In Manhattan, Obama Tells Supporters That He Intends to Govern

President Obama, his troubles piling up in Washington, traveled to Manhattan for a busy evening of fundraising for the Democratic Party, telling audiences that progress was being stymied by a persistent wave of “hyper-partisanship” in the Capitol.

“My thinking was that after we beat them in 2012, well, that might break the fever,” Mr. Obama said at a fundraiser at the West Village home of the film producer Harvey Weinstein, referring to Republicans. “And it’s not quite broken yet. But I am persistent, and I am staying at it.”

The president said he hoped to draw on the spirit that poured forth after the bombings in Boston and the factory explosion in West, Tex., both of which he visited, to change the tone in Washington.

Mr. Obama made no mention, at least while reporters were present, of three major disputes swirling around his administration: the disclosure that the Internal Revenue Service had singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny; news that the Justice Department secretly obtained telephone records for reporters and editors at the Associated Press; and persistent questions about the White House’s handling of the deadly attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

But the president’s tone reflected a sense of frustration and a desire to get back to governing. He spoke about having only three and a half years left in office, and what he would like to accomplish in that time.

“I want everyone to understand that my intentions over the next three and a half years are to govern, because I don’t have another race left. If we’ve got folks on the other side who are prepared to cooperate, that is great and we are ready to go. On the other hand, if there are folks who are more interested in winning elections than in thinking about the next generation, then I want to make sure there are consequences to that.”

While Mr. Obama was in New York, the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, issued a statement on the reports about the Justice Department obtaining telephone records of A.P. journalists. The White House, he said, had no knowledge of it, aside from news reports.

“We are not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations, as those matters are handled independently by the Justice Department,” Mr. Carney said.

Groups Call for Deportation Suspension for Immigrants Affected by Overhaul

Labor, Latino and immigrant advocate groups called on President Obama on Monday to suspend deportations of illegal immigrants who could be eligible for a pathway to citizenship under a bipartisan bill to overhaul the immigration system that is under consideration in the Senate.

Among the organizations demanding that the White House halt most removals were the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the country’s largest federation of labor unions; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or Maldef, a Latino civil rights group; the National Day Laborer Organizing Network; and United We Dream, a national group representing young illegal immigrants. They said Mr. Obama should act immediately, even before Congress votes on the bill.

They based their demand on an enthusiastically upbeat analysis of the bill’s prospects for passage.

“Immigration reform has unstoppable momentum,” said Ana Avendaño, director of immigration for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. “For the A.F.L., this bill is not fragile. It is supported by a broad coalition.”

While Latino and labor groups have long expressed anger at Mr. Obama over the more than 1.6 million deportations that have taken place under his administration, the support of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. for a suspension of deportations added new clout to their demands.

The groups, which generally support the Senate bill, said that thousands of immigrants who would most likely gain legal status under its terms were being expelled and separated from their families in the United States while Congress deliberates.

“It’s a simple matter of fairness and justice,” said Thomas A. Saenz, president of Maldef. “It makes no sense to deport those who would be eligible for that relief.”

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will continue to consider some 300 proposed amendments to the bill, including dozens offered by opponents hoping to undermine it. In an often tense session on Thursday, senators supporting the bill fended off amendments that might have crippled it. The legislation includes a 13-year pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants here illegally.

The eight sponsors of the bill are predicting a hard fight to guide it through the thicket of amendments while maintaining bipartisan support in the fractious Senate. The measure appears to face even more resistance in the House of Representatives.

But the immigrant advocates said Mr. Obama could help the bill by taking a more forceful role, and argued that a halt to deportations would unleash a surge of popular support for the measure. White House officials have said the president is holding back to allow the senators who wrote the bill â€" including Senators Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, and Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York â€" to manage the delicate voting on the amendments.

On the advocates’ midday call with reporters, Yvette Martinez, who identified herself as a United States citizen from Springfield, Mass., said that her husband, Roger, had been deported to Honduras last week after a traffic stop. Ms. Martinez said her husband had no criminal record and would most likely have been eligible for legal status under the bill.

She said her 15-year-old son, also a United States citizen, was distraught about his stepfather’s expulsion. “I want to get my husband back,” she said. “I cry, my son cries, my family cries.”

Q&A: New Speeds for Old Machines

Q.

Will an 802.11ac-enabled router improve Wi-Fi speeds older computers? Or do the receiving machines need upgraded hardware to benefit from it?

A.

802.11ac, also known as “Gigabit Wi-Fi,” is the current Next Big Thing in wireless home networking. Compared with the 802.11n standard with its top speed of 450 megabits per second, data can theoretically move at 1.3 gigabits per second over an 802.11ac network; real-world speeds tend to be slower. Considered the fifth generation of Wi-Fi technology since 1997, the 802.11ac standard is also referred to as “5G Wi-Fi” by some companies, including Broadcom, a major chipmaker.

