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News that's changing the Wireless World!
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Monday, June 28, 2004 |
Source: Wi-Fi Planet
iPAQ
Smartphone Approved by FCC
The FCC has approved Hewlett-Packard's first smartphone for release in the
United States, a quad-band GSM/GPRS Pocket PC-based Phone that integrates
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a digital camera.
Source
Link
11:34:50 AM 
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Source: InfoWorld
Sky Pilot hopes to head off
WiMax at the pass
Some proponents of WiMax wireless broadband technology see it as the next
Wi-Fi, with a high volume of chip sets cutting prices, but one equipment
vendor says it can already ride that wave, delivering relatively low-cost
gear with WiMax-like functionality using current chips built for Wi-Fi.
Source Link
11:34:47 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Proxim
Announces WiMax Plans
Working with Intel, the equipment provider plans to have 802.16-based
equipment eventually, but for today will settle for a mobility upgrade on
its existing proprietary wireless broadband units.
Source
Link
11:34:46 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Buffalo's AOSS Really
Is One Touch (But a Few Steps)
A few weeks ago, Buffalo mentioned that their AOSS (AirStation One-Tocuh
Secure System) was worth a look in light of security issues: I wasn't
dubious that AOSS worked, but a doubting Thomas wants to press the button
himself. The way that AOSS is supposed to work is that you install the Wi-Fi
card, install the client software, turn on and configure the base station,
and then press a button on the base station for a few seconds. This AOSS
button enables the negotiation mode. In the client software on your laptop,
you click the Profiles tab and click the AOSS button. Sit back and wait a
few minutes, and the connection is negotiated securely so that a mutually
agreed upon WPA key can be delivered to the client card. (The drawback: AOSS
works only with Buffalo equipment, and only certain devices, though that
list keeps growing.) My problems started immediately, as I was unable to get
the client software to properly recognize the Buffalo adapter. I tried
installing and uninstalling, disabling Wireless Zero Configuration, and the
usual troubleshooting. I even got a Buffalo technical support manager on the
phone who walked me through a number of steps. No luck. It turns out that
the eMachines laptop I was using already has a Broadcom-based Wi-Fi adapter
built in. I knew this, but I didn't know that the two sets of drivers would
interfere. Possibly something to do with NDIS 5.1, which makes all Wi-Fi
adapters look sort of similar to the system. An officemate brought in his
Dell laptop that lacked an internal Wi-Fi device, and I followed Buffalo's
manual. This time, no problem. There are about six steps that take you from
start to finish, but it's really one touch for the security portion....
Source Link
11:34:45 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Radiuz Combines
WPA-Enterprise with Free Access
Radiuz offers WPA-Enterprise logins to free networks at no charge: Radiuz is
a grand experiment in providing enterprise-scale security and encryption to
free networks. Any network that wants to use Radiuz's authentication has to
have an access point that handles pass-through 802.1X authentication, which
most consumer units do. The access point is configured to talk to Radiuz's
server, and that's it. Radiuz is using WPA-Enterprise, as the Wi-Fi Alliance
terms it, which is 802.1X port-based authentication coupled with WPA
encryption keys. Radiuz further layers PEAP (Protected EAP) on top to
provide a secure exchange of credentials with their server. Radiuz tries to
solve four interconnected problems with home and small-business networking.
First, security isn't tight enough: most home users leave encryption off
because it's annoying to manage. Second, even users who want to share their
network connection are slightly leery of letting anonymous folks onboard.
The development of NoCatAuth and LessNetworks's adaptation of that software
are both attempts to provide accountability--in the former case, through a
click-through terms of service; and adding user accounts in the latter case,
although the accounts are free. Third, WPA-Personal uses a static key for
all users, making it possible for one user with a WPA key to sniff the
traffic of any other user. Distributing a WPA-Personal key to "protect" a
network doesn't help protect it in that way. (A WPA key that's kept private
among a home or workgroup does, however.) Fourth, WPA-Enterprise is beyond
affordable for most smaller businesses, although products like Interlink
Network's LucidLink and Wireless Security Corporation's Wireless Security
Guard are steps in that direction. John Leibovitz is one of the founders of
Radiuz, and we spoke recently about the organization's goals. Leibovitz
describes Radiuz as a "cross between Wi-Fi and Friendster in a very kind of
loose way." He and his co-founder Stephen Robinson want to build a community
of registered users first and then see how to connect them. "The goal is
really to build up that network, and to think creatively beyond that about
how to make that economically sustaining," he said. Authentication will
always remain free, however. People who want to join the Radiuz network sign
up and receive information on how to configure their access point to use
Radiuz's servers. Users who want access to Radiuz authenticated networks
need to sign up out of band: you can't connect to the free network you need
credentials....
Source Link
11:34:43 AM
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Source: InfoWorld
WiMax starting to make its
move
With phones and LANs steadily going wireless and consumer electronics not
far behind, one part of the networked world - broadband to the home or
business - has stubbornly remained wired in most cases.
Source Link
11:34:41 AM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Wi-Fi Hot-Spot Finders
Looking for broadband? Check our list of hot-spot finders to find the
wireless hot spots nearest you.
Source Link
11:34:40 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Linksys Offers Range
Extender with Limits
Linksys's WRE54G is a logical repeater, listening to network traffic and
rebroadcasting it; but security options are lacking, advice is odd: The
description of this device contains slim information. As far as I can tell,
it's a Wi-Fi only logical repeater, meaning that it's using networking magic
to relay data. It can't be using Wireless Distribution System (WDS) because
Linksys notes it works with any 802.11b or g network. It must attach as a
client to an existing network and redistribute access as an access point
itself. This function is similar to Linksys's WET11 and WET54G, which bridge
Ethernet networks to any access point by simulating a client and
masquerading MAC addresses. The manual for this range extender mentions
multiple times in the first few pages of configuration advice that the range
extender is easier to use if you turn off WEP encryption--which is extremely
odd advice coming from a Wi-Fi equipment maker at this point in time. The
unit only supports WEP as an encryption option, meaning that more secured
networks that use WPA can't take advantage of range extension. The unit will
cost $99, but I'm not sure it's necessary except for legacy home networks.
For about $80 you can purchase a WRT54G, but Linksys has only enabled
wireless bridging as a fixed mode: that is, a WRT54G can't bridge and be an
access point at the same time. A similar unit from Buffalo, the WLA2-54G,
costs about $100 and like Apple's AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express Base
Stations, can serve clients while bridging to other gateways. If were
building a network from scratch that required bridging and I wanted WPA
security now, I'd choose Buffalo's gateway as the fundamental
element....
Source Link
11:34:34 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Amtrak's Stationary
Solution
Amtrak and AT&T Wireless put Wi-Fi hotspots in six Northeast train
stations: Boston (Router 128), Providence, New York (Penn Station),
Philadelphia (30th Street), Wilmington, and Baltimore (Penn Station) have
Wi-Fi service starting today, according to the press release. These stations
process a million passengers a day. It's $10 per day per location--unlike
T-Mobile's $10 per day throughout the network fee. They also offer a 5-pack
($30 or $6 a session) and a 10-pack ($50 or $5 a session). Business
subscribers only who already participate in AT&T Wireless's "Corporate
Digital Advantage and Wireless Business Advantage" plans can purchase
unlimited monthly service for $40 per month to supplement voice plans or $35
per month to supplement data plans. Roaming wasn't mentioned. This pricing
is clearly out of whack with the current trends, and should dramatically
suppress usage unless AT&T Wireless is also aggressively promoting
resale. Given that competitor T-Mobile is offering all you can eat Wi-Fi at
$20 per month for all existing voice customers, not just business plan
customers, AT&T Wireless may have misgauged the price sensitivity in the
field....
Source Link
11:34:32 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Community Wireless
Summit Announced
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will host the 2004 National
Summit for Community Wireless Aug. 20-22: The event is organized by CUWiN
(C-U Community Wireless Network) which is working on an open-source mesh
project, and Prairienet, with the help of other groups and individuals.
Their goal is 100 attendees from across the U.S., and they're attempting to
raise funds for travel stipends for groups that would otherwise be unable to
afford to send a representative. The mission is statement is that the
conference will focus on grassroots action, impacting national regulations
and policies, and building a coalition of local groups, researchers, policy
leaders, decision-makers, and community activists. The cost is low: $30 for
students and low-income; $75 for all others. They're encouraging press to
attend, as well....
