Device Connectivity Made Simple: Easy Tips for Everyday Users
Living in a digital age means that device connectivity is of critical importance. While most of the time, it’s merely inconvenient when one of our devices won’t “talk” to another one. However, there are times when it absolutely has to work. Emergency services rely on stable connections. Business and financial transactions occur in fractions of a second when the connections work correctly. Today I’m going to give you a beginner’s tutorial on device connectivity.
Let’s start with a basic definition. Device connectivity refers to the ability of hardware or software devices to communicate and share data with each other. We can connect devices to the Internet, to each other using a local network, or to peripheral devices like printers and external drives. It’s all about the exchange of information.
In the early days of personal computers, it wasn’t so important to be able to exchange information, except maybe with our own peripherals. Super nerds did use bulletin boards accessed using a dial-up modem, and that was how most of the world at that time saw device connectivity. Nowadays it’s crucial because it enhances our ability to communicate, access information, and perform tasks efficiently. It enables seamless interaction between our devices, making our lives more convenient.
When we talk about connecting devices to each other, there are only two ways it can happen: wired, and wirelessly. It’s important to know that when you connect to “the Internet,” you’re actually connecting to a device that carries your signal out to other devices. You may not see the device, but it’s there, and it’s the only way your device can communicate. I’ll explain USB, HDMI, and Ethernet in the wired category, and in wireless, we’ll go into Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Near Field Communication (NFC).
Types of Connectivity
Wired Connections
The standard in wired networking is Ethernet. There used to be several, and there still are a few, but most networks are using the Ethernet protocol and equipment/supplies. Ethernet is used to create a Local Area Network (LAN) using twisted pair cables. If you were to peel back the outer skin of an Ethernet cable, you would see pairs of cables twisted together, four pairs, giving the description “twisted pair.” Ethernet provides stable and fast data transfer rates. We use Ethernet cables to connect our computers to a router or Internet gateway provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), to a hub or switch, or a wall connector, and from there, other cables connect to the next device in line. Gaming consoles can use Ethernet as well.
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) transmits high-definition video and audio signals from a source to a display, like a television or a monitor. The single cable carries both audio and video data. I use an HDMI cable to connect my satellite receiver to the television, another one to connect my DVD player to the same television, and another one to connect my computer to a television at church, and even computer monitors are capable of using HDMI transmission now. For today’s high-definition applications, it’s the perfect transmission medium.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is that standard interface we use to connect things to our computer. There’s that flat connector that we see on external hard drives and flash drives, sometimes with a blue stripe indicating the newer, faster version (but it’s only faster when you connect it to a port that’s the same newer, faster version). There’s also the mini- and micro-versions that we see used for charging some devices like earbuds and tablet keyboards, and the newest one is the oval-shaped USB-C that most smartphones are using and that Apple finally moved to.
Wireless Connections
The most common wireless connection type is Wi-Fi. It provides the same function as Ethernet but without the cables. Wi-Fi functions on radio waves to transmit data.
Bluetooth is a short-range (around 33 feet at a maximum) wireless technology that we use for exchanging data between devices over short disances, and it uses radio waves as well. When you listen to music in your earbuds transmitted from your phone, you’re transmitting data — music in digital form is data. When you pair a device using Bluetooth, you create a Personal Area Network (PAN). Bluetooth is an ideal technology for headphones and earbuds, speakers, keyboards, mice, and other peripherals, and it’s the technology that makes hands-free calling in cars possible.
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a contactless communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other when they’re within a few centimeters of each other. NFC uses Radio Frequence Identification (RFID) and it’s only suitable for these close-range communications. The contactless payment systems like Apple Pay and its cousins use NFC, and some sharing is possible by enabling it in the devices and then tapping or touching the devices together.
I didn’t address cellular technologies in this article, because that’s more complicated that this piece can go into.
Common Connectivity Issues
Connection drops
Connectivity issues can occur in both wired and wireless connections, but they’re more common in wireless. Interference from microwave ovens, older cordless phones, some bluetooth devices, and other wireless devices like baby monitors, security cameras, and other Wi-Fi networks can cause your connection to drop. You can also step outside of your network’s range without realizing it. But there are other conditions as well, that you can probably fix with a one-and-done solution, like old or corrupted device drivers, power management settings, recent software updates, and damaged cables.
