How to add Wi-Fi to a Desktop Computer
Enable do not Track in Mozilla Firefox
Firefox’s mobile version doesn’t offer the Do Not Track feature; you can only enable the feature in Firefox’s desktop version.
Start by launching Firefox on your computer. In the top-right corner, click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) and choose “Settings”.
From the left sidebar, select “Privacy & Security.” On the right pane, in the Website Privacy Preferences section, enable “Send Websites a Do Not Track Request”.
[mai mult...]How to enable do not track in Google Chrome on Desktop
Launch Chrome, select the three dots in the top-right corner, and choose “Settings”
From the left sidebar, select “Privacy and Security.” On the right pane, choose “Third-Party Cookies”
Scroll down to the Advanced section. Here, turn on “Send a Do Not Track Request With Your Browsing Traffic”
In the open prompt, select “Confirm”
You’ve successfully enabled Do Not Track in Chrome.
[mai mult...]Snipping Tool is getting another upgrade
Microsoft has updated the Snipping Tool a few times already in Windows 11. Another helpful improvement is on the way: turning screenshots of tables into actual table data. Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 Insider Preview build for the Dev Channel, bringing a handful of improvements and fixes, along with an exciting update to the Snipping Tool. The Snipping Tool already allowed Windows users to capture screenshots and copy text from images.
But if you’re screenshotting a table, the text recognition wasn’t smart enough to detect rows and columns properly. With the new “Copy as table” option, you can easily extract structured table data from screenshots and paste it directly into emails, documents, or spreadsheets. This is particularly useful for quickly transferring data without manual reformatting.
To use this feature, simply capture a screenshot containing a table, select “Text actions,” and then choose “Copy as table.” It uses the magic of OCR and while the feature currently works best with screenshots containing a single table, it represents a significant improvement in functionality if you happen to frequently work with tabular data.
In addition to the Snipping Tool update, the new build includes several other enhancements. Taskbar previews have been updated with improved animations, and the Task Manager’s Disconnect and Logoff dialogs now support dark mode and text scaling. Performance improvements include labeling disks with their type in the Performance section.
Insiders who have enabled the “Get the latest updates as they are available” toggle in Windows Update settings will receive these new features and improvements first. If you want to give this a spin but you don’t want to deal with the ins and outs of beta software, and the disadvantages it usually comes with, you’re better off waiting until this releases for everyone on the stable version of Windows 11.
[mai mult...]You can now try Google’s imagen 3 Generator
Apple Podcasts now has a Web App
What is this HDMI ARC Port on my TV?
Wi-Fi 7: What is it, and do you even need it?
Wi-Fi 7 is a specification for Wi-Fi devices that officially debuted in January 2024, and it builds on the previous official specification Wi-Fi 6E. It’s based on the draft 802.11be standard, published in May 2021.
The most show-stopping feature of Wi-Fi 7 is that it might make wired Ethernet connections obsolete for a certain class of both home users and professionals—the first live demonstration of the standard in early 2022 showcased some mind-blowing speeds.
Wi-Fi 7 can theoretically support bandwidth up to 46 gigabits per second (Gbps) per access point, which is just shy of five times as fast as the maximum 9.6 Gbps speed of Wi-Fi 6 (also known as 802.11ax). The draft authors call this “Extremely High Throughput,” or EHT.
Currently, commonly-available wired Ethernet technology maxes out at 10 Gbps (10GBASE-T), although it’s basically non-existent in consumer devices at the moment. And although higher speeds (such as Terabit Ethernet) exist in specialist settings like data centers, its arrival in the home or small business setting—if it ever happens—is likely far off.
So for current users of both Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 7 might be able to replace the need for wired connections under optimal conditions—though purists and power users will likely continue to use hard-wired connections for the foreseeable future.
Aside from the theoretical potential of blazingly fast speeds of Wi-Fi 7, the Wi-Fi Alliance plans to include other notable improvements in the Wi-Fi standard.
Full Utilization of the 6 GHz Band
Full utilization of the new “6 GHz Band” (actually 5.925–7.125 GHz), was first supported in Wi-Fi 6E. The 6GHz band is currently only occupied by Wi-Fi applications (although that might change), and using it results in dramatically less interference than the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands.
Even Lower Latency
The Wi-Fi 7 spec aims at “lower lateness and higher reliabilities” for time-sensitive networking (TSN), which is essential for cloud computing (and cloud gaming). It’s also a critical requirement for replacing wired Ethernet connections.
While Wi-Fi 6 already offers significant improvements over Wi-Fi 5 in the latency department, the goal of Wi-Fi 7 is to provide consistent single-digit millisecond latency for all devices across the entire network—and not just for the devices in the optimal coverage area.
Load Balancing with Multi-Link Operation
Wi-Fi 7 offers Multi-Link Operation (MLO) with load balancing and aggregation that combines multiple channels on different frequencies to deliver better performance.
This means a Wi-Fi 7 router can utilize all bands and channels available dynamically to speed up connections or avoid bands with high interference. This improvement, along with the others listed here, is how Wi-Fi 7 can hit a theoretical maximum throughput three times higher than Wi-Fi 6.
Upgrades to 802.11ax
According to its specifications, Wi-Fi 7 offers direct enhancements of Wi-Fi 6 technologies, such as 320 MHz channel width (up from 160 MHz in Wi-Fi 6), which allows faster connections, and 4096 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) technology that allows more data crammed into each hertz.
Is it Significantly Better than Wi-Fi 6 and 6E?
On paper and in laboratory tests with compatible gear, yes, Wi-Fi 7 is significantly better than previous Wi-Fi standards.
However, like with all previous Wi-Fi generations, you won’t see the full benefit of Wi-Fi 7 until you pair it with Wi-Fi 7 hardware. That said, the Wi-Fi 6 optimizations we mentioned in the previous section will help Wi-Fi 7 routers provide an even better experience to Wi-Fi 6 devices on your network.
Given the number of facts and figures you have to take in to compare Wi-Fi generations to each other (as well as the seemingly limitless number of routers out there) it’s easy to get confused about security standards.
The Wi-Fi standard is separate from the security standard, Wireless Protected Acess (WPA) used by modern Wi-Fi hardware. Wi-Fi 5 supports WPA2, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E support WPA3, and Wi-Fi 7 ships with WPA3 support. (In theory, a WPA4 is on the distant horizon but as of now you’ll find little more than a passing reference in the form of “WPA4 (TBD)” sprinkled here or there in technical documents.)
In short, when you purchase a new Wi-Fi 7 router it will have the most current Wi-Fi security available and will be as secure (or more secure) than your current router depending on the age of the replaced router model.
If you’re rocking an ancient Wi-Fi router, especially one struggling to meet your household’s growing demands, you’d likely be well served to snap up a Wi-Fi 7 router.
If you recently bought a nice Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E router, however, there’s no rush. While there are clear benefits to the Wi-Fi 7 standard even if you’re a cutting-edge sort of user that adopts new technology as soon as it comes out, it’ll be a while until you see tangible benefits from switching your home over to Wi-Fi 7 if you’re already on Wi-Fi 6 or better. Chasing performance benchmarks is fun, but in real-world applications, you only need so much bandwidth to watch YouTube videos on your phone or sit on a Zoom call at work.
So if you have a dusty old mid-tier router you bought off the shelf at Best Buy five or more years ago, consider upgrading. But if you’re already rocking a current and premium setup, feel free to sit it out for a spell and wait for the Wi-Fi 7 prices to drop (and more end devices to support it).
[mai mult...]