A report by the San Francisco Examiner suggested a possible vote by the city’s Board of Supervisors to make the citywide WiFi network part of the city’s owned assets. The move, if the board pushes through with it, would run in conflict with Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to let a private company, particularly EarthLink, own… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Eliza Villarino
‘Evil Twin’ Wi-Fi Hacks Target The Rich
Hackers are taking advantage of WiFi to steal vital personal information by creating bogus wireless access points near commercial hotspots and assign them the same name. According to Richard Rushing, chief science officer at Wi-Fi security company AirDefense, most hackers perform ‘evil twin’ attacks in locations “where the better-off are hanging out because they have… Continue Reading
Laptop Makers Push Pre-standard Wireless
Although ratification of 802.11n is not expected until 2008, major PC makers are pushing ahead with plans to integrate high-speed Wi-Fi into their notebooks. Lenovo is following the lead of Dell, Acer and HP, and will provide an 802.11n radio in its 3000 series notebooks. The company, like Dell and Acer, is turning to Broadcom… Continue Reading
The Two Faces Of WiMAX
Clearwire and Towerstream are two companies currently offering pre-WiMax services but they cater to different clients: Clearwire serves the consumer market and Towerstream focuses on businesses. Clearwire co-CEO Ben Wolff said subscribers to the company’s fixed wireless service now number 162,000. The operator looks to cover 34 markets by the year’s end and has launched… Continue Reading
Motorola Buys Wireless Firm Good
Motorola has acquired Good Technology, which provides wireless email services for handsets, including Motorola’s Q. Motorola Mobile Devices division president Ron Garriques said “Good Technology’s software and managed service deliver a rich user experience, low cost of ownership, industry- leading security and enterprise-class support.” Garriques believes the deal will “continue to strengthen Motorola as a… Continue Reading
IEEE 802.11 Standard’s Evolution
The evolution of wireless technologies brought lessons that are now driving the draft 802.11n efforts: 1) The WLAN industry made the right move of supporting legacy 802.11b rather than establishing a new and potentially higher-performing frequency band at 5 GHz, which could cause incompatibility among products. 2) Improving throughput in environments filled with interference from… Continue Reading
Voice On Wi-Fi – The Architecture Question
Aruba rejected criticisms that its version of centrally-managed wireless LAN does not allow for scalable voice over WiFi (VoFi). Aruba vice president Keerti Melkote admitted that the company’s systems, due to central application of encryption, command wireless traffic flows to go through the central controller. But this is not a problem “from bandwidth point of… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi As An Addictive Drug
Blogger David Haskin found himself addicted more to WiFi than coffee, which he gave up five months ago. His confession came as the WiFi Alliance released the findings of a study showing that 80 percent of respondents would rather quit drinking coffee than lose their WiFi connection. Haskin said he brings WiFi travel routers when… Continue Reading
Time To Welcome Draft N?
Current developments make Draft N poised to hit the mainstream market next year, according to Mike Hurlston, Broadcom’s vice president of WLAN products. Hurlston said four laptop makers, i.e., Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP, have announced plans to ship Draft N products. He also noted the improved cooperation among chipmakers, thus creating better interoperability among… Continue Reading
Intel Touts WiMAX As Fix For India’s Digital Divide
Intel Corp. chairman Craig Barrett sees WiMax as a solution to India’s digital divide. Barrett said WiMax “is relatively inexpensive and relatively simple” and therefore “ideal for rural environment where there is limited infrastructure in place.” He made these remarks following his tour of Baramati, a town that Intel adopted under its World Ahead Program.… Continue Reading
Samsung Unveils Multifeatured PDA With WiMax
Samsung is coming out with an all-in-one handheld, a fusion of PC, cell phone, camera, and portable music player. SPH-P9000 houses a folding qwerty keyboard and has built-in WiMax as well as high-speed CDMA EV-DO and Bluetooth capabilities. The PDA, which Samsung first put on display at the Mobile WiMax Summit 2006, is preloaded with… Continue Reading
Dublin Developer Debuts Wi-Fi-Mobile Roaming Software
Cicero Networks has unveiled a new dual-mode VoIP client that will allow Nokia smartphones to use the best available connection between WiFi and traditional mobile networks. CiceroPhone is designed for Nokia S60 handsets, including the E60, E61, E70 and N80 models. The Irish software maker plans to officially ship this new product by the end… Continue Reading
Poor Business Case Could Hobble WiMax
Analysts at Sound Partners Ltd believe the success of WiMax will depend on business cases. Drs Mark Heath and Alastair Brydon wrote a report entitled The Business Case For WiMax, wherein they predicted that WiMax will lose to DSL in developed countries, particularly with the increased capability and reach of DSL services. The report also… Continue Reading
Broadcom Wi-Fi Router Touts Integration
Broadcom has unveiled an 802.11g Wi-Fi chip that will provide full Layer 3 routing. By integrating a 54g radio and a medium access control block with an Ethernet switch and a MIPS processor, the BCM5354 can generate and connect to multiple networks through a sole access point via multi-BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) software. Lenovo,… Continue Reading
WiMAX Could Fry Your Brain. Or Not
Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada has banned the use of WiFi in the campus due to behavioral and physiological risks associated with the technology. According to university president Fred Gilbert, 31 scientists have subscribed the Benevento Resolution, which calls for precautionary strategies to wireless systems and setting up WiFi-free zones in cities, schools, hospitals and… Continue Reading