Getting Back on eBay in One Day After an Unjust Suspension
You first of all you need to know that they have a cross link system, among other systems. You cannot use anything associated with your last account. Do not use your spouse’s name with the same address previously listed on the old eBay account because now that partner’s name is tagged. Don’t use that tagged partner’s name with a new address, because now that new address is tagged. Don’t use the same computer with the same IP to open a new account under a new name and address, because the new name and address is now tagged. Don’t use any software (turbolister etc.), pictures ads, or anything associated with your last account. You can sell the same products but for pictures always use eBay’s image hosting and always use different ads.
What happens is eBay’s tracking software looks for certain things in order to catch a suspended user opening another account and once It does It raises a red flag. Then a eBay employee will look into the red alert and If you didn’t take all the precautions they will easily catch the connection to your suspended accounts and suspend you again. If you follow the steps outlined here you’ll remain under eBay’s radar and your account will more than likely never even be reviewed by an actual eBay employee.
Not a registered user – this is the most shocking, distressing, anxiety causing situation for anyone that relies on eBay to make a living or supplemented income can ever experience. It’s like being fired from a job you love. You’re loosing hundreds or thousands of dollars a week!
I have been suspended from eBay twice. Both times for being linked to suspended accounts I had nothing to do with. After being suspended I anxiously searched to find out what I could do and of course I could get no response from eBay. It’s very rare for eBay to reinstate a suspended account even If they find they made a mistake. eBay won’t admit any wrong doing on their part.
GET BACK ON eBay IN AS LITTLE AS ONE DAY!
Follow these instructions step by step or you’ll just get suspended again and have to start all over.
Many people think you have to re-format (reinstall windows) prior to opening a new account but I didn’t do it and so far I’m all good. As a precautionary measure it wouldn’t be a bad idea though. Especially if your pc is running really slow and your hard drive is full, reinstalling windows will make it run like new. If you want to do this and need help, email me and I’ll give you instructions and a copy of windows XP professional (for a small fee) if you need it.
It is a very rare occasion that eBay ever reinstates a suspended account, so even if you think you can prove your self innocent, it will take weeks to months and you have to give up all of your personal info. Copies of your birth certificate, social security card, drivers license ect. Even after all that you will more that likely still not get reinstated. eBay does not care about the small sellers.
1) Clear your tracks:
You’ll need to get a new IP and clear the spy’s, web-beacons and cookies.
Download Firefox with Google Toolbar. Firefox browser is an alternative to internet explorer. Firefox is free and is an absolute must! After you download, go to “tools” at the top of the browser, then click on “options” – “Privacy tab ” and check the box that says “Always clear my private data when I close Firefox”
eBay tracks and monitors your activities through your cookies. They also have the added advantage of monitoring your surfing habits with the cooperation of many associates and affiliates remotely monitoring your activities without you even being logged into eBay! Seems like an invasion of privacy to me but true never the less.
Aside from setting Firefox to clear all cookies and temp files every time I shut down, I also run a free program called crap cleaner which I have found the best for removing cookies temp files and more. I run It at the end of everyday and I always close fire fox after logging out of eBay to erase all cookies before I do any other surfing. This way eBay can’t track your activities. Believe me this is necessary if you don’t want eBay monitoring your surfing habits.
2) Change your IP Address
NOTE: eBay has launched a “Trusted Selling with Identity Confirmation” in efforts to fight the problems of account hijacking in which fraudsters take over users’ accounts to list scam auctions. This is proof that eBay monitors your computer! eBay said it has started recording which computers members typically use to conduct their buying and selling activity. In June ’08, eBay began verifying sellers are using the same computers they have used previously. If sellers list items using a different computer, eBay will make an automated call to the seller for confirmation so it is important to have a good phone number now. It is not difficult to obtain 2nd phone lines, virtual phone numbers, or cell numbers. This new system may also prompt the seller to verify their identity in other, as yet not specified ways.
There are a few ways to change your IP.
(If you have Dial-up your IP automatically changes every time you log on.)
Windows – Computer connected directly to the modem
1. Get to a command prompt. (START, run, cmd).
2. Type “ipconfig /release” (without the quotes, on the command line by itself).
3. Type “ipconfig /renew” (without the quotes, on the command line by itself).
Windows (second option) – Computer connected directly to the modem
1. Get to a command prompt. (START, run, cmd).
2. Type “ipconfig /release” (without the quotes).
3. Shut down computer.
4. Turn off computer.
5. Turn off all ethernet hubs/switches.
6. Turn off cable/DSL modem.
7. Leave off overnight.
8. Turn everything back on.
Network with Router
1. Log into the router’s admin console. (Often [http://192.168.1.1/])
2. Release the IP address. (Method varies by router manufacturer)
3. Turn off router, Ethernet hubs/switches, and the cable/DSL modem.
4. Leave off overnight.
5. Turn everything back on.
If you are using a cable/DSL modem and a router, you may wish to connect your computer directly to the cable/DSL modem. Please note that this could significantly impact your system security. This allows your ISP’s DHCP to issue you a new (hopefully changed) IP address based of the (hardware) MAC address of your computer’s Ethernet card.
If all the above has not worked to change your IP address and you have a router, check and see if there is a “Clone MAC Address” option. Using it should change your IP address; however, you’ll only be able to do it once (in most cases).
These will not work in all cases. If all else fails contact your internet service provider (ISP) and ask them if they are able to change your IP address or how long your connection needs to be off for your IP address to change.
3) Get a NEW email address: I suggest gmail.com
4) Get a new mailing address: UPS store, PO box, etc. NOTE: standard postal mail boxes are a flag, preferably use a non government ran mailbox.
5) Get a new phone number: new cell number, second line, is easy.
6) Fully uninstall all auction software, I use Vendio and eBay Turbo Lister, don’t use eBay Turbo Lister again for multiple accounts. For security purpose, download and use eBay Turbo Lister for ONE account only. there are other programs for your secondary accounts.
7) Create an account with auctiva free auction software, templates and image hosting will help your business. Auctiva’s has scrolling gallery that helps you cross-market and increase customer traffic. It saves you much time and money.
Create a auctiva token for each eBay account you have by using a new auctiva account for each.
9) Get a new prepaid or gift card. You can get PayPal verified without a checking account. I’m surprised more people don’t know about this.
You’ll need a debit card with a direct deposit option. I don’t know how many offer this but the one I use is I.C.E Visa. You’ll need 2 cards. First you’ll receive your temporary cards. You’ll have to wait until you receive your permanent cards to use them because the address wont match on the temp cards. Use one card to register PayPal and as a seller on eBay and use the other one to get PayPal verified. Your Ice cards come with a routing and checking number. you’ll enter these numbers as your bank account numbers and select the add funds to your PayPal account to verify option. Then when they add the funds to your card your verified and they are none the wiser.
Overview
1. Use Firefox instead of internet explorer to adequately remove your cookies and surfing tracks. The reason to delete your browser cookies and saved passwords is because eBay leaves cookies on your PC with your eBay user name and password and some browsers automatically log you in which could obviously jeopardize any new account you establish.
2. Uninstall any eBay related software such as turbolister
3. Change your IP address
4. Use a friends Id. Create a new identity that you can also use everywhere else, not just on eBay.
5. Get a new email address, Gmail or yahoo and ad this to your PayPal account to prevent connection with old email address for accepting your eBay payments.
6. Get a new phone number or as they simply put it use call forwarding to save you the hassle of changing your existing number such as (tollfreeforwarding.com) or get prepaid cellphone.
7. Get a gift card credit card which has visa or MasterCard logo.
8. Then apply for new your eBay and PayPal account using total new identity information. To verify your account if you are a seller you need to enter bank details and unfortunately the majority of these publications advise using bogus information to do this. (to my surprise and ethical delight this is not always necessary though)
9. Make sure you use eBay image hosting instead of on your own server. Every image you use can be identified right down to what type of camera was used if necessary.
10. Start selling slowly.
11. Don’t use anything at all that was related or that you used on a suspended account. Pictures, etc.
Good luck with your love hate relationship with eBay.
How to Protect Yourself From the Health Risks of Cell Phone Use
I’m sure you’ve heard it in the media recently – all the buzz about the possible correlation between heavy cell phone use and brain tumors. The effects of these phones on our brains are a result of the close proximity of the phone to the brain during use. But, what hasn’t gotten much attention in the media are the risks of carrying these devices in our pockets for hours and hours each day.
And before you tune this out ladies, read on. This article contains information on potentially scary health issues for men and women alike. Although most of the discussion relates to men’s issues, it isn’t just men who can experience negative effects from heavy cell phone use.
First, it may seem unlikely to you that something as small as a cell phone could generate radiation levels that could harm your health. It is important to realize, however, that the negative effects we are discussing do not occur immediately – they are cumulative effects which accrue over many years.
According to a recent article published on Yahoo Health, and a large health study conducted, the 2010 Interphone study… “People who chatted via cell for just 30 minutes a day for 10 years saw their risk of glioma (the type of brain tumor that killed Ted Kennedy) rise 40 percent”.
The reality is that we are all unwitting human guinea pigs in a worldwide study of the effects of cell phone use. This is because these devices and other electronic devices like Wi-Fi networks, have infiltrated our society. Science hasn’t really had time to study the effects on our bodies that these electronic signals may be having on us.
Because these devices are relatively new, no long term studies are available. Further, most of the studies that do exist have been funded by the phone manufacturers and carriers (Hmmm). One risk that hasn’t been adequately studied is the possible harmful long term effects of carrying a cell phone in one’s pocket. If there are indications that the close proximity of the phone to the brain during use causes problems, what about the even longer exposure to other parts of our bodies while the phones are in our pockets. Think about it guys! Could we see a rise in testicular cancer down the road?
Looking at Medline, there are a number of studies which show significant decreases in serum testosterone in rats following even moderate exposure (30 minutes per day, 5 days a week, for 4 weeks) to 900 megahertz radio frequency electro-magnetic fields (EMF), which is what most GSM cell phones produce.” So, something is clearly going on.
Dozens of studies have been done, mostly in Europe, and upwards of 70% concluded that cell phone radiation impairs sperm function. The jury is still out on how serious the relation between our phones and health issues such as cancer is. Further scientific studies are needed, but the preliminary indications are that concern is warranted.
Obviously, we are not prepared to give up our cell phones and Wi-Fi networks. So, what measures can we take to reduce our exposure to radiation from these devices? Here are 5 things to consider:
When at home, keep your phone away from your body. Put it on the other side of the room.
When you’re in your car, put your phone on the console or in the passenger seat, rather than keeping it in your pocket.
