How Virtual Private Networks (VPN) Work

The business world has changed a lot in the last couple of decades. Instead of simply dealing with local or regional concerns, many businesses now have to think about global markets and logistics. Many companies have facilities spread out across the country or around the world. One thing all of them need is a way to maintain fast, secure, and reliable communications wherever their offices are located.

What is a Firewall?

If you have been using the internet for any length of time you have probably heard the term firewall. For example, you might hear someone say, "I can't use that site because it can't come through the firewall." Basically, a firewall is a barrier to keep destructive forces away from your property. In fact that's why it's called a firewall. Its job is similar to a physical firewall that keeps a fire from spreading from one area to the next. On a computer, its design is to protect the computer from hackers or other malicious outside attackers.

What is a router?

Basically, a router works like a traffic cop deciding which device gets access to the network next. A router connects computers, printers, and other devices to a network which is connected to the internet. More technically, a router is a critical device that keeps data flowing between networks and keeps the networks connected to the internet. When data is sent between locations on a network or from one network to another network, the data is always transferred and directed to the correct location by a router. When you connect to the internet you are using your router to join a global network which connects your computer to millions of other computers.

Guest House Installation $129

Extend your BOLT Internet connections to another building on your property. We will install additional equipment to broadcast the internet connection so those staying in the guest house can surf online. User computers in the guest house will need to have a wireless card installed.

What is a Wireless Internet Service Provider?

A Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) is a special kind of broadband service provider that uses an antenna to transmit data through airwaves to a receiving antenna at a customer's location. The data transmission works in a similar manner as a satellite dish. The main difference is that a wireless internet data antenna sends and receives information from a local tower verses a satellite in space.

What is a Wireless Internet Service Provider?

A Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) is a special kind of broadband service provider that uses an antenna to transmit data through airwaves to a receiving antenna at a customer's location. The data transmission works in a similar manner as a satellite dish. The main difference is that a wireless internet data antenna sends and receives information from a local tower verses a satellite in space.

WISP's use designated channels to transmit large amounts of data over the airwaves. The service is transported over a wireless connection to customers who receive up to 10 Mbps of bandwidth. The best part about a wireless system is the fact that the signal travels through the air, which means you don't have to worry about running a wire to every single customer.

Wireless systems have many advantages over wired systems such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or cable modems. A WISP is the quickest and most cost effective way to get high speed internet connections for schools, municipal offices, libraries, residents, and local businesses.

While wireless technology may be new to you and your area, there are more than 2,400 WISP's operating successfully in the U.S. alone. This group of WISP's are proving to the rest of the world that the "broadband wireless" model is an extremely effective way to connect to the internet through very fast broadband connections without investing millions of dollars usually associated with building DSL or cable modem broadband systems.

Family Safe Filter

Do you know what your children are viewing on the internet? 90% of children between the ages of 8 and 16 have accidentally viewed pornography. In most cases, these sites were stumbled upon while researching information that was homework related. Family Safe Filter is an advance parental control tool. It is a flexible and effective web filter designed to block unwanted content from your home computer while permitting unlimited access to legitimate sites and making your family's internet experience safe and positive. Filter out pornography, violence, drugs, and other unwanted web content easily and accurately!

Guest House Installation $129

Extend your BOLT Internet connections to another building on your property. We will install additional equipment to broadcast the internet connection so those staying in the guest house can surf online. User computers in the guest house will need to have a wireless card installed.

Off-site Backup Storage

If you lose all your data today... will you still be in business tomorrow?

Research shows that 90% of companies that lose their data in a disaster are out of business within 2 years. Yet, most companies do not effectively backup and protect their critical data off-site. Many companies rely on local backups to protect their data. The truth is local backups are not enough. Local backups generally do not protect your company's critical data from fire, flood, theft, or many other disastrous situations.

Portable storage is an option for backups, but it has its limitations. You must remember to transport it to and from a safe location, is generally not as reliable, easily stolen, not encrypted, and most often goes untested.

What are you doing to ensure you always have an off-site backup? Are you relying on a person to transport your backups to a safe location? If so, are you willing to gamble your business on them? BOLT Internet off-site backup ensures no loss of critical data and greatly reduces the amount of production downtime experienced in case of fire, theft, viruses, or corruption. Call for pricing and additional information.

