802.11 WildPackets OmniPeek Performs at Olympics

Matthew Nickasch — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:50:44 -0400

Anybody utilizing the various wireless networks at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games can be rest assured that they are in good hands. In a recent press release, "China Mobile, the World's largest mobile subscribers telecommunications provider (and Olympics partner) implemented WildPackets OmniPeek to proactively prevent wireless network outages at 14 Olympic venues."

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DefCon: Cisco WLAN AP tricked into committing suicide

Cisco Subnet — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:29:20 -0400

On Saturday AirTight at DefCon 16 will trick Cisco wireless LAN access points into committing suicide, reports Brad Reese. The company will share its findings about self destructive behavior spotted in select open source and commercial 802.11 APs. AirTight says it will demonstrate that by sending specially crafted packets, it is possible to trigger autoimmunity disorder and cause an AP to turn hostile against its own clients.

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Will "Mobile VoIP" Become A Market Motivator?

Matthew Nickasch — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:21:19 -0400

When I think of enterprise-wide deployments of VoIP, especially IP-PBX systems, I think of lots and lots of wired IP endpoints, with a small variety of wireless handsets deployed over the organization's wireless network. Still, it seems as though the major "endpoint focus" of organizations is towards wired terminals. Sure, we have SpectraLink (now Polycom), Cisco's wireless 802.11-compliant phones, etc. But, what the market has yet to see is a true "dual-mode" cellphone + VoIP endpoint combination.

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Power Testing - Again, and More

Craig Mathias — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:29:27 -0400

You know how sometimes you start down a particular path and things just get more interesting as you go? And you wind up spending a lot more time than you thought you would, as the problem gets deeper and more complex? And you look up, after a few weeks, and wonder where all the time went?

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Securing Wireless Networks (Part 3 of 3)

jimandneil_simplified — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:19:34 -0400

Using the Wireless Network to Monitor Itself

An early security hole (and one that you can drive a truck through) in wireless networks was the problem of "rogue" access points: essentially wireless access points deployed without authorization of the IT department and almost always without the best practices security measures implemented.

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Securing Wireless Networks (Part 2 of 3)

jimandneil_simplified — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:46:43 -0400

Securing Wireless Communications

The next step to securing the wireless network (which is where most people start and often stop) is securing the actual wireless communications over the air between the client device and the wireless access point. There are two best practices to follow: authentication and encryption.

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Securing Wireless Networks (Part 1 of 3)

jimandneil_simplified — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:59:27 -0400

Are Wireless Networks Vulnerable?

There has been considerable reporting and interest around the topic of wireless networks and the need to secure them. While there is reason to be concerned, it is also important to keep things in perspective. Of course, there have been some spectacular breaches of wireless networks. In every case, the root cause was demonstrated to be incomplete or inadequate wireless security implementations.

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Reloading the WiFi Shotgun

Noah Schiffman — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:09:09 -0500

With the recent release of several new wireless exploits, I thought this might be a good time to revisit an "oldie but goodie" security tactic.

I don't' keep statistics on hackers-number, skill level, favorite targets, tools used-and I don't think anyone does (the feds have tried), because it's impossible. Feel free to try, but you'll probably get hacked.

But I can tell you about the current trends, the major players, the latest exploits and newest tools used in the hacker community; although, this information isn't always the most important. Many IT managers focus on the latest threats and hacks, while sometimes overlooking the more relevant ones.

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Outdoor wireless updates and discussion with Cisco expert Fred Niehaus

Brad Reese — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:18:33 -0400

Until this Friday April 20th, Fred Niehaus, technical marketing engineer for the Cisco Wireless Networking Business Unit, is providing Cisco customers with updates and the opportunity to discuss outdoor wireless technology. Fred has extensive customer contact and is responsible for developing and marketing enterprise class wireless solutions using Cisco Aironet and Airespace Series Wireless LAN products. He has actively participated in some of Cisco's largest Wireless LAN deployments in education and retail with such customers as the New York Board of Education and the Home Depot stores. In addition to live deployments, Fred has also served as technical editor for several Cisco Press books including the Cisco 802.11 Wireless Networking Reference Quick Guide by Toby Velte and The Business Case for Enterprise-Class Wireless LANs by David Castaneda, Oisin Mac Alasdair and Christopher Vinckier. Prior to joining Cisco's Wireless Networking Business Unit, via the acquisition of Aironet, Fred worked as a support engineer for Telxon Corporation, supporting some of the very first wireless implementations for customers such as Wal-Mart, Ford, Hertz Rent-A-Car and others. Fred has been in the data communications and networking industry for the past 20 years and holds a Radio Amateur (Ham) License "N8CPI". Between 1983 and 1995, prior to joining Cisco, he was a senior technical support engineer for Tecmar Inc. one of the first companies to offer aftermarket products for the Apple and IBM personal computers.

Highlights of Fred's responses to outdoor wireless questions that were rated by network professionals at the highest rating level possible - 5.0 (extremely helpful): Customer question: I am looking into some outdoor mesh with the 1500, and was wondering how can the backhaul reach 1 mile and more. Isn't 802.11a limited to 500feetat6Mbp? (omnidirectional antenna?) What is the throughput at one mile? Fred's 5.0 rated response: The recommended distances for the Mesh backhaul is typically between 1000 to 4000 Ft as this assumes you are connecting a Root Mesh AP referred to as a "RAP" or Rooftop Access Point to a "MAP" Mesh Access Point (that's usually an AP mounted on say a telephone or street light pole using an Omni antenna). The backhaul link can certainly go further if you aim the signal in a given direction (using a directional antenna). However, when doing same, it does limit the options of the AP to "mesh" to only those APs within the area covered by the directional antenna. ----------------------------- Customer question: Thank you for your response regarding the 1500's. We have several WAPs installed in various models from 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400 and 1500 series in both outdoor and indoor deployments. Most of them are on different Vlan's located at various facilities. What is your recommendation as far as managing and monitoring these WAP's at a central location? Fred's 5.0 rated response: You can use Cisco WCS for more information on this product check out the URL here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6305/index.html ----------------------------- Customer question: I need to set up a wireless network between two buildings. What would you recomend for equipment to use. The buildings are about 500 ft apart. I have tried the linksys WAP,s but lost signal half way between the buildings. Could you please advise me on a solution? Fred's 5.0 rated response: If the buildings are only 500 Ft apart, you could use the BR1300 series Bridge for 2.4 GHz or the BR1400 series Bridge using the less congested 5 GHz band. Either product would work well. Another option (if you can locate the AP indoors) and simply run the antenna cable outdoors might be to use a pair of AP1240's in Bridge mode. Any of these three options would work fine, given the buildings are that close 500 Ft and I assume you have line of sight, the only advantage to using the AP1240 would be that you could use two sets of antennas (one on 2.4 GHz and one on 5 GHz) at each site, that way if you did encounter interference you could "software switch" between bands and you would have some redundancy should an antenna happen to get damaged or a cable cut. ----------------------------- Join in on the outdoor wireless technology discussion with Fred Niehaus until this Friday, April 20th. http://www.BradReese.Com

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