At other times when you are moving about, try to keep your phone out of your pocket. Put it in a backpack, bag or whatever. If you at a restaurant or somewhere else where you will remain for a while, put the phone on the corner of the table or desk away from your body. Granted, you may walk off and forget it. Which risk is more important? Another option (I know it’s heresy) is to turn off the phone.
And don’t forget, radiation dangers don’t just come from cell phones. Wi-Fi and other Wi-Fi devices also pose risks. It is recommended that you not hold your laptop on your lap during use – again, that puts it too close to some pretty important body parts. Find a table to use rather than your lap.
Also, if possible, try to use a wired internet connection (ethernet) instead of Wi-Fi or mobile broadband. At home, consider switching to a wired internet connection and get rid of the wireless router, or at least keep it turned off most of the time.
Clearly, this information warrants some serious consideration and you may want to do some more research on your own to determine what safety measures are appropriate. This is a potential health issue not just for you, but for your family and friends as well. As already pointed out, we are all involved as human subjects in a giant study of the risks of radiation from the chronic and pervasive use of cell phones, Wi-Fi and other electronic devices. Each of us should learn more about the risks and at a minimum take measures like those suggested above to protect ourselves.
If you found this information useful (and enlightening), please consider sending a link to your family and friends to give them a “heads up” as well.
What Is A Fuse? And How To Test It
A fuse is a very thin wire, which either melts or vaporizes when too much current flows through it. The thin wire may be made of aluminum, tin-coated copper or nickel. The resulting open in the circuit stops current flow. In electronic equipment, most fuses are cylindrical glass or ceramic type with a metal cap at each end! The current rating also can be seen in one of the two metal end caps. There are two popular physical sizes: 1 – ¼ X ¼ – inch and 5X20mm. The 1 – ¼ X ¼ – inch size is used in many automobiles. You’ll find both sizes in many electronic equipment, but the smaller 5 X 20mm has become more common. Fuses are available with current ratings from 1/500 Ampere to hundreds of amperes.
Purpose of Fuses
The purpose of a fuse is to open an electronic circuit when current flow exceeds a certain amount, determined by the rating of the fuse. Opening a circuit under high current conditions can save electronic components from damaged and prevents overheating, which could cause a fire.
Types of Fuses
There is two basic types of fuses: fast acting and slow blow. The fast acting type will open very quickly when their particular current rating is exceeded. This is important for analog meter movements, which can quickly be destroyed when too much current flows through them, for even a very small amount of time. Slow blow fuse have a coiled construction inside. They are designed to open only on a continued overload, such as a short circuit. The purpose of coiled construction is to prevent the fuse from blowing on just a temporary current surge.
Do not use a slow blow fuse in place of a fast acting fuse. It may not open fast enough to prevent components damage under a high current condition. It’s not harmful to replace a slow blow fuse with a fast-acting fuse, but it will probably open up unnecessarily every now and then when the equipment is first switch on. A blown fuse can tell you something about your service problem. Often the glass case of the fuse appears clear, and you can still see the broken pieces of the fuse element. This means you have the kind of problem that causes a slow, gradual overload on the power supply. Some fuses even die of old age. But if the inside of the glass fuse is discolored, and there is no trace of the fuse element (the center connector), you know that the center connector was destroyed quickly and violently, using a lot of heat. The fault was a short circuit or other problem that caused a lot of current to flow very quickly.
Is some cases a fuse will open up fast enough when there is a surge so that other components aren’t damaged. If this is the case, replacing the fuse with one of the same type and rating restores operation. Unfortunately, a high probability exists that if a fuse blew, something in the circuit it was protecting shorted out. In this case, a replacement fuse blows right away. The blown fuse can easily be replaced by a new one, after the overload has been eliminated when come into replacement. Use only the same current and voltage ratings as the original. The common type and current rating of a fuse in a monitor are slow blow 2A to 5A. When you buy replacement fuses, get several – you can easily use all of them while you’re troubleshooting an elusive problem.
Testing Fuses
Turn the power off and remove the fuse from the circuit to check with a multimeter set to the lowest ohms range. Connect the probes to both end of the fuse. You may check the fuse while it still in circuit. A good fuse should showed continuity or read 0 ohm. A blown fuse is open which reads infinity on the meter.
Your VPN Doctor for Virtual Private Network Troubleshooting VPN Guide
Here are some troubleshooting guides for particular topics.
(1) Your Virtual Network Connection
(2) VPN Troubleshooting Error Messages
(3) VPN Modems Troubleshooting Guide
(4) VPN ISP Troubleshooting Guide.
(1) Your Virtual Private Network Connection
Having trouble connecting to the Internet at home try these steps before calling for help.
1. Do you have an IP address? Try ipconfig /all. If you do not have an IP address reboot your PC. If that doesnt work power cycle your Cable/DSL modem and routers and reboot your PC again after the network devices are up and stable. Be sure all of your network cables are plugged in tight.
2. After your PC reboots check that your network adapter is active and packets are flowing. Perform the ipconfig /all check again.
3. Check your connectivity by pinging several Internet sites. If that does not work, ping the loopback address 127.0.0.1. If that fails, your adapter may not be working or it is not properly configured.
To check your IP address. From command prompt enter ipconfig /all (as shown in the picture) you should see an IP Address and several DNS Server addresses. The domain name system (DNS) is the way that Internet domain names are located and translated into IP addresses and is required for browsing the Internet.
Ping 127.0.0.1 – loopback Test (as shown in the picture). The loopback test is used to check if the IP stack is responding. If it times out or you get an error the problem may occur if any one or more of the following conditions is true:
*The TCP drivers are corrupted
*The network adapter is not working
*Another service is interfering with IP
Check your network adapter, click the Start menu, Settings, Control Panel, and select Network Connections. Double click on the Local Area Connection or the Wireless Adapter whichever one you are using. Be sure its Connected. If you have multiple network cards disable the one you are not using.
There should be Packets displayed in both the Sent and Received counters. If the Received counter is 0 check that the adapter has an IP address. Select Properties.
Click the check boxes for Show icon and Notify me below. A twin PC icon will appear on the lower right portion of the taskbar in the tray area and will flash while sending and receiving packets. You can place your mouse over the icon to get the status and click on it to get more details.
Tracert displays the connection path to the target location and the number of hops. Each hop is the trip from one router to another. Tracert is a handy tool both for understanding where problems are in the network and for determining latency between hops.
Ping is used to determine whether a host exists and is active on the network and can determine the round trip time to the device. You can enter a host name or an IP address if you know it. If the request times out then the host is not reachable because it’s offline or there is a problem with the connection. Try several sites, if none work then ping the loopback address 127.0.0.1 Also, if your DNS is not working or properly configured you can only ping the host with an IP address and you will not be able to browse the Internet.
If you are having intermittent problems, perform a ping -t for 5 to 6 minutes then hit CTRL C to see the results of the test to determine if you are dropping network packets (lost packets). If you are, this usually indicates an ISP problem or Cable/DSL modem problem. See VPN ISP Troubleshooting Guide
(2) VPN Troubleshooting Error Messages
Q1 Error Message: Remote Host not responding: or Unable to Resolve the IP address of the Remote Server
Cause: This indicates that the Contivity VPN Switch never responded to the connection attempt. The problem could either be with the Contivity switch itself, (switch may be down) or your machine may be having a problem resolving the IP address.
Action: Try pinging your destination name (Example: VPN.something.com). If you received a message that says “Request Timed Out” from the ping command, call your ISP to make sure that their DNS is functioning correctly.
Q2 Error Message: Maximum number of sessions reached
Cause: This indicates that the maximum number of users for the account you are using are currently logged on.
Action: If you are the only user with VPN to your account, it is possible to get this error if you restarted a connection immediately after losing the dial-up connection to your ISP. This is because the Contivity VPN Switch takes up to one hour to determine that your connection has been dropped and log you off from your account.
Q3 Error Message: Login failed, Please consult the switch log for further information
Cause: The User Name or the Password is incorrect for the user name entered.
Action: Verify that the User Name you entered is correct and retype the Password before trying the connection again.
Q4 Error Message: The physical connection has been lost
Cause: Your connection to your ISP was disconnected.
Action: Re-establish your connection to your ISP before you re-establish the Contivity connection to the remote network.
Q5 Error Message: The secure Contivity connection has been lost
This message can result due to a number of different reasons, and there are several recommended actions you can take to try and re-connect.
Cause(s):
If you receive this error before the client connects then something is blocking a necessary port (such as ESP port 50). This can result if your firewall is not configured properly and is restricting the necessary port(s).
If you receive this error during a connection and you suddenly get the error it may mean one of the following:
1. Something closed the connection;
2. The VPN Contivity switch where you were trying to connect to thought your client was down or timed out;
3. Your local ISP did something that interrupted your network connection long enough for the VPN Contivity switch to identify your client was not responding;
4. The VPN Contivity switch that you are connected to has either logged your connection off or the Switch is no longer responding, or a device that does not support IPSEC NAT Traversal is causing the connection failure.
Action(s):
1. Try re-establishing the Contivity connection by clicking the Connect button. If this works, the connection was probably lost due to the Idle Timeout configured on the Contivity VPN Switch. If no data is transferred through the Contivity connection for a long period of time, 15 minutes or more, the Contivity VPN Switch automatically disconnects the connection;
2. If you were unable to successfully re-establish the Contivity Connection, the dial-up connection may be preventing data from traveling between the Contivity VPN Client and the Contivity VPN Switch. Hang up the dial-up connection and reconnect before you try to re-establish a connection to the Contivity VPN Switch;
3. If you are still unable to connect to the Contivity VPN Switch, open a Command Prompt and try pinging the Contivity VPN Switch using the host name or address that you specified in the Destination field.
(a) If you receive a “Destination Unreachable error” there is a routing problem at the ISP.
(b) If you receive a “Request Timed Out” error message, the Contivity VPN Switch is probably not available, and you should contact your Network Administrator.
4. If you keep getting this message and are unable to connect, then it may indicate that the Contivity VPN Switch is unable to communicate with the client because it is behind some kind of NAT (Network Address Translation) device. NAT (Network Address Translation) Traversal allows a number of devices on a private network to access the Internet simultaneously without each requiring its own external IP address. Most hotels and airports that provide Internet connectivity use NAT to connect to the Internet.
Q6 Error Message: Cannot Alter Routing Table
Cause: Message means the you the user, an application on your machine, or your ISP attempted to change the routing table via an ICMP redirect attempt and it was not successful. The client detects the attempt to make the change, determines it’s a security breach and shuts down the client’s connection. Any time you make a VPN connection, you cannot change the routing table, because the VPN Client views this as a security risk and you will get disconnected.
