This site is currently being developed and will change very often. There will be meaningless links and such during development, please be patient.
Moore Enterprises International is a small business concern specializing in SOHO and personal (home) computer systems and networking. MEI brings you experience, expertise and knowledge of the big guys at a local, guy-next-door price.
We are located in Greensboro, NC, but service the North Carolina Triad.
Computers are not magic. They are not deamons or evil things that people should fear yet I constantly run into people who fear them. A computer is simply a tool and like any tool serves its master. If you learn to use it properly, it will do good. If you try to use it without learning how first, results at best can be unpredictable. But, DO NOT FEAR THE TOOL, you will learn nothing and never get anything accomplished.
Voice over IPOne of the latest and greatest advances in communications is Voice over IP (VoIP). This service is ONLY available to those of you with a broadband connection (Cable or DSL). If setup properly, a connection can drive your entire home phone network. One limitation is that the service is only as good as your Internet provider. When your Internet connection fails, your phone service does also! I personally use Vonage for my VoIP provider on my Time-Warner RoadRunner high-speed Internet connection. Vonage is currently the largest provider but don't expect a tremendous amount of technical support. Their email support really does not exist. I've tried it, they NEVER respond. Phone support takes 20-30 minutes but is helpful. But, the upside is that it is easy to install, easy to configure and rarely fails. Failures are normally due to the broadband carrier and not the VoIP provider. There are several other providers. Time-Warner has an offering which is very well supported but pricey at a minimum of $39.99/month (Vonage is $24.99). AT&T has an offering at $19.99/month. One additional consideration is the availability of a local number and porting from your existing number to the new VoIP number. More on VoIP as of June, 2005. I recently flew Lufthansa to Europe and was surprised to find that they now have Broadband Wireless Internet Access available on all their long flights. A little pricey at $30/flight for unlimited access but you can do a lot of accessing on an 8-hour flight. In the "This Should Work" category is the Vonage SoftPhone. If you have Vonage VoIP service, you can add this software to your laptop for $4.99/month and your laptop will have its own phone number. With a headset, you should be able to make and receive calls during flight. Cost of the call is the same as if it were made from your home VoIP phone. One final thing. Should you opt to try Vonage as a VoIP service, do me a favor. Send me an email and let me refer you to Vonage. You will receive an invitation for service from them which will include free equipment and a minimum of a month's free service. I will receive a month or two of free service also. It is a good deal for both of us. |
Wireless AccessGet ready for wireless. It is coming, it is good and you will like it. Wireless actually began several years ago but has recently gained in popularity as numerous public Hotspots (places in the real world where wireless works) have popped up. Wireless comes in several flavors, the current most popular being 802.11b (11 Mbps) and 802.11g (54 Mbps). Speeds shown are the maximums, actuals vary based on distance from the access point, structural interference, etc. Wireless is a "Must Have" with a laptop. Laptops are meant to be portable and convenient. If they have to be connected by wire to a LAN or to a phone line to connect to the Internet, they are NOT convenient. Desktops are a different story but not a lot of difference. While wired LAN's currently support up to 1 Gbps, the norm right now is 100 Mbps so 802.11g at 54 Mbps or 802.11n at 108 Mbps is not that bad. "Wired" is the action word here, you have to run wire to all connected devices. Also, keep in mind that the LAN speed is only a limiting factor between computers on the LAN, not the Internet. If your Internet connection is Cable, you are already running at a maximum speed of less than 5 Mbps. DSL is somewhat less than that. Security should not be an issue if you setup the access point properly. Specify encryption key on the access point and provide the key to accessing wireless devices. The key is NOT necessary for hardwired connections. |
Inexpensive Student & Teacher SoftwareSoftware products are not cheap, at least the better one are not. Systems at one time were bundled with many products but now have limited or trial versions, leaving the customer to shop for and purchase their own copies. IF your computer is used by a student or an educator you may well be able to get a BIG break in pricing if you are willing to do a little research and paperwork. Some packages are offered in stores (such as Microsoft Office 2003), others direct from the manufacturer (such as Macromedia products) and others from special distributors (such as Gradware.com). I have personally used all three and saved tons of money on the software on the kids machines. Normally all that is required is for you to fax a copy of a current ID, course schedule, report card, letter from the school, or something similar. Requirements vary but are quite simple in most cases. |
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