CATEGORIES

How to Set Up and Optimize Your Wireless Router

Although manufacturers have been making installation utilities easier to use, getting the best out of your new wireless router usually means delving a little deeper than the standard installation routine will go. Just because you’ve plugged everything in and all the blinking lights have turned green doesn’t mean your network’s performance or its security are as strong as they could be. Follow these basic steps to properly configure your router and optimize your wireless network.

How to Troubleshoot Your Internet Connection

Do you have a full house of social distancers working, gaming, streaming, and news binging, all at the same time? Before you schedule a service call with your cable company, check out our tips for troubleshooting your internet connection.

What Is Wi-FI 6E?

If you’re in the market for a new router or any device that uses Wi-Fi, you should first understand the new Wi-Fi 6E standard and what it means for the future of wireless networks at home and in offices around the US. The Wi-Fi Alliance, a group of Wi-Fi platform vendors that work with the FCC and electronics manufacturers to set standards for Wi-Fi technology, announced the Wi-Fi 6E designation in 2020 for any IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) products that support 6GHz wireless spectrum. Essentially, this means Wi-Fi 6E enables faster speeds and lower latencies than Wi-Fi 6 and earlier iterations.

How to Make Your Android Phone Less Annoying

It’s hard to unplug these days. PCs, tablets, smartphones—even a large selection of home appliances—can wirelessly connect to the internet at the push of a button. Devices buzz with emails, notifications, and status updates at all hours of the day, making it hard to concentrate. Your Android phone is no exception—but there are ways to make it less annoying.

Lenovo Yoga 9i (15-Inch): A Competent Convertible

We recently reviewed the 14-inch Lenovo Yoga 9i, a compact convertible laptop with plenty of upside, but maybe you’re in the market for something a little larger. Its big brother, the 15.6-inch Lenovo Yoga 9i, brings the same high-quality hybrid form factor to a roomier display. Of course, the increased size makes the larger Yoga a little unwieldy as a tablet, but it also delivers more power. (The hybrid’s snappy Intel Core i7 H-Series CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti graphics will impress.) Long battery life and an included stylus sweeten the pot for what is a good if not standout convertible. The premium HP Spectre x360 15 remains our favorite big-screen 2-in-1 machine.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra: High-Quality Superzoom

It’s like an anime title: “Galaxy S: Redemption.” The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is, by and large, what the Galaxy S20 Ultra should have been. It’s a solid and premium-feeling phone with a unique (for the US) superzoom camera, a gorgeous screen, future-forward network chops, and it retails for $300 less than the S20 Ultra. Right now it’s almost too far ahead of its time, as some of the networks it supports aren’t widely available. But if you have cash to spare, it’s worth considering as an investment in the future.

Amazon Halo: Shines as Activity and Sleep Tracker

Lots of fitness trackers can measure your calories burned, heart rate, and steps. With the Halo, Amazon wants to give you greater visibility into your overall health, along with actionable insights to help improve it. The Halo does an excellent job of monitoring your activity and sleep, and its companion app gives you access to a wide range of workouts and wellness programs. In addition, the Halo can analyze the tone of your voice to tell you how you sound to other people and measure your body-fat percentage based on images taken with its app. These two features are a bit gimmicky, but the Halo band is otherwise useful when you’re looking to move more and improve your shut-eye.

The Nuclear Option

Biden has signaled support for a new generation of smaller nuclear reactors. Are they the path to a carbon-free economy—or just a bid to keep a troubled industry alive?

China Spacecraft Enters Mars Orbit, 2nd In 2 Days After Uae

A Chinese spacecraft entered Mars orbit on Wednesday on a mission to land a rover and collect data on underground water and possible signs of ancient life, state media said.

TechX Awards: The Most Innovative Products and Technologies of CES 2021

CES 2021 gave PCMag editors their first chance to vet candidates for our new Technical Excellence Awards, aka TechX.

World's Largest Dark Web Marketplace Taken Offline, Operator Arrested

WHAT'S NEW NOW / DARK WEB

MSI Alpha 15 (Late 2020): 2nd-Gen Evolution

REVIEWS / HARDWARE

HP Omen Spacer Wireless TKL Keyboard: Lacks a Few Features

REVIEWS / CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

How to Transfer Your Facebook Photos and Videos to Another Service

TIPS & HOW TOS / APPS

TunnelBear VPN: It's Just Right

REVIEWS / SOFTWARE

How to Secure Your Kid's iPhone

TIPS & HOW TOS / TECH PARENTING

Half of America Is Ready to Switch to Starlink Satellite Internet

WHAT'S NEW NOW / THE WHY AXIS

SilverStone Sugo 14: Mini-ITX PC Case

SilverStone’s new Sugo 14 PC case is an innovative mini-ITX model that can fit a surprising loadout of components inside.

HP Spectre x360 14: A Game-Changing Convertible

HP still sells the Spectre x360 13, but you can forget about it. The Spectre x360 14 is an elegant convertible laptop that ditches the older system’s 13.3-inch touch screen—and its familiar 16:9 aspect ratio— for a 13.5-inch panel with a squarer 3:2 ratio, for a superior view of text and web pages.

What's New in review

Papo of France creates highly detailed prehistoric animal figures (if not always the most scientifically accurate.)

The Thunderbird

Today we have an excellent, new kit based upon a scene from Ray Harryhausen's cowboys vs. dinosaur film, The Valley of Gwangi.

WHAT I DID ON MY LOCKDOWN

A tyrannosaur in the local area? How cool!

The Forgotten Dinosaur Art of Robert T. Bakker

A renaissance marks a shift in the attitudes and behaviours of an entire society.

Sauropelta

A flock of Deinonychus dart from the dense forest they had been moving through across the broad floodplain to the tree line on the far side.

Reminiscing Over Dinosaurus!

“Alive! After 70 million years! Roaring! Walking! Destroying!” (Ad line for Dinosaurus!)

Longisquama

“Determined to travel from the North Pole to the South Pole, Amos Barrett and his team of adventurers have arrived in the Late Triassic to drive the length of Pangea, the only time in the planet’s history when the continents had fused into one giant landmass.

How to Draw Dinosaurs

Putting it all together, the body of Ankylosaurus

Dinosauriana Imagined 13

Dinosauriana Iberiana (A Spain-ful Endeavor)

Tips to Help You Get Your Work Mojo Back

Do you ever wake up on a workday and say, “I don’t want to do it”? Is there a task you just can’t find the wherewithal to finish? Are you tempted to transition from working at home to taking a nap at home?

Tips to Boost Your Android Phone's Battery Life

A number of factors contribute to poor battery life on your Android phone. Thinner bodies, brighter screens, faster processors, more background software, and speedier internet connections all take their toll on phone batteries, though manufacturers are incorporating more powerful batteries to compensate. The Motorola Moto G Power has a 5,000mAh battery that can last for over 18 hours. Samsung’s Galaxy S phones, the most popular Android devices, can now last anywhere between 11 and 13 hours, depending on the model. Still, there are ways to get more out of any phone.