Panatech PX-500 PCMCIA Sprint EVDO BroadBand Card

[ad#tmi-right-1-1]The Pantech PX-500 wireless mobile broadband card for Sprint gives you data communication access for your PC laptop anywhere you roam on the Sprint network at faster speeds than ever before. EV-DO rev A compatibility gives you download speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps and beefy upload speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps. Simple to use, the Pantech PX-500 wireless mobile broadband card lets you surf the Internet, send and receive email and text messages, and connect to corporate networks from just about anywhere.

Technical Specs:

  • Dimensions – 4.57 in x 2.13 in x 0.51 in
  • Weight – 1.8 oz
  • Data Download Speed – EV-DO rev A (Up to 3.1 Mbps Down/1.8 Mbps Up), EV-DO rev 0 (2.4 Mbps Down/153 Kbps Up), 1xRTT
  • Download Protocol – CDMA 850, 1900
  • Compatible Carrier – Sprint PCS
  • Network Compatibility – CDMA 850, 1900
  • 3G Data Speeds – Yes

Compatibility Features

  • Device Supports Data Plans – Yes
  • Available For Purchase Without Service Plan – Yes

Saw this card and did a little digging.  I looks like the newest updated software and drivers for this card can also make it Vista and Linux compatible.   Although with any card you will use up more battery life but it is a small price to pay to check email and surf the web. Also if you have an newer laptop or am about to upgrade I’d suggest Getting a Sierra Wireless Compass 597 USB Modem from Sprint! This is good for anyone who wants to surf the web and not have to buy the hardware to do it with.  Both are free to buy and ship with a two year contract. If in doubt please get the USB card that way you know you know you will be able to use it.

Understanding a Cellular Modems

So you bought a modem, and you’re not getting the speed you expected.

Yep it is unavoidable to not get that broad band speed you expected from buying a Cellular Modem and you want to learn more about what can affect your upload/download speed on the modem.   Each carrier has there own specific speeds or usage.  We will go through each and everyone one them talking about the kinds of speeds:

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  • EVDO — is known as Evolution-Data Optimized and is most commonly around the major city areas. It is sometimes consider 3G and is considered the fastest in the industry. Although there are always going to be debates on who is the fastest, it really doesn’t matter because of the limitations of the networks.
  • GPRS — General Packet Radio Service and is also part of the 3G network but requires different frequency to acquire the signals from the tower. This is used in lower end of companies due to the fact it is easier to maintain than EVDO, but the speed is still comparable to all the other 3G family because of the interdependency of the connectivity.
  • WiMAX — Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and The technology provides up to 75 Mb/s symmetric broadband speed without the need for cables. The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard (also called Broadband Wireless Access).

[ad#cricket-1-1]There are so many of them to talk but each of these can help you understand what the differences of these are and what do they mean.  My cellular modem is using EVDO from Cricket Wireless and have not had any major problems yet.   Others would use GPRS or WiMax or even the others, but it still is important in understanding each has its own speed and flaws.

So does it matter if I am I’m close to the tower?

In short yes but as long as you have a couple towers in the are it shouldn’t really matter.  You should still get the speed you thought you were going to get when need it.

Is Cellular modems really Broad band?

In truthfulness the true broad band speed is actually FIOS and Cable right now because they can handle he download and upload speed.  Most companies consider broad band to be something faster than dial-up.

So How do you get better speeds?

Each network is different, it can vary from time to time due to network congestion or if they are having problems with the network.   Some things to consider when you are getting bad speeds are updating your modem in one way or another.   You might also consider checking out your area to find all the cellular towers are and to be able to direct the modem in the right way.  You can also try to purchase a cellular antenna to better get what speeds your looking for.  That might get you some better speeds than what you were getting.

These tips and tricks will better get your speeds up on your modem.   This should also help you understand the truth behind broad band.

Microsoft to Release KB961051 on the Dec 17, 2008

According to McAfee and I will quote:

December 16, 2008: Microsoft has announced an out-of-cycle patch release for a critical, remote-code-execution, vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer (CVE-2008-4844). The patch, to be released on December 17, will address the vulnerability across multiple versions on Internet Explorer running on supported Windows platforms.

[via McAfee Threat Center]

[ad#ad2-right]From what I am understanding it will be KB961051 and will be a critical update on all Windows platforms.  Microsoft issued a security advisory for this on there Technet support website.   This will probably be put online sometime tomorrow and will be available to download after 10am PST although this is just a rumor because when I go to that article they talk about the work around and how to fix it temporary until they release the patch.  This is releated to the IE Vulnerability that is in the wild and has been causing havok on the internet.

Tools for Virus Removal : The ones I like to use!

