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Solving computers problems since 2004
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Looking for a solution to your computers problems ? Our web site is dedicated to giving FREE help, advice, support, tips, tricks and solutions. Trading in Northern Cyprus since March 2004, we have helped thousands of people with their computers. We have succesfully built our business and reputation in North Cyprus by offering the best customer service available in the TRNC.
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You may need free help, advice, or, support or, you may just be looking for tips and tricks or, solutions to your computers problems or, a new, fast computer, memory upgrade, or just a software problem fixing, we are a properly registered company supplying an honest and reliable service.
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We fix, repair, service and upgrade computers. We install voip equipment and solutions and maintain our own voice over IP servers offering cheap telephone calls to the UK and the rest of the world.
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Our engineers manufacture computers to suit your own specification. We are manufacturers and suppliers and stock and sell standard PCs and hardware off the shelf.
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Our fast, wireless, broadband Internet and adsl connections, services and installations are tailored to match the needs of the British expat' community in Northern Cyprus.
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If you are experiencing computer maintenance or, internet connection speed problems and need the fastest solution available in the TRNC and you don't know your megabytes from your megabits or, you just need help fixing, upgrading or, servicing your computer system or, systems.
Give us a call now! Telephone: 0533 869 4372
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Computer Problem Solver - Cyprus Today Newspaper
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TIC problem solver - helping with computers since 2006
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For those of our web site visitors that don't already know, since December 2006, we have written a weekly column in the local 'Cyprus Today' newspaper. It is called ticproblemsolver - the Tic Top Tip.
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In the column, we answer reader's computer and Internet related questions. The column appeals to novice and intermediate computer users.
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For the convenience of our readers and web site visitors, we have archived all our previous articles for easy reference.
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We have covered many topics. You will find links to each of the archived articles in the margin to the right, at the foot of this page.
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Alternatively, submit your question and we will answer by e-mail and may publish your question in our column.
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This Week's Cyprus Today Article - 4th July 2009
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The top ten computer tips, tricks and solutions
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I wanted to compile a list of my top 10 personal computing tips. I started out with a list of twenty and began deleting the 'lesser' important ones, leaving me with what I consider to be, the most important top ten. I tried as hard as I could, but I just couldn't get the number down to 10 so, here are my TIC TOP 10 COMPUTER TIPS (+1)
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1. Make sure that your computer equipment is protected by an anti-power surge device and back-up battery (UPS)
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2. Use AVG anti-virus and make sure it is set to complete regular updates and scans.
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3. Make sure that the Windows firewall is switched on.
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4. Make sure that Windows is set to receive automatic updates.
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5. Properly organise your files and folders on your computer and regularly back-up your important data, preferably onto some form of detachable memory stick/drive.
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6. Regularly defragment your hard disk drive.
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7. Download and use Ccleaner from www.piriform.com to regularly clean your computer of all its unwanted clutter.
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8. Clean up your start up menu and keep it clean.
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9. Remove all unnecessary or, unused programs from your computer system and refrain from downloading, trying and then deleting new programs on a regular basis.
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10. Make sure that you have no missing device drivers and regularly check for newer versions of all the device drivers that you need for your computer equipment.
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(+1). If your computer is more than 2 years old, make sure you adjust your Windows settings for 'best performance' and not 'best appearance.'
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AVG Internet Security gives you multiple layers of protection so you can search and surf the Internet, shop and bank online, watch video, download music, documents and pictures, email and chat online, all with the confidence that your online world is safe from the bad guys. No other security software product gives you this level of continuous real-time protection and when threats are on the move all the time, if it's not continuous protection, it's not protection at all.
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New!
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Now includes AVG Identity Protection
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Anti-virus and Anti-spyware:
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protection against viruses, worms, spyware, and trojans
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helps prevent identity theft
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protection against hidden threats (rootkits)
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screens downloads and IM for infections
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blocks poisoned web pages in real time
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Anti-Spam - Anti-phishing:
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filters out unwanted and fraudulent
emails
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tailor AVG for your particular needs
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AVG Internet Security 8.5
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Complete Internet Security
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Immediate Download and License Key
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Using your computer to beat the burglar!
