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This short guide covers how to use a traditional fax machine and a few troubleshooting tips if your fax isn’t sending. I’m also going to cover a few online faxing options that don’t require a fax machine, a multifunction printer, or even a phone line. You don’t need anything but an internet connection in order to send a fax from your iPhone, Android, or computer. 1 RingCentral RingEx Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more How to use a fax machine When we say fax machine, we’re referring to the standalone piece of hardware that scans and transmits physical pages with a document feeder tray and a connection to a phone line. Below are the steps you need to take to send a traditional fax. Step 1: Check the power and connection Press the power button and wait for the control panel to light up. Once this happens, you know the machine is ready to use. If the fax machine is not used often, confirm that the phone line cable coming from the fax machine is securely plugged into the wall socket. Step 2: Add a fax cover sheet It’s a good practice to include a cover sheet for the document you’re faxing, especially if you’re sending it to a business where multiple people use the same machine. This is by no means required, but it helps ensure the fax gets to the right person. Certain organizations may require a fax cover sheet, so keep an eye out for those to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays. A cover sheet typically includes the following information: Your company name. Your contact information. The recipient’s name and fax number. The total number of pages. The send date. Once your cover sheet is ready, place it on top of the first page of the document you’re sending. The pages should be arranged in front-to-back order, starting with the cover sheet. Here are a few fax cover sheet templates you can use to stay organized. Step 3: Put the document into the fax machine Look at the feeder tray to determine whether you need to place the document face up or face down. Once you determine the direction your document should face, place it into the feeder tray. Include all of the pages you need to send, collated in the correct order from first to last. Tip: If you need to fax a check or document that is not the right size for the feeder tray, make a photocopy of it first. Step 4: Input the destination number Use the keypad to dial the number for the fax machine you’re sending the document to. Be sure to input the full number, including the area code and country code, if necessary. Also, if your business requires a code to dial out, you’ll need to include this before anything else. An example fax number sent from a machine that requires a code to dial out might look like this: 9-225-555-9876. Step 5: Press send Press the Send or Start button. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of beeps, buzzes, and general screeching sounds. The noise can be alarming, but it means it’s working. Wait for all of the pages you’re sending to go through the feeder. Step 6: Confirm the fax was sent Once all the pages have been sent, the fax machine will print out a transmission report. The details included in the report vary between machines, but generally, it will have the following: Date and time: When the fax was sent. Transmission status: Indicates whether the fax was successfully sent or if it failed. Page count: The number of pages sent. Destination number: The fax number to which the document was sent. Error codes: If the transmission fails, error codes may be displayed to help diagnose the issue. Duration: How long the transmission took. If the transmission report confirms that the fax was sent successfully, you’re all done! If the fax failed, move on to the troubleshooting section below. Fax troubleshooting tips Fax can be frustrating, I know, but there are a few simple fixes that can help: Check the connection: Ensure that the phone cable is securely connected and that there’s a dial tone. A good connection is the first step to successful faxing. Turn it off and on again: This is classic IT advice for a reason — it usually works. Avoid paper jams: Make sure none of your pages are stuck in the feeder. If one gets jammed, gently remove it, straighten the paper out, and try again. Keep in mind that you’ll probably need to resend the whole document, not just the page that was jammed. Check for error messages: Most transmission reports include information about why the fax failed, such as error codes. Look up the error codes in your fax machine’s manual and follow the directions to fix it. If you don’t have the manual or the instructions are confusing, call customer service for help. If you are still having issues, check out this full-length post I wrote about what to do when a fax won’t go through. Do I need a phone line to use a fax machine? No, you don’t need a phone line to use a fax machine. With the help of a fax analog telephone adapter (ATA), you can keep your same old fax machine or multifunction printer to send faxes over the internet instead of a phone line. Here’s how you do it: Purchase an ATA. It will come with the ATA device, a power adapter, an Ethernet cable, and a standard phone cable. Connect one end of a phone cable to your fax machine and the other to the Phone 1 port on the ATA. Connect one end of your Ethernet cable to the Internet port on the ATA, and the other

Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is a network technology for routing and packet forwarding in private, wide-area network (WAN) connections. It is a switching mechanism that uses labels to decide the shortest possible path instead of the usual network address. In general, these labels are more effective for directing data through paths than traditional internet protocols — which use long, less efficient network addresses when moving data from one internet node to another. 1 RingCentral RingEx Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more MPLS was designed for yesterday’s enterprise MPLS has some good aspects, but it actually falls short when it comes to fulfilling today’s dynamic network needs. Originally, MPLS arose from the need to resolve internet routing issues by creating standards that improved quality of service (QoS). This was ultimately meant to boost efficiency across networks due to better data packet performance. When MPLS showed up, it was attractive because of its protocol independence and scalability. It offered both flexibility and the capacity to grow. Additionally, because of its unique architecture, MPLS was able to provide high-performance data transmission faster and more reliably, even across large enterprise networks. Nevertheless, despite how MPLS is still in use today, it has become an outdated legacy system. Below are seven reasons why MPLS has fallen out of favor. 