Source Link
11:34:24 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
iPass Pushes
802.1X
The aggregator will demonstrate its existing 802.1X authentication ability
in coexistence with its own Generic Interface Specification for
hotspots.
Source
Link
11:34:23 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
iPass Shows 802.1X
under Standard Reference Platform
iPass has demonstrated its client connecting over 802.1X on a hotspot
front-end that supports the Generic Interface Specification (GIS) which
allows co-exists with browser page logins: This marks a big leap forward in
security of local network links in public places. By providing the
iPassConnect client with the ability to use secured 802.1X/EAP transactions
to gain access to a hotspot network, iPass customers can have a unique key
assigned to their network link. This prevents sniffers from using the
wireless side of the network to snoop on traffic. iPass developed GIS as a
way of securing an authentication session, but the more generic 802.1X
protocol coupled with secured EAP is a simpler and more industry standard
way to provide access to a Wi-Fi network. iPass's demo shows that GIS,
802.1X, and browser-based logins can co-exist which makes it easier for
hotspot operators to migrate customers over time to more secure logins and
sessions. The weak link in 802.1X/EAP is that while it provides a unique
encryption key to each user in its most useful form, because users are then
routed onto a wired network to reach the Internet, if a user can join the
network, they can still sniff bridged traffic from the wired side because
they're part of the local area network. Some access points can be configured
to disable LAN access and only allow Wi-Fi clients to reach the wide area
network or Internet feed....
Source Link
11:34:22 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
AirWave Signs
Universities from Coast to Coast
AirWave Wireless's tool for managing large-scale access point deployments
has signed 10 major universities: A little indulgence here, but my alma
mater (Yale) and my hometown university (University of Oregon) are both on
the list of 10 universities that AirWave will provide their management
platform to. AirWave's approach allows heterogeneous enterprise APs from
many major manufacturers to be used on a single network and managed with a
single interface. If you're all Cisco or all Proxim, you might choose their
expensive, exclusive management consoles. Or, you can opt for AirWave and
have more flexibility about mixing and matching equipment that can be
monitored and configured centrally. A tool like this helps commoditize
enterprise hardware by allowing a level playing field for equipment from
many vendors--including those that don't offer a central management
system....
Source Link
11:34:20 AM
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Source: Scripting.com
Gizmodo on Nokia's new
phones. I wonder if Russ changes
his advice on the next cell phone this newbie
should get.
11:34:09 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Broadband over
Powerline Moves into Real Trials
Bits over juice starts to take off in trials, though its future is still
uncertain: A Washington state public utility is working with a private
Internet provide in an inexpensive 60-day trial to see how well BPL actually
works, and whether customers will find it interesting. Nationwide, a few
dozen trials have about 2,000 actual customers. The future of the technology
depends on the real cost and the real speed when it's deployed in the field.
Unlike unloaded copper wire, which has known properties, the numbers of
systems and the distances involved in BPL add variables that need
performance testing. Broadband has to avoid truck rolls to houses to keep
costs affordable....
Source Link
11:34:06 AM
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Monday, June 14, 2004 |
Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Take a
MIMO
The advanced antenna technology -- using multiple data streams to push Wi-Fi
speeds up to 108Mbps -- may be available in products as soon as next
month.
Source
Link
9:12:52 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
If It's Free, Will No
One Pay?
TechDirt briefly dissects Associated Press story that points out no one
(that they talked to) is profitable in the hotspot business: We try not to
be defenders of the flame here at Wi-Fi Networking News, but examine news
stories and company announcements as well as hardware and software with some
degree of objectivity tempered by experience. The AP article isn't
inaccurate, but we'd rather point to TechDirt's brief dissection of it than
the original story because the premise is flawed. It's abundantly clear
after the events of the last couple of months--not to mention years--that
there is no such thing as a standalone Wi-Fi hotspot business. I'll beat the
drum that Sky Dayton first stretched the deer hide over back in Dec. 2001:
the business of selling hotspot access is a different business than signing
contacts with venues and installing hardware and running a network.
Wayport's ongoing transformation from 2000 to present from a customer-facing
organization into a customer and reseller-facing group into a pure wholesale
managed services and network operator demonstrates most clearly that
standalone hotspot operators are and were a temporary phenomenon. The
networks that remain will eventually derive the majority of their income
from either roaming users from their reseller partners, from managed
services for venues that want to handle their own billing or be part of a
larger network, or from the per-venue/per-month fees that Wayport is
promoting as the model to build larger audiences. The AP story is prescient
in that the idea of there being a "Wi-Fi hotspot business" has practically
become passé already. Mass-market companies like cell operators, cable
system owners, telcos, warehouse membership clubs, and other groups with
millions of customers will be most people's experience with hotspot service
in the future....
Source Link
7:19:12 AM
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Sunday, June 13, 2004 |
Source: eWEEK Technology News
Skeptics Question Wi-Fi's Viability
Alas, wireless Internet may not be the technology sector's salvation after
all. Small companies, some publicly traded, are burning cash trying to turn
Wi-Fi into viable business. Some have already shut down.
Source Link
10:51:52 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Faster WLAN in the Works
Even without an official IEEE blessing, faster multisignal WLAN technology
is on tap from one Silicon Valley developer, while several large chip makers
test the waters.
Source Link
9:50:52 PM
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Source: Scripting.com
Terry Heaton: "The
Federal Communications Commission yesterday took the first step towards
reassigning frequencies to enable high-speed, wireless broadband in the
US."
10:07:02 AM
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Friday, June 11, 2004 |
Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Airgo Has
Manufacturers for Its MIMO
Airgo will be the first company to the hit the market with multiple-in,
multiple-out wireless systems for consumers: The MIMO approach has started
to achieve traction, with it likely being the basis for 802.11n, a
high-throughput IEEE standard in progres. When you build antennas and
wireless access points, you can increase signal strength, decrease noise
inside the chips, or improve antennas--or all three, among other technqiues.
By integrating the signal from several antennas, MIMO effectively increases
the range through better receptivity and interpretation. It's all
interrelated. While Airgo has received plenty of press, so did Vivato and
Etherlinx, both of which firms have had rocky roads on their way to
production units which didn't seem to live up to early expectations. Airgo,
however, has continued to pursue its same initial goals, and products will
start appearing through distributor and manufacturing partners in July,
according to the News.com article. In an interview in April with CEO Greg
Raleigh, he told Wi-Fi Networking News that consumer products based on
Airgo's first generation might cost a bit more--possibly $50 more for an
access point--but offer such a greater range even in the Wi-Fi bands that a
user might need a single access points instead of two or three, a common
problem for even moderately large or old homes. Raleigh also said that while
their current generation of product handles 802.11g and its own 100+ Mbps
proprietary flavor, he expects the next generation to offer multiples of
that speed. Airgo's 100+ Mbps offering has a net throughput of 45 Mbps, he
said....
Source Link
5:56:22 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Le Wi-Fi Bus in
Paris
Paris transportation authority working on Wi-Fi-enabled buses: They're
demonstrating the bus at an exhibition, and have a trial planned on a
north/south Paris route. The buses will connect at higher speeds when they
pass or stop near Wi-Fi gateways, and drop to GPRS in transit....
Source Link
10:19:13 AM
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Thursday, June 10, 2004 |
Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Ferry Test Shows Wi-Fi
in Motion
Washington state ferries will have Wi-Fi by summer: It's been a while
coming, but a small firm in picturesque Port Townsend ran their first
full-scale test between that town and nearby Keystone, one of the shorter
ferry runs. The system uses 5 GHz (possibly 802.11a) signals from ship to
shore, and 802.11a/b/g on board. By summer, two heavy commuter runs for
Bainbridge Island and Kingston will have the service in addition to the
Keystone/PT route; by fall, the third heaviest single run, Seattle to
Bremerton, will be added. The article lists the actual ferries that will be
equipped. Even as a local, I'm not sure how many ferries run or in what
rotation on each route, but it appears to be about all of the regular ships.
Nearly half of the ferry systems' 5.1 million passengers handled in the
first quarter of 2004--remember, this is the largest ferry system in the
world--are served by the first three lines that will be equipped. Another 10
percent more will be added with the fall run. The first three runs have
crossings of about 30 minutes; the Bremerton run is about 60 minutes.
Service will be free until fall, when a price for service will be
set....
