Although considered a technology for the consumer market, 802.11n supports key applications that are useful to enterprises. These include ERP and CRM systems, workgroup computing applications, and various wireless backhaul applications, which need throughputs higher than what the current 802.11 standards can deliver. Such capacity is due to 802.11n’s features, particularly multiple-input multiple-output. MIMO improves… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Eliza Villarino
New Orleans To Take City-wide WiFi Network Offline
New Orleans will shut down its city-wide WiFi network once EarthLink’s system becomes operational either later this year or by early 2007. The current network delivers a speed of 128 Kbps, with equipment supplied by Intel, Tropos Networks, and Pronto Networks to help the city restore its communications infrastructure following the devastation caused by Hurricane… Continue Reading
Faster Testing Could Mean More Certified Wi-Fi
Azimuth Systems has released a new test suite that could reduce the testing time for WiFi products by two-thirds. WiFi Alliance’s Authorized Test Laboratories worldwide will use the AzCert Wi-Fi Certification Test Suite. Azimuth vice president of marketing Jeff Abramowitz estimated that testing will take between four and five hours. Although the laboratories have yet… Continue Reading
Citywide Wi-Fi Spending Could Hit $3 Billion
A new report by MuniWireless.com indicates that U.S. municipalities will invest over $3 billion in public wireless networks over the next four years. MuniWireless.com founder Esme Vos ascribed the trend to increasing interest among cities and counties to develop their own wireless networks, which are either managed by them alone or in collaboration with a… Continue Reading
Boingo’s Wi-Fi Net Puts Roots Down In Asia-Pacific
Boingo Wireless has partnered with three companies to expand its presence in Asia. The WiFi network aggregator inked roaming agreements with Singapore Telecom, StarHub — another Singaporean firm — and Philippine hotspot operator Innove Communications. It also has similar deals in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. Via [networkworld.com]… Continue Reading
Taking Wi-Fi Power To The People
FON has offered free WiFi routers in San Francisco and plans to do the same in New York later this year. During the “Freedom” events, the Spanish start-up would distribute its La Fonera, a newly-released device that supports 802.11g technology and allows broadband subscribers to share bandwidth with WiFi users. La Fonera complements FON’s software… Continue Reading
Hedging The WiMAX Bet
Intel is banking on WiMax to break its unlucky streak in venturing outside the PC. Both established and young companies are expected to embrace the new technology. WiMax is seen by many as faster than cellular due to its reliance on MIMO. Via [commsdesign.com]… Continue Reading
Canadian Town Gets WiMax
Despite being a small town, Hanna in Alberta, Canada is home to six WiMax towers. The facilities, which comprise Nortel base stations and customer premises gear (or subscriber stations) with radios based on the IEEE 802.16d fixed WiMax standard, were installed by Netago Wireless. The company offers subscribers various data plans, with uplink speeds ranging… Continue Reading
Securing Your Network In A Growing Wireless World
A good reason to secure one’s wireless network is performance, according to Yankee Group analyst Tara Howard. But aside from that, there is not much difference between an unsecured and secured network. Nonetheless, some people prefers to have their networks secured and to do so, they should ensure that their firewall is properly working. They… Continue Reading
WLAN Vendor Colubris Reaps $14 Million In New Backing
WLAN vendor Colubris has obtained a further $14 million in venture capital funding. Its investors include Prism VentureWorkds, GrandBanks, Capital, Doll Capital Management, Mid-Atlantic Ventures Funds, Telecommunications Development Fund and Business Development Bank of Canada. Including their previous investments, the companies have entrusted $50 million to Columbris, which provides wireless LAN equipment to carriers and… Continue Reading
Big Picture Wi-Fi Security
Network Chemistry has developed a platform that will render “integrated facility and endpoint wireless security.” It has revamped its RFprotect Distributed platform, hardware and software to extend the coverage to all areas that a mobile worker may roam, with the use of a unified control panel with automated policy enforcement capabilities. The reworked RFprotect Distributed… Continue Reading
Motorola: Metro Wi-Fi’ll Never Happen
Juan Santiago, senior director of product management at Motorola, believes Metro WiFi is a futile attempt to bring WiFi outdoors. Such is the case because Metro WiFi in unlicensed, free and, various devices create too much interference to allow it to work properly. Such venture will also fail because operating an outdoor WiFi is too… Continue Reading
Users And Vendors Make WiMax Plans
At the WiMax World in Boston, vendors unveiled plans on how they plan to take advantage of and are using the emerging technology. Roy Russell, founding chief technology officer of Zipcar in Cambridge, Massachusetts, believes his company can use WiMax to boost bandwidth to its fleet of 2,000 cars. He sees the possibility of installing… Continue Reading
Why Sprint Says WiMax Is 4G
Sprint CTO Barry West regards WiMax the 4G technology because not only is it faster, it is also cheaper. According to West, WiMax causes a 10-fold improvement in the price-per-bit as it uses a wider channel. The current CDMA networks run on a 1.25-MHz channel and can deliver a maximum of 4 bits per hertz,… Continue Reading
Explaining To Business The Why In Wi-Fi
VARs could play a big role in convincing businesses to embrace WiFi. To do this, some suggest that resellers adopt the technology themselves. But, according to Foundry Networks product marketing manager Michael Hong, VARs need sufficient know-how and training in providing maintenance and support before they can deploy their own networks. Stephen Dane, director of… Continue Reading