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News that's changing the Wireless World!
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Friday, May 14, 2004 |
Source: InfoWorld
Students uncover new Wi-Fi
vulnerability
Students at the Queensland University of Technology Information Security
Research Centre in Australia have uncovered a flaw in an IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi)
protocol that allows attackers with a simple Wi-Fi-enabled handheld device
to effectively shut down a wireless local area network.
Source Link
8:59:37 PM 
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Improving WLAN Management
Smaller wireless-switching companies are challenging incumbent hardware
vendors such as Cisco for the attention of users looking to improve the
manageability of their WLANs.
Source Link
8:59:36 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Caught on Camera:
Sensational Security Flaws
A Denver TV station demonstrates the insecurity of wireless networks at the
Denver Airport: A reporter and a security analyst sat nearby a hotspot user
and were able to steal his email. They approach the user and tell him that
anyone could do the same. The story says that the reporters got his cell
phone number, social security number, and Visa card number. We're curious
about why he was sending that information in an email. The story is
typically sensational for a local news station but the point is made--users
should make sure they have a secure connection like a VPN if they're sending
that kind of information. If such security measures aren't available to
them, they shouldn't send that information....
Source Link
8:59:33 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Broadband on
the TV Airwaves
A new FCC proposal say frequencies generally reserved for television
broadcasts may soon be used for wireless data services.
Source
Link
8:59:31 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Critical 802.11 wireless flaw
identified
A serious wireless network technology flaw that could lead to the breakdown
of some critical infrastructures in just five seconds has been identified by
Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) Information Security Research
Centre, a finding that is likely to have worldwide ramifications.
Source Link
8:59:30 PM
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Source: C|Net
Broadband leaps ahead of AOL
For the first time, broadband customers surpass the number of people who
subscribe to America Online, a sign of the growing influence of high-speed
Net services.
Source Link
8:59:28 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
802.11 Has DoS
Vulnerability
Wi-Fi networks -- mainly those based on the 802.11b standard-- are allegedly
vulnerable to traffic disrupting attacks according to a new report.
Source
Link
8:59:25 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
L.A.'s Little Tokyo
Gets Wi-Fi
A non-profit group is funding a Wi-Fi network in L.A.'s Little Tokyo
District: The network will be built by eWAN and the city of L.A. is offering
access to light poles and rooftops for the network. Users will pay
comparable rates to DSL or cable service. This is an interesting partnership
between a community group, the city, and a vendor to offer Internet access
in an area that may be underserved....
Source Link
8:59:24 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
FCC May Open Spectrum
for Unlicensed Users
The FCC today may propose to open up spectrum between television channels 2
and 51 for unlicensed users: The television broadcasters are likely to put
up a fight on this one so it's not clear if a ruling will be made opening up
the spectrum. An FCC chief suggests that TV broadcasters could use the
spectrum to send TV signals to laptops where consumers can have an
interactive experience. It's more likely that the spectrum would be
primarily used for wireless Internet access. Despite the protestations of
the TV broadcasters, it would be nice if this spectrum were opened up. More
available spectrum will only help fortify the broadband wireless space which
is just beginning to attract significant interest....
Source Link
8:59:23 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Nokia Exits WiMAX—for Now
Nokia, a founding member of the WiMAX Forum for a global broadband wireless
access standard, is not renewing its membership in the group it once
enthusiastically endorsed.
Source Link
8:59:18 PM
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Source: C|Net
Wireless vendors take control
Equipment makers at the Networld+Interop show tout new products and features
that will make wireless infrastructures easier to control and manage.
Source Link
8:59:15 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Microsoft Wi-Fi, We Hardly Knew Ye
Opinion: David Coursey reflects on Microsoft's now-terminated adventure in
the 802.11 hardware business. While Microsoft did some good in the market,
he says he's not sorry to see them go.
Source Link
8:59:14 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Penn. Town Gets Second
Wi-Fi Hotspot: the Library
Newtown, Pa., renovates library and installs Wi-Fi, doubling town's Wi-Fi
hotspot count: The small town of Newtown has a Starbucks with fee Wi-Fi
access as its sole reported public Wi-Fi. This library isn't public; it's
supported by membership dues since 1760. The library isn't sure whether they
will open the Wi-Fi access to all, or just to members....
Source Link
8:59:10 PM
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Source: C|Net
Building a wireless nervous system
Someday, the Internet could be used to track conditions in office buildings,
waterways and battlefields. But right now, miniature wireless sensors have
barely made it out of the lab.
Source Link
8:59:09 PM
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Source: Computer World
Bluetooth group downplays security risks
A Bluetooth trade association is downplaying security concerns about the
wireless technology, even as FedEx has moved to beef up Bluetooth security
on handheld computers used by its couriers.
Source Link
8:59:07 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Microsoft Marketshare
Slump, Low Margins Cause Cancellation
Microsoft's mission accomplished message belied by drop in marketshare,
commodity pricing: News.com follows up on yesterday's scoop that Microsoft
was canceling its broadband wireless products with analysis of the exit. A
Microsoft spokesperson attributed the exit to having fulfilled their goals
of raising the standard of Wi-Fi products, but a drop from 9 to 6.6 percent
marketshare over three months coupled with the fungibility and low cost of
Wi-Fi gear was the reason, News.com writes. Linksys may pick up the slack,
but might also be forced to lower prices....
Source Link
8:59:05 PM
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Source: C|Net
Microsoft's Wi-Fi woes
The software giant's decision to dump its wireless networking gear business
came amid sliding market share and profit margins, analysts say.
Source Link
8:59:03 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Wardriving as a Proxy
for Wi-Fi GPS Location
Quarterscope converts Wi-Fi cards plus a wardriving database into a virtual
GPS receiver: A few weeks ago, Wi-Fi Networking News talked to Ted Morgan,
the founder and president of Quarterscope, a company which had just won an
award at the cellular industry's big trade show for location services,
finishing behind well-established Ekahau. Quarterscope's product is software
that uses a database of wardriving records that it matches against the
signals received by a Wi-Fi radio to produce an approximate set of
coordinates, like a virtual GPS. "What got us started down this path is the
density of public and private hot spots," Morgan said. "No one realizes just
how many of these access points has been installed. They see the sales
numbers, but they don't extrapolate the fact that people are going home and
plugging them in." Morgan said that they have primed the pump of their
database using existing information from research groups, hobby wardrivers,
and collective databases. "We're aggregating from lots of different existing
sources today," he said. Wardriving uses "stumbling" software like
NetStumbler to record all of the network names and unique access point
hardware addresses at regular time slices, like every second, combining that
information with GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) receiver coordinates
tied into the same laptop or handheld. Quarterscope is starting its own
stumbling efforts by installing wardriving devices on vehicles in
metropolitan areas that drive random paths, such as delivery vans. "If you
have somebody who is scanning for a full day, in metro areas, they can scan
over 5,000 a day, particularly in downtown areas," Morgan said. Oddly, he
said, certain kinds of vehicles don't work because they drive similar routes
every day, such as police cars. "if you really look at what a cop does all
day, it's pretty revealing." Morgan said that they've had legal advice as to
whether passively scanning or pinging for a beacon violates any laws int he
U.S. "We've gotten consultation on the whole process, and it’s very
clearly within legal bounds," he said. "If we have any concerns, it's more
on a perception side of things. You can go to the FBI Web site and they very
clearly state that passive scanning is fine. The problem is if you connect
into somebody’s network." Quarterscope's software generates a virtual
serial port on a Windows system, and uses the NMEA GPS protocol. it works
with a variety of mapping...