Source Link
11:27:13 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Man pleads guilty to
wireless hack into stores
BOSTON - A Michigan man pleaded guilty on Friday to four counts of wire
fraud and unauthorized access to a computer after he and two accomplices
used a vulnerable wireless network at a Lowe's Companies Inc. store in
Michigan to attempt to steal credit card numbers from the company's main
computer systems in North Carolina and other Lowe's stores in the U.S.
Source Link
9:13:42 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Arenas and Stadiums
Adopt Wi-Fi
Charlotte Bobcats are latest sports venue to offer Wi-Fi to fans: As venues
remodel or try to appear more au courant, Wi-Fi becomes a necessity. But
even the chief information officer of the SF Giants worries that people
might bring too much work to the game. About 200 fans use the Giants
currently free Wi-Fi network per game. The ultimate goal: delivery of
exclusive replays and angles to those attending....
Source Link
7:20:03 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Confusion surrounds
Cisco-Linksys wireless hole
A report last week about a security hole in a wireless broadband router made
by Cisco Systems Inc.'s Linksys division overstated the severity of the
vulnerability, according to the man who first warned of the problem.
Source Link
5:28:12 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Austin Wireless
Juggernaut Continues to Roll Through the Press
If you haven't read enough about Richard MacKinnon yet, just click:
MacKinnon is now officially ubiquitous, along with many other members of
Less Networks and Austin Wireless City, through this extensive, multi-story
coverage in the Austin Chronicle about the efforts that lead to the current
free movement in that city, and how it's proceeding through cooperation with
commercial entities, retail establishments, and the city. MacKinnon is a
civic booster of the finest order: he doesn't talk and hold meetings--he
builds. Zane McCarthy of Austin Unleashed (inset) is interviewed alongside
his pal Bruce Sterling: McCarthy couples an interest in the community side
with business-grade installation and support. This takes some load off
volunteers and provides businesses who want someone they can pay to worry
about their problems with an outlet....
Source Link
5:28:11 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
FCC Restructures
Crucial Band
Steve Stroh says today's FCC reworking of the MMDS/ITFS band makes sense,
but will be for naught: Read Daily Wireless's explanation of the move for
details, but broadly, almost 200 MHz of sweet-spot spectrum in the 2.5 to
2.7 GHz range that's been carved up and relicensed in unpleasantly small and
low-utility ways will be restructured for more utility and continuity. Stroh
notes, however, that the FCC has opted out of the process by which the
transition of existing users will take place. This means that the owners and
users of the band have to figure it out. Stroh feels that currently
deploying fixed broadband wireless companies have a huge advantage over
those that were expecting to carve out new space in this band. Stroh also
expects this entire band to go license-exempt within 10 years. Daily
Wireless remarks that the 6 MHz sub-bands in the revision fits cellular 3G's
needs. In the CDMA world, 1x = 1.25 MHz, as in 1xRTT and 1xEv-DO; 3x = 5
MHz. The service currently hosts a very small number of actually
instructional television broadcasters, and they'll have new contiguous
channels to use....
Source Link
5:28:10 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
AirDefense Finds Wi-Fi
Planet Riddled with Insecure Users, Crackers
AirDefense monitors traffic as a sponsor at trade show and produces its
regular report of horrors: In a press release not yet posted at its site,
AirDefense said that in the most recent Wi-Fi Planet conference run by
Jupitermedia, which concluded today in Baltimore, they found instances
running of new cracker tools. The intrusion monitoring company noted eight
devices running Hotspotter, eight running Airsnarf, and 12 soft APs. (They
didn't note whether other intrusion monitoring firms might have been running
any instances of these packages to demonstrate the flaws, however.)
Hotspotter uses a Windows XP (pre-service pack 1, apparently) flaw that
allows it to force a Windows XP client to reassociate with a laptop running
Hotspotter to scan the computer. Soft APs are access points running on a
laptop that can be used to the same effect simply by using names identical
to existing networks. Airsnarf automates password extraction on networks to
which a computer is connected. The company also found a small host of MAC
address spoofs, invalid MAC addresses, and ad hoc networks, while witnessing
several denial of service attacks. There was also plenty of unsecured
traffic running over the Wi-Fi network among what should have been a fairly
sophisticated user base....
Source Link
5:28:09 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Wireless VOIP Not Ready for Prime Time
Networking and telecom executives at the VON Europe show say that voice over
wireless LAN technology must surmount a number of problems before it can
live up to its potential.
Source Link
5:28:06 PM
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Source: C|Net
BT plans universal
broadband
U.K. telecommunications provider will transform its infrastructure so that
customers get instant broadband access anywhere over a range of devices.
Source Link
5:28:04 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
WiFi Seeker Nears
Shipping Date
WiFi Seeker ships June 15, company says : In Thursday's New York Times, I
write about the WiFi Seeker, a small Wi-Fi signal sniffer that produced the
most page views of any article ever on Wi-Fi Networking News. The company
says that they plan to ship the $29.95 device to individual customers
starting June 15. If you order at least 250 orders, you can customize the
unit with your logo....
Source Link
5:27:59 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Mount Hope Brings
Service to Individual Residents
As this article notes, most "digital divide" spanning efforts put computers
and access into common spaces; Mount Hope is trying one-to-one: Using wires
and wireless, a South Bronx community development group will bring Internet
access to the 1,250 units in 32 buildings in a half-mile radius that they
operate. Service may cost as little as $7 a month and be folded into the
cost of rent. Half the residents have computers; the rest can purchase them
from a Bronx firm that refurbishes used machines....
Source Link
5:27:58 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Arrest warrant issued
for former Symbol CEO
The U.S. Attorney's office has issued an arrest warrant for the former chief
executive officer of WLAN vendor Symbol Technologies, who is believed to
have fled the country following fraud charges leveled last week against him
and seven other former Symbol executives.
Source Link
5:27:57 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Ellsworth, Maine, Has
Downtown Hotzone
Downeast Wireless has installed service throughout the Ellsworth downtown:
Subscribers to Downeast.Net get 10 free hours per month; those from away
spend $10 for 10-hour chunks of time. The coverage extends existing service
in and around municipal buildings to the library and nearby businesses. The
provider makes space available in its office for its users, too, during its
weekday business hours--unique in my experience. The folks who run
Downeast.Net have long roots in the area that involve more convention radio
broadcasting on the FM dial. Local resident Noel Paul Stookey--he's the Paul
in Peter, Paul, and Mary--is one of the firm's owner, along with Don and
Jean McKillop....
Source Link
5:27:56 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Portland's Mayor of
Wi-Fi
Local paper covers Portland's Personal Telco community wireless project,
focusing on its lead booster, Nigel Ballard: The article in Willamette Week
presents a comprehensive look at Personal Telco's efforts to date. It
examines Nigel's work on the Box, an education-consortium-funded pastiche of
back-haul, front-haul, and mesh that could be a tool for free wireless in
urban cities as well as Internet access in remote reaches of the world. The
article looks into how municipal Wi-Fi in Portland might challenge
entrenched commercial interests, as well. Two coffeeshop businesses that
offer free Wi-Fi with Personal Telco's help clearly see an effect. Both
report a new audience of regulars who spend money. Nigel is a frequent
correspondent to this site, always providing interesting insight into the
what's coming next. The article doesn't even mention that his past and
current day job has been to build commercial Wi-Fi networks at hotels and
elsewhere. There's too much to say about the public efforts....
Source Link
5:27:55 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
VX Analyzes
Voice
WildPackets says the release of AiroPeek VX means admins can now do full
analysis of up to 100 voice over wireless LAN calls in real-time.
Source
Link
5:27:53 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Hospital Provides
Patients, Visitors with Wi-Fi
Mountain View, Calif., hospital offers free Wi-Fi: For now, service is free
for everyone, but visitors will probably be charged $3 per day starting in
September. The service will expand to include bedside computers between 2007
and 2009 when a new hospital opens. For now, customers must bring their own
computers or handhelds. A filter will prevent access to what the hospital
considers is inappropriate content. As more diseases become managed instead
of fatal, more people than ever before will feel fine and be productive
members of society, but forced to spend large amounts of time in outpatient
care. I've spent many hours on two occasions in the last year in an
outpatient surgery waiting room, and while the surgery itself wasn't
life-threatening, there's nothing worse than idle hands when you have no
information....
