Wireless LAN - Infoworld

Wi-Fi in flight has yet to soar

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:12:17 +0000

Launched four years ago, the use of Wi-Fi on U.S. airlines has yet to catch on, with estimates that the wireless technology is still used by only 7 percent of the flying public.

There are a number of reasons: With Wi-Fi cropping up for free in many airports and public locations, passengers don't want to fork over as much as $10 for a flight of a few hours. Passengers also may not know when Wi-Fi is available on a flight since the airlines provide the wireless service on only a small percentage of their planes.

HTC Android phones can leak Wi-Fi passwords

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:18:07 +0000

A group of HTC Android phones is susceptible to an exploit that can steal Wi-Fi credentials and passwords and send them to attackers.

Cisco aims Wi-Fi enterprise access point at BYOD profusion

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:57:36 +0000

Cisco Systems developed its latest enterprise access point with corporate bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies in mind, aiming to give tablets and smartphones as well as traditional workplace devices strong and consistent performance.

Wireless bandwidth: Are we running out of room?

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:09:09 +0000

Wireless bandwidth is like land in Manhattan -- it's extremely valuable because they're not making more of it.

But we sure are using more of it. The wireless-industry association CTIA reported in October 2011 that the number of wireless devices in the U.S. had, for the first time, exceeded the number of people.

Apple Mac-based security threats jumped in 2011

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:17:55 +0000

New Mac-based security threats jumped in 2011, but still remain far below that of Windows PCs, according to a posting by F-Secure Labs.

Full steam ahead for gigabit wireless, report says

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:32:22 +0000

The uptake of wireless networks based on 802.11ac is expected to be high when the first products arrive later this year, according to a report from IMS Research.

Over 3 million products with 802.11ac, including access points and notebooks, will be shipped in the first year of availability alone, IMS expects.

MediaTek lays groundwork for gigabit WLANs

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:06:57 +0000

Semiconductor company MediaTek has introduced a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that will be used to power wireless routers based on the 802.11ac wireless networking standard, which promises gigabit speeds, the company said on Monday.

The upcoming 802.11ac standard will offer higher speeds than what is currently possible using 802.11n thanks to the use of more spectrum and more advanced antenna technology.

Consumerization creates IT management blind spots, increases business risk

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:31:18 +0000

As end-users bring their own devices to work, download apps, and sign up for cloud services, it's getting harder for IT to maintain application visibility and control performance.

Broadcom to unveil four chips for faster '5G Wi-Fi'

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:17:57 +0000

The International Consumer Electronics Show next week may be a major launchpad for a new, faster generation of Wi-Fi that goes about three times faster than current gear, with at least one major silicon vendor announcing and demonstrating a set of chips for the IEEE 802.11ac standard.

Broadcom is announcing the four chips for PCs and consumer electronics products on Thursday, a few days ahead of the massive trade show that formally opens next Tuesday, and said it is already shipping them to manufacturers in sample quantities.

How to handle virtual desktops, wireless, network performance issues

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:00:33 +0000

Schools are for learning, and the information technology and security professionals who support networks and applications in the nation's K-12 and university systems are discovering new tactics in what can be challenging IT environments. Here we talk to four professionals in the education realm to get a sense for their top IT issues and what they do to handle them.

TCS begins offering TotalCom for range of communications

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:56:08 +0000

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) introduced a portfolio of managed mobile communications services on Monday called TotalCom for government agencies and businesses.

TCS has a long history of providing E-911 services and supports many U.S. Department of Defense wireless and satellite communications, as well as 30 percent of the eight billion text messages sent in the U.S. every day, company officials said.

Coming next year: 802.11ac for faster Wi-Fi

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Gigabit-speed wireless LAN products based on the emerging IEEE 802.11ac standard will start shipping next year and usher Wi-Fi into its next era of high speed and long range, communications chip maker Broadcom said Thursday.

Verizon's says 4G LTE service back to normal

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:57:11 +0000

Verizon Wireless said its nationwide 4G LTE network service returned to normal Wednesday night after a technical issue was resolved.

In a statement issued shortly before 9 a.m. ET today, Verizon gave no explanation for the problem that it said developed late Tuesday and was resolved by Wednesday evening. Customers mainly reported intermittent or unavailable 4G services or said their 4G devices were operating at 3G speeds, about one-tenth as fast as 4G.

Nokia Siemens to sell WiMax business to NewNet

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:52:46 +0000

Nokia Siemens Networks plans to sell its WiMax infrastructure business to NewNet Communication Technologies for an undisclosed sum.

Aruba to buy Avenda for BYOD security

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:45:20 +0000

Wi-Fi infrastructure vendor Aruba Networks will buy Avenda Systems to expand its network security offerings and help enable BYOD (bring-your-own-device) strategies in enterprises.

Aruba announced the deal on Thursday as it reported financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended Oct. 31. Pending regulatory approvals, Aruba expects the acquisition to close during the second quarter of its 2012 fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31.

New Wi-Fi routers, cloud services simplify branch networks

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:49:37 +0000

Aerohive Networks has unveiled a set of products and services for small, remote, or branch office wireless networking. The new "Branch on Demand" product line includes low-cost Wi-Fi routers, coupled with expanded cloud-based VPN termination and security services.

Instant mobile networking: Smartphones get smarter

Galen M. Gruman — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

There's been a lot of excitement in some quarters around Google's decision to enable near-field communications (NFC) data-sharing in Android 4 "Ice Cream Sandwich." The news builds on Research in Motion's inclusion of NFC in its latest crop of BlackBerrys and Microsoft's announcement that it would add NFC APIs to its Windows

How to get past the limits of 4G wireless networks

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Using more spectrum and advanced antennas, cellular network vendors and operators plan to increase 4G mobile speeds as that technology rolls out over the next several years. But cellular technology has hit a fundamental wall in the physics of what the radio signals themselves can carry, so researchers are looking at other ways to increase speed and capacity of 4G networks, nearly all of which will use a standard called LTE.

Wi-Fi security dos and don'ts

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:32:04 +0000

Wi-Fi is inherently susceptible to hacking and eavesdropping, but it can be secure if you use the right security measures. Unfortunately, the Web is full of outdated advice and myths.

Here are some dos and don'ts of Wi-Fi security, addressing some of these myths.

iPass lets businesses control mobile Wi-Fi usage

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:22:58 +0000

The new version of iPass' Open Mobile platform has added security and more controls for enterprises to keep track of data usage, the company said on Tuesday.

The Open Mobile platform provides broadband connections to road warriors via Wi-Fi hotspots around the world using laptops (both Windows and Mac OS), tablets and smartphones, according to iPass. New features in version 2.0 include a usage meter and endpoint verification.