Sorry about missing May, but a lot has happened since April 1 including a well deserved vacation and a wedding! Networks Plus is pleased to announce the marriage of Greg and Lauren Mullen on May 25, 2009. The couple had been engaged for approximately 1 ½ years. The reception was a wonderful affair in Red Bank, NJ, on the Navesink River. The couple is honeymooning in the Caribbean until June 8. A picture of the happy newlyweds appears below. Note the strategically placed van in the background. Never miss an opportunity for product placement! In the meantime, Mike and Jerry are picking up the slack while Greg is gone. April says, "Greg, hurry back!"

      As for the vacation in April, Jerry and his family traveled through Ireland for 12 days with friends. It was a great opportunity to visit the beautiful island in a culture rich atmosphere which included a family reunion and an Irish wedding! Tech-wise, he used Skype and a laptop with a built-in camera to connect Ireland and Cinnaminson, NJ for those who could not make the trip. This was a great opportunity for the US cousins to meet Irish cousins whom they had not seen in 20 years. Skype is an online service that works much like AOL's Instant Messenger. Think of online chat with a movie.  It is very simple to configure once you have the hardware installed. You will need a camera, a microphone and speakers. Most new laptops have these pre-installed but they can be easily added to computers that lack them. Then you go to Skype.com and sign up with a user name and password.   Start adding your friends and family to your "buddy list" and you are off! And the best part IT'S FREE!

      Also while in Ireland, Jerry and family stopped at a wonderful 15th century castle in Ross Cahill near Galway. Ross Castle sits on a bluff overlooking a 30 acre lake and some of the most breathtaking Irish countryside. But of course this story has a tech side as well. The McGloughlins, who have owned the castle since 1984, have completely restored the buildings from a nearly dilapidated ruin. Although they have most of the modern amenities, they are lacking in some of the creature comforts many travelers have come to expect from their lodgings. Even 15th century lodgings should have high-speed Internet. It is not that they do not have it installed. They have wireless broadband, however, the signal strength drops off considerably as it travels through the 12" stone walls!

      We are currently under negotiation (think barter) for a return trip to alleviate the problem. One of the drawbacks of standard 802.11 wireless is the inability to penetrate barriers even with high gain antennas. MIMO (multiple input multiple output) devices try to get around this by bouncing wireless signals via many antennas but in many cases there is just too much interference. In the open air, 802.11 signals can travel as far as 10 miles! Yet we often find the range in houses to be less than 100 feet. Repeaters can sometimes be used, but we find the best solution is to wire as much as you can and use multiple WAPs (wireless access points) to do the job.         

      Finally, President Obama has announced the creation of a Cyber Security Czar to combat terror over the Internet due to viruses and worms. We believe that this was in response to our April newsletter about the ineffectiveness of "host based" Internet security. We are glad he is listening and subscribes. Please tell your friends to sign up!