Some applications require an ICMP redirection in order to work such as a game or other third party software.
Action: If you receive this error and cant connect due to an ICMP redirect attempt, shut down any other applications you are using which may be causing the ICMP redirect attempt. If it is the ISP that is doing it, you will need to block the ICMP redirect request. You can identify that ICMP redirect has occurred, by seeing a message saying there has been an IP address routing table change.
Q7 Error Message: Receiving Banner Text Information
Cause: Message means you are experiencing a Banner Sock issue, and will see a window displaying the “Receiving Banner Text” message and then gets disconnected.
Actions:
1. Disable the firewall completely to test. This is a port 500 issue and often means that the you have a personal Firewall that is blocking port 500 or you have a router that does not support IPSEC pass-through, and the you are connecting to a VPN switch that does not have NAT Traversal enabled.
2. If using wireless, temporarily remove Wireless from the picture and focus on the Ethernet card. Check the Ethernet card speed and duplex parameters and then make sure that the hub, switch, or router that is on the other end has the same parameters. If not, the VPN connection will drop as the link goes up and down, or due to a large number of errors on the port from a duplex and or speed mismatch.
3. Firewall that blocks the connection, such that system will crash. (This will rarely happen) NSDF (Norton Symantec Desktop Firewall) and NSPF (Norton Symantec Personal Firewall) can do this though, if you do not trust the IP address of the VPN connection.
If you do not trust the VPN address of the VPN client, the firewall will cause you to crash. In your Internet browser click on “Tools > Internet Options > Security > Trusted Sites > Sites” and add the destination VPN address(es) to your trusted sites.
Q8 Error Message: You already have the maximum number of adapters installed
Cause: You may have installed to many virtual adapters in your IP Stack
Actions:
1. Remove any unnecessary adapters;
2. Create multiple boot scenarios disabling the adapters that are not required for that function;
3. You may also get Banner Sock errors on Win 95 & 98 units with this condition;
4. For more information, see this Microsoft article: KB217744: Unable to Bind Protocols to More Than 5 Network Adapters (copy and paste into the search tool bar > enter).
Q9 Upgrade Errors: The following are some errors that may occur when trying to upgrade / install the Nortel VPN Client 4.65
Error (1): Failed to get Registry key value for NT_IPSECSHM
Cause: This is caused because an important registry key that cannot be found in the system registry.
Actions:
1. Uninstall and Reinstall the VPN Software
Error (2): Login Failure due to: Driver Failure
Cause: This is generally caused by either not having Admin rights to the PC or by trying to install/use a Nortel VPN client that predates the operating system.
Actions:
1. Ensure that you have admin rights to the PC.
2. Update/Install the most current version of the Nortel VPN client.
Error (3): Create socket failed with 10048.
Cause: This problem generally will occur whenever you have another VPN client software installed on the system. The most noted conflicting clients are: AOL, Cisco VPN Client(s), SSH Sentinel and PGP.
Actions:
1. Removing these clients will in most cases, resolve the issue.
(3) VPN Modems Troubleshooting Guide
Q1 Are Cable Modems supported for VPN Access?
Yes, you can use cable modems for VPN access. However you must be aware of the following conditions and be able to work within them:
*Some cable modems require that you log into an NT network to get authenticated.
*Some cable modems use a client similar to the Extranet Client for VPN and both will not run at the same time.
*Some cable modem Contracts/Acceptable Use Policies specify that you cannot use them for business purposes or they want to charge you another fee to use them for business purposes. Make sure you read your contract thoroughly.
*Your Cable modem provider is your ISP. Please see the VPN-connection-guide.html”>ISP Troubleshooting Guide for more information.
Q2 Why does my modem seem to perform erratically?
Always make sure that you do not let the operating system select a generic modem. If required, go to the appropriate web site for the vendor of the modem and get the updated INF file so that the proper parameters are configured for the modem.
Q3 Why do I always seem to get a slower connection speed than others with the same modem?
1. Always check the modem configuration to verify that its maximum speed has been selected.
2. It is common when auto-installing modems that the highest speed is not selected automatically.
3. Do not check the box that says run at maximum speed only.
Q4 I plugged my modem into the phone line at the hotel or customers office and now it does not work.
Always make sure that the phone line you are plugging into when visiting somewhere is an analog line not a digital one. Plugging into a digital line can permanently damage your modem, requiring a replacement unit. To avoid these situations please contact the local site phone support personnel.
Q5 Why cant I get a 56Kb V.90 connection from some locations that I go to?
Here are some of the reasons why you might not get a 56K connection:
1. You are located more than 3 ½ miles from your telephone companys central office (CO).
2. A SLICK or Subscriber Loop System is used in your area.
3. You are calling from a digital PBX system, which creates a Digital to Analog conversion and then an Analog to Digital conversion.
4. Your line contains digital pads or Robbed Bit Signaling (RBS), which can degrade your connection speeds.
5. Your wiring may be of poor quality.
6. Your modem’s firmware may not be up-to-date. Check that your modem has the newest V.90 code installed with all the patches from the vendor’s web site.
Q6 Why cant I get higher speed on my 56K v.90 modem into some NAG?
Here are some possible reasons:
1. A 56k v.90 modem is asymmetric by design where download speed can be as much as 56k but upload speed will be up to 33.6bps. For 56k to work, there must be only one analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion in your local phone loop. Thus when modems at both ends are analogue, 56k speeds will never be achieved as most PSTN exchanges run digital routing between the exchanges.
2. Some NAG sites use analog phone lines with Cisco and standard 56k modems, and most PC’s dial-ups use a similar modem. Between the two modems, it limits the download speed to about 33.6kbps maximum.
3. Also, many users might experience lower connection speeds due to other reasons, such as more poor line quality. These factors will also contribute to the quality and speed of the line.
(4) VPN ISP Troubleshooting Guide
Q1 If you are getting the message “Unable to Resolve the IP address of the Remote Server. Verify the Host Name in the destination field is correct.” when trying to connect with the Extranet Client.
Try pinging your destination name (Example: VPN.something.com) and if it fails call your ISP to make sure that their DNS is functioning correctly.
Q2 Why do I get No Domain Available when dialing my ISP?
On your Internet Service Providers (ISP) dial connection. Right click the mouse and select the properties button. Click on the Server Type tab and make sure that the Log On To Network box is unchecked.
Q3 Why do I seem to be running slowly through my VPN connection?
Try turning off the Software Compression option on your Internet Service Providers (ISP) dial connection as the VPN client has it’s own compression. Right click the mouse and select the properties button. Click on the Server Type tab and uncheck the
Q4 I keep getting busy signals when trying to connect to my ISP, what should I do?
Contact your ISP giving the numbers you are trying to connect to. Many times you will find that can give you an alternate number not published yet that will work just fine. If not you may need to find another ISP that provides better service.
Q5 When configuring the dial icon for my ISP what should I put in the DNS/WINS settings?
Your ISP should supply you with the DNS/WINS settings of your dial connection. Most only give you DNS, in this case just leave the WINS settings blank.
Q6 Why when I load the Extranet Client on my PC and Winpoet is installed on my machine it crashes or does not work properly?
There are issues running Winpoet software on the PC with the Nortel Extranet (VPN) Client.
To repair your system, boot in safe mode and uninstall the Winpoet Software.
A simple solution is to install the Linksys BEFSR41 hardware router. It has a firmware PPPOE connector, which eliminates Winpoet from the PC and provides the added benefit a NAT firewall with the ability to hook up to three other PCs.
A second option is to find a PPPOE Client that does not interfere with VPN Clients.
Please See Your VPN Doctor for Picture Guide and further Details.
Need a Qiuck Fix, Tool, Trick or Tip? Your VPN Doctor has the Cure!
CAT5 vs CAT5E vs CAT6
Here is our opinion on choosing the right category of network cable:
Cat5 = If you plan on running at most 100 Mbps
Cat5e = If you plan on running at 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps)
Cat6 = If you plan on running at 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) or more. Cat6 is better if you are in areas that have lots of interference like near power lines, lights, manufacturing equipment, or a long distance 1000 Mbps (Gigabit) run.
We advise that you run at least Cat5e or Cat6 cable in the walls
Cat5e are great for patch cables from the patch panel to the switch or from the computer to the wall jack
We very rarely use Cat5 cable anymore.
For most applications the CAT5E 350MHz network cables are best. They will run up to 1 Gig and are not as expensive as CAT 6 cables.
CAT 6 cables are great for “future proofing” your installation. They are rated to carry network speeds above 1000 Mbps (Gigabit).
CAT5E 100MHz are rated to only run up to 100Mbps networks but are inexpensive.
The above statements are the opinion of the Networkcablesonline.com and do not represent the solution for every situation. There are exceptions to these statements and a professional should be consulted prior to making a major network cabling decision. Please visit http://www.networkcablesonline.com for more information about CAT5, CAT5E, and CAT6 cables. [http://www.networkcablesonline.com/network-cables-c-59.html]
Basic Configuration Tutorial For the Cisco ASA 5505 Firewall
The Cisco ASA 5505 Firewall is the smallest model in the new 5500 Cisco series of hardware appliances. Although this model is suitable for small businesses, branch offices or even home use, its firewall security capabilities are the same as the biggest models (5510, 5520, 5540 etc). The Adaptive Security technology of the ASA firewalls offers solid and reliable firewall protection, advanced application aware security, denial of service attack protection and much more. Moreover, the performance of the ASA 5505 appliance supports 150Mbps firewall throughput and 4000 firewall connections per second, which is more than enough for small networks.
In this article I will explain the basic configuration steps needed to setup a Cisco 5505 ASA firewall for connecting a small network to the Internet. We assume that our ISP has assigned us a static public IP address (e.g 200.200.200.1 as an example) and that our internal network range is 192.168.1.0/24. We will use Port Address Translation (PAT) to translate our internal IP addresses to the public address of the outside interface. The difference of the 5505 model from the bigger ASA models is that it has an 8-port 10/100 switch which acts as Layer 2 only. That is, you can not configure the physical ports as Layer 3 ports, rather you have to create interface Vlans and assign the Layer 2 interfaces in each VLAN. By default, interface Ethernet0/0 is assigned to VLAN 2 and it’s the outside interface (the one which connects to the Internet), and the other 7 interfaces (Ethernet0/1 to 0/7) are assigned by default to VLAN 1 and are used for connecting to the internal network. Let’s see the basic configuration setup of the most important steps that you need to configure.
