Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2018 March 1

= March 1 =

How does the Internet work, and how does VPN interfere with this normal process?
I have no background in computer-related subjects other than using a computer to type posts, play games, write e-mails, and other general office tasks. I took a computer programming course in C++, but I essentially programmed inside a window. No other skills/knowledge besides C++ and some mathematical knowledge was necessary. So, even the Wikipedia article Virtual Private Network is difficult for me to understand. How does the computer user normally receive and send files over the Internet? When a user uses the VPN, what exactly does VPN do? How exactly does the Great Firewall of China work so users with VPN can access the outside world from within China through VPN? SSS (talk) 01:07, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Normally when you computer wants to send something out, it just sends the IP packets to a router, which then looks at the IP address and decides where to send it next. This process happens recursively until the message gets to the destination. If the packet goes past a firewall, the firewall can chose to block it, it throw the packet out, or it may just stop a connection from forming. In a VPN the IP packets are put inside a set up connection to a different remote point, which can then do the routing from a different place in the internet. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 01:35, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * The internet is a giant web of Relay servers, socalled Hop (networking) servers and any VPN is in essence a similar, usually much smaller web of Relay's. The "Private" part difference is established by a gateway Hop/server that usually disguises its private side of the web and makes sure its kept private and secret. To understand the specific methods used and applied you have to understand the structure of the data packets aka Internet Protocol every "file" is cut or converted into to be send or received in/over mentioned webs. --Kharon (talk) 14:40, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Google Home problem
I have recently been having a three problems on my Google Home, which I assume are related. First, sometimes Google Home will not respond to "Hey, Google" at all, nor will anything happen if I long-touch the touch surface. Second, when I tell Google Home to play music, the music plays, and after a minute or so, it stops, and Google Home will not respond to any requests, as noted in part one of my problem. Third, alarms are not working at all, yet timers are. If I say "Hey Google, what are my alarms?" after an alarm is scheduled to go off, Home will reply "You have an alarm at [time alarm was set for] that is going off right now."

I have tried rebooting, and performing a factory data reset. When these options failed, I called Google Support, and they sent me a new device. I set up the new device, and everything worked fine. However, on the third day, these three problems returned. Any suggestions?? TheMrP (talk) 01:39, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Perhaps it is dropping off the network. A duplicate IP address, perhaps caused by the DHCP router powering off and on can assign the same number to more than one device, and screw things up. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 01:55, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

Request to Log on to Cox WiFi
I have a Samsung Galaxy J7 running the Android operating system. Sometimes, when I am driving, I get a prompt that, if I see it while it is still displayed, is prompting me to log in to Cox WiFi. Cox WiFi is a cable broadband carrier having subscribers throughout the area, but I don't have a Cox WiFi account and, to the best of my knowledge, haven't asked to be asked to log in. How, in the Settings or elsewhere, do I turn off these prompts? I assume that I get them because I have driven through the perimeter of a wireless router that is providing home service to a Cox customer, but the prompts are just an annoyance for me. I haven't found a specific app that has them enabled so that I can turn them off. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:57, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * On Android, go to settings, WiFi, then use the ... dropdown to get the list of saved networks. If Cox WiFi is listed long press, then touch forget. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 03:21, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I didn't see a list of saved networks in the ... dropdown.  However, I went to Advanced and got WiFi Notifications to get a notification when WiFi is available, and turned that off.  We shall see.  Robert McClenon (talk) 05:11, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

''It appears that the comments below (which continued without even a single space from the last "(UTC)" appearing above) are misplaced from the query and responses in the next section, so I am marking them off to minimise confusion. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.220.212.253 (talk) 02:13, 2 March 2018 (UTC)''

Because theprobblem is BioLite Net manual and spec over theweb speaks of tcpip interface but no interface of rj socket can be seen by tcp ip interface i expect  a physical hardware ethernet socket because that is he most common lan protocol in use .But this "TCP IP interface" is not visible on the finger print terminal device so that i can attach a RJ45 cable but thebiolite net spec says RS485 interface Doe TCP IP data transmit over RS485.The Biolite Net is a Suprema product.Please read this question with my earlier question on Biolite Net on 28th Feb please help me to understand this.Wrogh456 (talk) 14:22, 1 March 2018 (UTC) Many thanks that you have almost cleared my doubt but i want know if i have to take a crimping tool and prepare this special ethernet RJ45 jack and lastly there 8 wires in normal ethernet bet here half of them are only used.Then how will the work of the rest 50 % wire be done or the purpose of the rest ethernet wires will be served.Wrogh456 (talk) 16:35, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