Source Link
8:59:02 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Roaming Solutions
Fight for Ground
Roaming is crucial for many service providers that are hoping to offer their
customers access to the greatest number of hotspots. But while service
providers know that roaming is important, they're faced with a slew of
options, each with varying services, for how to make it work. We covered
RoamPoint's recent launch, comparing its offering with the iPass roaming
offering. Wi-Fi Networking News today spoke with the marketing director from
WeRoam for a perspective on that company's mission. WeRoam handles
authentication, billing, settlement, and aggregation of hotspots for GSM
operators around the globe. The company is a sister company of Comfone, the
organization that provides clearing, billing, and authentication for over
200 GSM operators' roaming services. WeRoam is building on those
capabilities and existing relationships to offer hotspot services to GSM
operators. WeRoam says it has aggregated 8,000 hotspots worldwide, which
includes Fatport, Surf and Sip, and Concourse in North America. WeRoam's GSM
operator customers can offer those hotspots to their customers, relying on
WeRoam to support authentication and bill settlement. WeRoam primarily touts
its SIM-card authentication method but will support password authentication,
smart cards, interactive voice response methods, and other authentication
methods. End users typically have a combined UMTS, GPRS, and Wi-Fi PC card
that has a SIM slot but they can use a SIM card dongle instead. When they
arrive in range of a hotspot, the WeRoam client software on their PC checks
that the hotspot is part of the WeRoam network. If it is, the SIM card in
the PC card authenticates the user against WeRoam servers in Switzerland.
Then WeRoam aggregates billing information and settlement data and acts as a
broker. The process uses the same secure networks used by GSM operators to
enable their cellular voice customers to roam so it's easy for operators to
sign up for the service, said Michael Gebert, director of marketing for
WeRoam. WeRoam primarily focuses on Europe, where Orange Switzerland is a
customer, but has some customers in Africa and South America. The U.S. isn't
a large market for WeRoam because cell phone users here aren't as
comfortable using SIM cards as customers in other parts of the world. But
WeRoam has talked to operators such as AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile, which
could use other authentication methods instead of SIM, Gebert said. WeRoam
recently added Australia's Skynet Global, a hotspot operator, to its
network. WeRoam doesn't consider Roampoint a...
Source Link
8:59:01 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Microsoft
Stops Making Wi-Fi
The company is pulling the plug on its lines of networking products for the
home, planning to focus on putting Wi-Fi in products in other
divisions.
Source
Link
8:58:58 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Microsoft drops its Wi-Fi
offerings
Microsoft Corp. has decided to stop producing wireless networking products
and will discontinue its range of gear using the 802.11b wireless networking
standard, also known by the Wi-Fi marketing name, the company announced
Tuesday.
Source Link
8:58:57 PM
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Source: DevX
Wireless
Data Shot: Developer Commitment and Platform Choices
DevX has teamed up with the Evans Data Corp. to bring you the results of
their comprehensive Wireless Developer Survey. In this installment, find out
how much time your fellow developers are spending on wireless development.
Also, what sorts of things do they consider when they're choosing a wireless
platform? Find out what your colleagues say and vote on the issue
yourself!
Source
Link
8:58:56 PM
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Source: Computer World
Security threats raise concerns about
Bluetooth
Cracks in Bluetooth's security capabilities first came to light earlier this
year. Now some IT managers are trying to restrict the use of devices
equipped with the wireless technology on their corporate networks.
Source Link
8:58:55 PM
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Source: Computer World
Sidebar: Cisco Rivals Ready WLAN Responses
At the Networld+Interop conference, Airespace and Symbol Technologies plan
to announce new WLAN technologies as part of their effort to counter
increasing competition from Cisco Systems.
Source Link
8:58:53 PM
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Source: Computer World
Cisco Adds Support for WLANs to Its
Switches
Cisco Systems next month plans to ship an add-on module for its Catalyst
6500 switches that will let IT managers centrally control wireless LANs and
apply security technology such as firewalls and intrusion-detection tools to
them.
Source Link
8:58:52 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
The return of the mobile
enterprise
Remember a few years ago when the wireless mobile enterprise was the next
big thing? High-speed 3G bandwidth would hover in the air everywhere,
enabling you to whip out a wireless PDA and turn the backseat of a taxicab
into a rolling office with seamless access to enterprise apps.
Source Link
8:58:51 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Wireless advances
More than 160 million Americans now use cell phones. We're all accustomed to
seeing mobile callers weave down the expressway; yak obliviously on the
sidewalk; and take calls in the middle of meetings, movies, and even live
performances. With wireless voice communication now so commonplace, you have
to wonder why wireless data is still a relative novelty.
Source Link
8:58:50 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Bluetooth Scores Low
in Magazine Keyboard, Mouse Round-up
PC World editors evaluate eight wireless mice and keyboards, and Bluetooth's
advantage is nowhere to be seen: The editors generally preferred less
expensive, more responsive, easier-to-configure RF devices that use
proprietary protocols. Their favorite Bluetooth set is $250, which is steep,
but it was the best they found in the bunch. A $50 or $65 RF keyboard/mouse
combo with plain RF is recommended....
Source Link
8:58:49 PM
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Source: eWEEK Technology News
Spec in Works to Secure Wireless Networks
The Trusted Computing Group says it is working on a specification to ensure
that wireless clients connecting to a network won't serve as a back door to
worms and crackers.
Source Link
8:58:43 PM
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Source: C|Net
Microsoft says bye-bye to Wi-Fi
Despite quickly becoming one of the leading sellers of wireless networking
products, Microsoft has decided to discontinue its entire line of Wi-Fi
gear, CNET News.com has learned.
Source Link
8:58:40 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
The Eternal Question:
Are We Out of Beer?
Students design wireless beer pitcher monitoring system: Meticulously
researched, designed, and documented, two students solve the eternal problem
of ensuring that pitchers are promptly refilled and that they don't miss
last call by accident. A sensor monitors the pitcher's tilt and then alerts
a remote system via radio signals. [via Slashdot]...
Source Link
8:58:38 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Sean O'Mahoney New
Excilan CEO
FatPort's Sean O'Mahoney is cell-payment-enabler Excilan's new CEO: We
rarely cover management changes at Wi-Fi Networking News, but O'Mahoney's
move is worth noting. O'Mahoney helped build FatPort from a small Vancouver,
BC (Canada), company with an interesting hardware platform in 2001 into
Canada's dominant hotspot provider and platform reseller. While the four
Canadian cellular telephone carriers have made roaming announcements and
issued press releases, they have yet to build out a presence, and may have
just a handful of hotspots by year's end among them. FatPort has 140
locations according to their Web site, mostly centered in British Columbia.
But their platform has allowed them to resell their managed services and
hardware/software combo, and will potentially yield hundreds of additional
locations this year, most of which will include free roaming across
FatPort's own network. O'Mahoney--along with Rick Ehrlinspiel of Surf and
Sip--has been most aggressive in offering bilateral fee-free roaming
agreements, having aggregated over 800 locations worldwide for their
customers through these agreements. Unlike models in Europe, in which
roaming means paying extra to use non-local networks but using a single
login, FatPort's model offers a single login and a fixed monthly rate no
matter which partner network is being used. Excilan is a natural fit for
O'Mahoney's approach. Excilan's technology allows hotspot operators to
partner with cellular carriers without building client software that an end
user must install nor assigning new usernames and accounts to cell owners.
In the Excilan system, you visit a hotspot's gateway page and enter your
cellular telephone number. If your carrier is part of the Excilan system,
your phone rings and an automated system asks you to authorize a charge.
