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News that's changing the Wireless World!
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Tuesday, May 18, 2004 |
Source: InfoWorld
Cometa falls from the
sky
Cometa Networks Inc. plans to announce Wednesday that it will shut down,
after its investors and board of directors decided to pull the plug on the
fledgling Wi-Fi hotspot service provider, a spokeswoman for the company said
Tuesday.
Source Link
5:17:06 PM 
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Source: C|Net
Cometa Networks to halt operations
The Wi-Fi pioneer is set to announce Wednesday that it is suspending its
service, as the company has been unable to raise additional capital to fund
expansion nationwide.
Source Link
4:09:37 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Cometa
Networks Shutting Down
Once destined to become the major force in public access Wi-Fi, the hotspot
wholesaler will announce tomorrow that it is going out of business.
Source
Link
4:09:36 PM
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Source: Computer World
Wireless LANs Find Their Voice
Developments in wireless voice-over-IP technology have pushed wireless IP
headsets, Star Trek-like voice-activated communicators and software phones
from bleeding edge to mainstream.
Source Link
4:05:13 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
McCaw's Risks
Business Week does a decent job of looking at Craig McCaw's recent purchases
in the broadband wireless space: McCaw recently bought a company that owns
spectrum that would be ideal for rolling out broadband wireless. He also
bought NextNet, an equipment maker. The story takes a broad look at McCaw's
history and places this move among McCaw's success and failures. This recent
foray is risky just like McCaw's other ventures so it could become quite
successful like Nextel or McCaw Cellular or it could fail or stall like XO
or Teledesic. This story notes that the first WiMax equipment will appear
next year. While that's accurate and exactly what most of the folks in the
WiMax movement will tell you, I think the WiMax folks are remiss to not
clarify that statement. The first equipment will operate in licensed bands
internationally--it can't be used in the United States. Some experts say
that the first gear to become available here won't surface for another
couple of years. The story quotes our pal Steve Stroh, the editor of Focus
on Broadband Wireless Internet Access. Steve wrote a detailed report of
McCaw's moves when these recent purchases first came to light....
Source Link
4:05:06 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
3G vs. Wi-Fi
ZDNet UK has a comprehensive analysis of factors businesses should consider
when choosing between 3G or Wi-Fi for mobile workers: The conclusion should
be disheartening for operators of either network. Based on comments from an
analyst, the writer concludes that some companies might be better off asking
workers to use Internet cafes, which are more prevalent in Europe than in
the U.S. Companies might be wise to wait for a bundled Wi-Fi/3G offering
because both services are lacking individually. In the same breath, however,
he notes that such bundled offerings probably won't be available for a
while. Until such bundles are available, it's true that 3G and Wi-Fi may
appear competitive to the many users who aren't willing to pay for both. But
choosing between the two is like choosing between two evils because both
need changes to their pricing models and both are lacking coverage....
Source Link
4:05:05 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Microsoft to Continue
Some Wireless Gear
At the E3 Expo, Microsoft apparently went out of its way to reassure Xbox
fans that it will continue to make its Xbox Wi-Fi adapter: That's somewhat
ironic because not too long ago Microsoft had a page on its Web site that
said it didn't recommend using Wi-Fi with its Xbox and wouldn't offer
technical support for it. Perhaps customer demand has made it change its
tune. In other gaming news, Nintendo's handheld game will include Wi-Fi,
though apparently the company hasn't specified if it'll be 802.11b or
802.11g. [links via Frank]...
Source Link
4:05:04 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Olympics Attendees to
Get Wireless
ACISgroup, an ISP in Greece, will build hotspots in major hotels and nearby
outdoor areas in Greece in anticipation of the upcoming Olympics. The ISP
will use gear from Proxim and Nomadix. It's not clear how extensive the
network will be or what the charge for use will be. Proxim plans to release
an announcement about the deal tomorrow which should be available
here....
Source Link
4:05:02 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
The More You Pay, the
More Access Costs
Kathy Gill encounters highway robbery in her hotel room: $14.95 per day, per
machine: My colleague Kathy Gill is at the WWW2004 conference in New York,
and has been astounded by the Sheraton's data charges: $14.95 per day for
wireless access in the hotel, and another $14.95 per day per person for
in-room access. She's peeved. It's this irritation that could ultimately
transform hotel Wi-Fi. If Kathy had $20 to $80 per month unlimited cell data
access (anywhere from 10-50 Kbps up to a few hundred K download speed), even
with the slower upload speeds of cellular networks, she might have foregone
the $14.95 per day fee. In which case, how does the hotel recoup that money?
