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Tethering with Mobile WiFiAdvantagesBy using your smartphone to broadcast a wireless signal, you can easily connect your device using your new mobile hotspot. Also, depending on the quality of your phone?s reception, your device can emit a wireless signal that?s on par with those produced from an actual wireless router. In fact, most smartphone hotspots are able to connect up to five different devices, adding to the versatility of the feature. DisadvantagesThe biggest concern when using your smartphone as a mobile hotspot is security. Your phone?s signal is vulnerable to hackers within range. This means that you should take the same precautions with your mobile device that you would with your office?s in-house router. Another disadvantage is that your device?s battery can get drained pretty quickly when using your device for tethering, which might leave you tethered to an outlet instead of WiFi. Tethering with USB CablesAdvantagesWhen tethering with USB, you don?t need to worry about your battery life. Your phone receives a charge while it?s plugged into your device, meaning that you?ll only have to worry about one battery instead of two. Plus, when you use your USB cable for tethering, the WiFi signal is only pushed through the cable. This means that the only device using it is yours. DisadvantagesAdding one more cable to what you already carry around with you might not feel like a significant addition, but it can be a minor inconvenience. The same can be said for keeping your device by your side, which can be distracting. USB tethering often requires special software or configurations, depending on the device being used. This simply means there are more steps to go through, which can be irritating. Still, despite these minor disadvantages, tethering via a USB cable is probably worth it when possible. Tethering via BluetoothAdvantagesBluetooth, just like WiFi, is capable of using a wireless signal to provide your device with an Internet signal. Bluetooth is specifically designed to use up less battery power, so it?s perfect for use with a mobile hotspot. Additionally, Bluetooth isn?t nearly as common as a mobile hotspot as wireless, so it has better security. DisadvantagesThe disadvantage to Bluetooth is that it?s not as easy to configure as WiFi. According to Pocketnow: It?s a little more involved to set up than WiFi, and a little more involved every time you want to use Bluetooth tethering. If power consumption is a concern, Bluetooth is probably the way to go, if you?re willing to configure it. So which tethering option is the best? It really depends on your needs. If you?re not entirely sure how to tether your device, or need help deciding which method is best for you, give us a call at (603) 889-0800. 

The primary expectations that today?s consumers look for in a cloud service is that it?s available and reliable. In fact, the expectation of a cloud service?s availability seems to trump even that of preferring one piece of hardware over another. This is one example of just how much cloud computing has completely changed the way that consumers view technology. Think about it, not too long ago computer users were driven to have their home PC be the fastest and most powerful machine they could afford. For most consumers, their home PC was their only computer, and forget about accessing work-related files on the average cell phone in the days before the iPhone. Today, the average consumer compliments their home PC with multiple mobile devices, and having the best desktop possible is no longer a status symbol. The cloud changed this computing paradigm by allowing users to easily access and work on important files from any device, anywhere. Subsequently, the reliability and availability of cloud software is what?s making all of this possible. Today, the average user could care less about what kind of device they?re working from, so long as it can easily connect to their cloud account and has enough resources to allow them to work on their cloud-hosted project with minimum downtime. Once someone experiences just how much easier cloud computing makes everything, it?s hard to go back to a bulky system like transporting files via USB thumb drive and manually syncing devices. Essentially, the ease of the cloud has raised the bar of consumer expectations so that users now cringe if a software issue can?t be resolved by just a few clicks, and consumers become absolutely befuddled if a necessary software application isn?t available in the cloud or if it doesn?t have a mobile app. To give you an idea of what today?s consumers expect from the cloud, we want to share this list of consumer expectations from ZDNet tech blogger David Gewirtz. In this list, Gewirtz is speaking on behalf of the average tech consumer. Some cloud services are free, but we expect premium upgrades. If paid services are involved, we expect to easily and smoothly add or remove services merely with a mouse-click and a credit card. As soon as a service plan’s capacity is reached (or just before), we expect the service to offer us an upgrade, not require us to go hunting to make things work. We also expect fees to be tiered, so that each new tier provides more value than the last, with an incremental fee or jump. Fees are usually all-you-can-eat for a year or smoothly scalable as soon as more capacity is needed. We expect to be able to use the service on any compatible machine. And we generally expect the service to work on pretty much anything. We expect all our service-related data to just be there, wherever we are. How that happens is not our problem. Installation is a click or a login. That’s it. It’s just there. There are no longer installers, updaters, zip files or other things to download and run on the desktop. Just click and run. There you have it. Cloud computing has made everything so easy that we?ve come to expect the availability and reliability of the cloud to accompany virtually every […]