Step1: Configure the internal interface vlan
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ASA5505(config)# interface Vlan 1
ASA5505(config-if)# nameif inside
ASA5505(config-if)# security-level 100
ASA5505(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Step 2: Configure the external interface vlan (connected to Internet)
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ASA5505(config)# interface Vlan 2
ASA5505(config-if)# nameif outside
ASA5505(config-if)# security-level 0
ASA5505(config-if)# ip address 200.200.200.1 255.255.255.0
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Step 3: Assign Ethernet 0/0 to Vlan 2
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ASA5505(config)# interface Ethernet0/0
ASA5505(config-if)# switchport access vlan 2
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Step 4: Enable the rest interfaces with no shut
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ASA5505(config)# interface Ethernet0/1
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Do the same for Ethernet0/1 to 0/7.
Step 5: Configure PAT on the outside interface
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ASA5505(config)# global (outside) 1 interface
ASA5505(config)# nat (inside) 1 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
Step 6: Configure default route towards the ISP (assume default gateway is 200.200.200.2
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ASA5505(config)# route outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 200.200.200.2 1
The above steps are the absolutely necessary steps you need to configure for making the appliance operational. Of course there are much more configuration details that you need to implement in order to enhance the security and functionality of your appliance, such as Access Control Lists, Static NAT, DHCP, DMZ zones, authentication etc.
Visit my website in my resource box below for more information about Cisco products and solutions. You can also learn how to configure any Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Here.
RJ45 Connectors
RJ45 being a standard type of connector for networking cables is widely used in Local Area and Wide Area Networking.
RJ45 stands for Registered Jack 45. RJ45 broadly refers to RJ45 connector, RJ45 cable and RJ45 port. A RJ45 Connector is an eight-wire connector used to connect computers in a Local Area Network (LAN) via Ethernets. RJ45 originally used in telephone cables was a 8P2C (8 position 2 conductor) modular connector whose pin 5 connects to tip and pin 4 connects to the ring. Computer RJ45 is an 8P8C (8 position 8 conductor) connector with all conductors present. Today RJ45 is used almost exclusively to refer to Ethernet type computer connectors. In general all 8P8C connectors are also referred to as RJ45 connectors.
RJ45 cables fall into three main types namely a) straight-through, b) crossover and c) rolled. The colored wires are in the same sequence at both ends of the straight-through cable. In crossover cable the first (far left) and the second colored wires at one end of the cable are the third and fourth colored wires at the other end of the cable while the third and fourth colored wires at one end are the first and second in the other end. The colored wires at one end of the cable are in the reverse sequence of the colored wires at the other end of the cable in the rolled type. The most common RJ45 connector uses four of the 8P8C wires for Ethernet communications. Pins 1 and 2 are the transmit pair while pins 3 and 6 are the receive pair.
The Ethernet port resembles a wider looking regular telephone jack. The cable and the RJ45 data port support communication at speeds up to 1 Giga bits per second (GBps) (one thousand million bits per second). In addition to Ethernet, RJ45 cable is used for WAN connections. Faster serial communications also employ modular 8P8C. Six of the eight connectors are used in certain Integrated Services Digital Network. Augmented RJ45 (referred as ARJ45) to be used with a modified RJ45 port has been designed for high speed communications (10GBps).
The benefits of using RJ45 / Ethernet connections are the high speed data throughput reaching up to Gigabit/s levels over long distances. The other competing LAN standards like Token ring, Token Bus, etc., suffer degradation as when new nodes come into LAN. With a locking boot RJ45 plug connector remains free of any inadvertent disconnection taking place.
TDM Or IP Transmission – Which is More Efficient?
Both modes of voice transmission has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example TDM transmission works on circuit switched mode. If you take a telephone call on a ordinary phone a 64 Kbps is allocated for the entire length of your conversation which makes the quality of voice extremely good…. but we would not be able to make use of the bandwidth allocated for that circuit even if there is lot of idle time during the conversation. Whereas, in case of IP transmission as packets are switched, as long as you are having control over the bandwidth, usage can be optimised giving optimal quality based on our specs. But the key term here is control, if you do not have control over the bandwidth allocation and ratio of concurrent voice channels transmission, then voice quality can suffer if the traffic exceeds the limitation. This is again factored based on the compression equipment in place.
Any traffic on a TDM circuit can be considered travelling over a clear channel relating to the ordinary telephone call example mentioned earlier.
Other differences are TDM is a secure channel, but IP bandwidth if it is on Public Internet can’t be termed fully “secure”. However with the advent of MPLS technology, IP transmission has gained more predominance as packets getting switched has enabled security. Apart from this QoS is possible on MPLS networks and thereby applying CoS on the bandwidth allocate can prioritize voice and data traffic according your specs. (Your MPLS may have a T1 or DS3 bandwidth backbone)
All these points can significantly skew the results in favour of IP transmission over TDM. In a business case scenario, for accommodating multiple voice channels with optimum quality and cost, IP transmission as on date would win hands down. However, this can vary on a case to case basis depending on various other factors which are to be considered.
Now…. if you consider TDM over IP that’s a different ballpark.
TDM over IP is often touted by people as a very “next gen” capability. However, it very often doesn’t make much sense. It’s actually not very bandwidth efficient at all. It’s certainly less bandwidth efficient than TDM circuits over, say, SDH. The reason is regardless of the carrier technology, a TDM circuit like and E1 requires the full bandwidth of the circuit to be reserved across the network. There is no way of compressing it or statistically multiplexing it. The big efficiency benefit of IP networks is due to the statistical multiplexing capability for native IP apps. This benefit is destroyed when dealing with TDM transport.
The only real benefit of TDM over IP is that is *may* allow you to use an existing IP network. This may give you some efficiency that is specific to your application, location, or network setup. there may also be some efficiency in consolidating the management into a single network. There may also be commercial reasons why running over IP is better for you. However, these will be specific to your application. As a general rule, TDM over IP is less efficient than the common alternatives.
Consider that an IP network has to run over a transport network. Often this will be SDH (Sonet). Traditionally TDM circuits would run directly on the SDH network:TDM circuit over SDH. If you run them over the IP layer, then you will have TDM over circuit emulation over IP over SDH. The circuit emulation/IP is an additional layer, and additional layers add overhead.
However, this all depends on whether you have lots of TDM circuits or just a one or two. If you have lots then it may make sense to add the capability to the SDH network. If it’s only one or two, then it may be better (cheaper/easier) to add this to the IP layer.
As I said, TDM over IP over SDH is nominally less efficient (will use more bandwidth) than TDM over SDH. However, specific local circumstances may skew this significantly away from the nominal.
For help walking through the options available to you for the most cost effective solution… at ZERO cost to you…. request support through Business VoIP Solution.
Intranet
Introduction to Intranets
What exactly is an intranet? It’s one of those terms that’s more thrown around than understood, and has become more of a buzzword than a commonly understood idea. Simply put, an intranet is a private network with Internet technology used as the underlying architecture. An intranet is built using the Internet’s TCP/IP protocols for communications. TCP/IP protocols can be run on many hardware platforms and cabling schemes. The underlying hardware is not what makes an intranet-it’s the software protocols that matter.
Intranets can co-exist with other local area networking technology. In many companies, existing “legacy systems” including mainframes, Novell networks, minicomputers, and various databases, are being integrated into an intranet. A wide variety of tools allow this to happen. Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripting is often used to access legacy databases from an intranet. The Java programming language can be used to access legacy databases as well.
With the enormous growth of the Internet, an increasing number of people in corporations use the Internet for communicating with the outside world, for gathering information, and for doing business. It didn’t take long for people to recognize that the components that worked so well on the Internet could be equally valuable internally and that is why intranets are becoming so popular. Some corporations do not have TCP/IP networks, the protocol required to access the resources of the Internet. Creating an intranet in which all the information and resources can be used seamlessly has many benefits. TCP/IP-based networks make it easy for people to access the network remotely, such as from home or while traveling. Dialing into an intranet in this way is much like connecting to the Internet, except that you’re connecting to a private network instead of to a public Internet provider. Interoperability between networks is another substantial bonus.
Security systems separate an intranet from the Internet. A company’s intranet is protected by firewalls-hardware and software combinations that allow only certain people to access the intranet for specific purposes.
Intranets can be used for anything that existing networks are used for-and more. The ease of publishing information on the World Wide Web has made them popular places for posting corporate information such as company news or company procedures. Corporate databases with easy-to-build front-ends use the Web and programming languages such as Java.
Intranets allow people to work together more easily and more effectively. Software known as groupware is another important part of intranets. It allows people to collaborate on projects; to share information; to do videoconferencing; and to establish secure procedures for production work. Free server and client software and the multitude of services, like newsgroups, stimulated the Internet’s growth. The consequence of that growth stimulated and fueled the growth of intranets. The ease with which information can be shared, and with which people can communicate with one another will continue to drive the building of intranets.
A Global View of an Intranet
An intranet is a private corporate or educational network that uses the Internet’s TCP/IP protocols for its underlying transport. The protocols can run on a variety of network hardware, and can also co-exist with other network protocols, such as IPX. People from inside an intranet can get at the larger Internet resources, but those on the Internet cannot get into the intranet, which allows only restricted access from the Internet.
Videoconferencing is an important application that requires sending massive quantities of data. Intranets can be built using components that allow the extremely high bandwidths required for transferring such information.
Often an intranet is composed of a number of different networks inside a corporation that all communicate with one another via TCP/IP. These separate networks are often referred to as subnets.
Software that allows people to communicate with each other via e-mail and public message boards and to collaborate on work using workgroup software is among the most powerful intranet programs. Applications that allow different corporate departments to post information, and for people to fill out corporate forms, such as time sheets, and for tapping into corporate financial information are very popular.
Much of the software used on intranets is standard, off-the-shelf Internet software such as the Netscape Navigator and the Microsoft Explorer Web browsers. And customized programs are often built, using the Java programming language and CGI scripting.
Intranets can also be used to allow companies to do business-to-business transactions, such as ordering parts, sending invoices, and making payments. For extra security, these intranet-to-intranet transactions need never go out over the public Internet, but can travel over private leased lines instead.
Intranets are a powerful system for allowing a company to do business online, for example, to allow anyone on the Internet to order products. When someone orders a product on the Internet, information is sent in a secure manner from the public Internet to the company’s intranet, where the order is processed and completed.
In order to protect sensitive corporate information, and to ensure that hackers don’t damage computer systems and data, security barriers called firewalls protect an intranet from the Internet. Firewall technology uses a combination of routers, servers and other hardware and software to allow people on an intranet to use Internet resources, but blocks outsiders from getting into the intranet.
Many intranets have to connect to “legacy systems”-hardware and databases that were built before an intranet was constructed. Legacy systems often use older technology not based on the intranet’s TPC/IP protocols. There are a variety of ways in which intranets can tie to legacy systems. A common way is to use CGI scripts to access the database information and pour that data into HTML formatted text, making it available to a Web browser.