They can't. Take the alternative experience, in which my wife and I spent
three nights on the Oregon Coast this last week. I wasn't working, and just
wanted to briefly check my email on the road. The first night, we stayed at
an older motel in the process of becoming a resort. For $9.95, I could have
had wireless service, but I didn't need to spend that much. My ISP lacked an
800# and local numbers on the coast. I wound up using my GSM (9600 bps --
yes, bits per second) cell phone service which on Cingular's network comes
out of my minutes pool. Next night, again with no concern about access, we
chose a hotel that was about 30 percent cheaper and claimed wireless
Internet access for free. Ah, but not in the cheaper part of the hotel. I
didn't need access badly enough to roam to the part of the hotel in which I
could get service, so I turned again to the cell phone. The third night, we
stayed at a Best Western in a small town. The room was nice, the rate was 30
percent less than the second night's, and the deal included free in-room
wired broadband and free breakfast. Guess which hotel I'll choose first next
time? All Best Westerns will soon have free in-room broadband--as will most
budget hotel chains around the U.S. Hotels that charge for service might
find their high-end customers turning to cell data as that becomes more
available and less expensive--or losing customers to the cheaper chains.
(Our first and last nights of our trip were spent at my brother-in-laws and
my parents'--both of which offered free Wi-Fi throughout the
property.)...
Source Link
4:05:01 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
DoS Attack Nothing
New
Some WLAN security experts say that the reaction to a type of denial of
service (DoS) attack recently described by Queensland University researchers
is severe: "This is new only in a small incremental sense," said Rich
Mironov, vice president of marketing for AirMagnet. "This is one new flavor
or variation of the DoS attack." The report from Australia has been widely
described as a dramatic new security fault inherent in the 802.11b standard.
Some reports have included recommendations to stop using 802.11b networks
altogether. The attack appears to have no real effect on 802.11a or
802.11g-only networks which employ a different signal encoding method than
802.11b. But some say the attack isn't new at all. Richard Rushing, chief
security officer for AirDefense, says this new report looks exactly like
findings presented by University of San Diego researchers at a UseNix
conference last August. The buzz around the recent report from Queensland
just happens to be better publicized, he said. Neither Mironov nor Rushing
expect the form of attacks to be particularly threatening. The attack can be
performed with an off-the-shelf PC card but the card's firmware must be
modified using a driver that may or may not become public. "It's probably
going to come out, but it's not necessarily going to propagate," said
Rushing. Even if it does get widely circulated, the attacks themselves will
be limited to the APs in range of the altered PC card. "It's not like the
whole network crashes. It's the one or two or three APs nearby that are
crashing," Mironov said. AirMagnet's current product looks for 16 other
distinct DoS attacks and will soon identify this type of attack. When its
network sensors pick up on the attack, an alarm is sent to a network
administrator. An IT manager can then use a handheld device to locate the
source of the attack to shut it down. AirMagnet expects to be able to
distribute an update that will identify this specific attack in about a
week, Mironov said. Key to identifying such attacks are sensors that are
separate from the APs, Rushing said. "If I'm using the AP to get my
monitoring information I won't see anything. I'll just see that nothing is
connecting to the AP," he said. But a separate sensor would see the signals
sent from the hacker's device. Mironov says this new attack is not a reason
to shy from...
Source Link
4:04:59 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Cometa Networks Closes
Its Doors Starting Tomorrow
Cometa Networks has confirmed that they are ceasing operations: Wi-Fi
Networking News was able to confirm through multiple independent and
reliable sources this morning that Cometa Networks will start the process of
running down its hotspot network operations tomorrow. Cometa vice president
of marketing Kent Hellebust acknowledged the news in an interview early this
afternoon. "We've built a profitable business in the Seattle test market and
to go national requires additional capital," Hellebust said. The company was
unable to obtain the capital necessary for this expansion, and will wind
down operations through phases to best serve existing venues and resellers
rather than abruptly terminating service to subscribers and locations. "The
networks will be running for coming weeks and then will be phased out,"
Hellebust said. "The employees have been notified at Cometa Networks."