Contrary to what some might think, that free 15GB you get when you start using Google Drive isn?t used by just Drive itself; it?s used across several other Google services, including Gmail and Google+, for email attachments and photos alike. Here?s how you can find what?s eating up all of your Google Drive storage. Analyze Google Drive?s Storage PageThankfully, there?s a really convenient way to see what?s taking up all of your Drive?s storage space. By visiting Drive?s Storage Page, you can see a simple pie chart of what?s using up most of your storage space. As you can see, it tells you exactly how much storage is being used, and where it?s being used. This lets you see what needs cleaning up. For example, if most of your storage is being used for your email and attachments, it might be a good idea to weed that out. Similarly, if you have too many photos on Google+, it might be a good call to go through them and see which ones you can do without. What Uses Up Your Drive?s Storage?The storage page is actually very helpful in informing you of what takes up space in your Drive account. At the bottom of the screen, underneath the pie chart, you?ll see a section that tells you what exactly uses your Drive storage. Surprisingly, any files created using the core Google Apps (Docs, Sheets, Slides) don?t take up any storage at all, while just about anything in your Gmail inbox takes away from your Drive storage. As for Google+, only photos larger than 2048×2048 pixels, and videos longer than 15 minutes, eat up your Drive?s storage. Take Back Your StorageNow it?s time to go through all of your stored files and find the ones that are taking up the most space. One way of doing this is by sorting your files by quota used. On the lower left-hand side of the screen in Drive, right above the link that says Buy more storage, you?ll see your current storage use. Hover over it and a box will appear with more specific numbers. Click Drive. This sorts your files by Quota used, meaning how much space they?re taking up. This can help you manage your Drive?s storage more efficiently. As for sorting out your email, it can be tricky to delete files, as some of them might be better off archived somewhere for later viewing. Contact White Mountain IT Services for help establishing an email archiving solution for your business. You might have plenty of space being taken up by your Google+ photos, too. Plus, if you have an Android phone, there?s a good chance that you?re syncing your device?s photos to Drive, effectively backing them up. To make sure your photos don?t exceed the designated maximum, open the Google+ app on your Android phone. Click Settings > Auto Backup > Photo Size, then select Standard size. This keeps them from being uploaded as larger files that actually take up space in Drive. Keep in mind that there may be instances where you don’t want Google scaling down your images automatically. By taking these steps, you should be able to minimize the amount of storage you?re using in Drive, and maximize the amount you can store without needing to upgrade. For more tips and best practices […]

This ?boring? video is more of an analysis of the way the human mind has developed under the grueling conditions of continuous stimulation. The video argues that, while surfing the Internet, the average user will indefinitely choose entertainment over more productive alternatives (like actually doing work). This is because over a decade of Internet use has fostered an attitude that we don?t necessarily have to be bored, which in turn has allowed people to justify not reading through an entire article. Hence, the term, ?tl;dr? (Too long, didn?t read). Can You Finish This Article?By now, we?ve probably lost at least half of you. For those of you who are still with us, don?t take it personally, but we know that most of you probably won’t finish this article. According to Slate, which performed a study concerning their web traffic and reader statistics, about five percent of all those engaged by Slate?s articles couldn?t even be bothered to scroll down the page. This means that they didn?t see anything at all within the article, and instead went to another page. Thankfully, the majority of visitors scroll down to about the halfway point. Still, this doesn?t necessarily mean that they read the whole article. They might have only read half of it, and then chose to share it over social media because they found the premise interesting. If this is the case, they won?t have read the whole article, and the people who click on it through social media probably won?t, either. Thus, there will be a whole slew of people who only have a vague understanding of the article?s content. Of course, there?s also the huge influence that media has on the number of people who scroll through the entire article. Most people can?t be bothered to finish the article unless there?s something visually stimulating in it, like videos or pictures. There isn?t even a guarantee that those who scroll through all of the article have even read it. For all we know, people could scroll down the page to see if anything catches their eye, then leave afterward. These trends use the assumption that the web article is roughly 2000 pixels long (the length of a typical web article, roughly two pages of text or 1,000 words single-spaced). If You?re Still with Us, CongratulationsIf you?ve made it this far, you?re one of the few who would take the time to read the whole article. You chose to take some time out of your schedule to read this entire article, and we appreciate that. In a world where we never have to be bored unless we choose to be, it?s almost as if people are simply looking to curb their hunger for entertainment rather than trying to read something intellectual. This natural time-wasting mindset can be detrimental to the business owner. The Internet makes it easier than ever to be distracted and wander in meme-land for several hours a week. By taking advantage of productivity best practices from White Mountain IT Services, you can minimize mental downtime in the office and truly allow your online practices to flourish. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

In case it?s not clear, bottlenecking is a term that?s named after the way a bottle is shaped; narrow at the top, wider at the bottom. The bottleneck is supposed to control how much liquid is poured from the bottle. Techquickie defines bottlenecking (also known as a choke point) as, ?Holding back the performance that could otherwise be achieved.? Unfortunately, locating the source of the bottleneck on your company?s network is often easier said than done. You must locate the source of the issue and resolve it as quickly as possible if you hope to achieve optimal performance in the workplace. Most of the time, resolving the issue is as simple as upgrading whatever is causing the bottleneck so that it?s at the same performance level as the rest of your network. One example of this is upgrading a single aspect of your PC and expecting an overall increase in performance. For example, you may upgrade your video card in hopes of making your PC run better. This fix might make your display look prettier, but it won?t do much to fix problems with your CPU or RAM. If these are old and have already hit their limit, upgrading your video card won?t do anything at all to increase the performance of your PC because they are the bottleneck. The chances of a bottleneck occurring in your network increase as the complexity of technology increases. Therefore, if you?re dealing with a computing infrastructure that?s filled with complex workstations, server units, and other mission-critical hardware, you?re going to witness a substantially larger number of network issues. For instance, if you?re working with top-notch workstations, but your router isn?t up to snuff, this bottleneck will prevent you from maximizing your computing potential. Finding the exact cause of a network bottleneck requires a comprehensive analysis of your network infrastructure, which is why you should call in professional IT technicians if you suspect a potential bottleneck. White Mountain IT Services, with our years of expertise in the technology industry, can troubleshoot and identify issues with your IT infrastructure. Without our ability to quickly diagnose performance issues, it can be easy to place the blame on a piece of hardware that might be as good as new. Knowing with certainty where your network issues lie is one of the most beneficial aspects of working with White Mountain IT Services. This helps you get the job done right the first time. White Mountain IT Services can run diagnostic tools that will determine the exact cause of your network bottleneck. This helps us resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Even better, there?s a good chance that we can resolve the issue remotely without an on-site visit. This makes our services even more convenient. If you think you?ve got a network bottlenecking issue, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800. We?ll work through the issue with you to make sure it?s fixed right with minimal wasted time.