Information sent across an intranet is sent to the proper destination by routers, which examine each TCP/IP packet for the IP address and determine the packet’s destination. It then sends the packet to the next router closest to the destination. If the packet is to be delivered to an address on the same subnetwork of the intranet it was sent from, the packet may be able to be delivered directly without having to go through any other routers. If it is to be sent to another subnetwork on the intranet, it will be sent to another internal router address. If the packet is to be sent to a destination outside the intranet-in other words, to an Internet destination-the packet is sent to a router that connects to the Internet
How TCP/IP and IPX Work on Intranets
What distinguishes an intranet from any other kind of private network is that it is based on TCP/IP-the same protocols that apply to the Internet. TCP/IP refers to two protocols that work together to deliver data: the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). When you send information across an intranet, the data is broken into small packets. The packets are sent independently through a series of switches called routers. Once all the packets arrive at their destination, they are recombined into their original form. The Transmission Control Protocol breaks the data into packets and recombines them on the receiving end. The Internet Protocol handles the routing of the data and makes sure it gets sent to the proper destination.
In some companies, there may be a mix of TCP/IP-based intranets and networks based on other networking technology, such as NetWare. In that instance, the TCP/IP technology of an intranet can be used to send data between NetWare or other networks, using a technique called IP tunneling. In this instance, we’ll look at data being sent from one NetWare network to another, via an intranet. NetWare networks use the IPX (Internet Packet Exchange) protocol as a way to deliver data-and TCP/IP networks can’t recognize that protocol. To get around this, when an IPX packet is to be sent across an intranet, it is first encapsulated inside an IP packet by a NetWare server specifically for and dedicated to providing the IP transport mechanism for IPX packets.
Data sent within an intranet must be broken up into packets of less than 1,500 characters each. TCP breaks the data into packets. As it creates each packet, it calculates and adds a checksum to the packet. The checksum is based on the byte values, that is, the precise amount of data in the packet.
Each packet, along with the checksum, is put into separate IP wrappers or “envelopes.” These wrappers contain information that details exactly where on the intranet-or the Internet-the data is to be sent. All of the wrappers for a given piece of data have the same addressing information so that they can all be sent to the same location for reassembly.
The packets travel between networks by intranet routers. Routers examine all IP wrappers and look at their addresses. These routers determine the most efficient path for sending each packet to its final destination. Since the traffic load on an intranet often changes, the packets may be sent along different routes, and the packets may arrive out of order. If the router sees the address is one located inside the intranet, the packet may be sent directly to its destination, or it may instead be sent to another router. If the address is located out on the Internet, it will be sent to another router so it can be sent across the Internet.
As the packets arrive at their destination, TCP calculates a checksum for each packet. It then compares this checksum with the checksum that has been sent in the packet. If the checksums don’t match, TCP knows that the data in the packet has been corrupted during transmission. It then discards the packet and asks that the original packet be retransmitted.
TCP includes the ability to check packets and to determine that all the packets have been received. When all the non-corrupt packets are received, TCP assembles them into their original, unified form. The header information of the packets relays the sequence of how to reassemble the packets.
An intranet treats the IP packet as it would any other, and routes the packet to the receiving NetWare network. On the receiving NetWare network, a NetWare TCP/IP server decapsulates the IP packet-it discards the IP packet, and reads the original IPX packet. It can now use the IPX protocol to deliver the data to the proper destination.
How the OSI Model Works
A group called the International Standards Organization (ISO) has put together the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Reference Model, which is a model that describes seven layers of protocols for computer communications. These layers don’t know or care what is on adjacent layers. Each layer, essentially, only sees the reciprocal layer on the other side. The sending application layer sees and talks to the application layer on the destination side. That conversation takes place irrespective of, for example, what structure exists at the physical layer, such as Ethernet or Token Ring. TCP combines the OSI model’s application, presentation, and session layers into one which is also called the application layer.
The application layer refers to application interfaces, not programs like word processing. MHS (Message Handling Service) is such an interface and it operates at this level of the OSI model. Again, this segmentation and interface approach means that a variety of email programs can be used on an intranet so long as they conform to the MHS standard at this application interface level.
The presentation layer typically simply provides a standard interface between the application layer and the network layers. This type of segmentation allows for the great flexibility of the OSI model since applications can vary endlessly, but, as long as the results conform to this standard interface, the applications need not be concerned with any of the other layers.
The session layer allows for the communication between sender and destination. These conversations avoid confusion by speaking in turn. A token is passed to control and to indicate which side is allowed to speak. This layer executes transactions, like saving a file. If something prevents it from completing the save, the session layer, which has a record of the original state, returns to the original state rather than allowing a corrupt or incomplete transaction to occur.
The transport layer segments the data into acceptable packet sizes and is responsible for data integrity of packet segments. There are several levels of service that can be implemented at this layer, including segmenting and reassembly, error recovery, flow control, and others.
The IP wrapper is put around the packet at the network or Internet layer. The header includes the source and destination addresses, the sequence order, and other data necessary for correct routing and rebuilding at the destination.
The data-link layer frames the packets-for example, for use with the PPP (Point to Point). It also includes the logical link portion of the MAC sublayer of the IEEE 802.2, 802.3 and other standards.
Ethernet and Token Ring are the two most common physical layer protocols. They function at the MAC (Media Access Control) level and move the data over the cables based on the physical address on each NIC (Network Interface Card). The physical layer includes the physical components of the IEEE 802.3 and other specifications.
How TCP/IP Packets Are Processed
Protocols such as TCP/IP determine how computers communicate with each other over networks such as the Internet. These protocols work in concert with each other, and are layered on top of one another in what is commonly referred to as a protocol stack. Each layer of the protocol is designed to accomplish a specific purpose on both the sending and receiving computers. The TCP stack combines the application, presentation, and the session layers into a single layer also called the application layer. Other than that change, it follows the OSI model. The illustration below shows the wrapping process that occurs to transmit data.
The TCP application layer formats the data being sent so that the layer below it, the transport layer, can send the data. The TCP application layer performs the equivalent actions that the top three layers of OSI perform: the application, presentation, and session layers.
The next layer down is the transport layer, which is responsible for transferring the data, and ensures that the data sent and the data received are in fact the same data-in other words, that there have been no errors introduced during the sending of the data. TCP divides the data it gets from the application layer into segments. It attaches a header to each segment. The header contains information that will be used on the receiving end to ensure that the data hasn’t been altered en route, and that the segments can be properly recombined into their original form.
The third layer prepares the data for delivery by putting them into IP datagrams, and determining the proper Internet address for those datagrams. The IP protocol works in the Internet layer, also called the network layer. It puts an IP wrapper with a header onto each segment. The IP header includes information such as the IP address of the sending and receiving computers, and the length of the datagram, and the sequence order of the datagram. The sequence order is added because the datagram could conceivably exceed the size allowed for network packets, and so would need to be broken into smaller packets. Including the sequence order will allow them to be recombined properly.
The Internet layer checks the IP header and checks to see whether the packet is a fragment. If it is, it puts together fragments back into the original datagram. It strips off the IP header, and then sends the datagram to the transport layer.
The transport layer looks at the remaining header to decide which application layer protocol-TCP or UDP-should get the data. Then the proper protocol strips off the header and sends the data to the receiving application.
The application layer gets the data and performs, in this case, an HTTP request.
The next layer down, the data link layer, uses protocols such as the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) to put the IP datagram into a frame. This is done by putting a header-the third header, after the TCP header and the IP header-and a footer around the IP datagram to fra-me it. Included in the frame header is a CRC check that checks for errors in the data as the data travels over the network.
The data-link layer ensures that the CRC for the frame is right, and that the data hasn’t been altered while it was sent. It strips off the frame header and the CRC, and sends the frame to the Internet layer.
On the receiving computer, the packet travels through the stack, but in the opposite order from which the packet was created. In other words, it starts at the bottom layer, and moves its way up through the protocol stack. As it moves up, each layer strips off the header information that was added by the TCP/IP stack of the sending computer.
The final layer is the physical network layer, which specifies the physical characteristics of the network being used to send data. It describes the actual hardware standards, such as the Ethernet specification. The layer receives the frames from the data link layer, and translates the IP addresses there into the hardware addresses required for the specific network being used. Finally, the layer sends the frame over the network.
The physical network layer receives the packet. It translates the hardware address of the sender and receiver into IP addresses. Then it sends the frame up to the data link layer.
How Bridges Work
Bridges are hardware and software combinations that connect different parts of a single network, such as different sections of an intranet. They connect local area networks (LANs) to each other. They are generally not used, however, for connecting entire networks to each other, for example, for connecting an intranet to the Internet, or an intranet to an intranet, or to connect an entire subnetwork to an entire subnetwork. To do that, more sophisticated pieces of technology called routers are used.
When there is a great amount of traffic on an Ethernet local area network, packets can collide with one another, reducing the efficiency of the network, and slowing down network traffic. Packets can collide because so much of the traffic is routed among all the workstations on the network.
In order to cut down on the collision rate, a single LAN can be subdivided into two or more LANs. For example, a single LAN can be subdivided into several departmental LANs. Most of the traffic in each departmental LAN stays within the department LAN, and so it needn’t travel through all the workstations on all the LANs on the network. In this way, collisions are reduced. Bridges are used to link the LANs. The only traffic that needs to travel across bridges is traffic bound for another LAN. Any traffic within the LAN need not travel across a bridge.
Each packet of data on an intranet has more information in it than just the IP information. It also includes addressing information required for other underlying network architecture, such as for an Ethernet network. Bridges look at this outer network addressing information and deliver the packet to the proper address on a LAN
Bridges consult a learning table that has the addresses of all the network nodes in it. If a bridge finds that a packet belongs on its own LAN, it keeps the packet inside the LAN. If it finds that the workstation is on another LAN, it forwards the packet. The bridge constantly updates the learning table as it monitors and routes traffic.
Bridges can connect LANs in a variety of different ways. They can connect LANs using serial connections over traditional phone lines and modems, over ISDN lines, and over direct cable connections. CSU/DSU units are used to connect bridges to telephone lines for remote connectivity.
Bridges and routers are sometimes combined into a single product called a brouter. A brouter handles both bridging and routing tasks. If the data needs to be sent only to another LAN on the network or subnetwork, it will act only as a bridge delivering the data based on the Ethernet address. If the destination is another network entirely, it will act as a router, examining the IP packets and routing the data based on the IP address.
