Using your laptop away from home.

Here is a video in which I talk about using your laptop or Netbook away from home such as in hotels or coffee shops. I also give useful tips.

How to connect to Google Talk on Pidgin.

The default server settings in Pidgin Messenger work without any problems on most home broadband networks. And they will work on most mobile broadband networks too. But if you are using public wifi you may find, as I have that Pidgin cannot connect to your Google Talk account. In my case,Pidgin works fine with the default settings on my broadband connection at home and on my mobile broadband. But I could not connect to Google Talk on Pidgin messenger at all on the hotels public wifi. Although I can when I use my T.Mobile broadband. So after searching the web,I found out how to change the server settings in Pidgin. So that it now connects to Google Talk on the public wifi. And I think that this information will be useful to anyone who is having difficulty connecting to Google Talk on Pidgin.

So if you are having the same problem connecting to Google Talk on Pidgin, on public wifi. You need to change the server settings on your Google Talk account in Pidgin, in order for it to work. Here is what you do.

In Pidgin Messenger,go to accounts settings and click manage account. Click on your Google Talk account and un tick the box to disconnect it, if it is connected. Then select modify account. Then click on advanced settings. Then in connection security select use old style SSL. Then under this setting make sure that the setting allow plain text is un ticked. Then under that where it says connection port you need to change the port numbers to 443. Then where it says connect server you will see a blank space. And here you type in the Google Talk server address which is-talk.google.com. Once you have done this click on proxy next to the advanced tab and select use global proxy settings and then click save settings. And that's it,you should now be able to connect to Google Talk on Pidgin on the wifi network. And if you want to, you can still use the SSL connection settings on your home broadband at home. And they will also work on mobile broadband.

If you are using Instantbird Messenger,you will not need to change any of the default settings to connect to Google Talk. As Instantbird uses different connection settings to what Pidgin does. So you should be able connect to Google talk on Instantbird without having to change any settings.
And also you do not need to change the settings on Google Talk desktop messenger either.

It is only Pidgin which uses a different server setting for Google Talk,which works on all modern broadband routers and on mobile broadband. But not on the older routers.Which many hotels and coffee shops use in their wifi connections. But changing the settings to use old style SSL on Pidgin,should solve this problem.

Images of how to change the server settings in Pidgin to work with Google Talk.

Top left-Pidgin, default server settings for Google Talk.

Top right-the old style SSL settings for Google Talk.

Top-right-after you have set your Google Talk account to use the old style SSL server settings,you must set proxy to-use global proxy settings.

Top right-Pidgin works with the old style SSL settings.

How to stay safe on public wifi.

I am on holiday at the moment and so I have taken my laptop,a Netbook with me. Many hotels and coffee shops have public wifi that you can connect to the Internet on. But there are steps that you need to take.As public wifi is less secure than your own wifi or wireless broadband at home. One alternative is to use your own mobile broadband. I have T.Mobile pay as you go broadband,which I can use when I take my laptop outside my home. But even with mobile broadband you still need to take the same steps, to keep your laptop safe. When using it in a public place such as an airport,hotel or a coffee shop. To do this you need to change some settings on your laptop or Netbook before you connect to public wifi.

First connect to the wifi provided by the coffee shop or hotel. Or if you prefer,your own mobile broadband network. On Windows 7 and Windows Vista you will get a pop up from Windows. That will ask you if you want to set your network to,home,office or public network. Select public network, and once you choose this,Windows will automatically turn off network discovery and file and printer sharing.

Network discovery is where you can see other computers on your network,your Internet connection. This is fine if you are in your own home. And this will show your other computers in your household that are connected to your network. Which is your home broadband. But in a public place,you don't want anyone to see your computer on the hotel's network or see any of your files or folders on your computer. As someone can hack into your computer. Remember that in a hotel which has hundreds of people staying there, and connecting to the hotels wifi. Which is their wireless network connection,everyone will see your computer on the network and see your personal files.If network discovery and file and printer sharing is not turned off. So you MUST TURN OFF both network discovery and file and printer sharing.

If your laptop is set to public network you can change the settings to turn on network discovery and file sharing if you want. But this is not advisable because of the risk of someone being able to hack your computer. You can also turn off network discovery and file and printer sharing, if your computer is set to home network or office network as well.

On Windows XP there is no option to set your computer to home or public network,when you connect to the Internet on wifi. But you can still turn off file and printer sharing and network discovery. So if you are using Windows XP,you must make sure that both network discovery and file and printer sharing is turned off. The same way you would in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

And if you are using your mobile broadband, you should also set your network to public network,not home network,if you using your laptop in a public place. And turn off all file and printer sharing.

There is one other important thing you need do. And that is to make sure your email account settings are set to ALWAYS USE HTTPS. This is because there is a risk that a hacker can get into your email accounts if https are not enabled. On most email accounts https are enabled by default. But if you are using G.Mail they may not be. So you need to log into your G.Mail account, and change the settings to always use https. Once you have done this in G.Mail,if you are using G.Mail notifier,you must download a patch file. To change the settings in G.Mail notifier,to enable it to work with the new http settings. This is just a zip file that you download and extract. And this then adds a new key to the registry. More information about that can be found on the home page of G.Mail notifier.Where you can also download G.Mail notifier and the patch file.

A lot of computer experts advise you to use an anti virus program but Windows is a very secure operating system. And I myself do not use any anti virus programs on my computers. And I do not intend to install any anti virus software in the future. But an anti virus program will not stop your computer from being hacked anyway. If it did happen. But if you turn off network discovery and file sharing,that will help protect your computer. And it is true that public wifi is less secure than home broadband. And many hotels,coffee shops and other places do not bother to set their wifi networks up with a secure password. Or if they do, they use a password that anyone can guess.

It is also a good idea to lock your laptop with a password when you take it out of the house or on holiday with you.And you can always take the password off of your computer when you get home.

On Windows you do not have to have a password if you do not want one on your User or Administrator account. Unlike on Linux where you are forced to have a password. But if you want to create a password for your Windows account you can do. And you will have to use it every time you start or lock your computer to log in with. A password will stop anyone else from turning on and using your laptop or Netbook,except you of course. And if you are staying some where like a youth hostel where you share a room with other people, You will want to make sure that nobody can access your laptop.

Having a password on Windows is entirely optional and you can remove your password any time,and go back to having no password again if you want to. I do not have a password on my computer but I keep my suitcase locked at all times. And the "do not disturb sign" is permanently on the door outside my hotel room so that the cleaners won't come into my room. And that is a good idea if you have got your laptop in your hotel room.

Taking your laptop or Netbook with you when you go away from home is much better than using Internet cafes. And you will be able to use all of your web browsers and chat messengers, like you do at home. Although the Internet connection on public wifi may be slower than what your home broadband is.

And by following the above safety measures your laptop will stay safe from hackers and viruses.