Motorola bought up Orthogon systems today for an unknown sum. The company builds enterprise networking gear utilizing a composite of radio bands giving them a high noise resistance and the ability to punch through obstacles. Orthogon has many deployments around the world including mesh and WiMax. Via [vnunet.com]… Continue Reading
Author Archives: RenderMan
The Problems With Citywide Wireless
Municiple WiFi seems to have a problem. Millions are spent to set it up, but no one wants to pay to use it. This is the problem faced by some municipal and city-wide network installations. The solution seems to be with third party partnerships that allow for advertising and pay-for-higher-speeds plans, as is the case… Continue Reading
Motorola Incorporates Mesh Spec
The 802.11s task force has gotten down to work. The task force is trying to come up with a mesh networking spec to finally define how to do it. Motorola has already taken the preliminary draft and stated that their software already supports it. As with most standards task forces, this one looks to have… Continue Reading
Wireless History Repeats Itself
Manufacturers are rushing pre 802.11n gear out the door without knowing if the gear will work in 18 months. WiMax is rolling into areas already loaded with wired competition. How are these guys going to make money? Any responsible consumer, unless they have a urgent need for the higher bandwidth of 802.11n and can afford… Continue Reading
Why EarthLink Needs Wi-Fi To Work
ISP’s are facing a problem. Dial-up is dying and broadband is levelling off. How do you get new customers to continue growth? Well, for Earthlink, they are betting thier chips in WiFi in San Francisco, hoping that they can make a go of it. After many years of renting other companies infrastructure, it will be… Continue Reading
High Hopes Grow For Big, New Wireless Networks
In the good old days of 5 years ago, WiFi was touted as the ‘it’ product that would provide internet service to thousands and start a revolution. Well, it did’nt really happen that way. Alot of early municipal wireless installations never got the market penetration that was expected. However not all was lost as many… Continue Reading
People Don’t Want To Pay For Public Wi-Fi
People like free stuff, and that goes for WiFi services too. A survey of users show that 58% of users only use public hotspots when they are free. The rest presumably are willing to pay. Another interesting fact is that lack of necessity to go online and lack of equipment are bigger reason than price… Continue Reading
How To Keep Your Wireless LANs Safer
It’s rough out there in the wireless world. Keeping things secure should be a top priority for everyone dealing with WLANs. Thinking about security from the outset makes the job easier. Thinking about end to end security makes it safer. Via [computerworld.com]… Continue Reading
WiMax d vs. e: The Difference A Letter Makes
Even WiMax has it’s alphabet soup. 802.16d and 802.16e are both WiMax standards, .16d is fixed, .16e is mobile, and they don’t play nicely together. There are advantages to both, but anyone investing in WiMax should look at 802.16e for a whole host of reasons. Via [computerworld.com]… Continue Reading
Browsing The Net On The Rails
People seem to want to use the internet everywhere, and businesses are listening. In California, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has put out a request for proposals on WiFi enabling the 105 mile system. No excuse not to have your presentation for the morning meeting now. Via [mercurynews.com]… Continue Reading
Aperto Bags $26M For WiMAX
Aperto, manufacturer of WiMax chipsets, has recieved another $26 Million in funding, making it the most well funded start-up in the WiMax field. With very little delivered so far in terms of product, it will be interesting to see how the market handles this disruptive technology. Via [redherring.com]… Continue Reading
Google’s Wi-Fi Plan For San Francisco Stirs Privacy Debate
As with any new project nowadays, privacy is becoming a concern with the Google-Earthlink plan to provide free WiFi to San Francisco. The debate stems from Google’s plan to pay for the service with targeted ads based on the users location. Since the system will know who’s signed on through user ID’s and will also… Continue Reading
Netgear Jumpstarts 802.11n
Netgear has jumped on the ‘pre-n’ bandwagon and released their ‘NEXT’ line-up of products. Promising all the benefits of 802.11n technology now, rather than after the spec is ratified, is an attempt by Netgear to join Belkin and others in hedging their bets and hoping that their products will be upgradeable, or at least compatible… Continue Reading
WiMax Won’t Be Everywhere Anytime Soon
The WiMax revolution won’t be felt in the United States until at least 2008. Rural India seems to be the primary customer at the moment. Current WiMax standards operate on spectrum unavailable in the US and a replacement chunk of spectrum won’t be released for a few years. Until then, pre-certification public frequency gear is… Continue Reading
Schools Could Be The First In U.S. To Use WiMax
The FCC allocated parts of the 2.5 Ghz spectrum for schools to use for educational broadcasts. Unfortunatly it has’nt really been used and the FCC is threatening to take away the valuable spectrum in 2008 unless they start using it. The solution for some seems to be a mobile WiMax installation the provide low-income students… Continue Reading