Source Link
5:27:51 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Aggregators Counts
Require a Close Look
Aggregators and resellers of hotspot access are likely to rise to more
prominence as roaming becomes de rigeur, but how many locations do they
offer, anyway? Three companies dominate hotspot aggregation and reselling:
iPass, GoRemote (formerly GRIC), and Boingo Wireless. The former two work
almost entirely with large corporations, offering a combination of dial-up,
wired Ethernet (in hotel rooms and elsehwere), and Wi-Fi hotspots. Boingo
resells just hotspot access. None of the three build infrastructure; Boingo
does offer turnkey hotspots for venues that want to be Boingo-only
locations. A question has been raised many times over the last several
months about how hotspot operators and aggregators count their locations.
Even companies that don't resell, like SBC, have adopted terminology that
isn't entirely clear. SBC talks about 20,000 access points and 6,000
locations over a few years--but why mention access points or individual
pieces of hardware at all? To produce a comprehensive list and a spot check
of counts across each aggregator, I downloaded the free client software
either directly from the company, in Boingo and iPass's case, or through a
reseller that provides up-to-date listings, in the case of GoRemote. A few
days ago, I updated the listings for all the software. I was able to extract
the directory information for iPass and GoRemote; it's stored in plain text
in a clearly labeled file. Boingo uses a database structure that's password
protected, and so I turned to their Web site's location finder to get
accurate results. First, let's look at how each company states their current
pool of hotspots venues. The tricky starting point is that many hotel
locations that are aggregated by Wi-Fi-only Boingo are, in fact, mostly or
entirely Ethernet based. Newer or revamped installations typically feature
Wi-Fi in common areas and Ethernet to the room, although more hotels are
switching to or choosing all Wi-Fi. So you can't entirely split out wired
from wireless locations. iPass states that worldwide they have over 10,000
Wi-Fi hotspot and Ethernet broadband locations. Boingo Wireless notes that
they have 6,000 locations under contract, and 3,300 live worldwide. GoRemote
says it connects to 7,800 Wi-Fi hotspots in 45 countries and territories and
1,391 Hotel Ethernet locations in 27 countries. Next, I took all of GoRemote
and iPass's information and loaded into a flat database fielded by their
particular values so that I could examine apples-to-apples information. I
used Boingo's Web site and...
Source Link
5:27:50 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
The Key to the
Wi-Fi
Pronto Networks and partner Sweet Spot have introduced a brandable 'Internet
Key' to authenticate users in corporate networks or hotspots.
Source
Link
5:27:48 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Rest Stop Hotspot Deep
in the Heart of Texas
Texas Department of Transportation puts Wi-Fi into all of its rest stops:
The service was put into trial in the panhandle at three locations. It's now
soliciting bids for 84 rest areas and 12 information centers. The service
will be free, and they hope to have Internet kiosks that will charge a small
fee for use. Part of the thinking is that providing this service will
encourage travelers to make more frequent stops which could reduce the
incidence of accidents due to fatigue....
Source Link
5:27:47 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Faster Bluetooth on Deck
The Bluetooth SIG has developed a higher-speed version of the wireless
technology that should hit the market next year.
Source Link
5:27:46 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
RADIUS without Tears
from LucidLink
InterLink introduces cheap, easy-to-administer, single-minded authentication
server with WPA and 802.1X/EAP-TLS support: RADIUS is expensive and
complicated. Small businesses either can't afford the server software or the
staff to support it. InterLink is trying to reduce the cost of providing a
secure Wi-Fi network by introducing its LucidLink client and server software
that has one. Unlike robust, multi-purpose RADIUS servers, LucidLink
authenticates in one way for one purpose. LucidLink's client software
manages certificates used with EAP-TLS, the most secure method of
out-of-band messaging for the authentication portion of joining a Wi-Fi
network using 802.1X. With EAP-TLS, the certificate on the client machine
assures the server of the correct identity. LucidLink uses WPA for keying
material. It supports certain releases of Windows XP and 2000. LucidLink is
the flip side of the coin from Wireless Security Corporation's out-of-house
solution. WSC runs its RADIUS system as a managed service over the Internet,
charging $4 to $5 per user per month. InterLink's server will cost $449 for
10 users and a lower per-user cost for higher quantities, and requires a
Windows 2000 or 2003 server. The client software is nominally free, but the
license for users resides on the server side....
Source Link
5:27:44 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Computer Scientists
Can Turn Linux into Greedy Wi-Fi Consumer
Swiss computer scientists demonstrate that a simple change in a Linux
protocol's code lets that box suck more Wi-Fi juice: Their hack causes a
Linux system to push aside other users of the same Wi-Fi network. While the
hack can be detected over the network through intrusion or monitoring
systems--including a tool that the inventors have patented called
Domino--other computer scientists suggested that there are many other
methods to "misbehave."...
Source Link
5:27:42 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
USB Key Replaces
Gateway Login
Pronto Networks introduces USB key to allow secure login without passwords:
Pronto's Internet Key lets a user plug in this small device into a USB port
to authenticate themselves over a Pronto-based network. The release doesn't
mention what software is required to use the system, which was co-developed
with Sweet Spot Solutions. While this is an idea that's been churning for a
while--Microsoft is working on something of this sort, for instance--it's
problematic when it's a single-vendor solution. Think about the grocery
store affinity programs: how many cards do you have to carry to get the best
price if a single store isn't convenient to you? My mother-in-law has a
dangly array of those, which are capable of being managed, but not ideal.
So, too, would a USB-based authentication system quickly get out of hand if
you needed to carry a separate key for each system you might use. The best
solution will be something akin to a SIM card as used in GSM phones, which
has already been successfully tested as a method of secure authentication
across a Wi-Fi network to a back-end cellular accounting system. Instead of
a single key for each system, carry a USB key with either biometric
(fingerprint) or password-based strong encrypted for mounting that contains
a variety of certificates for use with an 802.1X EAP-TLS system. Even
better, embed Secure ID into the USB key so that its ever-changing number is
visible. This would provide yet another level of security: stealing the
certificate and the username/password doesn't gain access without the Secure
ID number. These kinds of authentication systems don't need to be baroque,
and different networks might require different levels of security. But there
should be checks and balances so that the theft of a string of data (like a
certificate) or a piece of hardware (like a USB key) doesn't jeopardize the
integrity of network....
Source Link
5:27:41 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Seattle Councilman
Urges Unwired City
Jim Compton suggests Seattle should move from most wired to most unwired
city: The councilman is starting a task force today to discuss how to move
forward. Seattle's topology makes it problematic to offer city-wide
coverage, and there are issues of competitiveness with broadband providers
and enablers, like Qwest, DSL, Comcast, and Speakeasy. I'm entirely in favor
of this model of promoting competition. A city has certain inherent monopoly
abilities that make it easier to work with utilities and gain access to
spaces. But they also have higher costs, union issues, and other details
that make it hard for them to be entirely fleet. Another player in the
market can always help, however, by making the pool of customers larger.
[via Brian Chin]...
Source Link
5:27:40 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Cometa's Clock Running
Down
Tully's hotspots, at least, say June 18 is their last day: Steve Stroh and I
separately discovered that if you log into a Cometa hotspots at Tully's
Coffee in Seattle, your splash screen notes that the service is free but
that it will be shutting down June 18. In previous articles, Tully's and
other Cometa customers were scrambling for a replacement, and Cometa said it
would try to help its venues move to other networks....
Source Link
5:27:39 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Wi-Fi Stock
Portfolio
Forbes looks at which stocks relate to Wi-Fi: In a brief analysis coupled by
a table, Forbes examines whether Wi-Fi has forward growth and which
companies could capitalize on that growth. The writer has a wonderful mot
juste on 3G cellular's limit: As demand for 3G picks p, so will demand for
Wi-Fi. Reason: In very dense areas 3G networks slow to a crawl. Another
reason, not mentioned? Upload speeds for domestic US 3G networks will be no
faster than about 50 Kbps on average, regardless of download speeds until at
least 2006. Qualcomm has technology up its sleeve that would allow more
symmetrical high-speed 3G networks, but its not scheduled for deployed, and
adoption isn't fast, as we've seen, of new flavors....
Source Link
5:27:38 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
As Airport Wi-Fi Use
Grows, So Does Coordination
The Wall Street Journal reports on airports' increased control of the
unlicensed airwaves in their confines: This is both an old and new story.