1. MPLS is expensive As a good manager or network administrator, you must take several considerations into account when choosing your preferred technology. One of the biggest factors you have to consider is cost. As a private network, MPLS may be more secure and reliable, but it’s also expensive to implement. Compared to run-of-the-mill broadband internet connections, MPLS pricing is on another planet. Estimates on MPLS monthly costs can vary greatly depending on local costs to access fiber, so it isn’t easy to provide a reliable estimate. Still, suffice it to say that you can expect savings of at least 15% and 40% when you switch to internet VPN connections instead. The average cost of MPLS is between $300 and $600 per Mbps each month. In comparison, broadband connectivity will only set you back between $1.50 and $15 per Mbps each month, with internet services costing between $25 and $200 per month. Bear in mind the actual costs for MPLS can vary significantly based on location, service provider, and the volume of traffic purchased. Large enterprises negotiating bulk deals often receive lower rates. Setting up MPLS by yourself isn’t advisable because of the relative complexity of the manual configuration involved. Therefore, MPLS configuration is typically outsourced to managed service providers who set up and operate the infrastructure, which increases the price. Remember that MPLS’s advantages, like prioritizing traffic for different packet types, come from its ability to route real-time packets, such as video data, through a lower network latency path. To make this possible, MPLS requires specialized equipment like label switch routers to read the MPLS labels. Once again, these add to the overall cost of MPLS infrastructure. As a result, MPLS is feasible for highly specific use cases, but not ideal for your entire network. 2. Manual deployment and configuration One of the most prominent use cases for MPLS is managing more extensive networks while offering an enhanced quality of service (QoS). However, MPLS is generally difficult to deploy because its manual configuration poses a considerable challenge — which can also increase exponentially when compounded by the complexity of setting up multiple locations and branch offices that are often required by MPLS systems. As a result, your MPLS installation could also take months to complete if your offices are geographically dispersed across vast areas, such as in different countries. To complicate the scenario even further, the type of deployment and upgrades demanded by MPLS are usually resource-intensive processes to carry out on private network connections. This means MPLS can take several months to deploy, which is extraneous work that can start to wear on you and your engineers pretty fast. 3. Security issues MPLS has some built-in advantages when it comes to cybersecurity. One of these is its status as a private network, which gives it a narrower attack surface than its public counterparts. While it’s good for users to have some level of control over their security, MPLS completely hands security to the user. For example, you can leverage its labeling mechanism to mark sensitive data so it can be routed through a secure VPN. However, the drawback to this level of control is that malicious actors can manipulate data packets to fool MPLS routers into assigning labels, therefore allowing malware to slip past it and spread through the network. Of course, firewalls and antivirus systems may mitigate this, but they add yet another headache to an already challenging manual configuration process. Much like any other network, following MPLS security best practices is an ongoing battle. 4. Incompatible with the cloud MPLS systems need their own dedicated infrastructure, and their hub-and-spoke architecture makes them incompatible with the cloud. Therefore, they are a poor fit for businesses that already use the cloud or are considering transitioning to it. Similarly, MPLS is built for point-to-point connectivity, and this rigidity presents a disadvantage for the cloud. Since MPLS doesn’t support edge cases and endpoint applications, it doesn’t align with SaaS (software as a service) applications, which is a dominant model in today’s market. SEE: Learn more about computer networking fundamentals like point-to-point networks. 5. Limited control First of all, yes, an argument about limited control would apparently be contradictory to our statements about security issues. Theoretically speaking, MPLS does provide the user with control. However, because of the difficulty of its practical implementation, it is almost exclusively deployed and configured by ISPs, leaving you with little practical control over it. Thus, this compels you to work in lockstep with your service provider to tailor specifications to your

Using a password manager is a great way to protect your personal or business data and accounts. Password management software makes it easy to use complex and varied passwords for all of your accounts without having to remember them or store them in a vulnerable way. Dashlane and 1Password are among the top password management tools on the market. While both password managers offer basic and advanced features that can help you generate, store, and monitor your passwords securely, Dashlane comes with a VPN for Wifi protection. Learn what features each solution offers and how to decide between these two password managers in this in-depth comparison guide. NordPass Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Micro (0-49 Employees), Small (50-249 Employees), Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Activity Log, Business Admin Panel for user management, Company-wide settings, and more Dashlane Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Micro (0-49 Employees), Small (50-249 Employees), Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Automated Provisioning ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Access Management, Compliance Management, Credential Management, and more Dashlane vs. 1Password: Comparison table The table below summarizes and compares the key features offered by both password managers. Features Dashlane 1Password Password generator Yes Yes Self-hosted authenticator app Yes, with Dashlane Authenticator No. Requires external authenticators like Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, etc. Two-factor authentication Yes Yes Password autofill Yes Yes Single Sign-on (SSO) Yes Yes Free plan available No No VPN Yes No Starting price $4.99 $2.99 Free trial Available only in premium and business tiers 14-day free trial across all plans but Enterprise Dark Web monitoring Yes Yes Passkey support Yes Yes Cost