How Intranet Routers Work
Just as routers direct traffic on the Internet, sending information to its proper destination, and routers on an intranet perform the same function. Routers-equipment that is a combination of hardware and software-can send the data to a computer on the same sub network inside the intranet, to another network on the intranet, or outside to the Internet. They do this by examining header information in IP packets, and then sending the data on its way. Typically, a router will send the packet to the next router closest to the final destination, which in turn sends it to an even closer router, and so on, until the data reaches its intended recipient.
A router has input ports for receiving IP packets, and output ports for sending those packets toward their destination. When a packet comes to the input port, the router examines the packet header, and checks the destination in it against a routing table-a database that tells the router how to send packets to various destinations.
Based on the information in the routing table, the packet is sent to a particular output port, which sends the packet to the next closest router to the packet’s destination.
If packets come to the input port more quickly than the router can process them, they are sent to a holding area called an input queue. The router then processes packets from the queue in the order they were received. If the number of packets received exceeds the capacity of the queue (called the length of the queue), packets may be lost. When this happens, the TCP protocol on the sending and receiving computers will have the packets re-sent.
In a simple intranet that is a single, completely self-contained network, and in which there are no connections to any other network or the intranet, only minimal routing need be done, and so the routing table in the router is exceedingly simple with very few entries, and is constructed automatically by a program called ifconfig.
In a slightly more complicated intranet which is composed of a number of TCP/IP-based networks, and connects to a limited number of TCP/IP-based networks, static routing will be required. In static routing, the routing table has specific ways of routing data to other networks. Only those pathways can be used. Intranet administrators can add routes to the routing table. Static routing is more flexible than minimal routing, but it can’t change routes as network traffic changes, and so isn’t suitable for many intranets.
In more complex intranets, dynamic routing will be required. Dynamic routing is used to permit multiple routes for a packet to reach its final destination. Dynamic routing also allows routers to change the way they route information based on the amount of network traffic on some paths and routers. In dynamic routing, the routing table is called a dynamic routing table and changes as network conditions change. The tables are built dynamically by routing protocols, and so constantly change according to network traffic and conditions.
There are two broad types of routing protocols: interior and exterior. Interior routing protocols are typically used on internal routers inside an intranet that routes traffic bound only for inside the intranet. A common interior routing protocol is the Routing Information Protocol (RIP). Exterior protocols are typically used for external routers on the Internet. AÊcommon exterior protocol is the Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP).
Intranets come in different sizes. In a small company, an intranet can be composed of only a handful of computers. In a medium-sized business, it may include dozens or hundreds of computers. And in a large corporation, there may be thousands of computers spread across the globe, all connected to a single intranet. When intranets get large, they need to be subdivided into individual subnets or subnetworks.
To understand how subnetting works, you first need to understand IP addresses. Every IP address is a 32-bit numeric address that uniquely identifies a network and then a specific host on that network. The IP address is divided into two sections: the network section, called the netid, and the host section, called the hostid.
Each 32-bit IP address is handled differently, according to what class of network the address refers to. There are three main classes of network addresses: Class A, Class B, and Class C. In some classes, more of the 32-bit address space is devoted to the netid, while in others, more of the address space is devoted to the hostid. In a Class A network, the netid is composed of 8 bits, while the hostid is composed of 24 bits. In a Class B network, both the netid and the hostid are composed of 16 bits. In a Class C network, the netid is composed of 24 bits, while the hostid is composed of 8 bits. There’s a simple way of knowing what class a network is in. If the first number of the IP address is less than 128, the network is a Class A address. If the first number is from 128 to 191, it’s a Class B network. If the first number is from 192 to 223, it’s a Class C network. Numbers above 223 are reserved for other purposes. The smaller the netid, the fewer number of networks that can be subnetted, but the larger number of hosts on the network. A Class A rating is best for large networks while a Class C is best for small ones.
To create a subnet, the demarcation line on the IP address is moved between the netid and the hostid, to give the netid more bits to work with and to take away bits from the hostid. To do this, a special number called a subnet mask is used.
Subnetting is used when intranets grow over a certain size and they begin to have problems. One problem is management of host IP addresses-making sure that every computer on the network has a proper, up-to-date host address, and that old host addresses are put out of use until needed in the future. In a corporation spread out over several locations-or across the world-it’s difficult, if not impossible, to have one person responsible for managing the host addresses at every location and department in the company.
Another problem has to do with a variety of hardware limitations of networks. Dissimilar networks may all be part of an intranet. An intranet may have some sections that are Ethernet, other sections that are Token Ring networks, and conceivably other sections that use different networking technologies altogether. There is no easy way for an intranet router to link these dissimilar networks together and route the information to the proper places.
Another set of problems has to do with the physical limitations of network technology. In some kinds of networks, there are some strict limitations on how far cables can extend in the network. In other words, you can’t go over a certain distance of cabling without using repeaters or routers. A “thick” Ethernet cable, for example, can only be extended to 500 meters, while a “thin” Ethernet cable can only go to 300 meters. Routers can be used to link these cables together, so that an intranet can be extended well beyond those distances. But when that is done, each length of wire is essentially considered its own subnetwork.
Yet one more set of problems has to do with the volume of traffic that travels across an intranet. Often in a corporation, in a given department, most of the traffic is intradepartmental traffic-in other words, mail and other data that people within a department send to each another. The volume of traffic outside to other departments is considerably less. What’s called for is a way to confine intradepartmental traffic inside the departments, to cut down on the amount of data that needs to be routed and managed across the entire intranet.
Subnetting solves all these problems and more. When an intranet is divided into subnets, one central administrator doesn’t have to manage every aspect of the entire intranet. Instead, each subnet can take care of its own administration. That means smaller organizations within the larger organization can take care of problems such as address management and a variety of troubleshooting chores. If an intranet is subnetted by divisions or departments, it means that each division or department can guide the development of its own network, while adhering to general intranet architecture. Doing this allows departments or divisions more freedom to use technology to pursue their business goals.
Subnets also get around problems that arise when an intranet has within it different kinds of network architecture, such as Ethernet and Token Ring technologies. Normally-if there is no subnetting-a router can’t link these different networks together because they don’t have their own addresses. However, if each of the different networks is its own subnet-and so has its own network address-routers can then link them together and properly route intranet traffic.
Subnetting can also cut down on the traffic traveling across the intranet and its routers. Since much network traffic may be confined within departments, having each department be its own subnet means that all that traffic need never cross an intranet router and cross the intranet-it will stay within its own subnet.
Subnetting can also increase the security on an intranet. If the payroll department, for example, were on its own subnet, then much of its traffic would not have to travel across an intranet. Having its data traveling across the intranet could mean that someone could conceivably hack into the data to read it. Confining the data to its own subnet makes that much less likely to happen.
Dividing an intranet into subnets can also make the entire intranet more stable. If an intranet is divided in this way, then if one subnet goes down or is often unstable, it won’t affect the rest of the intranet.
This all may sound rather confusing. To see how it’s done, let’s take a look at a network, and see how to use the IP address to create subnets. Let’s say we have a Class B network. That network is assigned the address of 130.97.0.0. When a network is given an address, it is assigned the netid numbers-in this case, the 130.97-and it can assign the host numbers (in this case, 0.0) in any way that it chooses.
The 130.97.0.0 network is a single intranet. It’s getting too large to manage, though, and we’ve decided to divide it into two subnets. What we do is fairly straightforward. We take a number from the hostid field and use it to identify each of the subnets. So one subnet gets the address 130.97.1.0, and the other gets the address 130.97.2.0. Individual machines on the first subnet get addresses of 130.97.1.1, 130.97.1.2, and so on. Individual machines on the second subnet get addresses of 130.97.2.1, 130.97.2.2 and so on.
Sounds simple. But we have a problem. The Internet doesn’t recognize 130.97.1.0 and 130.97.2.0 as separate networks. It treats them both as 130.97.0.0 since the “1″ and “2″ that we’re using as a netid is only known to the Internet as a hostid. So our intranet router will not be able to route incoming traffic to the proper network.
To solve the problem, a subnet mask is used. A subnet mask is a 32-bit number in IP form used by intranet routers and hosts that will help routers understand how to route information to the proper subnet. To the outside Internet, there is still only one network, but the subnet mask allows routers inside the intranet to send traffic to the proper host.
A subnet mask is a number such as 255.255.255.0 (the built-in default for Class C addresses; the Class B default is 255.255.0.0 and the default for Class A is 255.0.0.0). A router takes the subnet mask and applies that number against the IP number of incoming mail to the network by using it to perform a calculation. Based on the resulting IP number, it will route mail to the proper subnet, and then to a particular computer on the subnet. For consistency, everyone in a particular intranet will use the same subnet mask.
Subnetting an Intranet
When intranets are over a certain size, or are spread over several geographical locations, it becomes difficult to manage them as a single network. To solve the problem, the single intranet can be subdivided into several subnets, subsections of an intranet that make them easier to manage. To the outside world, the intranet still looks as if it’s a single network.
If you’re building an intranet and want it to be connected to the Internet, you’ll need a unique IP address for your intranet network, which the InterNIC Registration Services will handle. There are three classes of intranet you can have: Class A, Class B, or Class C. Generally, a Class A rating is best for the largest networks, while a Class C is best for the smallest. A Class A network can be composed of 127 networks, and a total of 16,777,214 nodes on the network. A Class B network can be composed of 16,383 networks, and a total of 65,534 nodes. A Class C network can be composed of 2,097,151 networks, and 254 nodes.
When an intranet is assigned an address, it is assigned the first two IP numbers of the Internet numeric address (called the netid field) and the remaining two numbers (called the hostid field) are left blank, so that the intranet itself can assign them, such as 147.106.0.0. The hostid field consists of a number for a subnet and a host number.
When an intranet is connected to the Internet, a router handles the job of sending packets into the intranet from the Internet. In our example, all incoming mail and data comes to a router for a network with the netid of 147.106.0.0.
When intranets grow-for example, if there is a department located in another building, city, or country-there needs to be some way to manage network traffic. It may be impractical and physically impossible to route all the data necessary among many different computers spread across a building or the world. A second network-called a subnetwork or subnet-needs to be created.
In order to have a router handle all incoming traffic for a subnetted intranet, the first byte of the hostid field is used. The bits that are used to distinguish among subnets are called subnet numbers. In our example, there are two subnets on the intranet. To the outside world, there appears to be only one network.
Each computer on each subnet gets its own IP address, as in a normal intranet. The combination of the netid field, the subnet number, and then finally a host number, forms the IP address.