Airports started demanding control years ago, but it's a slow boil as
existing lease agreements expire and are revised, and as airports start to
see the full revenue and logistics potential of having ubiquitous Wi-Fi for
passengers, themselves, and their airline and concessionaire tenants. What's
most interesting in this piece is that airlines and other airport
"customers" are starting to push back, given that Wi-Fi works in an
unlicensed band. The writer notes, If an airline's Wi-Fi hardware isn't
compatible with an airport-installed network, the carrier would have to buy
a whole new system. This isn't quite it: Wi-Fi hardware all works with other
Wi-Fi hardware. What she means becomes clear in the next paragraph when
talking about UPS, which employs a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that
might not work within all Wi-Fi networks....
Source Link
5:27:36 PM
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Source: Scripting.com
Boston's Logan Airport now has wireless. "The Logan
Wi-Fi system is available in nearly all public areas of Terminals B, C, D &
E." $7.95 for 24 hours.
5:27:33 PM
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Source: Scripting.com
Wired:
"From fancy hotels to fast-food joints, the number of venues offering
high-speed wireless Internet access is expected to grow at a heady clip this
year. But industry analysts aren't expecting laptop users and their credit
cards to follow."
5:27:32 PM
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Source: Wired.com
Wi-Fi: If
Not Free, Then How?
Commercial Wi-Fi networks haven't had an easy time convincing customers to
pay daily or hourly fees for broadband. Following the closure of one of the
industry's larger players, survivors may need new pricing schemes. By Joanna
Glasner.
Source
Link
5:27:31 PM
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Source: Wired.com
Apple Pumps
Music Through Air
The new AirPort Express portable Wi-Fi base station doubles as a wireless
receiver for home stereos. It's an intriguing package of electronics,
analysts say. By Leander Kahney.
Source Link
5:27:30 PM
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Source: Computer World
Jobs unveils AirPort Express
AirPort Express is a small mobile 802.11g-based wireless networking base
station that comes equipped with a combination analog and digital audio
connector.
Source Link
5:27:28 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Hapless Wi-Fi Crackers
Head to Pokey
Crackers who break into Lowe's over-exposed Wi-Fi network start pleading:
The first two members of a three-man ring have agreed to plea bargains in a
case that revealed how poor Lowe's external wireless LAN security was. While
there's no excuse for cracking, Lowe's network allowed them to gain access
at several locations, at which point these three allegedly (two have
stipulated, one is still alleged) installed credit-card capturing software
among other acts. Lowe's security team noticed the activity, monitored it,
and worked with police to stage the arrests. Sentencing is yet to come, and
the third man will be arraigned later this month. Interestingly, the plea
bargain includes their cooperation in explaining what they did. That's
surely not useful at this point: eight months after the attacks, you have to
hope that Lowe's has completely overhauled every element of their
external-facing systems and intrusion detection monitoring....
Source Link
5:27:26 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
New Apple Gizmo Combines WiFi, iTunes, Printing
Apple Computer did it again on Monday, combining 802.11g wireless, a USB
print server, a WiFi repeater and bridge, and the ability to stream music
wirelessly to consumer-electronic equipment.
Source Link
5:27:25 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Reviews Finds All
Speed Boosted 802.11g Gateways Perform the Same
So much for hype: Becky Waring gets to the heart of performance in 802.11g
gateways with proprietary speed boosting extensions in PC World: Waring
performs real-world tests of units from D-Link (Super G), Buffalo
(AfterBurner), and Cisco (SpeedBooster). She saw no interference between
Atheros's Super G technology and Broadcom's AfterBurner. All three units
produce throughput in the 22 to 24 Mbps range in her testing, versus about
18 Mbps for plain G. The top of the range offers significant improvement --
33 percent--but it may still not be enough to warrant spending a few more
dollars for....
Source Link
5:27:24 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Apple Raises Bar on
Portability, Price, and Features in a Home Gateway
AirPort Express from Apple puts audio, print spooler, bridging, and Ethernet
in one tiny package: Apple has released a seven-ounce home Wi-Fi gateway
that's barely larger than a power adapter. The AirPort Express works with
any Wi-Fi device, but it particularly supports streaming music through a
built-in analog and digital audio jack and USB printer spooling through a
built-in USB port on certain later release of Mac OS X and Windows XP and
2000. The small device runs 802.11g with full WPA support, and handles
bridging via Wireless Distribution System (WDS). Apple guarantees WDS will
work only with its own devices. The AirPort Express can act as an access
point and bridge at the same time. Apple's free iTunes software for Mac and
Windows will have a small update this week to handle choosing a particular
AirPort Express base station's attached stereo or powered speakers. The
AirPort Express raises the bar on features, as it combines print spooling,
audio streaming, and WDS in one form factor. Similar features are available
from many other manufacturers, but typically only as a single device
(audio/photo/MPEG streaming only) or with limitations, like Linksys's WRT54G
which can either bridge or be an AP, but not both. It remains to be seen
whether Apple can find a broader audience for its product with a $129 price
tag when it ships in July, but its combination of portability and plugs
might push it into the forefront of both the home market and the roaming
traveler's world....
Source Link
5:27:22 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
The Cows Says,
Mooooove it by Wi-Fi
GPS, Wi-Fi, shock collars combine to make a movable virtual cow fence: It's
a little strange, but cow-herding-by-wire (or by wireless) might become a
way to manage long herds. A collar with an embedded GPS and Wi-Fi and the
ability to make sounds or produce shocks could allow a farmer to wrassle
cattle virtually, avoiding more expensive management techniques. The Wi-Fi
is used to convey GPS coordinates. Solar-powered Wi-Fi hubs could handle
relying information back to a central control....
Source Link
5:27:19 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
TeliaSonera Adds
Portugal to Roaming
The Europeans call it football, but it's still football fever: Sweden and
Finland's combined telecom giant TeliaSonera has extended its extensive
roaming agreements by adding 200 hotspots in Portugal that are part of the
PT Wi-Fi and TMN networks just in time for the Euro2004 soccer (US)/football
(everywhere else) championship. HomeRun users now can access 6,500 hotspots
in Europe through roaming agreements, although it's wise to note that that's
a single login, but not a single fee: roaming fees are involved for all
non-TeliaSonera locations, which now number 700 in its two home
countries....
Source Link
5:27:15 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
SBC Joins
Wi-Fi World
Wayport's flat-rate hotspot program that launches with McDonald's this year
has its first partner, SBC Communications.
Source
Link
5:27:14 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Yes, SBC is Wayport's
First Wi-Fi World Partner
The official press release comes a few hours later than the New York Times
story which had a side mention of the deal: Wayport's Wi-Fi World model
gains immediate traction with the partnership of SBC, which offers phone and
data service across 13 states. In the Wi-Fi World model (explained here),
Wayport charges a fixed monthly fee per location in their retail venue
network to each reseller. SBC hired Wayport as a managed services provider
to build out their own unique FreedomLink network. This deal puts SBC front
and foremost as the first to resell under Wi-Fi World, but also the first to
participate on the back-end of Wi-Fi World, too, as a network provider.
Wayport said during its briefing on Wi-Fi World that network providers who
chose to participate in marketing opportunities would pay Wayport a monthly
fee, reducing the cost of network service. So with Wayport working in
several different ways with SBC, most of which are non-exclusive or at least
non-restrictive against future reseller and network partnerships, they've
kept their per-location costs extremely low in SBC's territory. Wayport's
CEO said two weeks ago that with a single reseller and with McDonald's
arrangement to also pay fixed per-location management fees, they were
already at break-even for the network's cost. SBC's resale of Wayport's
network in incremental to The UPS Store partnership, so that FreedomLink
customers will get both McDonald's and UPS Store venues for the $19.95 per
month unlimited usage fee. The press release reiterates that SBC DSL
subscribers will receive a "significant" discount on this price later this
year. In a Reuters story about this deal, SBC notes that they are selling
3,000 Wi-Fi gateways per day as part of their promotion to home
users....
Source Link
5:27:13 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Improving the
Single-Chip
Philips improves on its all-in-one Wi-Fi chip by reducing the size, cutting
the number of components, and introducing Bluetooth co-existence
features.
Source
Link
5:27:12 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
A Position for
Management
Location-aware product maker Newbury Networks is bringing its patented
abilities to a new product that goes beyond the niche of data push and
security, into WLAN control and management.
Source
Link
5:27:11 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
A WiMax
Update
There's a new working group, new members of the forum -- and some
clarifications on the different markets for 802.16-based wireless.