When you agree, the charge shows up on your bill at the negotiated rate your
carrier has with the hotspot operator, and your laptop or handheld is
authenticated through the back-end. FatPort and Surf and Sip are the only
North American network users of Excilan, while mostly European cell carriers
have signed up to enable their subscribers. Overall, nearly 50 hotspot
networks are involved worldwide partnered with 14 cell carriers with 23
million customers. In an email interview, O'Mahoney said, "For the Excilan
system to reach its full potential we have to extend our reach into
U.S./North American market as quickly as possible." He added that the rest
of the Americas were also important. O'Mahoney also hopes to work with other
aggregators of hotspot...
Source Link
8:58:37 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Buzz on Voice over
Wi-Fi Grows
Signs are pointing towards widespread ability to make Voice over IP (VoIP)
over Wi-Fi calls: But will revenue follow? Many of the uses of voice over
Wi-Fi reduce costs or shift usage; one firm puts revenue in 2009 for
long-distance Wi-Fi voice calling at just $20 million, according to the
article. But cell phones with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi phones aimed at the home
market could drive more rapid adoption. Imagine a single phone that you
carried everywhere, but with higher quality and lower cost than a cell phone
whether in your house or deep in a convention center. The main problem with
a roaming Wi-Fi phone is authentication on networks that require accepting
terms at a gateway page, logging in, or paying for use. These are not
insurmountable problems....
Source Link
8:58:35 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Lufthansa Launches
Connexion May 17
USA Today reports that Lufthansa will offer Connexion by Boeing over Wi-Fi
starting May 17: This is the first commercial launch of Connexion, and the
service will operate on a Lufthansa plane between Munich and Los Angeles, a
non-stop flight. This may be the first commercial in-flight Wi-Fi: Emirates
airline was close to offering Tenzing's service over Wi-Fi a few weeks ago.
We'll see who wins the race to be first....
Source Link
8:58:34 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Avocent Offers
Wireless Control of Remote Workstations
Answering the cry of system admins everyone, new system controls up to 16
servers over 802.11a with AES encryption: If you ever visit a server room,
you see monitors and keyboards piled up or hung or inserted all over the
place. These keyboards, video displays, and mouses (KVMs, in brief) are
controlled through switches that are plugged into the servers. Avocent's
AutoView Wireless cuts those cords and extends the range, removing clutter
and wasted space from a valuable server room. With multiples of this unit,
which lists at $595 each, admins can connect up to 16 servers to two
workstations so that two admins can connect to the same set of 16. Some
details are blurry that I'm trying to get clarification on: is there an
intermediate KVM server to which the transceiver is connected? If you have
several sets of 16 servers, can a single transceiver at the admin's station
switch among those sets?...
Source Link
8:58:33 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Colubris Supports
Voice
Colubris Networks, the maker of fat APs, introduced support for voice over
Wi-Fi: The new system will support SpectraLink's voice over Wi-Fi solution.
Colubris is touting its ability to isolate voice and data services so that
each can have its own security parameters and quality of service profiles.
The company says that previously companies would have to either resort to
the lowest common level of security or deploy separate networks for each
application. However, a number of WLAN switch vendors support voice and
enable the separation of traffic based on the application. Voice traffic is
often treated differently than data traffic because most voice over Wi-Fi
handsets don't support VPNs. Enterprises that want to secure data
transmissions using VPNs must treat that traffic differently than voice
traffic....
Source Link
8:58:32 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Microsoft Reportedly
Cancels Wi-Fi Hardware
News.com reports that Microsoft will cancel its entire broadband wireless
product line: News.com says they received confirmation this afternoon of an
earlier story that Microsoft's broadband networking line-up will be
supported, but no longer developed. The company will apparently run down
existing inventory. It will continue support through a two-year warranty
period. Microsoft was late in bringing 802.11g gear to market, but has
always received high marks in the ease of configuring their equipment and
enabling security. Its primary consumer operating system competitor, Apple,
continues to have a disproportionate marketshare in selling their AirPort
Extreme (802.11g) equipment despite a cost that is two to three times
comparable equipment from Linksys and similar manufacturers....
Source Link
8:58:31 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
The Latest
from Las Vegas
The Networld+Interop show has begun again in the Nevada desert and there's
no lack of Wi-Fi announcements from the exhibitors.
Source
Link
8:58:29 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Enterprise mobility gains
ground
Mobile computing in the enterprise has a wealth of tools and services at its
disposal, as evidenced by the variety of wireless devices and applications
demonstrated last week at Mobile Showcase 2004 in Palm Springs, Calif.
Source Link
8:58:26 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Wireless
Confusion
Fixed broadband wireless is in the spotlight, now that 802.16 and WiMax are
being written about in the mainstream press: But that attention seems to be
adding a lot of confusion to the market, particularly about the difference
between different technologies. The Financial Times ran a story about PCCW's
launch of broadband wireless in the U.K. but said that the network would use
WiMax gear. In addition to the fact that there is no WiMax gear yet, the
network will be built with equipment from IPWireless, which doesn't aspire
to be WiMax. Strangely, PCCW doesn't even mention IPWireless or the type of
technology used in its press release about the launch, which came out
yesterday. IPWireless followed up today with an announcement of its own that
adds a bit more information. There seems to be a lot of confusion especially
around the 802.16 and 802.20 camps and some of it may be caused by some of
the companies involved. For example, I was once told by an 802.20 member
that IPWireless was active in the development of that standard. I talked
with an IPWireless spokesperson at the time who I understood to say that
IPWireless had moved to the 802.16 camp. However, she recently contacted me
to say that IPWireless has never been part of the 802.20 effort and while
the company has an engineer who attends the 802.16 meetings, the company is
not active in the 802.16 development effort and does not at this time have
plans to build to the 802.16 standard. At the same time that the 802.16 and
802.20 efforts work on developing their standards, some of the member
companies are also developing and selling their own systems, which sometimes
adds to the confusion. Flarion, for example, is one of the founders of
802.20 and is conducting trials for Nextel and Vodafone. But the 802.20
standard is far enough away from being complete that Flarion can hardly call
its current equipment 802.20-based. So Flarion and companies like IPWireless
are each in their own category. Generally, it's great that the fixed
broadband world is getting a lot of attention but companies and journalists
have to be more careful about the facts. The space is confusing enough for
folks who are just being introduced to it....
Source Link
8:58:25 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
US Robotics Has
Multi-Windows-Platform WPA Release Planned
US Robotics told Tom's Networking that the delay in releasing WPA (Wi-Fi
Protected Access) upgrades for its 802.11g gear has to do with the Windows
XP/2000 only driver issue: Tim Higgins, as usual, gets to the bottom of a
mystery: why US Robotics had lagged in WPA support. The company says that
the only drivers available until recently that they could have used support
only Windows 2000 and XP, and that they wanted full legacy support from
Windows 98 Second Edition through current releases. Texas Instruments will
provide the utilities necessary. The WPA update will be available in June
when US Robotics ships firmware upgrades to support frame bursting and other
speed improvements for both their TI-based and Broadcom-based
products....
Source Link
8:58:23 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
802.11i Security
Ratification Coming in June
Ephraim Schwartz reports that 802.11i is expected to be ratified in June:
The IEEE 802.11i protocol is the update to 802.11 security that includes all
of the interim measures found in WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), and also adds
a longer, strong encryption key using AES and fast handoff through quick
reauthentication among access points. AES has higher computational
requirements, and Schwartz points out that some devices will need
replacement. WPA was a stop-gap based on work in progress in 802.11i, and
issued by the Wi-Fi Alliance in an attempt to make older equipment backwards
compatible. The elements found in WPA didn't require circuits other than
those used for the older, broken WEP encryption standard. If you hunt, you
can find firmware updates for almost all 802.11b devices ever produced. What
Schwartz doesn't mention, though, is that virtually all Wi-Fi chips shipped
since the end of 2002 (including virtually all 802.11g chips) contain the
processing core and other elements necessary to handle AES. They just need
firmware upgrades. Schwartz talked to several major vendors, who pointed out
their timeframes and upgrade plans, but he omitted chipmakers like Broadcom,
Atheros, GlobeSpanVirata, and other consumer/enterprise OEM vendors who
would have told him that AES is baked in and just ready for ratification to
activate. The Wi-Fi Alliance has said that it will certify 802.11i under the
name WPA2. Schwartz also notes the 802.11e's improvements in throughput and
resource management for bandwidth won't be finalized until the end of this
year. The Wi-Fi Alliance will certify the throughput (Wireless Multimedia
Extensions) portion of 802.11e before the full standard ratification, he
reports....