flexibility Less flexible Super flexible Alerts and reporting Yes Yes Dashlane and 1Password pricing Dashlane offers a variety of pricing options in its Personal and Business tiers. It also has a limited but fully-free, free version. Dashlane Pricing Personal plans Free: Free. Maximum of 25 stored passwords for 1 device. Premium: $4.99 per month billed annually. A free trial is available for this plan. Friends & Family: $7.49 per month, billed annually, for 10 users. Business plans Standard: This is for small teams and costs $20 per month, for up to 10 seats. Business: $8 per seat per month, billed annually. A free trial is available for this plan. Business Plus: $5 per employee, per month, billed annually. Starts at 100 employees. A demo can be requested for this plan. Enterprise This plan is suitable for large organizations and comes with everything in the business plan, plus dedicated customer service support for onboarding technical engineers and customer support specialists. Contact Dashlane for a quote. To learn more, check our full Dashlane review. 1Password Pricing In my view, pricing for 1Password is much more flexible than Dashlane. 1Password offers multiple pricing plans for individual, family, small team, business, and enterprise use cases. There’s now also monthly options for each 1Password plan. These are the price points for their plans: Personal Individual: Starts at $2.99 per month when billed annually. $3.99 per month for monthly option. Families: $4.99 per month for five family members, billed annually. $6.95 per month for monthly option. Business Teams Starter Pack: $19.95 per month, a team of ten users, billed annually. Same price for monthly option. Business: $7.99 per user, per month, billed annually. Suitable for business users. $9.99 per month for monthly option. Enterprise Quote available upon request. Includes everything from Business subscription plus enterprise features like dedicated account manager and tailored onboarding. 14-day free trials are available for all plan options except for the Enterprise plan. To learn more, check our full 1Password review. Feature comparison: Dashlane vs 1Password From centralized password management to security, encryption, password health reporting, and 2FA, both tools offer similar features. But how do they compare? Let’s find out. Password management and sharing Winner: 1Password In terms of password management and credential sharing, I give the advantage to 1Password. 1Password features password and username generators to create secure login credentials that aren’t re-used across websites. It uses a secure vault system for password sharing — which I see adds a big benefit to larger businesses. Vaults can be created to organize your passwords and securely share them with others within the organization. In this system, I imagine enterprises easily creating specific vaults for each department or team within their organization. 1Password password generator Image: 1Password On the other hand, Dashlane has a secure sharing feature that can be used to share one or more passwords and secure notes. Users can share a password with individual users or groups and adjust the sharing permissions to provide either full or limited access. Dashlane also offers a group sharing feature on the Starter, Team, and Business plans. This feature allows admins to categorize team members into groups and create and share passwords based on the specific needs of each group. Dashlane group password sharing Image: Dashlane On Dashlane’s end, I appreciate how it provides administrators control how much access each user has to particular credentials. But if we’re strictly talking about which storage and password sharing features benefit teams and businesses more, I find 1Password to be the better choice due to its customizable vault system. Security and monitoring Winner: Tie Both services employ 256-bit AES encryption and two-factor authentication to keep your login information secure. Dashlane uses PBKDF2 encryption to protect users’ passwords, while 1Password has its own Secret Key encryption system. In terms of monitoring, 1Password includes their Watchtower monitoring feature, which integrates with Have I Been Pwned to provide alerts if any of your passwords have appeared in data breaches. To me, this is a great way to catch compromised passwords early. In addition, the Watchtower also checks and flags weak

TL;DR: Prepare for CompTIA exams with 17 expert-led courses in the Complete 2025 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle by IDUNOVA for $49.99 (reg. $493). The Complete 2025 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle by IDUNOVA is your gateway to earning CompTIA certifications, recognized globally as the gold standard for IT expertise. For just $49.99 (reg. $493), this bundle offers 17 expert-led courses covering 310.96 hours of training designed to prepare you for CompTIA exams at your convenience. This bundle has everything you need, whether you’re just entering IT or aiming to advance your career with advanced certifications. From foundational knowledge to advanced concepts, these courses cover various IT topics, including cybersecurity, cloud computing, and IT fundamentals. Start with CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ (FC0-U61) to comprehensively overview software, IT security, databases, and cloud systems. Move on to CompTIA Security+ (SY0-601) for a deep dive into cybersecurity strategies, from threat detection to advanced defensive measures. With lifetime access to these courses, you can learn at your own pace, whether you’re balancing a busy schedule or diving deep into exam prep. Note that while this bundle prepares you for CompTIA certifications, the official certifications require passing the CompTIA exams. If you’re an aspiring IT professional, a freelancer expanding your skill set, or an experienced worker aiming to validate your expertise, this bundle offers the tools you need to succeed. Learn on desktop or mobile, explore real-world scenarios, and complete the courses to earn certificates of completion that showcase your commitment to professional growth. Get the Complete 2025 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle by IDUNOVA for $49.99 (reg. $493) and start the new year with a growth mindset. Prices and availability subject to change. source