Here are some quick fixes to try if you’re experiencing frequent Wi-Fi disconnects:
- Restart the devices – the router, the computer, the Bluetooth device. Sometimes restarting one device will fix it, sometimes you have to restart both.
- Check the distance between the two devices that are misbehaving.
- Update the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers.
- Re-Pair the devices
- Move away from other electronic devices or change to a less-crowded channel.
Slow speeds
Some of the same things that cause connection drops can also cause slow speeds, like signal interference and older hardware, but you may find that you can keep a connection but the data transmission is sloooooooooow. This can happen if you have a lot of devices using the network at the same time, but you can also see it if the signal has to travel around a lot of walls and corners or up or down a flight of stairs. You’ll also find that some applications are just bandwidth hogs, like streaming movies, video games, and downloading large files. It may be working fine for the device doing that thing, but every other device will have chugging and stuttering. Sometimes the devices just get confused, this happens at my house every so often, and we don’t have any gamers in the house.
Here are a few things to get you moving again if your network speed has slowed to a crawl:
- Restart the device that’s having the issues, along with the router/gateway.
- Move closer to the router to get a better signal.
- Position your router away from other electronic devices.
- When a device isn’t actively using the network, disconnect it from the network.
- Keep your router and devices current on updates.
Security Considerations
When you’re using wireless connections, your data is literally traveling through the air using radio waves. How safe is this? Well, today it’s much safer than it was even five years ago, but you still have to pay attention to a few things.
Public WiFi Safety
If you’re going to be using public networks, you need to understand that they’re configured for ease of connection and use, not for high security. This makes them more susceptible to eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle attacks, and malware infections. You find public networks at a lot of stores, restaurants, and hotels. Most modern websites are using HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol – Secure, meaning encrypted), but that’s only the transmission between your device and websites. It doesn’t guarantee that the public network’s device is free from malware or hasn’t been compromised in other ways.
Most of the time, I don’t mind using a store’s network to look up stuff in that store, but I’m not going to connect to it and check my bank account. I almost never use a hotel’s Wi-Fi, either, unless I can see that it’s secured and that the password isn’t something generic that is easily guessed. I have a cellular hotspot that I use for travel, so that I can feel confident doing all my business.
If you want to be safe using a public network, make sure of these things:
- Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your Internet traffic.
- Avoid sensitive transactions, like bank accounts, or entering personal information.
- Make sure your device’s firewall is active.
- Only connect to websites that use that HTTPS (most modern browsers will reject connections to sites without encryption, or will a least pester you before you connect to one).
Bluetooth Security
Bluetooth is incredibly convenient and handy, but it’s also susceptible to compromise. There are some steps you can take, however, to be more secure, and they’re not difficult.
- Use secure pairing methods like Secure Simple Pairing (SSP), which uses authentication and encryption. Today’s phones and tablets use it by default, but a badly-configured device may ask you to turn it off; don’t do it.
- Keep your devices updated (have you noticed this mentioned several times in this article?)
- When you’re not actively using a Bluetooth device, turn off Bluetooth. This is a bit inconvenient, and I’ll admit I don’t always do it, but taking the rest of the precautions mentioned here can mostly make up for it.
- Set devices to non-discoverable so that others can’t see them and connect without requiring your approval.
- Use strong PINs. That’s difficult to do when you’re limited on the number of characters you can use, but a good start is to avoid using a PIN based on personal information.
Recognizing Suspicious Connection Requests
On your personal phone, you may never see a suspicious connection request. Your business phone may be a target of unknown Bluetooth connections because of the possibility of obtaining proprietary or sensitive information. Here’s how you can be aware of suspicious requests for Bluetooth connections:
- Pay attention to requests from unknown or unfamiliar devices.
- Pay attention to requests you’re not expecting.
- Pay attention to repeated connection attempts from the same device.
- Unusual behavior after connection to a new device may be a signal of compromise.
If you see any of these indicators, turn off Bluetooth and restart your device immediately.
Your Turn
The point of this article was to give you some basics that you can make immediate use of without having to go really deep into the technology. Tech should make our lives better, but there are also things we have to keep house on for that to happen, like security.
What’s your pain point on connectivity? Drop a comment below and I’ll see if I can help you out.
Want some more information on connection basics? Check out these links:
A Beginners Guide To Computer Networking | Zero To Mastery
Computer networking 101: Terms, tools, and getting started (educative.io)
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