Source
Link
5:27:09 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Instant RADIUS
for SMBs
802.1X/RADIUS server maker Interlink -- a company usually tackling
enterprise-wide wireless security -- has a new offering promising the same
level of security for small businesses.
Source
Link
5:27:08 PM
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Source: Wired.com
Little
Brothers Like IP Cameras
New surveillance cameras allow anyone with a broadband internet connection
to keep a 24-hour watch on nearly anything -- from anywhere. Parents can
monitor kids, the boss can keep an eye on the office.
Source
Link
5:27:07 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
SBC Is Wayport's
Partner?
NY Times slips that SBC is Wayport's first reseller partner for Wi-Fi World:
In a by-the-numbers piece questioning whether free Wi-Fi hotspots were
challenging for-fee hotspots, Matt Richtel doesn't mention Wayport by name,
focusing instead on T-Mobile. We've heard quite a bit of this before, but
usually involving more sweeping free service, such as that offered by hotel
chains (wired and Wi-Fi), or the model promoted by Austin Wireless City or
NewburyOpen.net. The writer says that Cometa went out of business because it
was not providing a suitable return to investors. I disagree. Cometa stated,
and several sources confirmed for me, that it was unable to raise additional
funds from new investors. AT&T and IBM, cited as part of the financing,
never invested serious money. Richtel gets to the heart of it when he quotes
a Wi-Fi user at a free location saying, he would consider subscribing to a
Wi-Fi plan if there were a provider that offered universal access to hot
spots everywhere. Bingo. I'll reiterate my Yogi Berraism: in the future,
unlimited national Wi-Fi will be free and it will cost $20 per month. Either
you'll pay nothing and deal with any of the potential downsides of relying
on service that's based on the returns in that model, or you (or more
likely, your employer) will pay a flat $20 per month for unlimited access
across all U.S. networks. But the key hidden fact in this story is in the
last few paragraphs, when Richtel tips that SBC, which has hired Wayport to
unwire its The UPS Store partner locations and manage them, will be
Wayport's first Wi-Fi World customer, even though Wayport and Wi-Fi World
aren't mentioned by name. In the Wi-Fi World model, Wayport is reselling
access to McDonald's locations on a fixed rate per month. The article says
SBC will offer unlimited service for $19.95 per month, but will ultimately
discount it significantly to existing customers. It's unclear whether that
rate includes both SBC-managed locations and McDonald's, but it's likely
that it's both....
Source Link
5:27:04 PM
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|
Source: Scripting.com
If I want
the total wireless experience, with a tool I can hook up to my blog from
anywhere in the US, and maybe even Europe, what would you recommend?
5:27:01 PM
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|
Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Truckers Early
Adopters of Tech
Solid Washington Post story on truckers' use of Wi-Fi at truck stop
hotspots: A few interesting new tidbits include the excellent observation
that truckers are always early adopters of technology that has utility to
their industry, like GPS and Wi-Fi, and that TruckStop.net reports 10,000
subscribers since October with just a few hundred locations. That's at least
a few hundred grand a month, and doesn't count the drop-in users. What the
article doesn't mention because it's too speculative is that if you combine
a truckers' need of Internet connectivity for business and pleasure with the
growing availability of high-speed cell data service, you could find
truckers living the multi-modal connectivity life, pulling over at rest
stops to use EDGE or 1xEv-DO, and then pulling into truck stops for the
applications that need high bandwidth and/or high upload speeds. A little
secret about TruckStop.net: a year's subscription averages less than $17 per
month, but Boingo Wireless has a deal to aggregate their locations in the
Boingo network, although I don't see locations live in the network yet.
Boingo charges $21.95 for unlimited access for 12 months and then $34.95 per
month thereafter; no cancellation penalties. A smart trucker with a Windows
laptop should soon be able to use TruckStop.net and several thousand other
locations. [link via Brian Chin]...
Source Link
5:26:58 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
McCaw Launches
Clearwire
The Wall Street Journal reports Craig McCaw to launch nationwide wireless
Internet service on Wednesday: As Steve Stroh reported a month ago, McCaw's
Clearwire will be an alternative to cell-based data networks and
fixed-location or even citywide Wi-Fi offer 1.5 to 2 megabits per second.
This is clearly downstream speed; upstream isn't noted. Service will launch
this summer in two cities and expand to 20 by the end of the year, the
report says. The service is described as portable, but not mobile, which is
a key distinction: portable means it can be used easily in many places;
mobile means it can be used while in motion (walking or driving often having
a distinct difference). Cellular services are mobile and portable. Wi-Fi is
typically neither except in newer cases of hotzones or citywide Wi-Fi in
which its certainly portable, and may also be mobile at the right speeds and
in the right locations. According to Stroh's research in April and May,
Clearwire will use technology from NextNet, a company acquired by McCaw. The
Journal and Stroh both note that this is interim technology that will
ultimately transition to WiMax equipment, although Nancy Gohring has
reported that U.S.-capable WiMax gear may not be available until as late as
2006....
Source Link
5:26:56 PM
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Source: Wired.com
Wi-Fi TV Not
Ready for Prime Time
Sharp's Aquos Wi-Fi TV is a neat gadget for television fanatics who just
can't bear to miss one second of their favorite programs. But its cost and
glitches offset the cool factor. A review by Elisa Batista.
Source
Link
5:26:55 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Ekahau's
"Infrastructureless" Tags
The location-based technology company is moving into Wi-Fi-based RFID with
new battery powered tags that can be tracked with the latest update of the
Ekahau positioning software.
Source
Link
5:26:54 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Alvarion Releases
"WiMax" Platform
Alvarion artfully crafts its BreezeMax press release to use the term WiMax
without precisely saying what that means: There's no such thing as WiMax
gear yet, but Alvarion wants you to accept that they're releasing the
closest thing to it. There's no certification standard and no trademark
program from the WiMax Forum, and that might be allowing a little market
confusion to creep in. Look at the hedges in the press release: Based on the
IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standards and WiMAX Forum profiles -- that's
profiles, not standards. With prominent roles in the WiMAX ForumTM...The
BreezeMAX platform is designed to support WiMAX certified CPEs, which will
incorporate the Intel WiMAX chip set as they become available in the
market...these are "products that provide a path for operators to WiMAX
standardisation"... All in all, perhaps they should have said more clearly:
We're not selling WiMax equipment, but something we believe we be so close
to it that only firmware upgrades are required. Interestingly, while they
say futureproofed on one page, they don't mention whether purchasers would
receive free hardware upgrades if the WiMax standard as deployed is too
different to allow firmware changes to this equipment. Finally, while the
equipment will ship in the 2004 third quarter, BreezeMax 3500 works in the
3.5 GHz band, which is only available in Europe and the Asia Pacific. Daily
Wireless has more details about the equipment. Bandwidth and throughput
aren't mentioned....
Source Link
5:26:52 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Change Your Linksys
WRT54G Admin Password Right Now!
Tech consultant discovers that Linksys WRT54G allows remote,
over-the-Internet administration login even when remote management is turned
off: Because all broadband gateway vendors ship their equipment with default
passwords like public or admin, this vulnerability is moderately critical
according to the Secunia security consultants. An automated attack could
scan millions of home broadband network addresses and feed them the WRT54G
Web login sequence. With remote administrative access, the most that could
happen is vandalism: the Linksys doesn't provide tools via its Web interface
for packet sniffing, but someone could corrupt the setup and lock a user out
by changing the password, requiring a hard reset. Also, Linksys' Web form
appears to send the WEP or WPA password as hidden password text in a Web
form, but that text is unencrypted in the HTML source, which can easily be
viewed....
Source Link
5:26:50 PM
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|
Source: InfoWorld
Vendors tout WiMax
potential
Wireless broadband, including the yet-to-be-deployed WiMax, has tremendous
growth potential, but is still years from rollout, according to wireless
broadband equipment vendors speaking at a conference Wednesday.
Source Link
5:26:48 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Jitney Rolls on to the
Hamptons, Wirelessly
The Hampton Jitney gets a cell data uplink to hook its passengers up via
Wi-Fi (reg. required): In a short piece by your editor in Thursday's New
York Times, I describe the Wi-RAN (Rolling Area Network) developed by CEDX
and Best Mobile Computing, and in trials with the Hampton Jitney. The Jitney
is the high-class way to commute between your summer home or just plain Long
Island residence and Manhattan. Some people commute--and I kid you
not--every day, clocking in 3 or 4 hours roundtrip or more. In that
environment, as on trains and planes, people don't have just quiet time to
contemplate but empty time that's worth filling. Some of the Jitney coaches
also have electrical outlets, meaning that you don't have to worry about
discharging your battery, either. While the service runs today at 100 Kbps,
the New York metro area will certainly be one of the first to see
higher-speed cell offerings or even other forms of mobile wireless (cue
Craig McCaw's entrance) allowing the service to expand its speed over time.