In most spreadsheets, blank rows are undesirable. Microsoft Excel uses blanks to determine data ranges, and a blank row in the wrong place will inhibit many built-in features. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to remove blank rows from a data range in Excel — but this technique can potentially destroy data, so you must be careful. In this Excel tutorial, I’ll show you a quick and easy way to delete blank cells, which you might think of as rows, in the middle of a dataset without accidentally deleting adjacent data. Throughout the article, I use the term “row” to describe adjacent blank cells within the dataset. I use Microsoft 365 on a Windows 11 64-bit system, but you can use earlier versions. Excel for the web supports this easy technique. Step 1: Select blank cells in Excel Once you realize that your dataset has blank rows (cells), you’ll probably want to delete them. The first step is to select the blank rows, which is a tedious process if done manually. Fortunately, you don’t have to. To select all the blank rows in a dataset: Select the data range A3:E14 — or your own data range if you’re using a different dataset. Press F5. In the resulting Go To dialog box, click Special. Click the Blanks option, and then click OK. Doing so selects the blank cells in the selected range. In this case, that’s A7:E7 and A10:E10. Select the blank cells. (Screenshot: TechRepublic) Excel’s Go To feature lets you quickly select all the blank rows in the selection. Now, you’re ready to delete those rows. Don’t do anything to deselect the selection. SEE: Explore these Excel tips every user should master. Step 2: Delete blank rows in Excel Now, you’re ready to delete the selected cells. Until now, I’ve used the term rows, but deleting the actual rows will delete everything in that entire row, not only the selected range. This includes data that might be off-screen. To delete the selected cells — not rows — click Delete (not the dropdown) in the Cells group on the Home tab. This should delete only the selected cells. But if you don’t get the desired results, press Ctrl + Z to undo the delete, and then try the following: With the blank rows 7 and 10 still selected, click the Delete dropdown in the Cells group on the Home tab, and then choose Delete Cells. In the next dialog, click Shift Cells Up. You want to delete cells, not rows. (Screenshot: TechRepublic) Click OK. Excel will then delete the blank cells from the selected data range. The blank cells in rows 7 and 10 are gone. (Screenshot: TechRepublic) SEE: Learn how to parse time values in Microsoft Excel. Choosing Delete Cells removes only the blank cells in the selected range. If you choose Delete Sheet Rows in step two, you could potentially destroy data to the right. Choose carefully when using this option to delete blank rows when you really want to delete only the blank cells. It’s easy to think about rows and choose the wrong option. In such a small dataset, you could easily delete each row individually, but imagine doing so if you have dozens or even hundreds of records to review for blank cells. This method will save you time and effort, removing the possibility of missing blanks. More about Software How to avoid disaster when deleting rows in Excel Deleting rows, whether blank or not, can be hazardous. For instance, if you have data off-screen and out of sight, you won’t realize you’re deleting it when you remove the empty cells or rows right before you. Also, watch out for hidden rows that could be inadvertently deleted. In addition, many built-in features don’t work as expected when encountering blank rows. Let’s suppose you want to convert the example dataset to a Table object, so you click inside the dataset and press Ctrl + T. It just so happens that you click D5, expecting Excel to select the full dataset. However, it won’t. Excel selects the contiguous rows adjacent to the clicked cell, D5, which happens to be A3:E6 — a partial selection. The blank cells in rows 7 and 10 make it impossible to quickly select this whole data set. (Screenshot: TechRepublic) If you’re fortunate, you’ll notice that Excel doesn’t specify the entire data range. If you fail to notice, you won’t get the results you expect when using Table features. You must delete blank rows to use many of Excel’s built-in features. Can I also use keyboard shortcuts to delete blank rows in Excel? Fortunately, there is a way to delete blank rows using a combination of keyboard shortcuts. Instead of following the steps above, you can do some of the work with your keyboard. Here’s how to do it: Use Ctrl + A to select all data to avoid manually highlighting the range containing blank rows. Open the Go To dialog using Ctrl + G, then hit Alt + S to select Special. You must select Blanks and press Enter in the Go To Special dialog box. Press Ctrl + – with the blank cells highlighted to achieve the required deletion. Is using filters another good way to delete blank rows in Excel? Filters are another way to achieve the same aim in Excel. Here is how to use filters to delete blank rows: Click the Filter dropdown arrow in a column of your dataset where some rows are blank. In the Filter menu, deselect all options by unchecking Select All, then check only Blanks. Click OK to apply the Filter, displaying only rows with blank cells in that column. Highlight the rows by dragging your mouse down or pressing Shift and selecting rows. Right-click on any selected row and choose Delete Row, or press Ctrl + 1 and choose Entire Row. Be sure to choose a column where a blank cell means the entire row is irrelevant. As always, a good rule of

Modern fax machines can transmit a single page in 15–30 seconds, while older models may take up to a minute per page. High-resolution settings can slow down fax transmission, as can poor line quality — that is the network or telephone line connection. For multi-page faxes, transmission time increases proportionally.  A 10-page document will take 5 minutes to fax at 30 seconds per page, for example. You won’t have to sit around waiting for a manual delivery confirmation since most modern fax machines will automatically generate a report or email that states that the document was successfully sent. If you are using an online fax service, you will also get an email confirmation, but it takes just about as long for fax to send as on a traditional analog fax machine. In this guide we’ll cover the fax process so you can understand what’s going on after you hit send — I’ll also walk through some basic fax troubleshooting in case you aren’t getting a confirmation or the fax isn’t going through. 1 RingCentral RingEx Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more Breaking down how long a fax takes Faxes take time to send because they rely on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the same system used for traditional voice calls. The process of turning the fax document into analog signals that can be sent over the phone line is the most time consuming process — the signal itself is transmitted nearly instantly. When you send a fax, your machine converts the document into audio tones that travel over the phone line. Each page is transmitted line by line to ensure accuracy, which takes time —typically 15–30 seconds per page. This process is influenced by the speed of the fax modem and the quality of the connection. Poor line quality can lead to errors, requiring retransmissions that add to the overall time. SEE: Learn about fax modems and more effective alternatives.  