Routers and Firewalls

What is a router? Basically, a router works like a traffic cop deciding which device gets access to the network next. A router connects computers, printers, and other devices to a network which is connected to the internet. More technically, a router is a critical device that keeps data flowing between networks and keeps the networks connected to the internet. When data is sent between locations on a network or from one network to another network, the data is always transferred and directed to the correct location by a router. When you connect to the internet you are using your router to join a global network which connects your computer to millions of other computers.

Why would I need a router? A router allows you to create your own private network which enables your computer to talk to multiple devices (printers, scanners, game systems, other computers, etc...). For most home users, they set up a LAN (Local Area Network) or WLAN (wireless LAN) and connect all computers and devices to the internet through one router. A business or organization uses a router to connect multiple computers to the internet as well as connecting to multiple virtual private networks (VPN). If you use a WLAN you will need to make sure the security features are enabled to protect your private network.

Routers for Home & Small Business

What defines a router is not its shape, color, size, or manufacturer, but its job function of routing data between computers.

• Broadband or internet connection sharing (ICS) routers allow you to share one internet

connection between multiple computers.

• Wired routers are generally a small box-shaped hardware device with ports on the front or back into which you use a wire to connect each computer. These connection ports allow the router to do its job of routing the data packets between each of the computers and the data going to and from the internet.

• Wireless routers look much the same as a wired router, except they have an antenna on top and no cables running from the router to the computer. Creating a wireless network creates more security concerns, but wireless routers have extra levels of embedded security. Wireless routers provide features relevant to wireless security such as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and wireless Media Access Control (MAC) address filtering. Additionally, most wireless routers can be configured for "invisible mode" so that your wireless network cannot be detected by outside wireless devices. Wireless routers will often include ports for ethernet connections for devices not set up for wireless connections. For those unfamiliar with Wi-Fi and how it works, it is important to note that choosing a wireless router may mean that you need to spend more time on monitoring and security than one would with a wired LAN.

Wired and wireless routers and the network they connect to can claim pros and cons over each other, but they are somewhat equal overall in terms of function and performance. Both wired and wireless routers have high reliability and reasonably good security (without adding additional products). However – and this bears repeating- you will need to invest time in learning more about wireless security. Generally, going wired will be cheaper overall, but setting up the router and cabling in the computers is a bit more difficulty than setting up the wireless network. Of course, mobility on a wired system is very limited while wireless offers outstanding mobility features. If you use a laptop, you will enjoy its versatility more by creating a wireless network.

BOLT Internet has a variety of Residential and Business class routers. We can install and configure the router for each of the computers and printers to complete your home or business network. Call for pricing regarding setting up routers and networks.

What is a Firewall?

If you have been using the internet for any length of time you have probably heard the term firewall. For example, you might hear someone say, "I can't use that site because it can't come through the firewall." Basically, a firewall is a barrier to keep destructive forces away from your property. In fact that's why it's called a firewall. Its job is similar to a physical firewall that keeps a fire from spreading from one area to the next. On a computer, its design is to protect the computer from hackers or other malicious outside attackers.

With an internet connection into your home (either wireless, a DSL connection, or a cable modem), you may have found yourself hearing about firewalls for your home network. It turns out that a small home network has many of the same security issues that a large corporate network does. You can use a firewall to protect your home network and family from offensive websites and potential hackers.

How Virtual Private Networks (VPN) Work

The business world has changed a lot in the last couple of decades. Instead of simply dealing with local or regional concerns, many businesses now have to think about global markets and logistics. Many companies have facilities spread out across the country or around the world. One thing all of them need is a way to maintain fast, secure, and reliable communications wherever their offices are located. Until fairly recently, this has meant the use of leased lines to maintain a wide area network (WAN). Leased lines, ranging from ISDN (integrated services network, 128 Kbps) to OC3 fiber (optical carrier-3, 155 Mbps), provided a company with a way to expand its private network beyond its immediate geographic area. A WAN had obvious advantages over a public network like the internet when it came to reliability, performance and security, but maintaining a WAN, particularly, when using leased lines, can become quite expensive and often increases in cost as the distance between the offices increases.

BOLT Internet can provide a T1 high speed internet feed with a static IP address to your office(s) and help you create and maintain your VPN. We will set up secure connections for satellite offices as well as connections for outside users. Call for pricing regarding setting up T1 service and a VPN.