Service runs $8 per trip or $40 per month for unlimited usage....
Source Link
5:26:47 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Wireless broadband
system looks toward WiMax
Although standardized products that are expected to drive down the price of
WiMax wireless broadband gear may be as much as a year away, Alvarion Inc.
on Wednesday used the Wireless Communications Association (WCA) conference
in Washington, D.C., to roll out equipment that it said can be easily
upgraded to support the emerging standard.
Source Link
5:26:46 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Linksys Sells
Enterprise Security by Subscription
Linksys offers WPA Enterprise for $4.95 per month per user: Linksys has
partnered with Wireless Security Corporation (WSC) to offer purchasers of
its WAP54G access point full enterprise-scale 802.1X authentication using
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) TKIP encryption keys. The deal allows Linksys
purchasers to sign up during the WAP54G setup stage. The cost is $4.95 per
user per month, or $3.99 per month per user for five or more users, the same
rate offered directly through WSC. Vice president of marketing for WSC, Stu
Elefant, said, "When you buy a WAP54G or CompUSA, it's going to have Linksys
Wireless Guard on the box, and a flyer in the box." The new setup for the
WAP54G shows a range of security from weakest to strongest. Weakest is no
encryption, followed by WEP, WPA Personal, WPA Enterprise, and Linksys
Wireless Guard, their branded name for the resold WSC service. The WAP54G
was chosen as the first device, WSC executives said, because it's a
no-frills access point typically used on networks with slightly more
technical resources in house. 802.1X works over the Internet just as readily
as it does over a local network using most consumer-grade access points: the
access point allows a pass-through of 802.1X authentication (acting as the
"authenticator" in that transaction). WSC maintains the RADIUS equipment as
part of their operations. With 802.1X authentication, each user on a network
logs in with a unique user name and password. WSC allows management of these
accounts via a secure Web interface to their system. Users cannot access the
local network until a back-end authentication server confirms their
credentials, notifies the access point, and assigns the user's computer a
unique key, which is a WPA TKIP key in this case. The system can also rotate
keys regularly to each user, further decreasing the chance of network
compromise. 802.1X's method of communication is EAP (Encapsulated
Authentication Protocol), which itself is not secured. WSC uses the
Protected EAP (PEAP) flavor of embedding EAP inside an encrypted session to
keep the authentication process secure from snooping. The Linksys and WSC
system requires use of a custom client--currently available only for Windows
XP and 200--for two reasons: first, WSC designed both automatic and manual
fallover that switches to a static WPA key in the event of a disruption in
Internet access or RADIUS server access, instead of a broken network or no
encryption; and second, only Windows...
Source Link
5:26:42 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Hyatt Picks
T-Mobile
Hyatt joins the end of the long parade of hotels providing broadband access:
Their service will be powered by T-Mobile HotSpot, and installed in their
over 200 hotels and resorts by 2005....
Source Link
5:26:39 PM
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Source: Fool News
C&W Quits
Digging
By shedding its American operations, Cable & Wireless made a quick U-turn
back to health.
Source Link
5:26:38 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Researcher Finds Hole In Popular Linksys Router
An independent security researcher has found a vulnerability that affects
the Linksys WRT54G 802.11g WiFi router, giving access to the device's
configuration pages through an easily deduced password.
Source Link
5:26:36 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
WirelessUnleashed
Advocates More Unlicensed Low Frequency Spectrum
Four admirable spectrum licensing wonks have started an advocacy site on
low-frequency unlicensed wireless: Kevin Werbach, Andrew Odlyzko, David
Isenberg, and Clay Shirky are a combined powerhouse of intellectual might
and regulatory expertise. Their site promotes the notion of unshackling
spectrum from outdated technical notions that restrict innovation. The FCC
has become more and more amenable to these ideas, as it toys with rulemaking
vastly different than anything that's come before. The site is funded by
Microsoft. I had some back and forth with Werbach about what that means, and
he has clarified the issue on their About page. Microsoft is funding their
time to devote to the issue, but the editorial voice is independent. I know
all of these gentlemen except Odlyzko, and can vouch that you wouldn't see
the door hit their backside if there were a conflict of interest or an
attempt to change their statements....
Source Link
5:26:35 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Stop Using WiMax as a
Verb
Parks Associates presents a clear chart of WiMax, 802.16, and cell flavors
that explain their nature and timetable: Anyone writing about or planning to
deploy fixed and mobile wireless data services needs to take a gander at
Parks Associates's layout of what WiMax will incorporate and when, including
a break-out into the individual standards. "Using the term WiMAX in a
homogeneous fashion has created a lot of hype and confusion in the
industry," said one of Parks's senior analysts. Bravo and thank you. [link
via Om Malik]...
Source Link
5:26:34 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Sensible Security
Advice
The Security Mentor provides sensible, well-written advice for keeping your
data's nose clean: His advice often includes wireless networking tips, such
as this post. The mentor writes in a way that reminds me of Brian
Livingston's long-running and now-deceased Windows Manager column in
InfoWorld....
Source Link
5:26:32 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Why DId You Answer If
You Don't Know?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper has poll on whether readers have used a
wireless network or not: The most curious part about the results to date
isn't the fact that about half of respondents have used a wireless
connection to the Internet--which could include cell data or even a cell
phone's Internet features--but that about one percent responded I don't
know....
Source Link
5:26:31 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Linksys
Provides Hosted 802.1X
The popular Linksys WAP54G router will now ship with a hosted RADIUS service
-- powered by Wireless Security Corp. -- integrated in the product
software.
Source
Link
5:26:30 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
NetNearU Fosters
Roaming Among Its Resellers
Turnkey hotspot system operator allows its resellers to roam freely if they
wish: NetNearU is one of several companies that provides turnkey hotspot
equipment to single venues or resellers who then equip locations. The
network has always allowed roaming with a single login across its entire
network for existing users, but settles fees set by each network based on
usage. Now, NetNearU is allowing resellers who want to offer free roaming to
do so by signing a revised agreement. In an interview Wednesday with Wi-Fi
Networking News, NetNearU's director of marketing David Comer said in this
new model, "End users don’t ever have to work about being charged." So
far, five reseller networks have signed up, including Cafe.com in Los
Angeles, CEDX in the New York metropolitan area, providers in Seattle,
Chicago, and Israel. The initiative was spearheaded by Cafe.com's Ronan
Higgins. Comer said, "He really came up with some good business points as to
why--as he calls them--the middle-tier operators should provide free roaming
to their users to go wherever they can." Craig Plunkett, CEDX's managing
principal, said in an interview, "It gives us the same bilateral roaming
that FatPort and Surf and Sip put together." Plunkett noted that previously,
a roaming customer would take revenue from his network and settle it on the
destination network. With the new agreement, "If that guy is a monthly
customer of mine, I don’t have to worry about paying Ronan [of
Cafe.com] the entire revenue stream for the month." Currently, NetNearU
resellers have to opt in or out of the agreement, and Comer said that the
company is about to start actively marketing the idea to its wider groups of
customers. For "each licensee or network operator, it’s their own
business to run," Comer said. "It really helps the smaller licensees to a
certain extent to compete against Boingo, or to have some kind of added
value or added attractiveness. Because it just makes you as a smaller guy
appear larger," Comer said. NetNearU resells service on a per-session basis
to Boingo, iPass, and GRIC. Comer noted that customers of a given network
would be able to see which locations they could roam freely onto through a
link on the login screen which NetNearU dynamically updates as revised
contracts are received....
Source Link
5:26:29 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
London Overground:
Wi-Fi Footprint and Future
Extensively researched paper describes scope of commercial, free, and
municipal wireless in London, England: Using maps, warflying, stumbling, and
other resources, Julian Priest has released an exhaustive look at the state
of wireless in London. He looks at the lead that free networking has had in
the city due to bans on commercial deployment until early 2002; still, the
commercial footprint is extensive. Among many interesting facts and
discussions in the paper are the necessary geek per square kilometer density
necessary to fully cover London on average with free networks (about 1.25
geek activits per sq. km). Priest also review municipal projects, none of
which are rousing successes and many of which demonstrate the limits of
straitjacketed civic projects. Priest ends with a call for a wireless
festival in London that would celebrate the city's current unwired state,
while marketing and educating further to increase density of deployment.