Let’s take a closer look at the process. How faxing works Here are the five general steps that most faxes take to get from point A to point B: First, a document is scanned into the system by the machine. This scan is then converted into a digital format. (Takes a few seconds to a couple of minutes). The digital information is then once more translated into audio tones (beeps and tones) and then sent over a phone line. (Happens nearly instantaneously). The audio signals are sent through a phone line and received by the recipient’s fax machine. (Takes, on average, one minute). The receiving machine analyzes and decodes the audio tones, translating them back into digital data. (Happens nearly instantaneously). The fax machine then prints the document as dictated by the digital data (Takes about a minute or two). Step three, where the signal is sent from one physical destination to another, is typically the longest part of the faxing process. With modern equipment and a good understanding of how to use a fax machine, most of the other steps will only take a few seconds. What if I’m using an online fax service? When you send a document with an online fax service, the document is transmitted digitally to the service’s server, which then connects to the PSTN. From there, the fax is delivered to the recipient’s machine via phone lines, just like a traditional fax. This is why you don’t need a landline in order to send a fax, using an online service — the vendor manages all the backend infrastructure associated with analog phone lines. But don’t expect online fax to be instant. Uploading, converting, and transmitting the document to the fax service happens quickly over the internet. However, the final delivery speed is still limited by the recipient’s machine and connection. The benefit of online faxing lies in its efficiency and convenience, not any faster speed. What makes a fax take longer to send? Have you noticed your fax machine isn’t working as quickly as you’d like? There could be a few reasons for this: Age and quality of the machine Older fax machines may not have the same processing power as newer models, which can slow down the scanning and encoding process. Additionally, if the machine is in poor condition or has not been properly maintained, it could cause further delays. Here are some common aging-related issues that can slow down a fax machine: Wear and tear of mechanical parts. Outdated technology and software that can’t send faxes efficiently. Dust and grime that become trapped in the machine and reduce its functionality. Compatibility issues with computers, phones, and other fax machines. Not only can an old and poor-quality fax machine slow things down, but it may also result in lower-quality faxes and more errors. Complexity of the document Documents with a lot of fine details, a bunch of images, or complex layouts will take longer to scan and transmit than simple text documents. This is because it takes time for the fax machine to convert all the details into a digital format that can be sent over a phone line. This requires more data, and consequently, will take more time. This can happen if you are faxing a check or another type of detailed document that must be sent at a high resolution, or in color. The quality of your phone line If your phone line has sound quality issues, it can affect the speed at which your fax is sent and received. This is because the audio tones used in fax transmission may not be properly decoded if there is interference or noise on the line. Just as low line quality will cause dropped calls, an unstable connection can cause a fax to take longer than it should or fail altogether. Internet connection for online fax services The best business phone

A drop to zero in a chart can be abrupt, but sometimes, that’s what you want. On the other hand, there will be times when you won’t want to draw attention to a zero. When you don’t want to display zero values, you have a few choices for hiding or otherwise managing those zeros. In this tutorial, I’ll review a few methods for handling zero values that offer quick but limited results with minimal effort. Depending on how much charting you do, you might find more than one of these methods helpful. Following along For this demonstration, I’m using Microsoft 365 Desktop on a Windows 11 64-bit system, but you can also use earlier versions of Excel. Excel for the web supports most of these techniques. SEE: Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: A side-by-side analysis w/checklist (TechRepublic Premium) You can follow along more closely by downloading our demonstration file. If you work through the instructions using our demonstration workbook file, undo each solution before you start the next. You can do this by simply closing the file and reopening it without saving it. Exploring the sample dataset The example below shows the data and initial charts that we’ll update throughout this article. The pie and single-line charts reflect the data in column B for Vendor 1. The other two charts have three data series: Vendor 1, Vendor 2, and Vendor 3. The Minimum column returns the minimum value for each month, so April, Ma, and July return zero for the minimum value. This setup simplifies all the examples we’ll be reviewing in this guide. We’ll use four chart types to review the inherent behaviors that come with charting zero. Right now, the charts display zero values by default in each chart type. Pie chart By default, the pie chart, shown below, charts the zero, but you can’t see it. If you turn on data labels, you will see the zero listed. There are seven slices but eight items in the legend. The pie chart plots zero by default. Line chart The below example shows the line chart’s default behavior, which drops the one to zero on the X-axis. The line chart plots zero by default, which can be a bit abrupt. Stacked bar chart Excel plots four stacks for the months without a zero value in the stacked bar chart shown below. The months with a zero display only two values because the Minimum column also returns zero for those months, so the chart is actually plotting two zeros for each month. Readers might be a bit confused by what they’re seeing. The stacked bar chart plots zero values. Multiple-line chart This multiple-line chart below is messy; enlarging it doesn’t improve its readability. Although you can’t see all of the lines, they’re there. The values are so close that some lines obscure the