The router must be informed that the hostid field in subnets must be treated differently than non-subnetted hostid fields, otherwise it won’t be able to properly route data. In order to do this, a subnet mask is used. A subnet mask is a 32-bit number such as 255.255.0.0 that is used in concert with the numbers in the hostid field. When a calculation is performed using the subnet mask and the IP address, the router knows where to route the mail. The subnet mask is put in people’s network configuration files.
Overview of an Intranet Security System
Any intranet is vulnerable to attack by people intent on destruction or on stealing corporate data. The open nature of the Internet and TCP/IP protocols expose a corporation to attack. Intranets require a variety of security measures, including hardware and software combinations that provide control of traffic; encryption and passwords to validate users; and software tools to prevent and cure viruses, block objectionable sites, and monitor traffic.
The generic term for a line of defense against intruders is a firewall. A firewall is a hardware/software combination that controls the type of services allowed to or from the intranet.
Proxy servers are another common tool used in building a firewall. A proxy server allows system administrators to track all traffic coming in and out of an intranet.
A bastion server firewall is configured to withstand and prevent unauthorized access or services. It is typically segmented from the rest of the intranet in its own subnet or perimeter network. In this way, if the server is broken into, the rest of the intranet won’t be compromised.
Server-based virus-checking software can check every file coming into the intranet to make sure that it’s virus-free.
Authentication systems are an important part of any intranet security scheme. Authentication systems are used to ensure that anyone trying to log into the intranet or any of its resources is the person they claim to be. Authentication systems typically use user names, passwords, and encryption systems.
Server-based site-blocking software can bar people on an intranet from getting objectionable material. Monitoring software tracks where people have gone and what services they have used, such as HTTP for Web access.
One way of ensuring that the wrong people or erroneous data can’t get into the intranet is to use a filtering router. This is a special kind of router that examines the IP address and header information in every packet coming into the network, and allows in only those packets that have addresses or other data, like e-mail, that the system administrator has decided should be allowed into the intranet.
All intranets are vulnerable to attack. Their underlying TCP/IP architecture is identical to that of the Internet. Since the Internet was built for maximum openness and communication, there are countless techniques that can be used to attack intranets. Attacks can involve the theft of vital company information and even cash. Attacks can destroy or deny a company’s computing resources and services. Attackers can break in or pose as a company employee to use the company’s intranet resources.
Firewalls are hardware and software combinations that block intruders from access to an intranet while still allowing people on the intranet to access the resources of the Internet. Depending on how secure a site needs to be, and on how much time, money, and resources can be spent on a firewall, there are many kinds that can be built. Most of them, though, are built using only a few elements. Servers and routers are the primary components of firewalls.
Most firewalls use some kind of packet filtering. In packet filtering, a screening router or filtering router looks at every packet of data traveling between an intranet and the Internet.
Proxy servers on an intranet are used when someone from the intranet wants to access a server on the Internet. A request from the user’s computer is sent to the proxy server instead of directly to the Internet. The proxy server contacts the server on the Internet, receives the information from the Internet, and then sends the information to the requester on the intranet. By acting as a go-between like this, proxy servers can filter traffic and maintain security as well as log all traffic between the Internet and the network.
Bastion hosts are heavily fortified servers that handle all incoming requests from the Internet, such as FTP requests. A single bastion host handling incoming requests makes it easier to maintain security and track attacks. In the event of a break in, only that single host has been compromised, instead of the entire network. In some firewalls, multiple bastion hosts can be used, one for each different kind of intranet service request.
How Firewalls Work
Firewalls protect intranets from any attacks launched against them from the Internet. They are designed to protect an intranet from unauthorized access to corporate information, and damaging or denying computer resources and services. They are also designed to stop people on the intranet from accessing Internet services that can be dangerous, such as FTP.
Intranet computers are allowed access to the Internet only after passing through a firewall. Requests have to pass through an internal screening router, also called an internal filtering routeror choke router. This router prevents packet traffic from being sniffed remotely. A choke router examines all pack-ets for information such as the source and destination of the packet.
The router compares the information it finds to rules in a filtering table, and passes or drops the packets based on those rules. For example, some services, such as rlogin, may not be allowed to run. The router also might not allow any packets to be sent to specific suspicious Internet locations. A router can also block every packet traveling between the Internet and the internal network, except for e-mail. System administrators set the rules for determining which packets to allow in and which to block.
When an intranet is protected by a firewall, the usual internal intranet services are available-such as e-mail, access to corporate databases and Web services, and the use of groupware.
Screened subnet firewalls have one more way to protect the intranet-an exterior screening router, also called an exterior filtering router or an access router. This router screens packets between the Internet and the perimeter network using the same kind of technology that the interior screening router uses. It can screen packets based on the same rules that apply to the internal screening router and can protect the network even if the internal router fails. It also, however, may have additional rules for screening packets specifically designed to protect the bastion host.
As a way to further protect an intranet from attack, the bastion host is placed in a perimeter network-a subnet-inside the firewall. If the bastion host was on the intranet instead of a perimeter network and was broken into, the intruder could gain access to the intranet.
A bastion host is the main point of contact for connections coming in from the Internet for all services such as e-mail, FTP access, and any other data and requests. The bastion host services all those requests-people on the intranet contact only this one server, and they don’t directly contact any other intranet servers. In this way, intranet servers are protected from attack.
Principles of Speech Communication
Speech making is perhaps one of the innate abilities of man, irrespective of one’s citizenry, or ethnic affiliations. Yet many people speak without understanding that it is a special ability without which communication between people and groups would not be possible.
Speech communication differs from normal day to day talking in which one speaks sporadically without considering ethics and skills. However, it is similar to every day communication in that they are both driven by the aim to communicate meaningfully.
Speech making is an organized communication aimed at sharing specific message about a given subject to create impact towards solving human problems.
This article provides guidance in the following areas:
Types of speech
Sages/steps in the speech making process and
Structure of a speech
Types of Speech
The onus remains squarely, on every speech maker to identify the type of speech most suitable to his/her purpose. For emphasis, it should be known that the aim of your delivery should be the sole factor dictating the style/type of speech you should choose to use.
Generally, there are, for conveniences, sake, four basic speech types, viz:
• Argumentative speech
• Persuasive speech
• Educative speech and
• Informative speech.
Argumentative Speech Type
Arguments imply elaborate presentation of all perspectives to an object or a subject of discussion, before settling down for the most applicable option. What comes out of an argument as most acceptable may not necessarily be truer, or better than other options, but the process of arguing makes it best, when compared to the others. This is why one choosing this type must bear in mind that it is his/her approach to it, and the ability to convince that determines the success or failure of the entire process.
While this may be closely related to persuasive essay, the dissimilarity lies in using points to convince at all cost.
To argue therefore, the speech maker needs to clearly and exhaustively raise every point of the issue and state facts about it. And this statement of facts is the “why” of the validity or not of your argument.
Persuasive Speech Type
As the name indicates, this type of speech is meant to stimulate a favourable disposition towards the subject of your concern or to appeal to audience to see it your way and act as you desire.
Companies, individuals and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that depend on project grants are often required to their proposals in brief, before forums of grant agencies. In doing this, they are expected to give brief, straight-to-point run down of what they propose to do to achieve goal, if given grant. This summary must necessarily include a statement of methodology and justification why it has to be your proposal, and not that of another. You must convince that using so and so method, you will be able to achieve set goals within the specified time, without waste of resources and this, you must do without doubt.
A high point worthy of emphasis is that to persuade, a speech maker must JUSTIFY why you are convinced that your method is most suitable to deliver best result. Your entire exercise will be meaningless if it fails to provide justification.
Also, students defending their research projects/thesis/dissertations ought to bear this in mind, as they will at one time or another, need to persuade their tutors I favour of their work.
Educative Speech Type
Although teaching in a class room situation requires more than speech making skills, it would do you well as a professional teacher, haven undergone training in the profession, to add these to your skills. As one who teaches in a school or a religious organization, one makes speeches often, both officially and otherwise.
Advertising agencies as well make use of this type of speech as product display demonstration to teach prospective consumers of a new product a step – by – step approach to using it.
An educative speech provides a comprehensible how-to-do-it guide to given subjects and must be done carefully to avoid confusing consumers/students/audience/congregation.
Informative Speech Type
The aim of this class of speech is to make known. This may come in presentable form in which the speech maker delivers it to audience or may be a press release. Whichever the case, both the writer and giver of speech must choose words carefully in order not to mislead, as the aim is to give accurate, unmistaken information as at press conference, organizational report forums, annual general meetings, state of the affair reviews etc.
Whether as government official, a politician or celebrity wishing to tell subordinated, colleagues or fans and the mass media something, this type of speech serves you best, as it equally serves the technology company wishing to inform its market of its newest innovation.
Security agencies and Public Relations Executives of all manner of corporate entities should be versed in this type of speech, as they will find it useful in the course of their careers.
Stages in the Speech Making Process
As already stated in the introduction, why you make speech is to communicate towards an end. Thus, your speech can only be seen as a success if the aim is achieved at the end of the day. To achieve an aim, professional speech communication follows a procedure, which is here written as the stages/steps in the speech communication process. They include:
• Research: If you are to speak, it means that there is someone you are to speak to, about something, something of importance to both of you, and at a given time and place. Your first responsibility is to FIND OUT what it is you are going to talk about. Whatever it is, you must study it to know far more than you will need to talk about and in this case, it is necessary to preempt the likely questions your audiences are to ask, and provide answers in the speech you make.
where and when necessary, consult with people such as experts, who have better technical understanding of the subject than you and to these, pose ALL your questions and let their answers be the knowledge with which you confront the exercise, as these answers should be the basis of the speech you present. In doing this, you should avoid stating the obvious. By this I mean elements that can easily be deciphered and understood should not be your primary aim to explain, rather you will do more good to seek out areas that are not likely to be understood at first glance by the lay man and on these, place your emphasis.
If for instance your speech is a political manifesto, it will be more profitable to describe in detail, what you intend to do to solve certain societal problems and your conduct in office, should you be elected, than to dwell on the might of your political party or on the electioneering process – whoever your audience are already know how to vote and how strong your party is but even if they don’t, there are people stationed to teach them those.
If on the other hand your concern is a product/service as a PRE/Advertiser, or an issue intangible as those handled by spiritual leaders and programme facilitators, seek out beforehand, opinions and opposing views about the product/service/issue. Be sure to find out details about the product/service/issue as to how it functions or implications of every standpoint in an issue. It is only this detailed understanding of subject that places you above your audience to be able to grant answers to their every question, including the ones they are not able to ask.
When you have satisfactorily understudied the subject of your presentation, you should as well endeavor to study the people to whom you will be speaking. This may require going the extra mile to study the various groups of people likely to be present at your presentation as well as their depth of understanding of the subject. Also, their depth of understanding of the language of communication is of importance, as this helps your diction for proper understanding.
