How to Share Files Between Nearby Computers

How to Share Files Between Nearby Computers

In a common situation, if you've several computers, such as your office, and would like to transfer files between them or to print documents from your computer(s) then, you're, usually, using e mail(s) to send them or have to use a USB drive to do these things.

There were also lots of way to share files but through this article we will cover some of the best.

Windows Homegroup is one of the best and easy way to share files between the computers, if you're using Windows 7 or Windows 8 versions. Windows home networking has been extremely complicated to configure in the past, but Homegroup option is easy to configure.

To create a Homegroup: From Start > Control Panel.

From Network and Internet > click on Choose homegroup and sharing options.

A window 'Create a Homegroup'  will open.

Here, you can tick the boxes (of libraries) that you wish to share then press Next. Now you'll get a password. Enter the password on nearby computers as the same way Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet and so on to join your Homegroup.

Tick, also, the boxes (of libraries) on nearby computers, if they need to be shared. Now the files can be accessed by means of sharing when they're on the same network. 

Anyone, is sitting on other PC, will have to choose Homegroup option then browse the shared files and download them on their system. If a guest would like to sharing this network, just provide the password of the Homegroup to join. 

Many peoples are using other cloud storage solutions, such as Google Drive, Sky Drive or Dropbox, to sync and transfer files between their computers. But there will be a drawback while using cloud storage, as the files, first, have to be uploading on the servers of cloud storage, then the same have to be downloading on your computers. These steps are so silly; and syncing larger files, over cloud storage, will take more time, too.

If your computers are on the same network, then why don't you sync the files directly between them?

LAN Sync: Dropbox, a home for all your photos, docs, videos, and files, which offers a LAN Sync option and if you've two or more computers on same network and both having Dropbox, then you may sync files directly each other without hassle of long time of uploads and downloads. Even 1GB file could able to sync quickly to your other computer that running Dropbox, and both computers are on same network. 

So, you can share folders, too, from your Dropbox with other peoples, if they're on the same LAN network as like you. They may also get benefits from LAN sync, which means they may sync files directly from their computers.              

And you should have enough space on your Dropbox account for the files, which will be uploaded automatically to your Dropbox. 

BitTorrentSync is an another option, which allows you to synchronize an unlimited number folders and files of any size across multiple devices via secure, distributed technology and keep files synchronized between your computers.

Install BitTorrent Sync on the devices you want to sync, then Add a folder that you want to synchronize and generate a secret for that folder on one of the devices. The secret is like a key that connects multiple devices into one sync network. On the other devices, choose a folder for sync and enter the same secret.

BitTorrent Sync will run on all devices and able to manage your sync folders via Windows, Mac, Linux and even on mobile. 

Other services like Google Drive or Sky Drive are also good solutions, especially for the small files, to share between computers, even without LAN sync.  

USB Drives: The old and standard USB (Universal Serial Bus) drives doesn't working on wireless connections but it is faster when transferring files and doesn't require the computers to be connected on any network at all. 

These drives can be faster than Wi-Fi, especially when using a flash drive with 3.0 support, which adds a new transfer mode called "SuperSpeed" (distinguishable from USB 2.0 by either the blue color of the port or the initials SS) capable of transferring data up to 5Gbit/s—more than 10 times as fast as the 480 Mbit/s top speed of USB 2.0. USB 3.1 was released in July 2013, providing transfer rates up to 10 Gbit/s ("SuperSpeed+").
 
Many other ways, also, available in transferring files between computers, but the ways posted here are the best.

If your computers are not on the same network, then you may create an ad-hoc Wireless network or connect the computers with Ethernet cables to get advantages of network sharing features.

What's WEP, WPA and WPA2 Wireless Encryption

What's WEP, WPA and WPA2 Wireless Encryption 

Understanding the differences of encryption protocols then implementing them with the advanced features would support your router more secure. Even if you know how to secure the Wi-Fi network, but probably you may not know the encryption acronyms, which is little bit puzzling! 

This post will highlighting the differences between encryption standards such as WEP, WPA and WPA2. 

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), erroneously called as Wireless Encryption Protocol, is a security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Introduced in September 1999, its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network. This is widely used Wi-Fi security algorithm in the world. It is recognizable by the key of 10 or 26 hexadecimal digits, which was the first security choice presented to users by router configuration tools.  

The first version of WEP weren’t particularly strong, because U.S. restrictions on various cryptographic technology led the manufacturers to restrict their devices to only 64-bit encryption. When the restrictions were lifted, it was increased to 128-bit. 

However, the introduction of 256-bit WEP encryption, 128-bit remains one of the most common implementations. Revisions to the algorithm and numerous security flaws were found in the WEP standard, which allow easier exploitation and crack WEP passwords in minutes that deprecate in favor to newer standards. 

In 2003 the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that WEP had been superseded by WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), and its configuration is  WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key). The keys used by WPA are 256-bit, a significant increase over the 64-bit and 128-bit keys used in the WEP system. Some significant changes implemented on WPA, included message integrity checks with Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), a stopgap security protocol used in the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard. Later TKIP was superseded by Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), an encryption of specification for electronic data. 

In 2004, with the ratification of full 802.11i standard (i.e. WPA2), the IEEE declared that  WEP have been deprecated as they fail to meet their security goals and WPA has been officially superseded by WPA2. The significant changes between WPA and WPA2 was the use of AES algorithms and the introduction of CCMP (Counter Cipher Mode with Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol), an encryption protocol designed for Wireless LAN products that implement the standards of the IEEE 802.11i amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard, which is a replacement for TKIP and still preserved in WPA2 as well interoperability with WPA. 

From this point, you may choose either the best encryption method or the one such as WEP, which is at the top of the list. 

However, following is the ranking list to the Wi-Fi security scheme that available on any modern router, which arranged from worst to best:

• Open Network (No Security)
• WEP
• WPA + TKIP
• WPA + TKIP/AES
• WPA + AES
• WPA2 + AES

Once you arranged your router to WEP, then it's level of security is so low such as a chain link fence, where anyone can easily just climb over it! Deploying to another may enhance the security more powerful and you'll be sitting pretty with a secured Wi-Fi network.