others, which is misleading. Zero values in a multiple-line chart can add to the chaos. Your results may vary depending on Excel’s default settings and theme colors. Now that you know the example data, let’s review a few methods for suppressing the zero values in our example charts. Some will work with limited results, and others won’t work at all. Removing and formatting zero There’s more than one way to suppress zero values in a chart, but none work the same consistently for all charts. Manual removals of zero To begin with, you might try removing zero values altogether if it’s a literal zero and not the result of a formula. By removing, I mean simply deleting all zero values from the dataset. Unfortunately, this simplest approach doesn’t always work as expected. Pie chart The pie chart doesn’t chart the blank cell, but the legend still displays the category label, as shown below. Removing the zero values from the dataset changed nothing. Removing zero values won’t help the pie chart. Stacked bar chart The stacked bar responds interestingly. It doesn’t chart the zero values, but because the zeros are gone, the MIN() functions in the Minimum column are now all non-zero values and chart accordingly. Removing the zero values changes the formula’s results, which can have unintended results. Line and multiple-line charts Neither line chart handles the missing zeros well, but the multiple-line chart is hopeless. The line chart has a gap between the two months, which definitely looks odd. Removing zero values leaves a gap, which probably won’t be what you want. The multiple-line chart is deceptive. The Vendor 1 series appears wrong, but you will see the markers if you click it. It’s there but obscured by other lines; even doubling its size does nothing to improve its readability. This multiple-line chart seems to hide data. If you removed zero values in the sheet during this phase, re-enter them before continuing to our next example. Or, close the demonstration file without saving your changes and reopen it. More about Software Unchecking worksheet display options You can also hide zeros by unchecking the worksheet display option called Show A Zero In Cells That Have Zero Value. Here’s how: Click the File tab and choose Options. You might have to click More first. Choose Advanced in the left pane. In the Display Options For This Worksheet section, choose the right sheet from the drop-down menu. (This is a sheet-level property.) Uncheck the Show A Zero In Cells That Have Zero Value option. Click OK. This option doesn’t change anything. The zero values still exist — you can see them in the Formula bar. However, Excel won’t display them; thus, this method has no impact. The charts treat the zero values as if they’re still there because they are. Excel for the web doesn’t allow access to this setting. We’ve found that unchecking this setting offers no advantage. I include this step in our tutorial to prevent you from wasting your time on this technique yourself. Setting a custom format Before you try this next formatting option, reset the Advanced option that you disabled in our previous

Developers who want to push ahead in their profession will want to choose a programming language that appeals to them and paves the way for a promising career. That’s why it’s always advisable to learn and pursue a programming language that’s popular and in demand among top employers. To compile this list, I consulted the TIOBE Programming Community index for December 2024 and several other sites. The index is a useful indicator of the popularity of programming languages and is updated once a month. The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers worldwide, courses, and third-party vendors. TIOBE says Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, Bing, and over 20 other websites are used to calculate the ratings. NB. The ‘change’ percentage below refers to the change in ratings in one year. SEE: Quick Glossary: Web Browsers (TechRepublic Premium) Top programming languages Based on the analysis, here are the top 10 programming languages in 2024: Python: 23.84% ratings / +9.98% change (No. 1 in 2023) C++: 10.82% / +0.81% (No. 3) Java: 9.72% / +1.73% (No. 4) C: 9.10% / -2.34% (No. 2) C#: 4.87% / -2.43% (No. 5) JavaScript: 4.61% / +1.72% (No. 6) Go: 2.17% / +1.14% (No. 13) SQL: 1.99% / +0.37% (No. 9) Visual Basic: 1.96% / +0.14% (No. 8) Fortran: 1.79% / +0.72% (No. 12) Must-read developer coverage Python is top Just like TIOBE’s data in November 2024, Python is at the top of the pile. TIOBE reckons Python is “unstoppable thanks to its support for AI and data mining, its large set of libraries, and its ease of learning.” Elsewhere, the evidence shows Python is a powerful beast in the world of programming languages. Python is the most popular programming language in a 2024 report by Stack Overflow. The report notes that 70% of respondents use it regularly. Stack Overflow states, “Employers look for proficiency in frameworks such as Django and Flask for web development and libraries like Pandas, NumPy, and TensorFlow for data-related tasks.” The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers also ranked Python highly. In its Top Programming Languages 2024 report, IEEE explains, “Python continues to cement its overall dominance, buoyed by popular libraries for hot fields such as AI as well as its pedagogical prominence.” IEEE adds, “Python’s pretty popular with employers too, although its lead over other general purpose languages is not as large and, like last year, it plays second fiddle to the database query language SQL, which employers like to see paired with another language.” SEE: The 10 Best Python Courses That are Worth Taking (TechRepublic) Plenty to C TIOBE didn’t outline the other languages in its December report, but let’s have a quick look. C++ is very similar to C, which moved to second place. C++ is well-suited for game and system development, but it may be relatively difficult to learn. C is often used in app and system development. Its syntax is similar to other popular languages, making it a useful branching-off point for beginner developers. C# is an object and component-oriented programming language similar to the C and Java language families. It is used for in-app, game, and web development. Java is an excellent language for AI, app, and web development. It requires relatively advanced skills to learn. SEE: The 5 Best Online C Programming Courses (TechRepublic) Tech job opportunities The news is often full of grim reports about layoffs, but a look at the job boards shows that plenty of tech opportunities are still out there. For instance, in Python, there are 1.19 million jobs on LinkedIn and 6,445 jobs on ZipRecruiter. Not every job on those sites will suit everyone, but a good career could be within reach for people willing to make the effort. SEE: The 5 Best Web Development Courses Worth Taking (TechRepublic) Advice for developers Enhancing your coding skills can lead your career in different directions, including game development, website design, and mobile app development. And by learning the most popular programming languages, you make yourself more appealing to employers. You have various options to learn the most in-demand languages, such as pursuing a four-year degree at a college or university or enrolling in a coding bootcamp. You can also learn programming languages via online courses at TechRepublic Academy or check out our hiring kits at TechRepublic Premium. The latter provides information about developer jobs and is a good way to discover pertinent skills and potential interview questions. source

