Network World

Wireless Alert

Joanie Wexler looks at how enterprises can take advantage of wireless LANs and WANs.

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Trump building boosts cellular signals: 07/07/09; Another hotel has "done the DAS thing" by installing multi-carrier distributed antenna systems throughout its property so that guests and residents have clear indoor access to their cellular provider of choice.
Location apps make strides: 07/02/09; Location is playing an increasing role in Wi-Fi networks. Most recently, Trapeze Networks announced a location-based radio frequency firewall application for its location appliance that works like a fence to prevent Wi-Fi devices in unauthorized areas – such as parking lots – from penetrating the WLAN.
The cost of scaling Wi-Fi capacity: 06/30/09; Wireless LANs rarely allow for simple direct cost comparisons. In addition to variable pricing structures among vendors, one reason is that product architectures differ. That means some systems have different components than others. So how can you compare them, tit for tat?
Wi-Fi pricing models vary widely: 06/26/09; Recently I conducted some comparative research on how Wi-Fi vendors price their wireless LAN systems, and it was quite an eye-opener. There are notable variations among vendors, for example, as to what they include in their basic systems and what they charge extra for.
Cellular tethering, MiFi and data usage caps: 06/23/09; There are ways to allow two or more devices to share a 3G cellular backhaul link to the Internet. The main motivation to do this would be to avoid the cost of a 3G network interface card (NIC) and a 3G data service plan for every device by letting two or more devices share one connection and data service.
First FMC support for BlackBerry arrives: 06/19/09; An aggressive start-up's equipment that extends PBX calls and unified communications traffic to Wi-Fi LANs and cellular networks has become the first to support enterprise-coveted BlackBerry dual-mode smartphones.
Drive-in ditches MPLS for cellular: 06/16/09; A chain of drive-in restaurants trolling for a new branch office router settled on a lower-cost, higher-performing option: a remote wireless LAN access point with a cellular module.
Enterprise gold nuggets in new iPhone: 06/12/09; There are a few key draws for the enterprise in the newest Apple iPhone 3G S, which will be commercially available June 19 in the United States.
Managing your WLAN from an iPhone: 06/09/09; Network management can be an esoteric topic that rarely yields a sexy headline. Given the difficulty in managing application performance over temperamental unlicensed airwaves in a wireless LAN, however, the subject can quickly become paramount once the complaints start rolling in. In this spirit, Meru Networks claims the ability so slash Wi-Fi troubleshooting time with a new correlation engine and, optionally, the Apple iPhone.
Which came first: the network or the app?: 06/05/09; Smartphone innovations abound, driving fierce competition among the mobile network operators. Mobile app stores are pumping out juicy new handheld applications that quickly chew up bandwidth. So all the major mobile network operators are embroiled in neck-and-neck moves to boost capacity while also jockeying to lay claim to the fair-haired smartphone du jour.
The rise of personal 'Mi-Fi' hotspots: 05/29/09; Travelers often have more than one mobile device that they'd like to connect to the Internet. They might have both a smartphone and a laptop, for example, and could be traveling with spouses or colleagues carrying similar devices. Such situations are driving a new wireless paradigm referred to as "Mi-Fi."
Do branch offices need routers anymore?: 05/22/09; Recent wireless-centric remote networking announcements imply that the corporate LAN experience can simply be "extended" into enterprise branch offices without the need for IP routing. Such a setup is possible, particularly for single-person offices. But it's not likely to become the de facto configuration for all enterprise branch offices.
Cisco targets mobile multimedia: 05/19/09; Cisco is doing its part to pull together enterprise trends toward both rich media and wireless with products and programs it says will boost collaboration capabilities for mobile workers.
It's Interop time: 05/15/09; It's that time of year when the networking industry's juiciest announcements tend to get made. The likes of Aerohive, Aruba, Cisco and Meraki will show off new wireless products and programs at this week's Interop show in Las Vegas. Here's a peek at some of what's going on.
