Understanding Hardware Specifications

Computer specifications can often be confusing as they tend to include a lot of

promotional and technical words and phrases.
In this section we’ll go through the most common information you’ll most likely need
when shopping for a computer, laptop or tablet.
We’ll take a look at some common specifications and try to decode all the technical
jargon, so you can be confident when shopping around for a computer.

So Many Machines

A lot of people ask what computer I should get. This is a valid question as there are so
many to choose from. You could have a tablet, pc laptop, pc net- book, pc desktop,
macbook or an imac; the list goes on.

This is what I have found from experience of using computers at different levels for
different tasks.

The question I always ask myself is what I will be using the machine for.
Will I be playing games?
Will I be editing photos or video? Or just looking at them?
Will I be typing documents, making spreadsheets or presentations? Will I be
using the internet, email and a bit of video chat?

Do I need portability?
You should take all these things into consideration when buying your machine.
For example, if you are just using your machine to type some documents, check your
email and browse the internet, you perhaps don’t need the most powerful machine you
can find as a lot of that power is expensive and could be wasted.
On the other hand, if you do a lot of video editing or photography or play the latest games
you would need as much power as you can afford.
Do you want to be sitting at a desk while you use a computer? Or do you prefer sitting in
your favourite chair in a coffee shop? If you prefer the coffee shop setting or moving
around, perhaps consider a laptop.
Mac or PC?

There seem to be two main types of computer available in most computer shops. One is
an Apple Mac the other is a Windows PC.
One of the biggest deciding factors in buying a Mac or a PC is the price. Macs are much
more expensive than PCs, in some cases costing up to twice as much as a comparable PC.
This can make a Mac not worthwhile if you only need to do basic computing.

Apple is very selective about what programs and applications it allows to run on its
machines so software availability can be an issue. However, if the software is available
for Macs, it is generally high quality and reliable, but there is less variety.
Macs tend to be a bit more secure than PCs as there are a lot more internet threats that
target PCs.
Macs are used in creative industries, so a large amount of creative software is available
for Mac, making them a good fit for graphic designers and people who love taking
photographs, listening to music and playing movies. They have built-in software and
hardware features that play music or movies, edit and store photographs and also have
software for internet and email along with office applications for word processing etc.
PCs tend to be used in offices and businesses so they have a wide range of applications
available for internet browsing, email and word processing.
PCs are better suited for gaming because of their powerful graphics capabilities and the
wide variety of games available for PC.
PCs tend to be better for users who occasionally use their computer or use it for basic
tasks such as internet, email, a few photographs, bit of music and some typing as paying
the price for a Mac might not be worthwhile.
However, if you use your computer a lot, love taking photographs, making videos,
watching DVDs, listening to music as well as typing documents, browsing the internet
and using email, a Mac might be worth its price.
Decoding Computer Specs

In this section, we’ll take a look at some common computer and peripheral specifications
you might find online or when shopping for a computer. It’s worth knowing a bit about
these terms before going to the computer store. I have tried to filter out most of the tech-
babble and circled the information you need.
Printer Specs

Here is a common specification you might find when shopping for a printer.
If connecting to your computer using USB, make sure you buy a USB cable, some printers
don’t include one.
The Internet

You can connect to the internet in a variety of different ways. Many of today’s Internet
Service Providers offer a DSL, Cable or Fibre Optic connection to the internet, depending
on where you are.
In this section, we’ll take a look at some of the most common methods and their basic
setups.

We’ll also take a look at some of the WiFi options and some basic security protocols.
Lastly a look at some common router specifications to help you decide on which one you
need to buy, if you’re out shopping for one.

DSL

Stands for Digital Subscriber Line and is basically implemented as a DSL, meaning the
download speed is faster than the upload speed. This type of internet connection connects
via your telephone line, allowing you to use both your phone and internet at the same time
using a DSL filter.
You’ll need an aDSL/aDSL2 modem router that plugs into your phone line. These are
usually supplied by your ISP, so check with them before buying.

Fibre Optic

In some countries, the fibre optic cable runs from the exchange to the telephone cabinet
in your street and uses v DSL over the copper phone line to run the last 100-300m or so
to your house.

This is called FTTC or ‘fibre to the cabinet’ and has a very similar setup to the illustration
above.
For this option to work you will need a modem router that is compatible with
vDSL/vDSL2. Check with your ISP for specific details.

If you’re lucky enough to can get fibre running directly to your home, this is called FTTP
or ‘fibre to the premises’ and is set up as shown below. This means the fibre optic cable
runs from the exchange all the way to your house.
A modem supplied by your ISP connects to a fibre optic cable coming into your house.
You can then buy a cable router that has WiFi capabilities and plug that in using an
ethernet cable. This will allow you to have WiFi in your house. Some ISPs will already
have this built into their modem, so check with them first.

Cable

Cable Internet is distributed via your cable TV provider and usually runs down a COAX
cable rather than a phone cable.
Setups may vary slightly from different providers; however, most will be similar to the
one illustrated below.