A stateful firewall keeps track of the state of network connections. A stateless firewall does not. Although the difference between a stateful vs stateless firewall is relatively simple, picking one may not be as straightforward. The state of a network connection refers to its status, whether a connection is being established, actively transferring data, or closing. Stateful firewalls keep track of this context, monitoring the entire flow of communication — where packets are coming from, where they are going, and what type of traffic is being relayed. Stateless firewalls ignore this context — they treat each packet as independent, and have no knowledge of prior packets. These fundamental differences make stateful firewalls appropriate in some situations and stateless firewalls better in others. 1 RingCentral RingEx Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more When use a stateful vs stateless firewall Stateful firewalls are necessary in dynamic, complex environments where tracking the state of connections is important for security. They offer deeper inspection capabilities, which makes them well-suited for networks with diverse traffic flows or where detecting malicious activity within ongoing sessions is critical. Stateless firewalls are ideal for static networks with predictable traffic patterns, where packets can be allowed or blocked based on fixed rules without needing session tracking. These firewalls provide a low-maintenance solution for scenarios that don’t require deep inspection of connection states, such as enforcing basic port restrictions or as a first layer of defense in a high-speed environment. There are several different types of firewalls, which may be stateless or stateful. A packet-filtering firewall is typically stateless, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) is typically stateful, a Firewall as a Service (FWAAS) could be either stateful or stateless. SEE: Five reasons a stateful firewall is a must-have for any business.  Tradeoffs between a stateful vs stateless firewall A stateful firewall will always be able to tell you more than a stateless one, but it comes at a cost. Is it better to opt for the speed and performance of a stateless firewall? As you set up firewalls and secure different parts of your network, here are the main trade-offs to consider when looking at stateful vs stateless firewalls. 1. Stateful firewalls consume more resources Because stateful firewalls inspect packets and track the state of network connections, they have a lot slower performance than stateless firewalls. In the wrong place or with the wrong task, a stateful firewall can really slow down your network. Meanwhile, stateless firewalls are a much faster alternative because they operate by examining the source and destination addresses of individual packets. This means they ignore the connection states and can therefore resolve incoming packets much faster. Altogether, stateless firewalls are far more suitable in high-traffic, low-risk situations. With their superior speed, they can assess packets quickly without putting a strain on network resources. When the security level requires a bit more intensive work, stateful firewalls are usually worth the performance hit. 2. Stateful firewalls are less likely to trigger false positive alarms Stateless firewalls can have a tendency to put your network in a constant “fight or flight” type of condition. This isn’t as common with stateful firewalls, and that’s simply due to the way they track the state of connections. Stateful firewalls can and will recognize established connections, so they’re more sensitive about blocking traffic rather than tossing up a red flag whenever anything that might be suspicious comes their way (as stateless firewalls tend to do). Overall, stateless firewalls are way more likely to generate false positives and block legitimate traffic because they lack context. In practical terms, this means that stateful firewalls tend to offer more nuanced control over your traffic — which is useful for networks that are more complex or transmit more sensitive data. Financial institutions and healthcare providers, for example, may find this particularly advantageous because they generally have stringent security requirements. 3. Stateful firewalls can apply more flexible rules Let’s say you’re an IT administrator who’s in charge of securing your organization’s network. If you ensure firewall rules follow best practices, a stateful firewall will enable you to enforce those rules with a bit more precision. In other words, you’ll have more reliable, consistent protection. However, if your traffic is more varied — and therefore more unpredictable — a stateful firewall can be a better choice because it lets you apply rules at the packet level. This can be especially helpful when you need to let certain traffic pass through that might not fit into a predefined set of rules so easily. For example, if a software development company frequently collaborates with third-party vendors, it’s very likely that the traffic coming in from these vendors is highly varied. By using a stateful firewall that can apply more flexible rules, they are able to manage varying traffic patterns and maintain network security. 4. Stateless firewalls don’t track connection states This design choice reduces the complexity of managing session data, which translates to lower overhead for the firewall. As a result, stateless firewalls are much lighter in terms of resource consumption — they require less processing power, memory, and storage compared to stateful firewalls. This makes them highly efficient for environments where speed and scalability are critical, especially in handling large volumes of traffic. One instance where this can be especially useful is in a cloud computing environment with virtual servers and workloads that frequently increase and decrease. In this environment, a stateless firewall could theoretically be deployed to make sure the traffic going in and out of the cloud-based resources follows a predetermined set of rules. The lack of state-tracking becomes a trade-off when considering dynamic or complex traffic scenarios. The simplicity of stateless firewalls comes at the cost of not being able to detect or block threats that rely on context, such as session hijacking or more sophisticated