To take advantage of the promised “3x-faster” data speeds, you need compatible 802.11ac network adapters for the computers you want to use with the 802.11ac router. 802.11ac adapters are available from most companies that make networking gear; prices start around $50 for an adapter that plugs into the computer’s USB port. Buying a network adapter made by the same company that manufactured the router sometimes leads to an easier setup, but be sure to read the adapter’s system requirements to make sure it is compatible with your system before buying.

If you do not have 802.11ac adapters for your computers, they do not get the advantage of the router’s increased speeds. The 802.11ac standard uses the 5-gigahertz (GHz) radio frequency, but most new routers can also operate at the 2.4 GHz frequency as well, so devices using 802.11n and older wireless standards can still connect.

With its faster speeds, an 802.11ac network can better handle data-heavy chores like streaming high-definition video, copying large files or multiplayer gaming between computers and devices on the network. Internet download speeds, however, are still at the mercy of your broadband provider’s service and the Web sites you visit.

Q&A: New Speeds for Old Machines

Q.

Will an 802.11ac-enabled router improve Wi-Fi speeds older computers? Or do the receiving machines need upgraded hardware to benefit from it?

A.

802.11ac, also known as “Gigabit Wi-Fi,” is the current Next Big Thing in wireless home networking. Compared with the 802.11n standard with its top speed of 450 megabits per second, data can theoretically move at 1.3 gigabits per second over an 802.11ac network; real-world speeds tend to be slower. Considered the fifth generation of Wi-Fi technology since 1997, the 802.11ac standard is also referred to as “5G Wi-Fi” by some companies, including Broadcom, a major chipmaker.

To take advantage of the promised “3x-faster” data speeds, you need compatible 802.11ac network adapters for the computers you want to use with the 802.11ac router. 802.11ac adapters are available from most companies that make networking gear; prices start around $50 for an adapter that plugs into the computer’s USB port. Buying a network adapter made by the same company that manufactured the router sometimes leads to an easier setup, but be sure to read the adapter’s system requirements to make sure it is compatible with your system before buying.

If you do not have 802.11ac adapters for your computers, they do not get the advantage of the router’s increased speeds. The 802.11ac standard uses the 5-gigahertz (GHz) radio frequency, but most new routers can also operate at the 2.4 GHz frequency as well, so devices using 802.11n and older wireless standards can still connect.

With its faster speeds, an 802.11ac network can better handle data-heavy chores like streaming high-definition video, copying large files or multiplayer gaming between computers and devices on the network. Internet download speeds, however, are still at the mercy of your broadband provider’s service and the Web sites you visit.

Q.& A.: Hanging out on Google+

Q.

Is there a minimum broadband connection speed needed to get Google+ Hangouts to work properly?

A.

Google+ Hangouts, Google’s service for video chats and virtual meetings between two to 10 participants, does have some bandwidth requirements. As a general rule, the more people participating in the Hangout, the faster the connection you’ll need for consistent video quality.

If you and one other person are having a simple video chat, Google suggests at least a connection speed of at least 1 megabit-per-second (mbps) for streaming the video to and from the computer. The absolute minimum bandwidth requirements are listed as 256 kilobits-per-second (kbps) for data going from the computer and 512 kbps for streaming the data down to the machine. But the experience will probably be much better with faster connection speeds, like 1 mbps for outbound video and 2.5 mbps inbound to the computer.

If more than two people are participating in the Hangout, an outbound speed of 900 kbps is considered ideal, while inbound data speeds should be 2 mbps for five people in the Hangout, and up to 3 mbps for 10 people participating in the video conference. If you are unsure of your network connection speed, tester sites Speakeasy Speed Test, or similar offerings from your broadband provider, like Comcast’s speed-test page or Verizon’s own test page, can give you an idea.

In addition to video conferencing, Google+ Hangouts recently gained a new tool that can help with long-distance family computer support through the service. The Remote Desktop feature, which has been a Google Chrome browser extension for the past year or so, has been integrated into Google+ Hangouts. For more information on using the Remote Desktop tool with Google+, check out the guide on the PC World site.

The Early Word: Deeper

In Today’s Times

• The Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of small-government groups applying for tax-exempt status seems to have been an overtly ideological search for applicants seeking to “make America a better place to live” or “criticize how the country is being run,” Jonathan Weisman and Matthew L. Wald report. A lengthy investigation from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration is set for release this week.

•  The State Department board review of last year’s attack on a diplomatic outpost in Libya has become a focus as Republican lawmakers investigate the Obama administration’s handling of the episode, but board members decided it was not necessary to question Hillary Rodham Clinton, the secretary of state at the time, because the responsibility lay below her level, Peter Baker reports.

• Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, has solicited sizable donations from private entities as part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to ensure the success of President Obama’s health care law, Robert Pear reports. Senate Republicans are raising questions about the legality of her efforts, with one lawmaker saying that he would ask the Government Accountability Office to examine the propriety of the fund-raising efforts.

 Happening in Washington

• President Obama will meet with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain at the White House, followed by a joint news conference in the Rose Garden.