[link via James Enck, Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe Ltd]...
Source Link
5:26:27 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
T-Mobile to Provide Wi-Fi at Hyatt Hotels
High-speed wireless Internet access is coming to nearly all of the company's
200-plus hotels and resorts by 2005, under a deal announced by Hyatt Hotels
& Resorts and T-Mobile USA.
Source Link
5:26:26 PM
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Source: Extremetech
Researcher Finds Hole In Popular Linksys Router
An independent security researcher has found a vulnerability that affects
the Linksys WRT54G 802.11g WiFi router, giving access to the device's
configuration pages through an easily deduced password.
Source Link
5:26:25 PM
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Source: Wired.com
Windows
XP Bedevils Wi-Fi Users
Microsoft denies there's a problem, but Wi-Fi users report a maddening
occurrence: the sudden, inexplicable loss of their wireless connections,
even when XP says everything is hunky-dory. By Daniel Terdiman.
Source
Link
5:26:23 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
When Zero Equals Many
in Windows XP
Wired News looks into Windows XP's dropped Wi-Fi connection problem: Daniel
Terdiman tries to dig for the bodies in his search for why Windows XP drops
Wi-Fi network connections inexplicably and often shows them as still active.
Microsoft claims there's no systematic problem, but it's clear from reading
any forum in which Wi-Fi is discussed--such as the DSLReports.com site--that
this is a frequent issue. My solution, provided to me by a vendor about two
years ago, of restarting Wireless Zero Configuration is explained in the
article. This has solved 99 percent of my Windows XP Wi-Fi problems, but
it's nestled so deeply that it's baffling. I've felt for a while that
Microsoft should have a top-level interface to WZC because when it stops
running, the user has no idea that anything's afoot until they drill down,
down, down, and see that the setting reads "not running."...
Source Link
5:26:20 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Franchising Free:
SalemOpen.Net Installs a Meme
SalemOpen.Net will launch shortly using Michael Oh's model--and support--for
establishing commercially supported free Internet access over Wi-Fi: In an
interview last week, Michael Oh outlined the new network in Salem, Mass.,
that will launch in the next few days. The network involves the sponsorship
of a local bank and participation by a number of merchants. Oh says that
SalemOpen.Net is a proof of concept that the Newbury Street model he
developed for putting Wi-Fi access hand in hand with business development
can be "franchised." "It's incredible to actually be on a street and drive
around for three hours and find 2,200 access points, and see that only 12 of
them are public, free or paid," Oh said. The commercial free networks that
Oh has helped build take advantage of the growing necessity of Internet
access for people in all walks of life and the built-in nature of Wi-Fi in
virtually all new laptops. SalemOpen.Net's motivation comes in part from the
desire of the 40,000-person town to have a year-round economy not based in
the run-up to Halloween, and events that recall witch trials over 300 years
ago. Oh said that some residents live there because of the mystique--"24 by
7 Goths"--but the community at large "would like to say we're more than just
a Halloween tourist attraction or a place to go during the summer to see
some interesting witch museums." Oh said, the network is "a way of trying to
attract businesses to Salem Center, to attract more people from the fringes
of that area." He noted, "Literally in that area, there's nothing like
that." The nearby North Shore Mall has an Apple Store with free Wi-Fi, but
he said that's practically the only open access. In an email follow-up, Oh
noted that a small project in nearby Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to offer
free Wi-Fi illustrated his point about the attactiveness of wireless access.
"Free WiFi can give an entire area an advantage over the 'big city'--cheaper
parking, lower rent, and free Wi-Fi," he wrote. "I think that's an important
trend--and you could see free Wi-Fi gelling more effectively in small towns
first, even though there are more users for it in cities." This was the
logic that drove Monet Mobile to offer high-speed cellular wireless data
service in more rural areas unserved or underserved by wired DSL and cable
broadband. The company filed for bankruptcy in April after...
Source Link
5:26:18 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
SoftAP Brings Mac's
Simplicity to Windows
Apple has offered a software base station feature in its client software for
nearly five years; PCTel now brings the same ease to Windows with Segue
SoftAP: Under Windows XP, you can set up an ad hoc Wi-Fi network and then
link that via Internet sharing to bridge an Ethernet, modem, or other
connection to users connecting over Wi-Fi. But it's multiple steps and not
really the same thing as creating a full software base station. Segue SoftAP
from PCTel will cost $19.95 when it goes on sale to individuals this month,
and offers all of the security and networking features needed for a robust,
computer client-based offering. Of course, contrast this offering versus a
$30 to $80 dedicated access point, and it might seem like a less desirable
offering unless you're a mobile or portable computer user who needs to set
up Wi-Fi hotspots on an ad hoc basis. [link via Steve Stroh]...
Source Link
5:26:14 PM
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|
Tuesday, June 01, 2004 |
Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Krystal Restaurants
Get Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi in about 10 percent of Krystal's restaurants by the end of June:
This is a regional chain with 425 locations; 50 will have Wi-Fi this month,
available for free. They'll filter content to avoid objectionable images
showing up in a family environment -- just as Schlotzsky's does with their
service -- but it's otherwise wide open. The restaurants are located
throughout the south. Early locations include Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, and one in Texas. [link via Jim
Sullivan]...
Source Link
1:15:05 PM
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|
Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Broadening
Chip Markets
Leading Wi-Fi chipmakers Broadcom and Atheros have made announcements today
that each hopes will get them major play in different areas of wireless.
Source
Link
12:13:17 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Wi-LAN
Acquires Patent Portfolio
The company's recent acquisition of 17 patents related to the MAC layer of
WiMAX systems may give it a strategic advantage in deploying wireless
broadband products next year.
Source
Link
9:06:55 AM
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Source: Wired.com
Security-Free
Wireless Networks
Wi-fi is hot, but security is not. Most home users don't enable basic
encryption or other protections against connection theft, eavesdropping and
network invasion. Why? Set-up is easy, but activate security and the
headaches begin.
Source
Link
2:47:25 AM
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Monday, May 31, 2004 |
Source: Ziff Davis
Notes from the Lab
The lab hits the road this week, runs into the Sasser worm and encounters
lousy wireless connections. Back at the San Francisco lab, Jason Cross
rediscovers the value of saving his work.
Source Link
11:23:27 PM
|
|
Source: Extremetech
Notes from the Lab
The lab hits the road this week, runs into the Sasser worm and encounters
lousy wireless connections. Back at the San Francisco lab, Jason Cross
rediscovers the value of saving his work.
Source Link
11:23:26 PM
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|
Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Free Wi-Fi in
Auckland's Heart
Auckland City and ISP sponsor free Wi-Fi for June in central business
district: Reach Wireless, which uses RoamAD's Wi-Fi mesh technology, has
launched its central business district (CBD) service in New Zealand's
Auckland City. The CBD and Reach are sponsoring free Wi-Fi with a downtown
purchase through the month of June as a promotion. RoamAD's CEO Martin Levy
said that service speeds range from 500 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps throughout the
three-kilometer-square covered area. Pavements have been marked with a
"Wi-Fi Zone" tag, and people in orange suits--I'm checking on why
orange--and hard hats are handing out information packets during June.
Regular service costs are NZ$8.50 (US$5.27) for an hour, NZ$16.95 (US$10.50)
for a day, NZ$49.95 ($30.97) for monthly users that the press release
describes as "light" (600 megabytes of transfer), and NZ$74.95 ($46.47) for
"uncapped reasonable use service": 10 gigabytes per month after which your
service speed may be capped at 256 Kbps....
Source Link
9:30:15 PM
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|
Source: Computer World
Unauthorized Wireless Users Strain Corporate
Networks
At Computerworld's Mobile & Wireless World conference, IT managers said one
of the big issues they face is the need to rein in unauthorized devices and
applications that mobile end users have surreptitiously installed on
corporate networks.
Source Link
9:20:56 PM
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Source: Scripting.com
Adam Curry and his colleagues created a wireless LAN on their flight
home from Las Vegas to Amsterdam.
6:58:45 AM
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© 2004 [OCCalWUG]
Last Update: 6/28/2004; 11:35:06 AM
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