The COAX cable is split and one goes to your cable TV decoder and the other to your
cable modem. From your cable modem, you can connect a cable router using an ethernet
cable, which can provide WiFi. Some ISPs will already have this built into their modem,
so check with them first.

Satellite

This option is available in rural areas where line based broadband services such as DSL
or Fibre aren’t available. It uses a satellite dish to provide access but speeds tend to be
lower and weather conditions can interfere with reception.

3G/4G

This option uses the mobile/cell phone network and usually involves plugging a USB
dongle with a SIM card into your computer.

3G and 4G are usually included with smart phones as part of your package or contract.
Speeds have improved over the years; however, they are still very slow in comparison
with DSL, Cable or Fibre Optic.

WiFi

WiFi allows you to connect to a wireless network, also called a Wireless LAN and is
usually broadcasting on a frequency of 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands.
Wireless LANs are usually password protected to keep them private and to prevent
unwanted visitors using your WiFi. WiFi networks usually have a network name often
called an SSID.

Dual Band or Single Band?

Dual Band wireless LANs use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz but you’ll need to make sure your
devices (phone, laptop, tablet and computer) are compatible with these frequencies. Some
devices only broadcast on 2.4GHz and some use both, so check the WiFi specs on your
devices. There is far less interference on the 5GHz band and in some cases can provide
better service.
Single Band wireless LANs use either 2.4GHz or 5GHz, not both.

WiFi Extenders

The technical term is wireless repeater and if you live in a big house, these can help to
cover your whole property if your WiFi router doesn’t quite reach.
The idea is to position the extenders as far away from your wireless router as possible
without losing too much of your signal quality. This will give you maximum range.

Wireless Standards

All wireless networks are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.

The 802.11b standard, has a maximum raw data rate of 11 Mbps using 2.4GHz and is an
out dated technology now days.
The 802.11g standard, extended the throughput to up to 54 Mbps using the same 2.4 GHz
band.
The 802.11n standard, also known as Wireless N, extended throughput over the two
previous standards with a significant increase in the maximum data rate from 54 Mbps to
300 Mbps, and can be used on the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands.
The 802.11ac standard, broadcasts on the 5GHz band and has throughput of up to 1 Gbps
and is sometimes referred to as Gigabit WiFi. This is accomplished by using wider RF
bands for each channel.

Wireless Security

There are currently two standards for home WiFi: WPA and WPA2, WPA2 being the
more recent standard.
WPA Stands for ‘WiFi Protected Access’ and is implemented using a preshared key (
PSK). It is commonly referred to as WPA Personal, and uses the Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol ( TKIP) for encryption.
WPA2 uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for encryption. The security provided
by AES is much more secure than TKIP, so make sure your WiFi router has WPA2-PSK
encryption.

Data Transfer Rates

In communication systems, data is usually measured in bits per second, not bytes per
second.
Bytes and Bits
Computer data is measured in bytes. There are 8 bits in one byte. So to calculate the data
transfer rate you need to convert the size of the data from bytes to bits. Don’t get
megabits confused with megabytes.
To convert bytes to bits you need to multiply by 8, so
2 bytes is 2 x 8 = 16bits
Going a bit further,
2 kilobytes is 2 x 1024 = 2048 bytes

Remember there are 1024 bytes in a kilobyte

Now convert to bits. There are 8 bits in one byte so

2048 x 8 = 16,384 bits
Remember, always convert down to bytes then multiply by 8.
Another step further
2 megabytes is 2 x 1024 = 2048 kilobytes
There are 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte
2048 kilobytes x 1024 = 2,097,152 bytes
Now multiply by 8 to convert to bits
2,097,152 bytes x 8 = 16,777,216 bits
Large numbers get complicated, so 16,777,216 bits can be converted to 16 megabits.
So 2 megabytes per second would be 16 megabits per second.
A short cut would be, if you are converting megabytes to megabits, you can just multiply
by 8. Same with kilobytes to kilobits, or gigabytes to gigabits. It gets a bit more involved
if you are converting, for example, kilobytes to bits or megabytes to bits.
Going the other way is very similar
Say I had an internet connection of 40mbps (megabits per second)
40 megabits per second ÷ 8 = 5 megabytes per
second So how long will it take to download?
To calculate this use file size ÷ data rate = time to
download So for example a 70megabyte file with a 40mbps
(megabit per second) connection speed.
First you need to convert both data so they use the same units - you can’t use both
megabytes and megabits.
40 Mbps ÷ 8 = 5 MBps (Mega Bytes per second) So...

Time to download = 70MB ÷ 5MBps ( Mega Bytes per second)= 14

seconds 5GB File?
5GB x 1024 = 5120MB (remember the units need to be the same; can’t use gigabytes and
megabytes)
5120MB ÷ 5MBps = 1024 seconds (no one quotes that many seconds so you can divide
this by 60 to get minutes)
1024 seconds ÷ 60 = approx 17 mins
MBps = Mega Bytes per
second Mbps = Mega Bits
per second.
So when your broadband provider boasts “40meg” it is actually 40 megabits per second,
not 40 megabytes per second. A lot slower since 40Mbps =5MBps.