Bob recently moved south to Tijuana, Mexico, and now his wireless printer won't connect. He's using the same equipment except for his new WiFi router. But still, no luck. Rich says that Bob will need to reset the printer to factory settings and then reset it up with his network to get the new settings. The printer is looking for an address that doesn't exist anymore. So remove the printer and then reboot and add the printer again.
Joe's laptop won't connect to the internet. Leo says that some laptops have a function key that will set your laptop into Airplane mode. So check that out. Other than that, there may have been a corrupted WiFi driver that's preventing the internet from talking to your router/modem. But Joe erased some "unnecessary files" and Windows told him to do it. Leo says that's not the case here. But Microsoft has a tech note about this same issue.
John is going to college soon and he's concerned about Wi-Fi security. Should he have a VPN? Leo says he can. He can find out how open the network is by going into iTunes to see if he can see someone else's iTunes library. If he can, then it's insecure. If he can't, then it's locked down.
Patrick hears Leo talk about Lastpass a lot, but he wants to know if Apple's password vault is secure. Leo says that Apple uses Keychain and it's very secure. It only works on Apple devices, though. And with iOS12, Keychain does autofill.
(Disclaimer: Lastpass is a sponsor)
After the DDoS attack over the weekend that brought down many major websites on the net, it's a good idea to check your own router and make sure that it's as secure as it can be. These Denial of Service attacks rely on 'bot nets' that are actually made up of unsecure computers on unsecured networks all over the world. Here are some basic steps you can take to make sure your network is protected:
Jill got a new wireless router and now it's kicking her off the internet, replicating the same problems of her previous router. Leo says that a router dropping the connection from time to time is often a sign of a failing router. Leo advises getting the Asus 3200. Cheap routers are a false economy as they don't perform well, so Jill should spend a little money and get a better router.
Casey has a router with four ports, but he has more printers and computers than that. Leo says to get a router extender that he can plug into one port on the router, which can extend it to handle up to 10 additional ports. Any brand will do. A router switch is a bit more intelligent -- it can switch automatically between them to keep the network running faster. But an extender will work.
Sean would like to catalog his DVDs on his network, so he can find out information about the movie and the location of it. Is there an app for that on the Mac?
Leo says that Delicious Library 3 is ideal for his. He'll be able to scan the DVD's barcode, and then it will populate the database using the metadata along with reviews and more. Then he can add location options as well. He can try it free first to see if it will work for him.
Leo says that if McAfee has told Phillip there's an intruder, it's probably a false positive. Leo doesn't recommend McAfee because it's just a step below a virus itself. The Chatroom says there's a forum post on McAfee on this issue and it shows it's likely bogus.
Leo says an 802.11n router would be good. If she has DSL now, she probably has a router already, but the question is does she have a Wi-Fi enabled one? Usually the router that comes with broadband is pretty basic. Leo says that Wi-Fi routers are a commodity now and there's not much difference from one to the other. That being said, Leo likes D-Link and NetGear. He's not so fond of Linksys. If money is no option, the Apple Aiport Extreme is the best.