You may as well, need to take a closer look at the place and time of your presentation. Though this may not be of same relevance as the first two, but is advisable because the place and time of an event contribute to a large extent, to the atmosphere of the event and in effective communication, the atmosphere is as important as the message itself as it colours the meaning of a message. This is why “good morning” at a time may be a greeting and at another time, a disturbance, as “yes” may mean yes at time but mean “no” at other times.
• Speech Writing: A well-researched speech may often end up poorly delivered if it is poorly documented, as many speech makers find the Read Only Strategy (ROS) more convenient than any other method. For a speech to be remarkable, its research, documentation and delivery must be sufficiently mastered.
Whether commissioned to write a speech for someone else to deliver or not, speech writing requires an interplay of excellent writing skills controlled by specific facts gained through research conducted at the initial stage with appropriate and accurate choice of words and illustrations, analogies etcetera.
Here are the basic formats of speech writing: the scripted speech, the semi-scripted speech, the outline speech and the unscripted format.
Scripted Speech: Earlier I mentioned ROS (Read Only Strategy) which is my description for a speech that is pre written and delivered verbatim unfortunately, this leaves no room for improvisation thus, where the speech writer is different from its presenter, the latter may have little or no idea about the technicalities of the subject of discussion, as he/she only read what is on paper. In this case, questions asked pose a great challenge to the presenter and may often be a source of embarrassment. A person delivering speech using ROS, without sufficient rehearsal may get pronunciations wrong and dodge questions at the end of the exercise as politicians do, because they are hardly involved in the creation of their speeches. However, this is the most used type of speech, practiced by political icons and celebrities because of its convenience.
The hugest merit of this is the convenience and the fact that individuals who are extremely shy or incompetent can hide away their weaknesses behind the paper already written for them. Also, the speech presenter may not need to have a deep knowledge of the subject, provided the writer of the speech does a good job. It is of advantage to persons who make many speeches within limited time and have little or no time to rehearse.
Notwithstanding, the problem with ROS is that it leaves the audience bored, as the speech maker is buried in the paper rather than keeping contact with the people to whom the presentation is being made.
The Semi – Scripted Speech Format: a speech is semi – scripted when only the principal lines of thought are written down, leaving the rest to be done on the spot of delivery. The preacher in a religious event may for example, write down a theme and scriptural texts while leaving the connected sentences to the process of delivery.
This method, a combination of ROS and improvisation proves beneficial when the speech writer is the same as the one to delivers. Otherwise, it becomes almost impracticable to deliver a semi – scripted speech prepared by somebody else. Where it is feasible, the writer and presenter must necessarily require massive effort at rehearsals which may not always be forth coming.
Out – Line Speech Format: Highly flexible and creative method that only notes in sequence, key points while leaving connected sentences to the delivery point. The advantage of this lies in the fact that where the atmosphere does not permit certain lines of thought or use of language, the speech maker changes direction. And because it is outlined rather than scripted, prevailing circumstances, at event venue, such as mood, time and language suitability are easily manageable. However, this method is most successful where the speech writer is the speech maker or where the latter has equal in-depth knowledge of subject and shares similar views with the former.
Unscripted Speech Format: This, otherwise referred here as improvisation or impromptu, is a speech format that requires no prior writing at all. Its success solely depends on the speech maker’s ability to improvise, that is, to create instantaneously, a spontaneous response to the situation. This, experience has shown, is the most effective speech style that does not fail to take audience along, as it is a child of circumstance.
Often you are asked to provide a repertoire or vote of thanks without warning. Using this format, you get your data from the prevailing circumstance and must immediately become a millionaire in thinking and in language if your audiences are of the millionaire class or you can be a road side mechanic if those are the people you are to communicate to.
The problem with this is that for beginners, improvisation could be challenging, as it requires tact and a lot of self-confidence.
• Rehearsals: After your documentation, the next stage is rehearsals. This simply means a trying out of yourself, a practice simulating the actual presentation you will be doing.
When doing this, critique your eye contact, facial expressions, gesticulations and general comportment. While practicing in front of your mirror may not be exactly similar to doing it in front of a thousand people, it gives you an idea of your look and performance and allows you to improve on those areas. You may like to present to your friend, spouse or kin to have their inputs.
• Speech Presentation: The essence of all the activities carried out from stage one is to achieve a remarkable presentation, such as would leave a desired impact by achieving the goal pursuant of which the speech was meant to be made. It therefore cannot be over-emphasized that this is the most vital aspect of the entire exercise, as it is the only thing people see and know about. Audiences do not follow you to your closet to see that you have researched your piece well but they will decide whether or not you have done well once you have delivered. For this reason, I like to say that it is better to conduct a poor research, do a poor documentation but superb presentation rather than having it the other way round.
To aid your performance in this regard, a couple of problems have been identified and solutions proffered here:
Overcoming Stage Fright: The incidence of stage fright is one menace too many that ruins otherwise, a remarkable speech. Your ability to manage this is as important as the other elements in the process involved, as your audience are not lenient, but are always looking for loopholes to capitalize on in unmaking your effort.
Ironically, everyone has some level of stage fright. The only difference being that some see the high tensed atmosphere and the rapid beating of their hearts as a positive force that complements their strength of delivery, while others fret at it.
What constitutes stage fright is fear; fear of the many eyes gazing at you, possibly “dissecting” and finding fault in whatever you are telling them, what you wear and the entirety of your being. Surprisingly, all this is more imagined than real, as audience hardly have any doubt until you give them a reason to. When you give the impression that you are in control, they accept that you are and thus, look up to you for answers.
Your appearance and perhaps gesticulations which you may have seen as errors become model to be emulated. This is why you must make your fear work for you.
There are several tricks to achieving this, two of which are suggested below:
Ice-Breaking – this refers to a ploy of ventilating tension rising from high expectation and an aura of formality. Audience expecting or rather, awaiting your presentation are kin and formal. This formality exerts more pressure on you, as you feel intense need and anxiety to deliver. In extreme cases, this raises doubts inn you as to whether you can satisfy them or not so you begin to stammer, jump words on the speech or add nonexistent words to the already prepared piece.
To break-the-ice, you can tell a short, relevant story or begin by doing an out of the way exercise like giving a joke or introducing yourself. This breaks the air of formality and helps both you and your audience relax enough to conveniently and enjoyably face the business of the day. By the time you have made your audience laugh or you have expended your pent-up tension telling a story, you will have made the atmosphere informal enough and gained the rapt attention of the audience.
Pen Cap Trick: Another way of managing stage fright is by directing the tension to your finger tips rather than to your head and mouth. This is possible by keeping your fingers actively engaged, as the natural course of function of the human system directs pressure/energy to a part of the body that is engaged in an activity. Therefore, if your attention lies only with your eyes and vocal cord, they will have to find a way of expending all the energy directed at them and in the process, mistakes could be made.
Splitting this pressure from your upper region to another section helps to keep balance in the overall management of tension and helps you coordinate and concentrate better in the efficacious delivery of your speech. The trick is to keep an object in your hand which your fingers will be compressing while you do the talking.
Because this activity is more physical than the intellectual role of speaking, more tension/pressure in exerted and expended here, leaving your heart with less thuds per time, and your concentration devoid of excessive anxiety.
However, it is advised that you pick an object that would not attract more attention than the speech. Something small enough to be completely hidden in your pals, and that does not make noise would do. Many people use paper clip, which they bend and straighten many times, while they speak. I had used pen cap made of plastic.
Looking, not Seeing: When presenting a speech or any creative work before an audience, many beginners find that they get lost if they focus on keeping eye contact with specific members of audience. The fact that your audience are taken along more when you keep eye contact with them is not to say that you must pay attention to the expressions on the faces as this will, more often than not, distract you. You can look in the direction of your audience generally without seeing of focusing on any one in particular. That way, everyone thinks you are looking at the next person and you end up achieving satisfactory presentation at the conclusion.
Diction: This had been touched earlier, but cannot be exhausted. The language of presentation should be chosen in line with the characteristics of the audience. Generally, a verbose speech is unnecessarily lengthy and full of jaw breaking language that make everyone clap for you not for the meaning and sense derived from your presentation, but for the amusement. The bottom line is to communicate, not to impress.
Structure of a Good Speech
A good speech, like every good piece of writing, is not just poured out at audience, but is meaningfully communicated only when it meets a prescribed, conventional specification. Every speech, good or bad has the following components, which either makes or mars it, depending on the writer/presenter’s ability to weave the various components into one beautiful piece or failure to do so, which leaves the work deformed like a physically challenged man.
• An introduction: this being the first line of your presentation, it is the most important as it sets the tone and mood for the rest of the presentation. If therefore, your introduction is good, it captivates audiences’ attention and stirs up interest: sends questions, expectations and anxieties running in the minds of the audience. So also does a poor introduction kill their appetite, so that rather than get anxious to get the rest of the gist from you, they get anxious to dispose of your time wasting presence. Speech makers of reasonable experience will tell you that the most embarrassing moment of their careers was when an audience just stared at them indifferently, while they made frantic efforts to get their attention. Often, they’d ignore you and fill in the gap by telling stories and holding pockets of briefs underground.
To avoid such pitfalls, your introduction must stir interest and be interesting enough for one man to tell another to keep quiet let him hear you well, as each speech must be worth the time spent to receive it. Otherwise, they would just switch off psycho-mentally, while leaving you to make the noise.
To achieve this, you can ask a rhetoric question, use an anecdote (a short analogical story) or a catchy quote but which must be relevant and which would make your presentation easier to achieve.
• Linkage: while some may argue rightly that the body of a speech and this section are indistinct, there is a need here to split them for the purpose of proper better understanding. A linkage is a sentence or two that connect the introduction with the details’ section (body) of the presentation.
• The Body of Details: Haven captivated the interest of your audience in the introduction and properly linked it using appropriate word, the emphasis now rests on providing all the details that are the main thrust of the presentation. All the points you may have gathered in the research will now be knit together beautifully and well explained to answer the questions your audience are likely to be asking. Your points must be well explained and objectively convincing enough that at the end, your audience will be left in no doubt (even if their own opinion differ), but rather have clear understanding of your impressions.
• The Conclusion: the last line of a good presentation should leave a lasting impression on people’s minds. Often, a relevant quote or rhetoric does the magic but the speech writer or (and) the presenter should understand that the relevance of the devices to subject or occasion as well as your accuracy of expressions is what leaves indelible marks on the minds of audiences. The conclusion should be food for thought, something people should remember long after they may have forgotten everything else, including the speech maker.
Basic Principles by Dreg En Ay