Networking Computers In The Operatories

I have discussed many times in previous articles the need for computers in the operatories. Besides being mandatory for the use of high-end digital systems like intraoral cameras and digital radiography, they also allow the office to become more decentralized by permitting many functions to be completed chairside, such as scheduling and insurance submissions. The underlying assumption in these scenarios, of course, is that all of the computers are connected together. The challenge is deciding how to accomplish this.

It’s a Wired, Wired World

The typical method of connecting computers together is through use of Ethernet cabling, also known as network cables. The industry-standard cabling is known as Category 5, often referred to as Cat 5. The actual cables that have been in use for many years are Cat 5e. What’s the difference? Well, Cat 5 cable will support 10/100 Ethernet—that is, Ethernet (10 MB/s) and Fast Ethernet (100 MB/s). Cat 5e cable will support Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet (1000 MB/s). Cat 5e cable is completely backwards compatible, and can be used in any application for which you would normally use Cat 5 cable.

If you want to ensure that your network is ready for future speeds, however, then I would suggest investing in Cat 6, as well as other network components rated for higher speeds: 1) a

Network Interface card, or NIC (look for a NIC that is rated 10/100/1000; most of the Dell computers that are now available come with 10/100/1000 NICs as standard equipment) and 2) a gigabit switch.

Although some people still refer to switches as hubs, this is not technically correct. A hub is a less intelligent device that passes information requests to every computer in the network. A switch, on the other hand, is a “smarter” hub—requests from a workstation to the server, for example, go directly to the server and back. Although the first gigabit switches were very expensive, you can now find 16-port gigabit switches for under $200.

Cutting the Cord

In many offices, wiring computers is either not practical or else impossible. Many older buildings do not have drop ceilings or proper conduits run, and so installing them would not be cost-effective for the office. Also, many dentists want the ability to use a laptop or Tablet PC throughout the office. In these cases, the best solution is to consider a wireless network.

Wireless networking has improved dramatically in the past few years. The devices used to set up a network, either a wireless router or wireless access point, have become user-friendly to the point that even people with no technical expertise can still set up a wireless network. Wireless is certainly an option for any office, but there are reasons why I prefer wired over wireless:

1. Speed. The first wireless networks that were accepted mainstream were Wi-Fi, also called 802.11b. The speed was a maximum of 11 MB/s. Those have been replaced in the past year with 802.11n, which has a maximum speed of over 100 MB/s; real world speed is closer to 70-80 MB/s.

2. Cost. Once a network’s cables are in place, the cost to add computers is practically nil. For wireless networks, each computer will require a wireless adapter. Even though many notebooks come with built-in wireless adapters, most desktop computers do not and you’ll need to add either a PCI or USB adapter to each system.

3. Security. With a wired network, someone must be physically plugged into the network in order to access it. With the 150-foot range of wireless, anyone driving in the neighborhood can access your network. Most wireless systems allow for a high-level of security. You can set up WPA (a type of wireless encryption), employ filtering that only allows computers you designate to connect, and turn off the broadcasting of the wireless network. The problem, though, is that all wireless systems come with security turned off by default, and many people are either too intimidated or too inexperienced to set up the proper security.

Dentists should consider the pros and cons of the different types of networks, and work with a network specialist to properly install what will be the backbone of their entire technology systems.

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Everyday more and more computers are becoming infected with Spyware and Adware (advertising tracking). No matter where you go on the web, someone is trying to sneak something on your computer. From honest web sites placing simple logon cookies, to paid advertising tracking your movements on the web, to malicious software that is designed to record your keystrokes and discover your passwords, Spyware and Adware have together become the web's number one problem.  

Many of these programs are down right dangerous and seriously threaten your online privacy and identity. But even the simple and supposedly benign Adware programs can cause you serious problems.  

Spyware is any program that installs itself onto your computer with the intent to spy on your activity. This can be recording your online searching habits, or whatever you type on your keyboard. Adware is not much better. It is designed to watch what you do online, where you go, which terms you search for and then report this to the ad agency that runs the adware program.  

Adware programs may be designed with the best intentions in mind, but even these can cause your computer serious problems.  

Here is what happens. Many, if not most, advertisers on the internet will try and place a cookie or other small program on your computer. Many will add code that will track that cookie as it hits different pages. The code may be designed simply to gather anonymous data, or it may be trying to send ads to your browser that the advertising company thinks you will be more likely to respond to.  

Whatever the case, the Adware or Spyware is using your computer to do its tracking. This means that part of your computer's power and CPU cycles are being diverted away from the activity you are trying to perform. Your computer is being used by someone else instead to track your movements. Now, when we multiply this behavior by tens or hundreds of Adware or Spyware programs all trying to use your computer for their work you can begin to see the problem.  

These programs can literally slow your computer down to a crawl, or make it crash altogether. They can fill your computer up with trash files, open unwanted popup windows, use up the space in your internet cache and generally just make working on your computer a nightmare.  

Luckily there are several easy solutions to the problem. But first let me make one distinction, Spyware and Adware are not the same thing as a computer virus. Although a computer virus can install spyware on a computer, you will need different tools to remove a computer virus and to keep your system clean from Spyware and Adware. You should be using both a high quality commercial anti-virus program and one or more good quality programs for handling the spyware/adware problem.  

There are several good Spyware/adware programs on the market. I use two different programs on my network, Ad-aware from Lavasoft and Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software although there are several others. You can easily find both of these by doing an internet search for Ad-aware and Spy Sweeper. Or simply do a search for spyware. Both of these programs will scan your hard drives and registry and present you with a list of spyware/adware programs hiding on your system. You can then quarantine or remove the offending programs. I use both of these programs since neither one seems to catch everything. Plus I will run them 2 or more times in a row, the nastier spyware will not be completely removed on the first pass.  

The process is very easy and I recommend running these programs at least once a week and every time you have been doing some extended web surfing. You will be surprised at how many of these spyware/adware programs will sneak onto your system. I run a very clean network and I have yet to scan my system and not come up with at least a few of these hiding on my hard drive.  

So be aware of the problem, take reasonable precautions, scan your system frequently, and the spyware/adware curse can be broken.

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