Kbps is Kilobit per second (1,000 bits per second)
Mbps is Megabit per second (1,000,000 bits per second)
Gbps is Gigabit per second (1,000,000,000 bits per second)

There are 8 bits in a byte.

So.

KBps is kilobyte per second (1,024 Bytes or 8,192 bits)
MBps is megabyte per second (1,024 Kilobytes or 8,388,608 bits)

V.90 dial up modem is 56 Kbps - 7KBps (56,000 bits per second)

These terms are used to describe the files that you are either transferring from another computer across a network, or downloading from the net.

So, if someone has a dial up connection for their internet (ie, they need to make a telephone call to connect) then the speed is usually said to be 56k or rather 56 kilobits per second download. So, for example, a 1 Megabyte file eg. a digital photo would take approximately 2-3 minutes to download. This rarely happens due to slower connections, interference on the line and whether you're downloading something else at the time. More likely it'll take 5 minutes.

So, how does this help you? If you plan to upgrade to an ADSL connection, which is a system that uses your existing line to give you an internet connection, while still being able to use the telephone at the same time, the speeds start from 256kbps. So a photo of about 1 megabyte would take 32 seconds, in theory.

512kbps would take 16 seconds, 1500kbps would take 8 seconds etc.

On larger files, of course, this is more noticeable. A video file of about 80 megabytes would take 4 hours or more on 56k whereas on an ADSL 1500k connection it would only take about 7 minutes. Distance from your main telephone exchange as well as other data being transferred on the line will affect these estimates, but it is just to give you an idea on whether you wish to use a faster service.

Next issue we'll look at ADSL in a bit more detail and how it can benefit you.

3. Malware and Spyware warnings

Malware, as a favourite columnist recently suggested, is not Mal Leyland's new outback clothing range. It is another name for a destructive virus or trojan. If you have Norton AntiVirus installed you may have noticed that it has been updating a bit more frequently of late. Recently, several viruses have appeared that target the antivirus detection system before launching themselves. If they manage to get into a computer before an AntiVirus update they can disable the antivirus software but make it look like it is still running.

The virus then lets other viruses in, then copies itself and sends itself over a network or back out via the outlook address book. No particular names here as there are already a number of variants. As long as you connect to the net every day, long enough for your AntiVirus to update itself, you've got a better chance of avoiding the viruses.

A new spyware technique has been detected that disables your Zone Alarm firewall. This nifty little device activates the Zone Alarm warning then automatically clicks okay before embedding itself in your system and sending out your personal surfing habits. Apart from dropping Zone Alarm and replacing it with a more expensive fire wall, you should be scanning your system regularly for spyware with either Ad-Aware or Spybot. Do a search on the net for the best download place or, next time we come and visit you, ask us to run it for you. 

Well, that's it for this issue. Hope you have a great long weekend. Next issue we take a close look at wireless networking, amongst other things.

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