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Technology

Rethink Refurb

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Refurbished technology has made its mark in the technology field and has left a question in everyone’s mind; should I buy something refurbished? What does refurbished actually mean? Why buy refurbished, if I can buy new?

I’ll admit that I was skeptical of using anything refurbished, but it wasn’t until I understood the quality and warranty that came along with buying refurbished at a cost-effective price.

Let’s take a look at why refurbished Cisco VOIP phones (oh, and other types of equipment) are the way to go:

Quality: It’s practically brand new!

A refurbished product is simply a product that has been gently used and may have some almost unrecognizable wear and tear on it. CablesAndKits assures the quality of each refurbished Cisco VOIP phone, and we pride ourselves on the standard of each product. At times, we receive phones that have a minor defect that our testing technician will inspect and fix to bring it back to brand new standards. Our phone refurbishing process reinforces the quality of each phone that is sold.

Cost Effectiveness: Who doesn’t like to save money?

The average cost savings for a consumer when buying a refurbished product is about 40%. So if you have a phone system upgrade project estimated to cost $10,000, you could’ve budgeted for $6,000 by buying refurbished. Imagine what other projects you could add in the budget with all that extra money! Purchasing refurbished Cisco phones is the answer to getting the biggest bang for your buck and accomplishing your mission of receiving an awesome VOIP phone system for your business.

Lifetime Warranty: Awesome is guaranteed!

We test and certify all Cisco VOIP phones that come from CablesAndKits. With risk-free purchasing and hassle-free returns, awesome is guaranteed.  Test out the phones and if you decide they are not right for you, we’ll take them back and refund your money. CablesAndKits will also provide a lifetime advance replacement, just in case your phone experiences a malfunction or failure during the full lifetime of your ownership. Our customer service members will even expedite the shipment so you will not have to worry about an extended downtime.

So, as you can see purchasing refurbished, pre-owned equipment is not scary at all. It has great benefits for your business as well as your “budget and support” sanity. If you still have questions about purchasing refurbished items, shoot us an email or give us a call. We would love to chat with you and find the best solution to meet your needs today.

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All Wireless Standards are NOT Created Equal

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Upgrading your Wi-Fi hardware is critical to future-proofing your network. When the time for new components is at hand, it is important to select the products that fully support your communication and data transfer wireless_logoneeds. From fiber cabling to Wi-Fi routers, the choices abound and each one can have direct impact on your overall network performance.

Today, we are going to take a look at the foundational 802.11 technologies that can power your network. Despite very similar nomenclature, the varying forms of 802.11 are all quite different.

How to Make Your Choice

Being able to clearly articulate the differences between Wi-Fi options is a must in order to help your management and procurement teams approve the right products for your applications. Following are the factors you will want to educate teams about so that they can effectively evaluate any new wireless purchase:

  • Bandwidth

Bandwidth, measured in terms of Mbps or Gbps, determines the speed with which data can be transmitted across a network. As can be expected, a higher bandwidth rating delivers faster data transmission. Today’s 802.11 technologies offer bandwidths ranging from 11 Mbps to as high as 300 Mbps.

It can be easy to immediately believe you want the maximum bandwidth range but it is important to keep in mind your own use. The higher bandwidths are generally only needed by larger networks or those running intensive applications such as streaming video.

  • Frequency

The frequency, measured in Gigahertz, determines a network’s range. It also directly affects interference by other wireless elements such as cell phones or microwaves or by physical obstacles such as walls. Standard Wi-Fi networks run on either 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz (commonly referred to as only 5 GHz) frequencies.

Frequency is one of those features that definitely does not comply with the “bigger is better” concept. A shorter frequency actually has a longer range, although it is more susceptible to interference from other wireless devices. A longer frequency flip-flops those benefits to provide a shorter range but better protection against other wireless interference. However, 5.8 GHz networks are more likely to be impeded by solid interference.

  • Single or Dual Band

Most Wi-Fi technologies run on only one frequency but some tout the ability to run on both. Before you jump for joy and assume that is the best way to go, you better get the facts.

Technology that includes only one signal but says it is dual band does not actually give you both 2.4 and 5.8 GHz functionality at once—it simply gives you the ability to choose which one you want at any given time. Only 802.11n which leverages multiple antennas actually supports both frequencies simultaneously.

