Technology Archives - Page 6 of 7

Why Is My Wireless Broadband Never As Fast As Advertised

We’ve all been through those moments where we really need the internet to cooperate and it just won’t do it! In our day and age, we want it fast and we’re quick to blame our internet service providers when we’re not getting it.

Here’s the thing though—it’s really not always their fault. When you’re dealing with wireless anything there’s a great deal that goes into how it performs; most of which relies on minimal interference and optimal configuration for everything to work together properly.

So, before you call up your internet service provider and yell, “Fraud! I want my money back!” it’s a good idea to understand what might actually be slowing down your connection speeds.

Here’s a few tips to get you started:

MEGABYTE & MEGABIT—KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

They look and sound almost exactly the same, but one actually comprises the other. A megabit is abbreviated as Mb and it takes 8 of these to make up a megabyte, abbreviated as MB. If you recently tested your connection with a program such as Netgear and it reported a 1.5MBps connection, that’s 1.5 MEGABYTES per second, which equals 12 MEGABITS per second.

Most Energy Efficient House In The World

After a long winter of freezing temperatures and rising energy bills, the average homeowner will now be pleased they can finally turn down the dial and cut their energy consumption.

However, there is still likely to be the odd cooler day, and are we really prepared to go through the same thing when winter rolls around again sometime in mid-September?

In order to combat the rising energy prices, some homeowners have been doing everything they can to make their property more efficient and cut down on excess consumption.

As well as leaving them with some extra pounds in their pocket this will also help them do their bit for the environment and the summer seems the perfect time to compound those efforts and for others to follow in the same vein.

The Winds Of Change

In the wake of new environmental initiatives that have been brought by the government, there are now much more stringent rules and regulations involved in the construction and development of properties.

Not only do all new dwellings and those proposed to be expanded need to have an SAP calculation carried out in order to determine the property’s energy performance certificate (EPC), but there are also regulations to meet regarding airtightness and air leakage.

How Can You Pick The Right Eco-Friendly Vehicle

When you are looking for an eco-friendly car you can choose between a hybrid and a PZEV (partial-zero-emissions vehicle).

Hybrid cars can function both on gas and electricity, and as conventional vehicles usually get 30 miles per gallon, most hybrid cars normally run an average of 50 miles per gallon. By 2017, conventional vehicles are expected to get an average of 35 mpg, and in 2025 up to 55 miles per gallon. Hybrid cars are more expensive than conventional cars ($5,000 more and up), but this will be compensated by the savings in fuel.

Another development is PZEVs, partial-zero-emissions vehicles. This type of vehicles take regular gas, but thanks to modern new catalytic converter technology, the vapor emission of these cars is 85 percent cleaner and less polluting than conventional cars The majority of the main car manufacturers have PZEV varieties available, Ford features the Focus PZEV model that uses the same quantity of fuel than the standard version and is only around $200 more expensive.

Should you care about emissions and mileage?

The correct answer is that all car buyers really have to keep mileage and emissions in mind. We know that carbon dioxide is a key pollutant and reduction of carbon dioxide is very important if we want to fight climate change. Just take a look at this chart by the Department of Energy that speaks for itself.