Source Link
8:58:21 PM
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Source: Computer World
Cisco switches on WLANs
Cisco Systems has added wireless LAN management capabilities to its wired
switch line, allowing one-device management of integrated enterprise
networks.
Source Link
8:58:20 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Intel Labs Shows
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Cooperation
Analyst sees Intel technology that uses low-power Bluetooth to signal when
Wi-Fi needed (3rd item): Rob Enderle visits Intel Labs and sees what he
calls a personal data repeater which combines Bluetooth (low power, short
distances, low speed) with Wi-Fi (higher power requirements for longer
distances and higher speeds). The implementation he describes is a portable
device that relays information from an appliance like a watch or PDA; the
implementation sounds rather horsey. More likely, you'd see it used in a
cell phone or PDA directly that has (in the future) single chip
Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and activates the right circuitry at the right time. It's a
clever idea to use the low-power signaling, but it's also possible that a
Wi-Fi transceiver with multiple power levels could act in the same
capacity....
Source Link
8:58:19 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Wi-Fi Fits Neatly into
Truckers' Lives
Truck stops could become the most unwired category of business in the next
12 months: the market wants it: No one is guessing whether truckers want
Wi-Fi hotspots at truck stops. It's a done deal. Truckers are typically also
businessmen and -women and they use their laptops on the road to deal with
loads, pay bills, and keep in touch with family. A hotspot means not having
to leave one's truck and tote a laptop, increasing security and ease.
Thousands of truck stops will have Wi-Fi by this time next year. The annual
rates of $200 to $250 for unlimited access means that there's money to be
made in assuring loyalty. A trucker will travel another 30 miles to use
their Wi-Fi (just read this article), meaning that the right price and the
right ubiquity could translate to thousands of dollars of additional gas and
food sales per Wi-Fi user....
Source Link
8:58:17 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Omni Hotels Promotes
Wi-Fi, Double Miles
Omni Hotels has a contest and promotion tied with Wi-Fi: Omni offers free
wireless Internet access at all of their 40 hotels. The promotion provides
double airline miles through June for qualifying stays, but if you sign up
to join their Select Guest program, you're entered in a contest to win a
home Wi-Fi system (laptop, card, wireless gateway, and a year's worth of
DSL/cable service). A lesser prize is the WiFi Finder from Kensington, which
we've previously said doesn't offer enough Wi-Fi finding ability to be
useful. Omni Hotels started offering free Wi-Fi in Feb. 2003....
Source Link
8:58:16 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Vivato Announces
802.11g Switch
Vivato formally announced its next-generation 802.11g switch today: The
802.11g device that the FCC approved just three weeks ago will ship this
summer. Pricing isn't indicated. [link via Daily Wireless]...
Source Link
8:58:14 PM
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Source: Scripting.com
BBC:
"Wireless net access is quickly becoming the rule, not exception, in the
Estonian capital."
8:58:12 PM
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Source: Ziff Davis
Top Tip: Networking between PDA and laptop?
I have an emachines m6805 laptop and a toshiba e800 pda. Both have wireless.
Is there a way that I can communicate between the two wirelessly? Is this a
new or not well discussed concept? Can two laptops communicate wirelessly
for that matter?
Source Link
8:58:09 PM
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Source: Extremetech
Top Tip: Networking between PDA and laptop?
I have an emachines m6805 laptop and a toshiba e800 pda. Both have wireless.
Is there a way that I can communicate between the two wirelessly? Is this a
new or not well discussed concept? Can two laptops communicate wirelessly
for that matter?
Source Link
8:58:08 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Cisco brings wireless into
flagship switch
As issues such as security and roaming start to be solved, wireless LANs are
moving toward greater integration with enterprise networks. Wireless is now
set to work its way into Cisco Systems Inc.'s LAN flagship, the Catalyst
6500 switch.
Source Link
8:58:07 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Aloha, Honolulu
Airport Wi-Fi
Honolulu airport offers Wi-Fi at all gates: ShakaNet will offer the service
free until May 15, and then charge $7 per day or $20 per month. Reseller
agreements are absent from the article and the ShakaNet site.
(Interestingly, this story was first reported a year ago, with little
depth.)...
Source Link
8:58:06 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Cisco's Switch
Turns on the Wireless
The networking giant is tackling the upstart WLAN switch vendors by offering
wireless support directly for its Catalyst 6500 units, all the better for
network-wide roaming and intrusion detection.
Source
Link
8:58:05 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Comcast Offers Home
Network Installation, Equipment Rental
Comcast will install Wi-Fi gear, configure a router, and rent it to their
customers with new program: Comcast Home Networking includes the delivery
and installation of Wi-Fi networking for a setup fee and $5 per month
(covering the router and one PC Card). Setup costs $200 for two computers up
to $300 for five computers, the maximum covered by this deal. A current
discount program chops $100 off that price until June 1. The terms and
pricing don't explain the rental fee for the second through fifth computers'
hardware, referring to a "rate card" that isn't on the Web site. The
installation includes configuring and setting a WEP encryption key for the
network, a task which with certain equipment can cause grown men and women
to weep. There's definitely a place for a service in which the equipment is
covered against defects. The site for the program doesn't note this, but
Comcast's overarching subscriber terms says, During the term of this
Agreement, Comcast will repair and maintain all Comcast Equipment and you
agree that the Comcast Equipment will not be serviced by anyone other than
Comcast employees or agents. Part of the press release noted that this
package, offered as $52.95 per month excluding the rental fees and install
fees, has up to 4 Mbps download speeds and 384 Kbps upload speeds. The basic
package is $42.95 per month for 3 Mbps down and 256Kbps up. These prices
require a Comcast cable subscription; it's $10 extra per month without such
a subscription. (Macintosh users need not apply.) Qwest DSL's comparable
service is $39.99/month for 1.5 Mbps down, 896 Kbps up (with Qwest phone
service). Qwest also offers a wireless option with less support and no
installation but without the rental cost: you just buy an Actiontec device
with 802.11g and DSL modem support built in....
Source Link
8:58:03 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Mobile Showcase whets
wireless appetite
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. -- Here at Mobile Showcase 2004, 50 enterprise-focused
mobile computing vendors have six minutes to strut their stuff on stage. A
variety of corporate wireless devices and software have been demonstrated,
illuminating the latest and greatest in wireless enterprise offerings.
Source Link
8:58:02 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Cisco Intros WLAN
Switch Module
Cisco introduced today its wireless LAN services module, an add-on to its
Catalyst 6500 switch that integrates support for WLANs: Coupled with Cisco
APs (wireless access points), the platform offers some of the functionality
of other WLAN switch platforms but has some drawbacks. One of the most
important capabilities that Cisco executives stressed during a Webcast this
morning was the ability for users to roam between APs in 50
milliseconds--fast enough to support voice. The client is authenticated at
the AP where traffic is sent through a secure roaming tunnel back to the
Catalyst switch, which could be located anywhere in the network. As the
client roams, its IP address stays the same, so voice calls, VPNs, and other
applications aren't interrupted when the client associates with a new AP.
