Quality of Server (QoS) is a more advanced home network setup. But the benefits QoS provides make it one of the most sought after features of Tomato firmware. QoS prioritizes the traffic coming into your network based on the type of traffic it is. This way, you’re not dropping important VOIP calls, just because your kids are upstairs playing an online game.
Setup a VPN Proxy To Secure Browsing Activity
Tomato VPN is awesome for so many reasons. For one, you can use it as a VPN proxy. This way, when you are connected to those WiFI hotspots at your local coffee shop, you can re-route your Internet activity through your Tomato VPN server at your home office. What’s so cool about that? Well, whatever goes through the tunnel is encrypted.
What is Bandwidth? And What is Latency?
One of the most misunderstood concepts in networking is bandwidth and latency. The term “band-width” refers to how wide your data pipe is. The term “late-n-cy” refers to time, but more specifically –delay. All too often, it is the misinformation (or lack of information), that hinders a persons understanding of minor networking basics such as this.
Setup a Bandwidth Limiter to Monitor and Control Bandwidth
A bandwidth limiter puts a cap on the amount of bandwidth a computer can use. Some people get confused between the bandwidth limiter, and QoS rules. A bandwidth limiter simply “caps” the bandwidth. QoS prioritizes traffic based on the type of traffic that is coming into the network. The bandwidth limiter doesn’t care what type of traffic it is.
Improve LAN Speed and Network Performance with Tomato
When you browse network locations, you expect to find other computers on your network, right? Well, that doesn’t always happen as quickly as we’d like. You see, there can only be one “master browser” on your network. You can improve network performance and LAN speed by allowing your Tomato router to become the master browser for your LAN.
What is a MAC Address? How to Find My MAC Address
When I first began learning about networking basics and how everything worked, I really struggled. At the time, I did not understand what a MAC address was. I kept hearing the term but I could not find MAC address to save my life! Well, I finally figured out that a MAC address is to hardware, what your home is to the postal service. It’s a physical address.
Turn Your Tomato Router into a NAS Server with TomatoUSB
TomatoUSB is a feature of Tomato firmware that allows you to mount a flash drive or USB external hard drive to your router. Once file sharing is enabled, your router becomes a network attached storage (NAS) appliance. And with the media server enabled, you’ll be able to stream music and videos to any DLNA compliant device on your network.
Internet Safety Tips for Home Network Security
Sometimes, the so-called “network security experts” really drive me nuts. Sure, if you work in a corporate financial office that manages millions of personal and business bank accounts, –sure, you need to keep things pretty tight. But if you’re an average-joe or even a small business owner with 2 PC’s and a notebook, you don’t need the overkill.
What is DHCP? And How Do I Change My IP Address?
DHCP stands for “Dynamic Host Control Protocol”. Before you freak out, let’s break it down. Dynamic means that it does something dynamically (automatically). Host means it is intended to work on a host computer (such as your router). And Control Protocol means that it controls some type of protocol. Basically, it controls IP addresses automatically.
Setup a Guest Network for Guest WiFi with Tomato VLAN
When you setup a guest network on most consumer-rated routers, the WiFi clients are not isolated. This can be a real problem, especially if you have file sharing enabled on your computer and you don’t know it! With Tomato firmware, you can setup Guest WiFi in such a way that their computer will not be able to see other devices on your network.
