification if you lose your Internet connection, and troubleshoot and fix the problem.
• Keep your software investment up to date by alerting you when important software updates are available.
• Secure your home network with wireless security settings.
• Track any intruder that attempts to log on to your home network.

Let Network Magic help keep your home network up and running, so you can focus on your business.

The easiest way to secure your home network is to set some basic security features on your router. I know when I did this on my home network, I was a little nervous since I often work from home and I didn't want to mess anything up. But I took the plunge and logged in to my router and set up WPA security (it wasn't hard to do). Now I know a hacker will have to work a lot harder to access my network, and will probably keep driving down the road looking for the person who didn't take the time to lock down their home network.

For an overview of how to set basic security features on your home network, see the article on the Network Magic website.

To set up a home network (not a scary thing, remember), you need to purchase a router - a small device that connects between your modem and your desktop computer. (The modem is the device you got from your DSL or cable provider that connects to a telephone jack or cable TV wall outlet.) The router allows more than one computer to use your Internet connection at the same time. It also lets all of the computers in your home "see" each other and know they exist.

When you have your router in place, fire up the laptop. Most laptops today have wireless capability built in. (If you purchase a laptop that doesn't, you can get a wireless USB adapter that plugs in to your laptop and gives it wireless capability.) And if you install Network Magic on your laptop and desktop computers, it detects your router automatically and helps you connect to the Internet. Network Magic also sets up printer sharing and walks you through file sharing. It's really easy. And if you add more computers (because it's so easy), just install Network Magic on them and they're automatically joined to your home network.

So give it a try, and soon you'll be the proud owner of a home network and can tell your friends that it's not a scary thing. Better yet, send them an email from your deck!

Up next, why it's important to set up your router for a secure home network.

You know how to email back and forth with your friends and family. You've gotten used to checking your bank balances online, transferring money now and then. And you know how to shop and order things from your favorite sites - that part is easy!

But summer's coming and maybe you'd like to be able to check that bank balance or send emails from your deck, or in a room away from the kids and the TV. And speaking of the kids, maybe you just want your own computer without having to worry about what the kids are downloading that could wipe away your family photos without warning. Then it’s time to get a laptop and get it connected to the Internet wirelessly. Once you do that, guess what? You’re the proud owner of a home network and you can surf the net anywhere you want! You won't be tied to that computer in the corner.

Up next, how to set up a home network (it's easy - I promise!)

Of course, Network Magic is a great way to keep track of your wireless security. Network Magic’s PC Shield feature automatically locks down your shared folders when you connect to a wifi hotspot, so if your laptop accidentally connects to the wrong wireless network, all of the information on your laptop will still be safe.

And what’s an Evil Twin, you might still be asking? It’s a wifi hotspot set up by a hacker that has the same wireless network name as another known network (usually one that’s nearby). If you’ve connected to the “good” wireless network before, next time you show up, your computer might accidentally connect to the Evil Twin network, putting your computer at risk.

If you really want to be able to use your home network, the answer is Network Magic. However, if you're the kind of person that really wants things to be difficult and confusing, check out what we in Pure Networks Research uncovered about Vista and usability (or lack thereof…)

Read more…

I would like talk a bit about the Network Reports feature of Network Magic and the privacy issues it brings out. We want to do whatever is necessary to clarify our position on privacy and let you know what our products actually do.

Prior to developing and shipping Network Magic 4.1 we did a ton of research on the right way to implement Network Reports. The overwhelming feedback was that emailing the reports was the best and most valuable approach for our customers. Getting the reports from any computer, whether at home or at work, seemed to be a valuable feature. In order to do this, we either had to figure out how to send email from the customer computer, or collect the information we need to generate the report, send it to our servers for processing and email it from there. The tradeoff was the agony of trying to send email from a consumer’s computer vs. potential privacy issues. Given the seemingly infinite methods for sending email, there didn’t seem to be a solution that would work consistently in millions of homes.