Because all traffic travels through the switch, roaming might not always
happen in under 50 milliseconds. Cisco tested roaming between two APs that
were located in Perth, Australia. The APs were connected to a switch that
was located in Sydney, a distance away from Perth that is similar to the
distance between Los Angeles and Miami. The handoff time increased to around
250 milliseconds, slow enough for an audible blip in a voice call. But
applications are not dropped during that time. Cisco also said that it is
releasing an upgraded version of its wireless LAN solution engine (WLSE),
Cisco's management software for APs across an enterprise. The new version
not only detects rogue or unauthorized APs, but can remotely disable the
switch port that the rogue is connected to. Also, with the new software,
customers can set their Cisco APs to scan-only mode. Customers who may not
be ready to deploy a WLAN may still want to ensure that rogue APs aren't
being deployed. "Over time they will deploy a WLAN, and the same APs they
use for scan-only can be used as regular APs," said Bill Rossi, general
manager of Cisco's wireless unit. (Airespace, a WLAN switch developer, has a
similar offering, which has the added feature of deassociate signal bombing
a rogue AP to prevent clients from successfully remaining connected to it.)
The upgraded WLSE also supports instant AP deployment without having to
configure the AP before adding it to the network. When the switch module
recognizes that a new AP has been plugged in, it alerts the WLSE system,
which sends the configuration file to the...
Source Link
8:58:01 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Austin's LessNetworks
Presents in Seattle
Jason Levitt of Austin's LessNetworks outlined the platform approach to
Seattle Wireless community networking group's monthly meeting: Last night,
Levitt discussed how LessNetworks has built (and is about to release) an
almost-turnkey system for enabling free hotspots. Less works hand-in-hand
with Austin Wireless City Project: Less handles the software platform and
back-end authentication operations, while Austin Wireless develops the
volunteer organization and contacts venues to install and maintain free
service. The Less software is based on NoCatAuth, and one of the developers
of that package, Rob Flickenger, was in attendance as well. NoCatAuth
requires command-line knowledge, while the Less package is rebundles it into
a full bootable, installable distribution. With an old PC in hand, a venue
or volunteer can install the software, plug in an access point, and create
an account at Less's authentication server. The venue can customize their
local splash screen. Users create a Less account and agree to usage
guidelines, and then can log in for free at all Less-enabled venues. Less
has the software almost ready to go and is in technical pre-release testing.
When it's ready, anyone will be able to download a CD-ROM ISO image which
can be burned on any platform, and used to boot a generic PC. Also at last
night's meeting, Matt Westervelt and Flickenger discussed the hardware that
they're providing in kit form through their new company, Metrix
Communication. The goal of this firm is to provide kits that put together
the resources that formerly required many trips to many vendors and bulk
orders. The company is working with undisclosed community networking
partners, the principals said. Peter Yorke of Seattlewireless TV was on hand
to capture Levitt's talk, which will be edited and aired during the next
broadcast. Many hands examine a completed Metrix box Matt Westervelt shows
models of their system Matt Westervelt and Rob Flickenger...
Source Link
8:57:59 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Wi-Fi'ing around in My
Automobile
BMW institutionalizes CAN: car area networking: BMW and HP will market a car
that has Bluetooth and Wi-FI, and uses cell data (GSM or GPRS) to provide
the Internet uplink. P'shaw! Anyone with that money to spend would want
1xRTT and 1xEv-DO to get the generally higher rates--or at least
EDGE....
Source Link
8:57:58 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Estonia's Johnny
Wi-Fi-Seed Is Recognized
The BBC offers this report on Wi-Fi in Estonia, focusing on Veljo Haamer:
Veljo has been a long-time correspondent to this site, offering insights
into how Wi-Fi can be used not just in a smaller country but in unique ways.
Estonia was the first to have gas/petrol station Wi-Fi, and the country as a
whole has been fast on the high-tech uptake....
Source Link
8:57:57 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Testing 1 - 2
- 3...
The world of verifiable reliability testing of Wi-Fi products added a new
player this week as VeriWave introduced a multipoint system that it says
goes beyond what a sniffer can do.
Source
Link
8:57:56 PM
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Source: C|Net
Cisco to update Wi-Fi setup
Cisco Systems is set to announce a new module for its Catalyst 6500 Ethernet
switch that's designed to allow for more centralized control of Cisco's
wireless local area networks.
Source Link
8:57:52 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Cisco May Intro New
Support for Roaming
EWeek reports that Cisco is about to introduce new products that will enable
roaming between access points: The capability is key to rolling out voice
services on WLANs. The products will work in conjunction with Cisco's
Catalyst 6500 switches. One apparent downside to the Cisco setup is that it
won't support roaming between APs that are connected to different switches.
Also, packets will travel from the client to the AP then through to
potentially multiple switches before reaching their destination, which could
be a client attached to the same AP. Most WLAN switch vendors and security
gateway developers already support roaming across networks and even across
subnets. But Cisco always has a leg up on startups because of its installed
base. Cisco is hosting a Webcast for journalists tomorrow during which
executives may detail more about the new platform. EWeek wasn't expecting an
announcement from Cisco until Networld+Interop next week, however....
Source Link
8:57:51 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Tom's Networking Find
WiFi Seeker Meets Claims
Tim Higgins puts the keychain-sized WiFi Seeker through its paces, likes the
results: Tim is a harsher judge of the underlying technology than I am, and
more rigorous in his testing. He likes the WiFi Seeker from Chrysalis
Development, too, because it intelligently recognizes just access points and
provides a good analog of signal strength meters found in Wi-Fi adapter
drivers on laptops....
Source Link
8:57:50 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Enhanced security, quality
on tap for Wi-Fi in 2004
Two key improvements for the security and performance quality of Wi-Fi
devices are scheduled to reach wireless network users this year as the
adoption of wireless technology continues to grow within businesses and home
users.
Source Link
8:57:49 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
The Cloud Allows SIM
Authentication
The Cloud customers can now get authenticated using SIM cards: Transat
Technologies enables the service. SIM-based authentication is already being
used by some hotspots in Europe and is expected to be a widely used
authentication method there. Because Europeans use GSM for their cell phone
technologies, they are already used to the concept of the SIM card. They can
use the same SIM card for their cell phones and for hotspot authentication,
which also means they could receive a single bill for both services. Some of
the early SIM-based WLAN authentication solutions are pretty rudimentary.
They involve the user sending a message from their cell phone to get a code
that allows them to access the WLAN. But the more sophisticated solutions
include a SIM card reader on a laptop. The SIM card authenticates the user
but also applies encryption and security to the communication between the
client and the network. That is likely the offering Transat is delivering
for The Cloud. At the CTIA Wireless I.T. show last fall I talked to a
handful of companies that are touting SIM-based authentication tools,
including some of the big SIM card makers. While they're looking for a U.S.
market, most weren't terribly bullish that the authentication method would
take off here because people aren't widely used to the concept of using SIM
cards. Even GSM users in the U.S. don't often realize that they have a SIM
card....
Source Link
8:57:47 PM
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Source: Computer World
Navigating the WLAN Waters
Continual changes in WLAN technology can make building and maintaining
wireless LANs a confusing affair. Here's how administrators are coping.
Source Link
8:57:43 PM
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Source: Computer World
Sidebar: Getting to 802.11i
Updating for the emerging WLAN security standard will require more than just
a software update to existing hardware.
