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News that's changing the Wireless World!
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Thursday, May 27, 2004 |
Source: DevX
Linux
Unwired
This book will teach you the basics of wireless computing, from the reasons
why you'd want to go wireless in the first place, to setting up your
wireless network or accessing wireless data services on the road.
Source
Link
11:21:35 PM 
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Book Review:
WarDriving
Nobody likes to make enemies, but I have to be honest about the
dollar-to-content value of this book: Let me be clear from the outset. I
don't know any of the authors of this book, except by reputation, and have
nothing but the highest regard for their technical knowledge and their
achievements. The folks who wrote WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend are
experts about most of what they write about, and offer great technical
insights and tips throughout. That said, I can't recommend this book
primarily because the best advice is already available on the Web for free
in much the same form; chunks of the most practical early part of the book
are repetitive to cover different operating systems or scenarios with the
same approach; the middle part of the book comprises a 60-page-long set of
anecdotes with long code extracts; and the last part of the book features
security advice that's somewhat strange focusing on commercial software and
hardware that's obscure and hard to use and mostly out of keeping with the
kind of audience that could possibly be interested in this title. A factor
that led to book bloat (520 pages, no CD-ROM, $49.99) is the lengthy
reproduction of code, sometimes double spaced that a reader must be expected
to input rather than download or copy and paste from a Web page. Further,
many of the programs seem too idiosyncratic to be of general utility,
arguing against their inclusion in the printed book even if other programs
were printed in full. For fairness's sake, after reading this book a few
weeks ago, I sent the publisher's publicist contact my remarks and a list of
errors found in the book. I was promised some follow up and didn't get it,
so the statute of limitations of waiting for a response to specifics has
ended. I should also make it clear that I have co-written a book on wireless
networking which has practically no overlap with this book. In general, the
book is best at collecting and providing documentation on the trickiest
aspects of scanning for, recording, and defending against wardriving and
Wi-Fi network cracking. Some of the areas on defense are the strongest in
the book, although other areas seem highly misguided. From the first page of
the book to the end of Chapter 7, page 243, it's at its strongest. It's a
cogent, how-to guide to installing and...
Source Link
3:49:45 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
T-Mobile and Comcast
Produce Press Release, Hotspot
Your editor has been trying to sort these story out for a couple of days:
T-Mobile's hotzone powered by Comcast broadband: The problem with a story
like this is that it's been given enormous play because it's a major city
and a large area. But it's planned to be a paid location after the first six
months, and it's not particularly interesting as a "partnership," because
Comcast's role is mostly marketing. Sure, they're bringing in bandwidth, but
any Internet provider would do. Likewise, T-Mobile has no other outdoor
hotzones that I'm aware of, and it's unclear what the point is of this one:
a trial balloon? The press release and coverage cites the fact that Comcast
customers have access to T-Mobile's hotspot service. Sure, and so do I: the
rate, as far as I can tell, is the same. Again, marketing. I thought about
not covering this at all, but it's worth explicating the event. Meanwhile,
in cities around the country, hotzones like NewburyOpen.net in Boston and
Battery Park in Manhattan are sprouting that are commercially supported free
locations designed to be free indefinitely and focusing on areas with high
appropriate traffic....
Source Link
12:51:43 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Portsmouth's Free
Experiment Expands
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, expands a one-year trial of free Wi-Fi in its
downtown: I first heard about this on the radio program I was interviewed on
yesterday on New Hampshire Public Radio (show archived at this page). The
first year had 600 unique users connect to a free hotspot in the Market
Square area. They're extending that and hoping for twice the users using
donated services and hardware. The cost must be quite minimal. Now 600
people (not 600 sessions) only translates into an extra few people a day, on
average, but Portsmouth is using whatever tools they have to increase
traffic to the community. The fellow interviewed alongside me on the radio
said that their big time is cyclical, every four years, when the primaries
roll through the state, and that reporters were filing over the free Wi-Fi
this last winter....
Source Link
12:51:41 PM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Travel Centers of
America Goes Wi-FI Nationwide
It's not a truck stop, it's a travel center, and its 150-plus locations will
be wireless by July: Travel Centers combine truck stop features with RV and
auto drivers needs, and they'll add Wi-Fi to the mix--it's a must have for
any place in its category now. The 40 company-owned stores are already
unwired; the franchisees will be ready to go by July 3. Service will cost
$1.49 for an hour, $4.49 for 24 hours starting at the time of purchase,
$22.49 for two months, and $169.99 per year. These longer plans are designed
truckers to ensure brand loyalty. Diesel-fuel buyers can cash in RoadKing
Club points they earn from buying gas against the Wi-Fi service....
Source Link
11:27:18 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Minnesota City Offers
Blanket of Wi-Fi
Chalska, Minnesota's city government will offer Wi-Fi citywide for broadband
connectivity: Using Tropos gear, the city will charge $16 per month for
access to the network, which will also be used for public safety. The town
has 18,000 residents, and they expect 2,000 people to sign up for service.
The offering will inclue about 200 Tropos access points over a 12 to 13
square mile area....
Source Link
11:27:16 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
University of Oregon
Sees Utility of Wi-Fi
The U of O installed Wi-Fi beginning in 1999; 2,500 unique users in a
20,000-person student body in January: The university went full bore on
Wi-Fi in 2002, and access is practically ubiquitous. They're thinking about
extending service out into community nearby as well, but not for general
use. The university is in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon. (That's OR-ih-gun
not OREY-gone. What are you, some kind of hick?)...
Source Link
11:17:29 AM
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Source: Wi-Fi Networking News
Brussels installs
$60,000 Wi-Fi Kiosks
At a cost of €1 million, Brussels puts in first of 20 Web kiosks with
Wi-Fi: The cost seems quite extraordinary, but these are outdoor units
designed to stand up to abuse and weather. They use touch sensitive screens
for browsing, and have Wi-Fi built in for nearby use....
Source Link
11:17:27 AM
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Last Update: 6/1/2004; 2:48:33 AM
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