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Looking at the pictures of all the items that were recovered following the recent arrest of the burglary suspects, it struck me that it may be quite difficult for some of the owners of the stolen items to be able to prove ownership and re-claim their property from the Police.
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So, here's something that you can do with your computer that I hope, is a total waste of time, but should you ever need to use the end product of your endeavours, the time that you spend, may prove to be the most profitable couple of hours work that you ever do with your computer.
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Using your mobile phone or, digital camera, take pictures of all your cherished and valuable household/personal goods. Take the photos using the highest resolution that your phone/camera can handle because later, we are going to print out the photos as a back-up to our free on-line home insurance inventory.
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The photos that we use for our hard copy back-up need to be at least 2560 x 1920 pixels - this will give us an 8" x 6" photo print out at 300dpi. The photos that we use to upload to our on-line inventory need to be either, 640 x 480 pixels or, 800 x 600 pixels. You can easily reduce the size of your photo's using 'Paint' that comes free with 'Windows' and we have covered this in a previous article.
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You may also wish to 'Google' - 'invisible ink pen with UV light' and order an invisible marker to security mark your goods at the same time. If you have the original purchase receipt for each of the items or, an insurance valuation, it's also a good idea to scan them and include them in your portfolio.
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There are quite a few companies offering free inventory software and on-line storage facilities, just 'Google' - 'on-line insurance inventory' and check out some of the different web sites. There are two interesting videos available to watch at www.knowyourstuff.org The free software, allows you to create and store your list, valuations and pictures.
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Back-up your on-line storage with a hard copy of all the photo's and documentation and keep the folder somewhere safe and let's hope that you never have to use it!
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Are you getting the most out of your internet connection?
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Email, on-line banking, general surfing/searching and internet telephony - we all have different uses for our internet connections, but if you do any amount of downloading of media files (music, films or, tv programmes/video etc.) you will just love this week's TIC TOP TIP.
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Have you ever returned to your computer expecting a large video download to have completed, only to find that it hasn't fully downloaded or, that it has failed completely? Have you ever watched a downloaded programme and been horrified when the programme stops ten or, fifteen minutes before the end? Do you have to download files individually or, find that it is inconvenient to manually start your 'over-night' downloads late in the evening?
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If you have a download running and anything happens that causes a break in your internet connection, (a power cut, ISP server failure or, your wife hoovering under the desk knocks the plug out!), your download will stop short or, fail completely.
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Many readers may be using a download manager already and realise the protection that this gives to a 'download in progress' and download managers are nothing new, but this week's TIC TOP TIP offering ('Free Download Manager - FDM') is by far, the easiest to use, most highly sophisticated and feature rich download manager that I have ever seen. With 'FDM' you can:- |
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Schedule and automatically start your download/s, stop your computer from going into 'standby mode and shut down your computer when a download has completed.
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Schedule batch downloads to automatically begin and end at certain times.
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Automatically check whether a download is malicious before any 'bad data' infects your computer.
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Limit the amount of bandwidth allocated to a download/s.
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Set your own number of simultaneous connections used.
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Copy your downloads to other storage media.
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If there is a break in the internet connection (for whatever reason), the download is saved to that point and then resumes when the connection returns.
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To download 'FDM' visit FDM
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Computer viruses, trojans and worms
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You may be surprised to hear that whilst your anti-virus program is able to detect and deal with most viruses, trojans and worms, some infections just cannot be removed automatically. Many require the use of specialist tools and some involve manual manipulation of the infected files. Some cannot be removed at all except with a total hard disk format and Windows re-install.
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If your computer suddenly starts acting strangely, it may have some type of infection. Don't leave it, deal with it (straight away.)
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Make sure that your anti-virus definitions are completely up to date. Sometimes this can be difficult because some infections disable your anti-virus program and stop you from visiting certain web sites, making this a difficult task to complete.
