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Free Wi-Fi in S.F. More Than Flipping A Switch

No one ever said it would be easy. The plan to blanket San Fracisco with wireless is not a matter of flipping a switch. San Francisco is full of hills and tall buildings, things that usually are problems for wireless networks. The network will probobly require $15 million and 36 nodes per square mile. ItContinue Reading

Meru Makes A Wi-Fi Backbone

Meru Networks has added wireless backbone support to it’s lineup. The technology allows for accesspoints to no longer be chained to a wire. The technology bonds multiple WiFi channels together to allow for more bandwidth on the backhaul, while reserving channels for clients to use. This should allow for more bandwidth in between building backbonesContinue Reading

Lock Out Wi-Fi Users With Fingerprint Reader

Silex Technology unveiled a new device that will require fingerprint identification to gain access to a WiFi network. According to a Silex spokesman, the Silex Bio-NetGuard will likely be sold for $499. It contains a Fujitsu MBF200 fingerprint sensor, which when touched, will prompt the device to scour its database of 27,000 unique fingerprint keyContinue Reading

Philly Takes Another Step In Wi-Fi Net

Philadelphia’s municipal Wi-Fi network is soon to be a reality; a city subcommittee recently signed off on the new project, with Earthlink being awarded the network contract. Wi-Fi connections are hoped to reach throughout the city, but it’s a no-go until the project passes full city-council approval. Via [wirelessweek.com]Continue Reading

WiFi Is Us

Japanese chip giant Renesas Technology Corp. is cooperating with Israeli company, Metalink, to develop a high-speed video transmission solution for domestic consumers’ wireless networks. Renesas, in control of a 33% share of the global embedded cip market for semiconductors in elecronic entertainment, cellular phones, automotive navigation devices, and more, plans to integrate Metalink’s 802.11n compliantContinue Reading

802.11n Standard Fails To Gain IEEE Approval

With the draft of 802.11n back on the drawing board, vendors who jumped the gun and produced so called ‘pre-n’ gear are now faced with the difficult challenge of what to do if thier products are not sompatible with the final standard. It will now be interesting to see if the devices live up toContinue Reading

Moscow Wi-Fi Network To Reach 4 Million Homes

Nortel and Russian Internet service provider Golden Telecom have joined forces to establish a Wi-Fi mesh network in Moscow. The network, according to the companies, will utilize 5,000 Nortel-supplied access points to service some 3.9 million homes in the city. The partners assured that the network will be secure and can support VoIP and location-basedContinue Reading

Google Won’t Do Silicon Valley Wi-Fi

Google will not join the competition for the establishment of a Wi-Fi Silicon Valley in San Francisco. Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn said the company has no intention to respond to a request for proprosals for the $200 million project, which is due on June 30. The Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force is looking for oneContinue Reading

Consumers Warned Off Pre-Standard 802.11n Purchases

Pre-standard Wi-Fi 802.11n products are entering the marketplace, but consumers are warned to beware before buying. While investment risks for home networking products run fairly low — about $150 or less — users should know that uncertified equipment may not be interoperable with upcoming certified components. Early tests report ‘draft N” performance as less thanContinue Reading

Storage Goes Wi-Fi With Iomega NAS

Iomega has dived into the wireless NAS market. The StorCenter Wireless boasts an impressive 1 terabyte of storage capacity. The unit, along with it’s wireless capability has a pair of USB ports for extra drives or for a printer using the units own internal print server. At $900 it’s quite a decent way to getContinue Reading

Philly Wi-Fi Project Passes Final Hurdle

A Philadelphia city council committee gave its nod to a WiFi project that will see Earthlink’s equipment installed on 4,000 city-owned utility poles. The full city council is set to vote on May 11 and the decision is expected to favor the project. Once it gets the final approval, Earthlink plans to start construction aContinue Reading

AirMagnet Rolls Out Voice-Over-Wi-Fi Analysis Tool

AirMagnet is offering a new network analysis tool to help network managers identify voice problems over wireless networks. The AirMagnet VoFi Analyzer can detect these problems in real time, keep track of voice traffic from one device to another, and determine if both wireless APs and wire-side devices are configured just right. The company saidContinue Reading

Qualcomm Signs First Patent Deal For WiMAX Product

In what will probobly become a big speedbump for WiMax, Qualcomm quietly announced a licensing deal for technology necessary for WiMax that it owns the patent on. This appears to mean that any vendor making a WiMax product will have to pay a licensing fee to Qualcomm, who have a history of defending a licensingContinue Reading

Linux Gets Native WiFi Support

Devicescape Software seems to have seen the light and realized that helping the open source world is in it’s best interests. The company has donated technology to allow for native support of WiFi in linux. No word on which chipsets or what exactly the technology is, but given the difficulty in getting support from manufacturers,Continue Reading

Google Wi-Fi Deal Gains Powerful Critics

The Google/Earthlink plan to unwire San Francisco is meeting with some serious opposition. While groups like the ACLU and the EFF applaud the economic and social benifits of the plan, but also have grave concerns about the privacy of the system. The latest person to step up with concerns is city supervisor Jake McGoldrick. NoContinue Reading