Cometa Networks was funded by Intel Capital, the company's investment arm,
and two venture capital firms. AT&T and IBM committed resources to the
project as well. From the start, Cometa was treated as dubious by many
established players in the industry due to their frequent claims that they
would install 20,000 locations with Wi-Fi service within two years of their
Dec. 2002 launch. But their high-profile backers meant that Cometa might be
in a position to make good on their projections. Their model was to resell
these locations to cell operators and other partners of that scale, as well
as to aggregators like iPass. After more than a year of operation, Cometa
had a handful of partners and about 250 locations, including 150 trial
service hotspots set up with McDonald's in the New York tri-state area and
Seattle and most of the rest across many kinds of venues in their Seattle
test market. However, McDonald's opted for Wayport to install Wi-Fi in its
over 12,000 domestic U.S. stores and franchisees. This decision quickly
caused Toshiba, another McDonald's trial partner, to close its hotspot
operation and start work to transfer locations to Cometa. Cometa was able to
announce that Barnes & Noble had chosen Cometa to build and resell
access to its over 550 U.S. bookstores, which seemed like a big step in
Cometa re-establishing itself as a growing operator with locations that were
worth reselling and aggregating. Cometa put a brave face on its future in an
interview with Wi-Fi Networking News on April 21, 2004. The company's CEO
and a vice president painted a picture of...
Source Link
4:04:58 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Boingo CEO Critiques
Cometa
Boingo Wireless CEO issues statement critiquing Cometa Networks' failures:
In a rare case of this sort, Sky Dayton, Boingo's founder and CEO, issued a
brief statement reiterating the overall growth in revenue and use of public
Wi-Fi hotspots, and critiquing Cometa's missteps. The statement notes,
"Cometa had the potential to become a leading wholesale hot spot provider.
The company's business plan made a lot of sense -- build lots of hot spots
on the cheap and wholesale them to brands who shoulder the costs of
marketing, support and billing. But they didn't execute well. They spent too
much money before they needed to and demanded carriers pay high minimums for
access to a network that wasn't yet built. No carrier wanted to go along
with that." Dayton also noted that despite Boingo's ability to sign up
networks worldwide as part of their roaming and aggregation system, that
Cometa wouldn't work with them. Cometa signed a roaming deal with iPass, but
reports indicate that this was more theory than an implemented reality.
Dayton wrote, "Boingo had attempted to strike a roaming agreement with
Cometa, but they claimed to not be interested. Even though their network
wasn't much more than a promise, they were acting as if they were already
the market leader. They succeeded in alienating the very people they needed
to help them succeed." We've heard now from other sources that Dayton's
experience was consistent with Cometa's approach to other firms....
Source Link
4:04:56 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Montreal's Westmount
Square gets Hot Zone
Vivato gear enabled a hot zone in Montreal that otherwise would have been
much more difficult to build: Tadaa Wireless, a wireless ISP, hired Summit
Technologies, a solutions provider, to build a network covering three
22-storey skyscrapers in Montreal. Summit figured that it would take 160
traditional APs to do the job. Using Vivato gear instead, Summit built the
network with three Vivato base stations and six Vivato APs. The network
covers a 1.5 mile radius and is available to 1,500 users. Vivato has had
some troubles recently with an overhaul of its management team but if it can
focus on this niche of unusual deployments it may do well. There's probably
not a shortage of historic buildings or other sites that may be difficult to
wire....
Source Link
4:04:55 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
WLAN security shootout
Three years ago, when we launched the Advanced Network Computing Laboratory
(ANCL) for wireless connectivity, there were no architecture choices. The
intelligent AP (access point) was all that was available, so that's what we
used in our own facility. In fact, up until 24 months ago, AP vendors such
as Cisco and Enterasys were the only proven choices for the enterprise.
Source Link
4:04:53 PM
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Source: InfoWorld
Security wares weigh in
strong at N+I
Steeling enterprise networks against security breaches captured much of the
limelight at NetWorld+Interop 2004, as an array of vendors showcased
offerings that promise to secure XML data and wireless networks.
Source Link
4:04:51 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Focusing on
Free
Service provider XDIGI admits that its plans for providing free Wi-Fi access
sound utopian, but says that someone has to push to make wireless an amenity
for everyone.
Source
Link
4:04:50 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Planet
Dell Unwires
Axim
The computer maker peppers its PDAs with Intel chips, Windows Mobile,
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Source
Link
4:04:48 PM
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© 2004 [OCCalWUG]
Last Update: 6/1/2004; 2:47:58 AM
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