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Some infections use your internet connection to make removal more difficult so before doing a scan, disconnect your computer from the internet.
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Some viruses hide in places where they can avoid detection/removal so, before you begin, clear all the cookies from your computer and clear the browsing cache.
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You don't want to clear your computer of the infection and then, get re-infected when you do a system restore to an earlier date so, disable your Windows system restore and re-enable it and create a new restore point once the infection is removed.
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Use your anti-virus program and complete a full system scan in safe mode.
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Don't use on-line anti-virus scanners - there are some legitimate tools available on-line but some on-line scanners are just 'scams' and if you use them, your computer will become infected with malware (a type of virus.)
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Microsoft is continually producing updates and a lot of them further protect your system so, make sure that Windows automatic updates is activated on your computer.
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A lot of infections spread using removable media such as USB memory sticks. If you use one, make sure that you regularly scan it and never use someone elses without first, scanning it for infections. Some viruses use the auto-run feature on a USB memory stick to spread. Make sure that you disable this feature on your USB stick.
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Do you need your own private UK IP Address ?
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Secure, private and uncensored internet access
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If you are concerned about security, privacy or, internet censorship (and you should be) then, our UK VPN dedicated IP address service will be of great interest to you.
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Everyone that is connected to the internet has a unique IP address identifier which enables the data traffic to pass to and from your computer to the internet.
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Your unique internet IP address identifier is assigned to your computer or, a device that is connected to your computer (such as a wireless router.)
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These addresses can be public IP addresses which are accessible from anywhere on the internet or, private IP addresses on a local area network, but routed through a public IP address.
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In either case, the data that passes to and from your unique internet IP address can be easily identified as your data.
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Well, depending on the type of network that you are located on, armed with this information, anyone on the internet or, with access to your network, can directly affect, manipulate, intrude-on, snoop-on, spy-on or, restrict your internet access in any number of ways.
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There are many ways in which your unique internet IP address identifier is being used to restrict your access/connection to the internet. For example:-
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Banned
An example of this is the BBC, ITV, CH4 and CH5 television companies, who are situated in the UK and who stop you from accessing their on-line TV programs unless you are based in the UK. They use your unique internet IP address identifier to determine where you are based and ban it (you) from accessing their networks.
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Censored
Some countries use your unique internet IP address identifier to ban access to certain web sites such as youtube and twitter and internet services such as gambling etc.
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Privacy
Some web sites such as forums, bulletin boards and chat rooms, use your unique IP address identifier to identify you and monitor your input.
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Restrictions
Your internet service provider is using your unique IP address identifier to restrict the quantity and type of traffic that is allowed to travel to and from your computer.
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Security
Depending upon the type of network that you are connected to (wireless networks are particularly vulnerable) and the type of encryption being used (if any), there are several ways in which the data passing to and from your computer may be intercepted and stolen or, monitored.
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UK VPN secure, private, dedicated IP address service
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Sign up with immediate Internet Access
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Archived Cyprus Today Articles About Computers
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Articles about computers archived by subject title
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Articles about computers archived by category
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Does your computer make you feel like this?
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Telephone NOW! for FREE help and advice! 0533 869 4372
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or, even worse, does it make you feel like this?
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We fix software and Windows related problems. We fix hardware related problems and do memory upgrades. We clean and service computers, fine tune or, re-install Windows and do data back-up and hard disk repairs and formats.
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Telephone NOW! for FREE help and advice! 0533 869 4372
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512 kbps internet connection
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Including installation of equipment and 12 month's internet access
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1 Mbit internet connection
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Including installation of equipment and 12 month's internet access
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2 Mbit internet connection
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Including installation of equipment and 12 month's internet access
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We are an approved agent of eXtend Broadband, responsible for customer services to the British expat' community.
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We are authorised to trouble-shoot your technical problems, arrange service calls and, we have direct access to eXtend's computerised customer accounts sytem. This enables us to solve problems and accept and log payments to your account.