Source Link
8:57:42 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Austin to New Jersey
with Wireless
New York Times staffer John Schwartz drives his daughter from Austin to New
Jersey in search of colleges and Wi-Fi: Schwartz is a keen observer of the
Wi-Fi scene, and he writes of his fairly easy process of finding Wi-Fi
hotspots along his long route. He includes a bit of found poetry from the
Flying J, one of the many thousands of truck stops that are or will become
hotspots over the next year: God Bless America / Position Open / Wireless
Available. Schwartz started in Austin, and he also filed this article about
the work being carried out by Richard MacKinnon, Jon Lebkowsky, and a cast
of dozens involved in Austin Wireless City to spread free Wi-Fi across the
town....
Source Link
8:57:40 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Face Value: Hedy
Lamarr's Ready for Her Close-Up
Legendary beauty Hedy Lamarr invented frequency hopping; a film may show her
intellectual side: Lamarr and George Antheil developed many of the
fundamental ideas for frequency hopping spread-spectrum technology that is
the foundation of much of modern data and voice wireless communication.
Their patents were kept secret until 1985, delaying recognition. A
foundation is helping to fund "Face Value," a screenplay about these broader
aspects of Lamarr's life beyond her screen talent. Lamarr received a Pioneer
Award in 1997 from the Electronic Frontier Foundation while Antheil was
recognized posthumously. The Associated Press reported that the actress,
then in her mid-80s, said on learning of the award, "It's about time." Her
son apparently traveled to accept on her behalf; she died in 2000. In an
uncredited article about her written around 1997, this prescient quote
appears: "I should probably sell my life story to Ted Turner," says the film
goddess-inventor-patriot, "because it's unbelievable.". Dave Hughes
successfully lobbied for Antheil and Lamarr's nomination for that Pioneer
Award. He is a technical adviser for the screenplay about her life. (Hughes
himself will receive West Point's Distinguished Graduate award in late May,
a signal honor by his alma mater. And someone should, in fact, schedule a
movie to be made about his life, too.)...
Source Link
8:57:39 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Intel's Next-Gen Wi-Fi
Debuts Next Week
It's quite a bit late, but it's still coming to the party with all of the
cash it can carry: Dothan and Sonoma arrive on May 10: Intel's
next-generation Centrino system, which uses the processor dubbed Dothan and
a system known as Sonoma, will be unveiled May 10. The system includes the
updated Wi-Fi mini-PCI module, the Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG, which supports
802.11g, and by implicit extension, 802.11b. Intel has the 2100A, which is
an a/b module, but no a/g module. This internetnews.com article indicates
that Dothan's smaller chip process increase power consumption and thus Intel
can't spike performance without killing battery life, a big no-no after the
huge improvements found in Centrino, which can stretch an included battery
to four to six hours, or two to three times the normal life found in
pre-Centrino models. A year ago, when Centrino debuted, Intel received a
drubbing for shipping 802.11b with it instead of looking to the future.
They've had many delays in getting Sonoma to the market, which has pushed
their 802.11g availability back at least six months from what was envisioned
a year ago. But, still, the public associates Centrino with Wi-Fi, and thus
Intel's goal was achieved. Never mind that Broadcom has shipped most of the
consumer cards and gateways, and that it scored deals with laptop makers
that have a lock-in of several years because of corporate sales that don't
allow for mid-stream component changes....
Source Link
8:57:38 PM
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Source: Ziff Davis
Desperately Seeking Wi-Fi
Review: A hardware version of NetStumbler, the WiFi Seeker is a
keychain-sized device that makes it easy to sniff out Wi-Fi hubs.
Source Link
8:57:37 PM
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Source: Extremetech
Desperately Seeking Wi-Fi
Review: A hardware version of NetStumbler, the WiFi Seeker is a
keychain-sized device that makes it easy to sniff out Wi-Fi hubs.
Source Link
8:57:35 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Hosted
Hotspots for Big Customers
Netopia is ready to offer an inexpensive turnkey hotspot system that
carriers can sell to small venues and major corporations can run in their
chain locations.
Source
Link
8:57:34 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
OrangeWare Offers Mac
Owners Atheros Super G
OrangeWare offers $15 driver to Mac users to pick up extra speed: We here at
Wi-Fi Networking News remain dubious about the efficacy of Atheros's Turbo
mode, which bonds two Wi-Fi channels and has been shown in some studies to
cause interference. Atheros continues to assert there is no interference. In
either case, Mac users now have access to many more options for wireless
networking through the OrangeWare driver, which can support a/g cards that
use Atheros chips, including the Super G features, which include compression
and frame bursting, among other non-radio-frequency improvements in speed
among similar devices. A free trial version is available for download. The
driver lists support for a couple dozen cards (PC Cards and PCI cards) and
works with Mac OS X 10.2 or later. These cards are typically less than $50
or even as low as $30, while an internal AirPort Extreme Card--if available
for a given model--is $100. The driver only shows WEP, not WPA
support....
Source Link
8:57:33 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Super G and AG for USB
2.0
Atheros offers USB 2.0 chipsets that support Super G and Super AG: The new
chipsets will allow full USB 2.0 performance in an adapter that can support
Super G and Super AG proprietary modes offered on top of 802.11g by Atheros,
including their disputed Turbo channel bonding technology....
Source Link
8:57:32 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Stubby G
Iogear offers PC Cards without the protuberance: Their stubby 802.11g card
($50 retail) eliminates the antenna snap-off problem--but how good is the
range? We'll have to wait for magazines to review it alongside comparable
cards. Apple gets away with a no-external-antenna card by building antennas
into every laptop and desktop machines and attaching that antennas via an
internal cable to the internal card....
Source Link
8:57:31 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Broadcom:
Simplifying Home Setup
New firmware could make Broadcom-based SOHO wireless LANs products the
easiest ever to configure and secure -- but does it put the company in
competition with its own customers?
Source
Link
8:57:30 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Broadcom Says EZ Does
It
Broadcom introduces shortcut for creating strong Wi-Fi Protected Access
(WPA) keys without the fuss of memorizing long base-16 numbers: The Wall
Street Journal broke the news embargo early with a brief item (sub. req.)
about SecureEZSetup, Broadcom's new method of guiding home users to create a
WPA encryption key without having any technical knowledge. SecureEZSetup,
despite the unwieldy name, is a simple two-step wizard in which users choose
two out of four personal questions to answer from which a full-length
16-byte WPA key is generated. The user can then answer the questions the
same way on another computer or enter the hexadecimal key for non-EZ systems
for compatibility. New or additional setupChoosing and answering
questionsResulting key The four questions are mother's maiden name,
birthday, the name of a first pet, or the name of the street on which an
answerer grew up. Clever users can invent other answers to questions, of
course, as long as they keep them consistent, such as using Einstein's
birthday or a spouse's first bet--or even entering an unrelated word for
mother's maiden name. The first time you set up a router with SecureEZSetup,
the key is stored in the router's configuration and in the local wireless
adapter. The setup wizard allows you to save and print the information you
entered, including the long hexadecimal key, for reference in configuring
addition machines. The setup also assigns a unique SSID (network name) to
the Wi-Fi gateway based on that gateway's MAC address. Jeff Abramowitz,
senior director of marketing for wireless LAN technology, said that their
customers, which integrate Broadcom chips into consumer and enterprise
products, would start rolling out EZ into products as soon as in the next
month, but more likely in upgrades destined for before the back-to-school
period. He declined to say which companies initially plan support.
Abramowitz said that the algorithm that drives the setup would be made
available to incorporate into a standard, and that the front-end would be
backward compatible for all of their shipping equipment. Because the
algorithm hasn't been open to public scrutiny, the possibility remains that
a cracker could discover a method to precompute in finite time all or most
possible keys based on all reasonable length answers to the four questions
in each combination. Because WPA keys can be forced out of a router in their
encrypted form and examined later offline, if this number of precomputed
keys...