In this post I want to talk about virus removal tools that I like to use when I need to remove a virus.   Some thing to consider when using these tools are:

Each of these have to be dealt with differently because each requires something different.  Like rootkits if you have one installed and know that it is a rootkit you only options are to download some rootkit removers like:

  • Sopho’s Anti-rootkit remover —  This is good for those more known viruses and can remove several types of rootkits.   This isn’t the only one I use, but it is a part of group that does the rootkit removing for me.
  • Microsoft Rootkit Revealer —  This is good for proving there is a rootkit.  I’ve not seen it not detect a rootkit.  Most of the time when I find a rootkit from the other rootkit revealers this one actually dos better with information.
  • Panda Anti-Rootkit Remover — This one is another one I use when the other ones can’t remove it.  Each one does remove certain rootkit differently and works better than the other.
  • Aries Rootkit Remover from Lavasoft — This is good for those really tough rootkits but have some great benefits for removing some of the really tough rootkits.

These are the ones that work well with me when it comes to removing the rootkits.  I’ve not had one of these to remove a rootkit but that depends on how you deal with the virus in the first place.  Now for Anti-spyware and Anti-Virus software here are some of the tools that I suggest:

  • HijackthisRun it, and when you get the LOG file you will want to go to HijackThis Log Analysis Site 1 and HijackThis Log Analysis Site 2, and see what it says.  This is the best software because it will scan all of the registry and tells you like a wiki what might it be.
  • MSCONFIG — Sometimes it is hidden but if you check through the MSCONFIG for any files that might not need to load. Also check the services tab and see if there is any services that may not be needed.
  • Pctools Antivirus Free Software — This is a free software so what can I say.
  • AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 7.5.503 — This is another free one that can remove viruses really easily. Download this and you don’t have to worry to much.
  • Avast Home Edition — AVG does better than this one but people seem to like this so I have to add this for people who like this better than the others.
  • Clamwin Free Anti-virus — This is a good one because this is open sourced and easily can help detect so many viruses. This is good for those people who like open sourced.

These are just  the ones that I like to recommend that does pretty good on removing the viruses but there are others that I recommend on my Malware Resources that people have recommend to me but I haven’t tried them out yet.    Some of the Spyware and Adware removal and here are some of my favorites:

  • SuperAntispyware — Easily remove pests such as WinFixer, SpyAxe, SpyFalcon, and thousands more! Repair broken Internet Connections, Desktops, Registry Editing and more with our unique Repair System.
  • Malwarebytes can provide the needed assistance to remove the infection and restore the machine back to optimum performance.
  • Ad-Aware — This is a very good tool to get rid of some of the most annoying little viruses that try to fool you that you have a virus.
  • Windows Security Trojan Scanner — a Free online scanner to let you see if you might have a Trojan.
  • SmitFraudFix — A great little program to get rid of those Desktop hijacks, those programs that take over your browser or other file system.

If your current antimalware software let an infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes License to protect your computer in the future. SUPERAntiSpyware Professional or Malwarebytes License features highly advanced Real-Time Protection to ensure protection from installation or re-installation of potential threats as you surf the Internet (Both are trusted Vendors by CCSS Forums).

These are just a few that I like to use when it comes to fighting those virus programs and the people behind the virus programs.   If you consider how hard it is sometimes to recognize a virus, you can see the problem with some of the programs they can sometimes  say a file is a virus and delete it and the next thing you know it won’t boot into Windows.  This is what needs to be considered whenever you see a warning on your system so you must be careful when you remove files.  You should always have backups that is what I always recommend because the likely hood of something terrible happening to your data.  You should come up with a way to back up your system every week like a sunday back or even a Monday while your at work backup.

Removing Win32/Bagle.HE worm

Here is another virus that seems to be spreading lately.   From the looks of it, it sees to be another email worm.  Here is what eset says:

Aliases

Email-Worm.Win32.Bagle.gt (Kaspersky), W32/Bagle.gen (McAfee), Trojan.Tooso!gen (Symantec)

[ad#ad2-right]Win32/Bagle.HE is a worm that spreads via e-mail. The size of its executable is 40565 B .

When executed the worm copies itself in the following locations:

  • Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\hidn\
    hldrrr.exe
  • Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\hidn\
    hidn2.exe

In order to be executed on every system start, the worm sets the following Registry entry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\drv_st_key

[ad#ad2-left]It seems to have a manual removal process, Unless you pay for the other software but according to the 411 on PC Security:

Win32/Bagle.HE worm is a “threat” that appears in security scans by fake antispyware WinDefender 2008.

The danger of Win32/Bagle.HE worm is supposed to scare you into wasting $49.95 on WinDefender 2008.

Unless you like getting ripped off, don’t download the software the Win32/Bagle.HE worm popup links to. You’re not really infected with Win32/Bagle.HE worm — you’re infected with scamware that you need to remove.

I’ll show you how to get rid of Win32/Bagle.HE worm and WinDefender 2008, for free.

[via 411 on PC Security]

According to this site you can remove it by doing some steps.  I think Kaspersky has an easier way to remove it and it looks like most anti-virus software will remove this.   You need to remember that only you can prevent this from the future.   You should also update your windows update and make sure your system is up to date.