A firewall is a security protocol that protects your internal network from the threats of the internet. It keeps an eye on the data that comes in and out of your home network. Without a firewall, your trusted private network could be at risk of cyberattacks, data breaches, and malware from the public. 1 RingCentral RingEx Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees) Medium, Large, Enterprise Features Hosted PBX, Managed PBX, Remote User Ability, and more The technical side of what a firewall does To get to grips with how a firewall works, you need to understand how data travels between internet networks. Basically, data moves across the internet in the form of information-filled packets. A firewall inspects these data packets to analyze their: Content: The information each data packet contains, such as an image, text, or video. Protocol: The language of the data packet, for example, HTTP or TCP. Port: The medium that the data is traveling through, such as email, web, or a social media network. Source: Where the data is coming from, for example, the IP address or hostname of incoming traffic. Destination: Where the data is headed, including the IP address, hostname, and other information that describes where the traffic is going. Afterwards, the firewall determines whether to let the data packet pass or, instead, to block it based on a set of predefined rules. To ensure that dangerous data packets are blocked, it’s crucial that you properly set up your firewall, create effective rules, and keep it up to date. SEE: Learn the fundamentals of computer networking.  Hardware firewalls Hardware firewalls are dedicated physical devices, often integrated into routers or standalone appliances, that act as a barrier between a private network and the internet. They offer robust, centralized protection, making them ideal for organizations and businesses that need to secure multiple devices or high volumes of network traffic. Although they are typically more expensive than software firewalls, hardware firewalls provide scalability and consistent performance, protecting an entire network without relying on the resources of individual devices. Software firewalls Software firewalls are applications installed on individual devices to monitor and control network traffic at the endpoint level. They are included by default in most operating systems, such as Windows and macOS, and some routers also incorporate software firewall capabilities. These firewalls can be customized to block specific applications, filter outbound and inbound traffic, and provide alerts for suspicious activities. The specific capabilities will depend on what type of software firewall you are using. A Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), for example, may provide tools for access control, intrusion prevention, advanced threat intelligence, and deep packet inspection. What a firewall does to protect your home network 1. Blocks unauthorized traffic To reiterate, a firewall blocks threats coming from restricted sources or ports. This means your firewall will block any data packets coming from a restricted IP address or website. It will also reduce your home network’s visibility to potentially risky protocols. Firewalls can also block data packets that have malicious content. Basically, firewall users can set predefined rules to give a firewall access control of their data. Based on these rules, the firewall will shut out intruders. For instance, parents may set rules in the firewall to deny access to certain applications or block out content based on certain keywords. 2. Defends against threats A firewall serves as a checkpoint for all data packets, so it protects your home’s internet system from several threats, including: Cyberattacks coming from hackers who want to damage your system or steal and erase data. Malware that infects not just software but also hardware, possibly destroying applications and devices. Ransomware that locks important files, seeking funds from you to release it. Instead of just sniffing out these malicious invaders, a firewall neutralizes them in case they do enter your network. This way, it prevents the threats from spreading through your network infrastructure, further decreasing the scope of the damage. Learn more about the latest threats to network security and how to defend against each one. 3. Prevents application intrusion Even if you expect untrusted applications to act out of line, sometimes your most-trusted apps will try to access and extract sensitive data from your device. This can happen when the application is outdated, infected, or a hacker tries to use it to get into your system. Thankfully, your firewall observes an application’s behavior to make sure there are no attempts to enter unauthorized resources. Doing so, it protects your sensitive data. For example, if an application tries to access a location or photos on your device even though you haven’t allowed it to do so, the firewall will act immediately to stop it. Along with protecting your data, it will also inform you of unusual activity. 4. Improves network performance Firewalls are more than security guards. Since they monitor the flow of traffic and keep an eye on who’s accessing your devices, they free up valuable resources. By doing so, they reduce network congestion and improve your performance online. Apart from filtering out unnecessary traffic volume, a firewall also keeps the network’s functioning in check by increasing your security. What’s more, firewalls prevent crashes that can occur due to cyber attacks, misconfiguration, or bugs in your system. 5. Maintains privacy Imagine a stranger watching you through your window. Creepy, right? This is something hackers may do to keep an eye on your data and browsing habits. They might even use your private information against you. A firewall stops this from happening by using rules to filter network traffic, blocking unauthorized attempts to access your system or monitor your activities. It inspects data packets for suspicious patterns, ensuring sensitive information stays secure. Advanced firewalls use features like deep packet inspection and stateful packet filtering to detect and prevent unauthorized data transfers or malicious activity. They also monitor outgoing traffic, stopping applications or malware from transmitting private data to