How TCP IP interface or ethernet interface is done or implemented in without RJ 45 socket in small networked device terminals
I am a novice here and seeking your guidance and help in understanding a thing through this wonderful platform Let me explain my question with an example .Attendance control system like Biolite net have terminals and these terminals have TCP /IP interface as per specification and have DSP 533MHz processor/CPU but i could not find any RJ45 socket port or outlet in the Biolitenet terminal raw wires are coming as TCP/IP What kind of TCP/IP is Biolite net using what embedde system operating system do this type of device use where the network interface card and where from the BioliteNet terminal get the TCP/IP functionality and ethernet functionality.Each terminal is given an IP address by the Biostar software.How is this possible.Does the Biolite net CPU DSP 533 MHz has network interface card functionality or inside the terminal another network card or chip for this purpose that is producing ethernet frame or TCP IP packetsAnswer for any similar system also be very helpful for me to clear doubt Is this an internet of thing.Wrogh456 (talk) 07:26, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * There is no reason why TCP/IP has to go over ethernet. I mean anyone who is old enough to have used the internet in dial-up modem days likely used TCP/IP over dial-up modems. Depending when this happened, these could easily have been 14.4k or slower modems. And of course a very large percentage of people in the developed world have probably used IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) in some form which shares some similarities with ethernet but is not the same thing, and which does not use cables for most of the connection (over the Wi-Fi), and most of these people have used TCP/IP over it. Likewise a large percentage of people in the developed world, and even many in the developing world have used data over some mobile network, probably to access the internet and so have likely used TCP/IP. Again the connection over the mobile network is mostly not happening over cables, and also AFAIK often has fewer similarities to ethernet. Of course, tethering a mobile device (generally a mobile phone) with a computer, including over Bluetooth or USB to share its internet connection [//support.google.com/nexus/answer/2812516?hl=en] means TCP/IP is likely going over these connections. Although these often involve an emulated ethernet port. And you could also use TCP/IP over other interfaces  Wikibooks:Serial Programming/IP Over Serial Connections   . I don't really understand enough about what you're asking about to know what is going on with the products you describe. But if you think you need ethernet or cables for TCP/IP, you're mistaken. Nil Einne (talk) 12:59, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * From the Biolite Net terminal wires are coming out these wires are for TCP/IP there are multiple Biolite Net fingerprint reader terminals each terminal has an ip address for for attendance control which finally go to switch thence to Biostar Please see my question on 28th february I couldn't understand so i am seeking your help.I have still doubts regarding the earlier question on 28th and even nowWrogh456 (talk)
 * This means for BioliteNet terminal data is carried by serial protocol like RS 232 /RS485 the by a modem or protocol converter converted to ethernet before going into network switch or hub in this case switch will be minimum requirement or hub is sufficient.Please tell this because earlier on 28th feb i got answer that CPU of  Biolite Net has network interface card functionality and rs 485 has nothing to do with TCP IP interface and now I am confused by opposite answer.Which one is correct.I thank the earlier person who answered on 28th feb but now you are saying opposite which one is correct The present answer appears to be more correct .Please clarify.Wrogh456 (talk) 14:15, 1 March 2018