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If you do experence a break in service because of a technical problem, we will trouble-shoot with you over the telephone and normally, we solve 90% of problems in this way, but if a service call is required from an engineer and we do have to contact eXtend's technical staff, we can report the exact fault thereby, speeding up the process of resolution.
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If there is a technical fault that requires an engineer to call, we will liase with them, make the necessary arrangements and stay in contact with you.
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Arrange your installation or, pay your subscriptions through us and you can use our customer support number and we will provide our customer services to you.
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Call now to arrange installation
Telephone: 0533 869 4372
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How much are you spending to telephone the UK?
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We can supply you with a telephone link with a UK number and when it's called, it rings in your home, here!
No computer required!
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This is just like having a land-line telephone, but the calls are better quality and much cheaper! You can have one telephone or, a telephone in every room in the house!
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Single line with one telephone, including 100 minutes of calls to UK landlines (monthly.)
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Why not try a FREE (in-home)
5 day trial. Tel: 0533 869 4372
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Are you chained to your computer when making a telephone call? Why? When you can make and receive calls on a normal telephone, with the computer switched off!
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PLUS! Have your own UK telephone number and when people call, your telephone rings here!
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Call the UK for 1½p per min' and people call you from the UK for 6p per min (inc. vat) and there are no charges to receive calls!
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See what some of our existing customers say:-
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"We are very satisfied with the new phone system, it has great clarity and the volume at both ends is very good."
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"We have phoned both UK and USA and the reception on both was very good."
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"All in all, it is FAR BETTER than skype and x-lite and also, more convenient with being able to have phones in various parts of the house."
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Anthony Woollacott - Esentepe...
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"No complaints whatsoever with the telephone system. Seems to be working exactly how we would wish it to."
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"We are very happy with the new phone system, as it is very clear with no delay. Since you fitted it we have had quite a few calls from friends and family in England and all calls have been really clear, as though you were talking to them across the room."
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"The telephone is fantastic, after struggling with Skype and paying silly prices for the mobile phone for a year we are more than happy to recommend the system."
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"The reception is as good as a land line and we do not have to leave the computer on. Having the extension phone in the kitchen means we can hear the phone anywhere in the house, great."
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Call now to arrange installation
Telephone: 0533 869 4372
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Use Your Computer Anywhere Around the House WITHOUT Wires!
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Plug your internet connection into a wireless router and you are able to connect to the internet from anywhere within your home without wires!
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Do you want to add a second computer, say a new laptop, to your existing internet connection or, use two computers simultaneously on your internet connection? If so, you need a wireless router.
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We are importers of wireless routers. We deliver to your home and will install and configure your router so that you have your own private network, secured with WPA security using your own unique pass phrase.
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Including one year's technical support and guarantee!
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Transmit what you see on your computer to your TV
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Send media content from your computer to your TV or, audio system. Room to room without wires
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Pictures, movies and audio files. Sound and Vision of fantastic quality!
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Two units including all required cables and connectors.
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Would you like to watch ITV, BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5?
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Watch Live or, download programmes to watch later.
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No big 4.2m dish required!
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No dish or, any other expensive equipment is required.
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Watch on your computer and your TV at full screen resolution!
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We can connect your computer to your TV. Cabling costs are not included.
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Have you got an Internet connection?
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If not, we can supply one!
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See what some of our existing customers are saying:-
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I got a 1Mb connection and a tv-ready computer and enjoy watching (up-to-date) Coronation Street, Eastenders, Emmerdale and loads of other programmes.
Catherine, Kucuk Erenkoy.
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We went for the 75TL set up and the 12.5TL per month. It cost 45TL for cables to connect our laptop computer to our TV and now, we watch UK TV on a 512kbps Internet connection.
Ian and Carol, Esentepe.
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We upgraded to the 1Mb connection. We now watch a combination of live ITV and BBC, streaming TV at our convenience and downloaded programmes.
Fred and Pauline, Catalkoy.
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Is your home blighted? Balconies covered with pigeon excrement?
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www.north-cyprus-pest-control.com
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