Technology Bytes

If you find yourself unable to use your cordless phone with Skype after upgrading your operating system to Windows 7, you are not alone. Windows 7 breaks the integration between Skype and DLink DPH-50U VoIP adapter. When Windows 7 detects the DLink voip adapter and installs the default drivers for the Virtual Audio Device (in this case, Zoom Virtual Audio Device). If you look under Device Manager, the DLink adapter will show up as working properly but the adapter icon will show up as “red” on the taskbar.

To fix this, you need to go to device manager, select the Zoom virtual audio device and change the drivers to DLink. For step-by-step instruction, go to the link below.

How to get DLink DPH-50U and Skype working on Windows 7

We have a newly installed 100Mb Cogent link running fine for two days and at 3AM this morning, received an email from Cogent saying the link is down. The handoff from Cogent (media converter) is plugged into port 0 of our Cisco ASA 5505 using a straight through Cat6 cable. The port on the ASA is configured for 100 full duplex. I called Cogent and confirmed that their end is also set at 100/full. Yet, I see no link on the Cisco ASA. Tried rebooting the ASA and Cogent media converter without any luck. Replacing the cable as well as resetting the port on the ASA didn’t help either.

As last resort, I set port0 on the Cisco ASA to auto speed/duplex and voila, I got link light. Unfortunately, it connected at half duplex 10Mbps. This is not acceptable since we are paying for 100Mb link. So, Jim (Cogent tech) had me toggled a switch on the media converter to put it in crossover mode and replaced the straight through cable with a crossover cable. Still, link will only connect at half duplex. At this point, Jim thinks the media converter is faulty. He puts in a ticket to have a technician come out tomorrow afternoon to replace the media converter. Today being a Saturday and no one is in the office, I begged him to have the technician come out ASAP (of course he doesn’t know that I can’t miss my Sunday game time).

Three hours later, a technician showed up with a new media converter and swapped out the old one. Plugged back the original straight through cable and link was established. Checked the port on the ASA and it was connected at FULL Duplex 100Mbps!!! Hooooray!! Who would of thought the media converter was the culprit.

I have to give props to Cogent for rising to the occasion, thanks Jim. At least now I can be at home tomorrow watching the Giants/Saints game (knock on wood). It’s going to be a heck of a game.

Starting today, Google will be giving out Google Voice invites like the way they did with Gmail. So, you will soon have your Google Voice number. I can give out some when I see the invites in my account.

Go here if you have never heard of Google Voice before.

Or watch the clip that was aired on the Today show.

Cisco today announced the acquisition of Starent Networks, maker of infrastructure equipment used by wireless carriers for $2.9B. Less than two weeks ago, they agreed to acquire Tanberg ASA of Norway for $3 billion. Even with the downturn in the economy, Cisco is still buying. That’s because they have the cash and now is a good time to go on a spending spree. Tandberg will be a nice complement to Cisco Telepresence video conferencing services. As for the purchase of Starent Networks, Cisco is seeing profitability by 2012. So who will be next in line to end up in Cisco shopping basket??

Cisco Is Buying Starent for $2.9 Billion.

I was setting up wireless access for users at a local site. Access point we used was a Cisco Air-LAP1131. Coverage was good except I wasn’t able to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server. Wireless encryption was set to WPA and I know my laptop supports WPA as I can connect at home with it. I removed the encryption and have it wide open and was able to connect. This tells me wireless is working just not with encryption. After another hour of not able to figure out why, I had a user try and connect to the wireless with encryption on and he was able to connect. Now, I’m scratching my head, what is the difference between his and my laptop. It turns out I had Symantec antivirus (SEP) and he didn’t. So, I disable SEP and voila, I was able to connect. This is not good practice, having to disable antivirus to access the internet. Googling the issue took me to this site. It was the network threat protection that is breaking the WPA/WPA2 negotiations. Looks like all I need to do is update my maintenance release of Symantec end point.

It is now official. Verizon wireless and Google today announced a partnership that will “leverage the Verizon Wireless network and the best of the Android open platform to deliver leading-edge mobile applications, services and devices.” The plans are to develop a few Android-based devices that “will be pre-loaded with innovative applications from both” Verizon and Google. The devices will also support Google Voice. Will this be the beginning of a beautiful partnership? We will soon find out.

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If you are interested in attending the Tech Day and have not had the chance to register yet, do so early since space is limited and it is first come bases.

Register here.

Even if you are not interested, it’s a good excuse to be away from the office for a day plus you’ll get free breakfast and lunch.

Last week, Microsoft released to manufacturing an add-on (called XP Mode) for the new Windows 7 to run older applications that were designed for Windows XP. Microsoft is said to be targeting the small to mid-sized businesses with this XP Mode utility. The XP Mode is designed to work on the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions of Windows 7.

The push for this utility comes from the fact that many businesses declined to uprgade their computer operating system from XP to Vista due to application incompatibilities. I wouldn’t either if I was running a business. With the XP Mode utility, more businesses will take that leap to upgrade their operating system. At least Microsoft is hoping that is the case.

Normally, I would wait until after Microsoft release the first service pack for their new OS before investing my money but maybe I would invest early this time around if this utility does what it’s designed to do.

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First babble will be about me. I was a desktop support for about 6 years, from 1999-2004. For six long years, I crawl under users desk and fix their computers. Imagine the things I came across underneath those desks. Haha. If you are going to leave shoes (especially the old sneakers) under your desk, please do us geeks a favor and plug in a Renuzit. The secretaries know what I’m talking about. Also, the amount of paper bags underneath those desk is a fire hazard or enough to serve Costco customers. This reminds me of an episode from the British sitcom, The IT Crowd, where Moss was working underneath the desk and then the secretary came back and sat down on her chair not knowing he was down there working on her PC. Of course she was wearing short skirt and of course this never happen to me in my six years of desktop support. Only on TV, right.

After six years, I was promoted to network manager, 2004-present. Some of you might not think so but it was like moving to another country. I had to learn a new language (technical terms that is). Now I deal mostly with routers and switches. No more desktops meaning no more crawling underneath desks. Do I miss it? No, not the smelly shoes but I do missed the interactions with the users. My work now is mostly behind the scene.

So there you have it. If you have any issues with your computer or network, drop me a comment and I’ll see if I can help. Or if you have any experiences or funny stories to share, please do.

TechBytes