(UTC)ecause theprobblem is BioLite Net manual and spec over theweb speaks of tcpip interface but no interface of rj socket can be seen by tcp ip interface i expect a physical hardware ethernet socket because that is he most common lan protocol in use .But this "TCP IP interface" is not visible on the finger print terminal device so that i can attach a RJ45 cable but thebiolite net spec says RS485 interface Doe TCP IP data transmit over RS485.The Biolite Net is a Suprema product.Please read this question with my earlier question on Biolite Net on 28th Feb please help me to understand this.Wrogh456 (talk) 14:22, 1 March 2018 (UTC)ecause theprobblem is BioLite Net manual and spec over theweb speaks of tcpip interface but no interface of rj socket can be seen by tcp ip interface i expect a physical hardware ethernet socket because that is he most common lan protocol in use .But this "TCP IP interface" is not visible on the finger print terminal device so that i can attach a RJ45 cable but thebiolite net spec says RS485 interface Doe TCP IP data transmit over RS485.The Biolite Net is a Suprema product.Please read this question with my earlier question on Biolite Net on 28th Feb please help me to understand this.Wrogh456 (talk) 14:22, 1 March 2018 (UTC) ecause theprobblem is BioLite Net manual and spec over theweb speaks of tcpip interface but no interface of rj socket can be seen by tcp ip interface i expect a physical hardware ethernet socket because that is he most common lan protocol in use .But this "TCP IP interface" is not visible on the finger print terminal device so that i can attach a RJ45 cable but thebiolite net spec says RS485 interface Doe TCP IP data transmit over RS485.The Biolite Net is a Suprema product.Please read this question with my earlier question on Biolite Net on 28th Feb please help me to understand this.Wrogh456 (talk) 14:22, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I found the English language version of the manual at https://www.supremainc.com/sites/default/files/biolite_net_user_guide_1_23_en_0.pdf. On p 70, there is a diagram indicating how to connect the terminal to an ethernet switch. The device itself has multiple wires coming out the back; four of those wires constitute the two pairs for a 10BaseT or 100BaseT (I didn't find an indication of which, but the wiring is the same and nearly all modern switches will autodetect). Page 64 identifies the wires by color. If you were wiring up an RJ45 jack, it looks like you'd assign the wires as
 * 1 - orange
 * 2 - pink
 * 3 - yellow
 * 6 - blue
 * (the other positions 4, 5, 7, and 8 are unused).  &mdash; jmcgnh  (talk) (contribs)  15:18, 1 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Many thanks that you have almost cleared my doubt but i want know if i have to take a crimping tool and prepare this special ethernet RJ45 jack and lastly there 8 wires in normal ethernet bet here half of them are only used.Then how will the work of the rest 50 % wire be done or the purpose of the rest ethernet wires will be served.Please answered i have gotten my doubt largely cleared.Please help me in this last part oof the doubt. Wrogh456 (talk) 16:38, 1 March 2018 (UTC)


 * See Ethernet over twisted pair for some possible uses of the other four wires.  Dbfirs  16:55, 1 March 2018 (UTC)


 * Unused means unused. 10 and 100Mbit ethernet over twisted pair only uses two pair. I was a little surprised myself when I first learned that only 4 of the the 8 wires in an ethernet cable are used by these old standards. Seemed like a waste! The 1000BaseT (Gigabit ethernet) standard uses all four pairs, but your fingerprint reader is not a server or disk farm, so only needs to support the lower-speed standard.  &mdash; jmcgnh  (talk) (contribs)  19:28, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * You can also buy an adapter cable for this (as seen in the manual). You may not have to buy a crimping tool, if you can find someone who has it and can do the job for you. There are a number of ways for this to go wrong, so if this is the first time you attempt it, it is best if someone who knows what they are doing shows you. Problems include getting the right plug for the cable (sold core or stranded); right amount of stripping, cutting wires to the same length; crimping down hard enough, so that the plug does not fall off, or does not break. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 21:23, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

Many thanks specially to Graeme Bartlett for your answer but the 533MHz DSP chip must be outputting raw ethernet frames through these 4 wires The 533Mhz DSP chip or its auxiliary chip /card must have NIC functionality.Can i get any pointers to 533Mhz DSP chipWrogh456 (talk) 14:12, 2 March 2018 (UTC) Many thanks also to Dbfirs.Wrogh456 (talk) 14:16, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Something is outputting or receiving Ethernet frames on those 4 wires. The "533Mhz DSP chip" is not an exact specification of a chip, but is a generic term. Analog Devices makes several of these kinds of chips including targeted at security use like this. However their chips do not include Ethernet. So the Ethernet is likely to be provided on another chip connected to the memory. Sample spec sheet: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1748790.pdf?_ga=2.25708606.280817810.1520160942-1027055451.1520160942 but the chances are it is not this chip. Based on the picture here: https://fccid.io/TKWBLNOC/Internal-Photos/Internal-photos-1031621.iframe of the internals, the chip would be Analog Devices BF5?? ?? might be 33, 38, 48 based on what exists, but in the pic it looks like 11, which does not seem to exist. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 11:29, 4 March 2018 (UTC)