Alternatives for high-capacity Wi-Fi coverage: 05/13/09; We left off last time with a discussion of challenges that crop up when trying to design a WLAN for a high-density environment. Using a traditional multi-cell architecture, the main challenge is tuning the power of the APs appropriately so that there can be many small coverage cells. The trick is making sure users have plenty of aggregate capacity to share while avoiding the co-channel interference that lurks when lots of APs occupy a relatively small space. Now, what about single-channel and array architectures?
Designing for high-density Wi-Fi coverage: 05/11/09; Trapeze's recent announcement of an 802.11n access point priced for high-density environments got me to thinking. Equipment costs are just one challenge WLAN designers face when trying to cover crowded areas.
Smart planning for new networks: 05/06/09; The current networking landscape reminds me of the homeowner's perpetual condition. Usually, a home improvement here (say, new windows) drives still another one over there (say, siding). Often, doing two jobs separately costs more. And you might forfeit the polished, integrated look that results from having a single entity install the windows and siding together if you chop up the job.
Why mix Bluetooth with Wi-Fi?: 05/04/09; When the latest version of Bluetooth was announced last week, two questions popped to mind. First, what does Bluetooth 3.0 - which combines the Bluetooth wireless communications protocol with 802.11g Wi-Fi transport capabilities - offer that plain old Wi-Fi doesn't? Second, how are 3.0 connections secured, given that Wi-Fi running in ad hoc (peer-to-peer) mode hasn't historically received many kudos for privacy? It turns out that the two questions and their answers are somewhat related.
Vendors debate 11n topics in Webcasts: 04/29/09; Earlier this year, a colleague and I issued a Draft 2.0 802.11n Challenge to enterprise-class Wi-Fi system suppliers, asking them to publicly plead their case about their primary strengths as an 11n supplier. Six vendors accepted the challenge by submitting written documents and also by participating in audio panels on various educational 802.11n subtopics.
How intrusion prevention costs compare: 04/27/09; With all the security talk in the air at last week's RSA Conference in San Francisco, it seemed fitting to return to our ongoing discussion of wireless intrusion detection/prevention systems. As you likely know, WIPSs work to keep unauthorized devices from connecting to your wired and wireless networks and to prevent your internal authorized wireless client devices from associating with unauthorized access points.
Performance tiers and testing needed for 802.11n: 04/22/09; As noted last time, new types of potentially attractive, useful 802.11n products are set to emerge that the Wi-Fi Alliance is currently not equipped to test and certify.
802.11n complications are imminent: 04/20/09; As you likely know, the current fair-haired wireless LAN version, 802.11n, is multidimensional, making product comparisons challenging. Those comparisons are likely to soon get even thornier when 1x1, single-stream 802.11n products emerge for netbooks, smartphones and even laptops. At issue: the Wi-Fi Alliance currently lacks certification programs and categories to accommodate this new breed of 802.11n product.
Two approaches to tackling MDM: 04/15/09; Mobile device management (MDM) is quickly becoming a formidable chore as the use of smartphones ramps up. As mentioned in the last newsletter, there are many services and tools available for taming the mobility beast, but figuring out how to patch together a comprehensive process and tool set can be confounding.
IT trembles over mobile management: 04/13/09; There is a widespread lack of confidence among IT professionals in their ability to deliver consistent mobile service levels. Yet even as IT struggles to get its arms around the devices and network services already in place, the size and diversity of the enterprise mobile population continues to mushroom. The good news is that there are mobility management tools and services galore. Still, most attack just one or two pieces of the mobility puzzle. How do you fit them together? How many overlay solutions can you support?
More tricks for integrated cellular-PBX savings: 04/08/09; The last newsletter touched on several emerging alternatives for integrating low-cost Skype IP telephony service with enterprise-class smartphones and PBXs. Beyond Skype, there are other crafty ways to achieve cellular telephony savings, as well.