Knowing the different functionalities offered by the key Wi-Fi network features can [Read more…] about All Wireless Standards are NOT Created Equal

Why Fiber Cabling Should Be Your Future – Today

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Is it time to upgrade your network? Perhaps you are installing an all-new network. Either way, one of the primary decisions you must make is what type of cable you will use. Copper cables have led the way for traditional computer networks but in recent years, an increase in the use of fiber cabling has been seen.Fiber Cables

Should your business build its network based on fiber technology? We think the answer is a resounding “yes”. But, we don’t want you to just take our word for it and we’re pretty sure your CEO won’t either. Instead, we want you to understand what a Fiber To The Office (FTTO) network can do for your business.

The Wonders—or Not—of Copper Cabling

To truly understand the benefits of fiber cabling, it is important to understand copper cabling. Copper rose to the top as the choice for computer networking professionals in part due to its affordable price tag. Even as fiber optic cables entered the marketplace, copper continued to dominate largely for this reason. In recent years, however, the rising cost of copper cabling coupled with the decreased cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining fiber cabling has all but eliminated this benefit.

Without a clear-cut cost benefit, the limitations of structured copper cabling have become more apparent to CEOs concerned with both performance and price, furthering the search for alternatives.

Among the problems noted with copper are:

Space Requirements
Copper can only transmit data up to roughly 100 meters. This requires multiple nodes to be placed throughout a building, taking up valuable space—and money.

High Energy Consumption
The hardware demands of a structured copper cable network necessitate additional hardware and infrastructure for cooling due to the level of heat produced. The heating and cooling both contribute to high energy use and costs.

Poor Expansion Options
Upgrades of a copper-based network require all new-cabling, making this option anything but a way of future-proofing your network.

Unpredictable Performance
Copper’s conductibility makes it highly susceptible to electrical interference, resulting in a higher-than-satisfactory risk of network interruptions.

When no other options existed, copper filled the bill well. Perhaps for some smaller businesses that have [Read more…] about Why Fiber Cabling Should Be Your Future – Today

PS4 vs Xbox One? That is the question!

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Ok, I will admit it, I am a bit of a geek when it comes to gaming.  Now, I might not be as hardcore as some people, but I still spend more time than I probably should playing my PS3. Right now my obsessions are Injustice, The Walking Dead, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12. But enough about me, on to the topic at hand…

A couple of months back the epic battle of the ages began between the Sony Corporation and Microsoft with the official release of pre-orders for the new PS4 and Xbox One. Which both of these left the Wii curled up in the fetal position in the corner sucking it’s thumb. It was humorous to watch the rabid fans of each unit “dis” the intelligence of the other one. For the sake of keeping the balance of the multitudes, I will not state my personal opinion on which one is better, even though I am a tried and true PlayStation fan and believe that they have the best system out there, but that’s besides the point.  I will remain completely out of the argument…for now… (well, maybe)

The debate has seemed to heat up again as pre-orders continue to roll in more and more for each console.  The rest of us lonely souls, who do not want to pre-order, will have to wait for the ambiguous “holiday season” to get ours.  (Which the unofficial PS4 release date of November 13th was supposedly leaked out.) In the meantime, lets breakdown some of the major specs, besides the nifty new designs, on each of the units and then I will let you make up your mind. One of the biggest differences was the sharing capabilities – PS4 allows game sharing, Xbox One originally did not plan to. On June 19,2013, at the E3 Conference, Microsoft announced that it would be reversing its “always online” and game sharing restriction. Before this decision PlayStation released this great ad to assist those who did not understand the PS4’s stance on game sharing and to poke fun at the new Xbox:

Now this is not an all inclusive list, but a [Read more…] about PS4 vs Xbox One? That is the question!

Yet another handy keyboard shortcut

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Ok, I found this one this morning and just thought it was cool. Select some text (using whatever method you desire), hold CTRL and Shift and press either < or > to decrease or increase the font size. This works in Microsoft Word, Outlook, and probably other Microsoft programs as well. I tried it in OpenOffice Writer and it did’t work there however.

Along similar lines, while in a web browser you can hold CTRL and press + or – to increase the font size that is being displayed.