When we send the data from a home network to our servers, it is sent in a way that prevents it from being read without a heck of a lot of work. There are far easier ways for someone to get information regarding a consumer's Internet behavior than trying to capture this traffic off of the Internet and put it back into a readable form.

Once we have created the network report and sent it on to the customer, we keep the data around only as long as the consumer might need to regenerate the report. I am vague on this period on purpose, as we are constantly evaluating usage to determine if and when customers want to see old reports. We currently keep it about a week, and then it is deleted forever. We are looking at making this window shorter.

Now it is time for me to be very clear: WE DO NOT USE THIS PRIVATE INFORMATION FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE CREATION OF THE NETWORK REPORT. Pardon the caps, but I want to make sure everyone understands this. We do not look at it, we do not let anyone else look at it, we do not sell it, we will never sell it, we do not loan or rent it to anyone nor will we ever. It remains locked in our very secure servers and is never seen by human eyes. During the brief time we do have the data, we do everything we know how to protect it.

We especially do not put it on laptops and leave the laptops on the front seat of unlocked cars, which seems to be the preferred method of distribution these days for personal information.

You might ask: why, then, does your privacy policy say otherwise? Great question. The privacy policy is what the industry and legal profession requires from us. It does not state what we actually do, that would be too easy. It instead states all of the really bad things that can happen in the world of the Internet. Given that no system is foolproof, there is always a non-zero chance that we screw something up and stuff gets out. The privacy policy, generated by well-meaning but paranoid lawyers, is meant to cover every possible horrible thing that can ever happen and is, in my opinion, much like the warning text that comes with every prescription drug about the possible side-effects. The privacy policy is the software industry equivalent of “if you take this drug, you could die. You most likely won't, we don't believe you will, nobody ever has, but just the same...”

We are sending tens of thousands of these network reports daily. While we completely understand the privacy issues and the emotions that can be generated, the customers we have heard from that are concerned with the privacy issue number less than 100 very passionate people. This is not meant to discount the privacy issues in any way, just to put the issue into perspective.

In every case where you have to make a decision about a potential privacy issue, you have to weigh the benefit of the feature against the potential risk. We believe, based on customer feedback thus far, that the privacy risk we create is far outweighed by the benefit of knowing how the computers in your home or small business are being used.

If you opt out of Network Reports, we do not send any of this data to our servers, so if you personally decide that the privacy risk/benefit equation is not what you like, we respect this and encourage you to not use the reporting feature.

Hopefully this helps everyone concerned regarding our policies. I will, as usual, monitor your feedback and am willing to engage in civil conversations regarding our policy and implementation. We are always looking for ways to improve what we are doing, and these forums have been a constant source of great feedback for us.

Jeff Erwin
President & CEO
Pure Networks

Two days ago, Amazon announced their Unbox service available via TiVo. I gave it a whirl.

How was the experience? First up - you have login to Amazon Unbox and give them your TiVo account information. Then you simply pick your movie and purchase. The website tells you that your movie is being 'downloaded'. Not believing it could be so easy I rushed upstairs to take a look at my TiVo. A few minutes later, and the movie appeared on my list. I wasn't able to play it until it was fully downloaded but it came down at a fairly fast rate - in about 45 minutes - we had the movie ready to watch.

This is one of those pivotal home technology points for our household. The first was getting a TiVo, the second was getting my music all over with Sonos, the third was being able to listen to any music I want with Rhapsody over Sonos. The notion of recent movies on-demand to my TiVo is killer - my wife is incredibly excited about the prospect - and she doesn't get excited about new technologies easily.

The future is bright, and while Unbox has it's host of imperfections (selection & cost being my top two), six months from now, I have no doubt that rather than flicking on TiVo and watching pre-recorded broadcast tv - we'll be picking from favorite new release movies or watching amusing YouTube snippets recommended by friends.

Is the "digital home" really here?

-Brett
--
Brett Marl
CTO, Pure Networks
www.networkmagic.com