Source Link
8:57:26 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Second Wi-Fi
Advertising Hotspot Network
FreeFi will overlay advertising on Wi-Fi free hotspots; The press release
claims FreeFi is the first Wi-Fi ad network, but it's only narrowly the
case: DotSpot launched in March and both builds out hotspots and then sells
advertising on them. The FreeFi site makes it clear that FreeFi is a
software gateway overlay. The FreeFi system uses a Web-based advertising bar
that apparently a user must agree to open in order to gain access. It says
it doesn't rely on spyware, popups, or other annoying tools. (The FreeFi
logo cleverly incorporates the open Wi-Fi hotspot warchalking
symbol.)...
Source Link
8:57:22 PM
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Source: Userland.com
Cool Hands, No
Cables: A Gamer Roams Untethered
If one cool gimmick is good, two must be better. Having found success with
its Air Flo game controllers and mice, which use small internal fans to cool
your palms, Nyko has come out with the Air Flo Wireless Controller for
PlayStation 2, which both cools your hands and untethers.
Source Link
8:57:20 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
McCaw Buys Company
with Spectrum Assets
Craig McCaw has reportedly bought a Texas company, Clearwire, that has ITFS
spectrum assets: The ITFS band is near the MMDS spectrum but was set aside
primarily for educational institutions. During the last period of interest
in MMDS, during the mid-1990s, some companies, including Clearwire
apparently, negotiated with the educational institutions to use or buy the
spectrum. The spectrum wasn't widely used by the educational organizations
that controlled the spectrum. McCaw has long been interested in fixed
wireless broadband. He founded XO Communications, which owns LMDS
frequencies, in the mid-1990s. XO recently joined the WiMax Forum. ALso,
Nextel owns a bunch of MMDS spectrum that it bought from Worldcom. McCaw has
assembled a who's who list of execs to run the new company, being called
Flux. Many of them are McCaw Cellular veterans and have held posts in other
McCaw companies. Notable are Nicholas Kauser who was the CTO for AT&T
Wireless and currently sits on the board of numerous Seattle companies; Rob
Mechaley, who was one of the founders of RadioFrame and before that
Wildfire; and Gerard Salemme, who has been involved with several McCaw
companies including satellite company ICO. McCaw is notoriously mum about
new ventures so it wouldn't be surprising if we don't learn details about
this one for a while. But with real WiMax products becoming available in the
near future, it would certainly be fair to suppose that the company may have
ambitions of rolling out a fixed broadband offering using WiMax....
Source Link
8:57:15 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Sydney Might Have 100
Mbps Wireless Broadband Coverage
Sydney, Australia, WISP Unwired plans 50 by 60 kilometer coverage at 100
Mbps for 95 percent of Sydney: The company is signing up resellers and will
install 63 towers at a cost of Aus$33 million by July. This all sounds
somewhat unrealistic except that the firm has apparently already raised a
fair amount of money and has its plans quite advanced. (Perhaps it's a fluke
of the Australian market, but I don't understand how a firm raised money
without a plan just by using a shell listed company to avoid the IPO
process.) The article muddles terminology enormously, which isn't unusual
when new technologies appear. The journalist writes, Unwired's 802.16
standard-compliant Ultra Wideband (WiMax) network... Ultrawideband (UWB) is
a short-range, high-speed technology. 802.16a is the standard underlying
WiMax which has no final spec yet nor a certification program in place. The
last graf is somewhat mystifying: It has been reported that Intel is
involved in the WiMax Forum certification group, an international 802.16
fixed broadband wireless access standard lobby group. Intel has not been
hiding its interest, and WiMax may lobby but it's mostly about certification
and education, from what we can tell so far....
Source Link
8:57:14 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Chat Transcript on
Microsoft's Wireless Provisioning Services
A few weeks ago, Microsoft posted the transcript of a chat about WPS, their
Windows XP-only solution for standardized, wizarded Wi-Fi network
provisioning: Although the fellow talks about the standards-based approach,
it appears that the support on the client side will entirely be within
Windows XP; it's unclear from this transcript whether non-Microsoft clients
can be developed, but it might be the case. The idea behind this sort of
wizard-based hotspot connection system makes a lot of sense, but a broader
industry-based adoption would make it a better win for the hotspot operators
who have to consider adopting it. T-Mobile is looking at both 802.1X and
WPS, and may already quietly be in trials of both technologies....
Source Link
8:57:13 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Flying East (and South
and West) of L.A.
4,000 access points in flyover: Mike Outmesguine brings a CNN representative
(reporter?) and some other Wi-Fi fans on a warfly of Los Angeles. We flew
from Brackett Field in La Verne (a.k.a. Pomona Airport) towards Pacific
Palisades. Then we crossed over LAX into Rancho Palos Verdes and Long
Beach. Then headed back to Backett. We picked up over 4000 access points
while flying at varying altitudes....
Source Link
8:57:11 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Gigabeat Cradles Wi-Fi
for Music
Wi-Fi cradle allows Toshiba's 20 Gb music player to sync, broadcast: The
Japanese-first Gigabeat can be backed up, loaded with music, or stream music
over an optional Wi-Fi cradle. It's about $700 in Japan....
Source Link
8:57:10 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Partly Promotion,
Partly Goal: Indianapolis Wants More Wi-Fi
You might call it just a press release, but Indianapolis company wants to
beat Hartford, Conn.: Wi-Fi network enabler Sputnik is working with an
Indianapolis firm that appears slightly aggrieved that Hartford, Conn., has
one-sixth the residents and more Wi-Fi hotspots. Their public (and public
relations) goal? Boost Indianapolis from 48th in Intel's recent wireless
cities survey up into the top 10. Austin's civic leaders and community
networks have made similar statements about leveraging that city's wireless
potential, and perhaps some civic boosterism can help grow Wi-Fi. In Austin,
it's a mix of civic, commercial, and free community; this Indianapolis
company appears focused on commercial with a little bit of free....
Source Link
8:57:09 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Pinnacle Opts for
Wi-Fi in Hotels
SkyRiver to install 22 Pinnacle hotels with all Wi-Fi service: Pinnacle has
22 properties in the western states and Ohio, and decided against hard-wired
Internet because Wi-Fi made more sense as a plan for the future....
Source Link
8:57:08 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
PC Mag Says Death to
802.11b (Almost)
PC Magazine rounds up several 802.11g routers, and says they're cheap
enough, they're good enough: 802.11b no longer enjoys a large enough (or
any) price differential for quality Wi-Fi gateways that include WPA
encryption support, PC Mag says. So while you can still find 802.11b devices
on the market, they recommend new gear have 802.11g built in. The overall
package of reviews and related stories in the issue starts here; use the
table of contents at the right of that story to navigate through their guide
to 802.11g, advice for buying, and reviews of individual routers. The
Linksys WRT54G gets top marks for 802.11g with a score of 4.5 out of 5
points; but six other gateways received 4 of 5 points, showing how the
entire Wi-Fi world has matured into more usability....
Source Link
8:57:07 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
More Tribes Go
Wireless
MuniWireless reports that a tribe in Southern California is using broadband
wireless to link 18 tribal communities: HP donated a bunch of gear for the
network and the tribe is using solar-powered antennas. In addition to the
educational benefits to such a network, tribal members are using the access
to keep on top of and apply for federal grants. We've linked to other
stories about tribes around the country using wireless to bring Internet
access to reservations. In most of these cases, the incumbent operators
weren't interested in serving the communities, which are often remote and
sparsely populated. But the growth of Wi-Fi has driven down the cost of some
equipment such that it's possible for these communities to build their own
networks. Many of these tribes aren't looking to the Internet for
entertainment but as a way to improve the educational and employment
opportunities for residents....
Source Link
8:57:06 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Realistic Argument for
Broadband Access
While many communities around the country vaguely hope that wireless
networks will bring business to town, this Indiana town has some very real
reasons for wanting broadband: Scottsburg, Ind. couldn't get any kind of
broadband access from the incumbents so it spent $350,000 to build a
wireless broadband network. The network equipment comes from Alvarion, which
means that it's probably proprietary gear based on 802.11. The network has a
very tangible economic affect on the town. Apparently, Chrysler promised to
shut down the local Chrysler repair shop, which employs 60 people, if they
couldn't get fast Internet access. Other local workers who telecommute
threatened to move if they couldn't get high-speed Internet access. Plus,
the school system is saving a bundle with the new service. This Indiana town
most certainly isn't alone in wanting broadband but failing to get it from
the incumbents. While we already see lots of wireless ISPs serving these
small markets, clearly they aren't serving every community that wants
broadband. Perhaps WiMax will drive down prices enough to encourage WISPs to
build out in more small towns....
Source Link
8:57:04 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Wäsche mit
Kostenlosen W-LAN
Mike Rutenberg offers this photograph of laundry-Fi: Kostenlosen W-LAN free Wi-Fi in a Munich laundromat. You can sit, you can spin, you can
surf....
Source Link
8:57:03 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
London Becomes Leading
(Closed) Wireless City
London's Westminster Council will build an enormous wireless zone for
closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring; public access, unavailable: The
project might create the world's largest wireless zone, but this won't be
useful initially to its citizens, only to the monitors of the peace who
observe goings on by camera day and night. They also envision connecting
people to "Council services," which might include monitoring the elderly.
(The British have such a penchant for "monitoring." Thank goodness, as
previously reported, they now have enshrined privacy rights...which allow
CCTV everywhere.) Over at Techworld, Peter Judge reports that the network
won't be connected to the Internet nor can the council offer for-fee access
by law. The idea of free access doesn't appear to have come up....
Source Link
8:57:02 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Free Mall Wi-Fi on the
Rise
Taubman Centers, major mall operator, adds free Wi-Fi to Virginia mall; sign
of things to come: The reporter did his homework, and this isn't a unique
installation. We know from this article that there are 1,130 malls in the
U.S. with only a tiny fraction having Wi-Fi. (Two are in the Seattle area,
University Village and Bellevue Square, operated for fee by Cometa
Networks.) But 100 malls operated by either Westfield America Trust and
Taubman may have free Wi-Fi added, with Westfield strongly committed....
Source Link
8:57:01 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Closer Look at McCaw
Moves
Steve Stroh has taken a close look at Craig McCaw's recent purchases in the
broadband wireless space: McCaw bought Clearwire, a Texas company that
controlled some ITFS spectrum--ideal spectrum for broadband wireless. But
Stroh thinks that one of the most important aspects of what McCaw is doing
includes the purchase of gear maker NextNet. NextNet was around during the
last big interest in MMDS in the mid-1990s and McCaw has been an investor in
the company. NextNet is part of the WiMax Forum and says it intends to build
WiMax equipment, but Stroh thinks that McCaw is likely to use NextNet's
proprietary gear to get a jump on the market. The first certified WiMax gear
from almost every vendor will operate in licensed bands in international
markets. One analyst recently told me that WiMax equipment designed to
operate in the U.S. probably won't appear until late 2005 or possibly 2006.
In the meantime, McCaw can use NextNet's gear and beat potential competitors
to the market. Also, with McCaw in control of NextNet, he can make sure that
the vendor is making the gear he wants. As Stroh notes: "McCaw learned from
Nextel that if your service depends on the whims of your supplier, they can
dictate things that can materially affect the service." McCaw could migrate
to WiMax in the future in order to take advantage of potentially lower cost
equipment. But Stroh notes that in many cases the proprietary gear may be
better than the WiMax equipment. "WiMax is a compromise," he notes. Even if
the customer equipment from Clearwire is more expensive than that of WiMax
gear, McCaw will have a head start, Stroh says. The new Clearwire Web site
in part leads Stroh to think that McCaw is close to officially introducing
the new business. McCaw may be trying to keep quite about his plans in an
effort to try to buy additional ITFS or other spectrum at good prices, Stroh
says. Stroh says he dug up some other juicy information that's available to
subscribers of his newsletter, Focus on Broadband Wireless Internet Access.
[Editor's note: When we point to a paid editorial resource, we like to be
clear whether or not we have a financial relationship with that resource. We
do not. We merely know that Stroh knows his stuff.]...
Source Link
8:56:59 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Portless Networks
Embeds NoCat in Linksys
Portless claims best reflashed Linksys WRT54G firmware for open network
management to date: As part of ongoing work by several community groups, the
Linksys WRT54G has because the base platform to try to tap into because
Linksys relied so heavily on open-source software in its creation. It took a
little cajoling to remind Linksys of these terms, but then they set up this
GPL source download center on their site, which is prominently linked from
their Support section. Now, providing the code and giving people direct
access to modify firmware are two entirely different objectives, and while
Linksys was obliged to do the former, the latter has been the work of many
months by several teams who have reverse engineered a number of key
elements. The Portless release, say its engineers, relies on and improves
the work of other groups and provides a full NoCatAuth portal. (Their
software is under the GPL license.) NoCatAuth is an open network
authentication project that allows free networks to offer some controls over
who uses it and how, such as bandwidth shaping and a click-through terms of
service page that must be agreed to. Presently, you must have a separate
computer running NoCatAuth, which adds to the complexity. The Linksys
WRT54G, one of the best-selling Wi-Fi gateways of all time, is about $80
street price, making a community node a cheaper proposition. The article
linked to contains a comprehensive survey of similar projects, including
news from Less Networks, which is in a technical pre-release at the moment
of their modification of the NoCatAuth software for a less Unix savvy
installation by average mortals who have the same desire to spread community
networking but lack the technical chops....
Source Link
8:56:57 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Despite shelving WAPI,
China stands firm on chip tax
The fuss over China's plans to implement a national standard for wireless
LANs (WLANs) came to a quiet end Wednesday during bilateral trade talks
between U.S. and Chinese officials in Washington, D.C. But the outcome of
the talks was far from being a complete victory for the U.S. side, which had
raised several areas of concern.
Source Link
8:56:56 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Boeing, NTT DoCoMo eye
Internet roaming deal
NTT DoCoMo Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding with The Boeing Co.
that is expected to lead to its wireless LAN customers being able to access
Boeing in-flight Internet services through their NTT DoCoMo accounts.
Source Link
8:56:54 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Wi-Fi hot spots in critical
condition
Last August, I gave the reasons why wireless hot spots would not survive.
Stubbornly, public Wi-Fi access providers don't agree. They still see the
hundreds of thousands of storefronts that lack access points as green fields
waiting to be plowed.
Source Link
8:56:53 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Wi-Fi Watches
the Kids
Combining RFID with Wi-Fi technology has lead Bluesoft into a number of new
customer areas -- including theme parks.
Source
Link
8:56:52 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Partnering for
the Customers
There's nothing worse than finding out all the various parts of your
enterprise WLAN network don't play nice together. Some vendors are trying to
do something about it using the buddy system.
Source
Link
8:56:51 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
The Testing
Before the Test
Vendors that are nervous their 802.11 products will fail to get
interoperability certification with the Wi-Fi Alliance can now get
'pre-certified' via the wireless lab at the University of New Hampshire.
Source
Link
8:56:49 PM
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© 2004 [OCCalWUG]
Last Update: 6/1/2004; 2:47:49 AM
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