NetStumbler.com

Newbury Networks, Inc, a developer of location-based network products, today announced the availability of LocaleManager and LocaleServer. The company described these as solutions for managing and deploying location-enabled networks and applications on WLANs supporting the 802.11 standard.
Via [wi-fiplanet.com]

A few weeks ago a USA Today reporter called me and asked me what I had heard about companies pulling 80211b installations due to security concerns. I had not heard of any such instances and told her so. She was slightly inaccurate about what was going on: turns out that high-security places like the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (as reported this week by Matthew Peretz on 80211-planet.com) have instituted policies against 80211 networking due to security concerns. And she drew the conclusion that if the Lawrence Livermore National Lab banned wireless networking, therefore wireless networking was inherently insecure and should be used — if at all — with a great deal of caution.
Via [wi-fiplanet.com]

There’s no doubt that the most widely available and implemented wireless LANs today comply with the 802.11b standard. The recent availability of 802.11a radio cards and access points, however, introduces what is becoming another mainstream wireless LAN solution. If you’re planning the deployment of a wireless LAN, you now face making a decision on which one to use: 802.11a or 802.11b.
Via [wi-fiplanet.com]

A standard for low-voltage, low-power chips for wireless devices will push the concept of ubiquitous computing from theory to reality in homes, offices, and even cars, an executive from Koninklijke Philips Electronics said here Monday.
Via [pcworld.com]

Some of my most popular columns have been about my continuing struggle for good Internet service from my home in rural Sonoma County, California. From bad dial-up to bad DSL (IDSL—don’t get it) to Starband satellite Internet to my current set-up, where I use a 10.5 kilometer wireless link to borrow DSL service from a guy down the valley who I found by looking through a telescope, readers have followed, sympathized, and sometimes even copied my efforts. For the moment, I am satisfied with my Internet connection. With Starband as an alternate, my wireless DSL connection is solid and reliable. It does violate the service agreement with SBC Pacific Bell Internet, but as long as I am not stupid enough to print the name of my down-valley partner, I don’t think the phone company will do anything to stop me, nor do they probably care. So I should be happy, right? Wrong. Frustrated engineer that I am, I want still greater speeds. And as of this morning, I have them—two megabits-per-second straight to chez Cringely. But remember, your mileage may vary.
Via [pbs.org]

Earlier this week, MeshNetworks, Inc. announced the limited availability of its new MeshLAN Multi-Hopping software solution for industry standard 802.11 (Wi-Fi) based wireless LANs. MeshLAN software extends the range and robustness of existing Wi-Fi networks by adding multi-hopping peer-to-peer capabilities to off-the-shelf 802.11 cards, according to the company.

WLAN in Asia-Pacific has risen out of the woodwork, even as non-US shipments of WLAN pick up faster than anticipated and as more public places become connected via the IEEE 802.11b standard, said analyst firm IDC at its Asia/Pacific IT Forum in Singapore.
Via [asiacomputerweekly.com]

Wireless networking keeps getting better and better. 802.11a-based devices are more than fast enough for most applications. And assuming you can find them and stomach the possibility that they’ll be obsolete by year’s end, you’ll be a happy camper.
Via [eweek.com]

Leading handheld computer manufacturer Palm has launched a new “always on” device which it hopes will strengthen its hand in a battle with rivals Microsoft, Compaq and Handspring for the wireless data market.
Via [news.bbc.co.uk]

A draft of IEEE’s 802.11i spec to beef up security on 802.11 wireless networks was finalized January 21 and is now circulating within the engineering community for editing and subsequent approval, says Dennis Eaton, chair of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance. The first products to incorporate the technology should be available by summer, Eaton says.
Via [pcworld.com]

Last week Verizon Wireless became the first company to roll out commercial 3G service in the United States. It announced a new CDMA 1xRTT based data service called Express Network.

Computer security expert Frank Keeney took me for an eye-opening ride around Pasadena, California. Frank brought along a notebook computer, equipped with a wireless PC Card and an antenna mounted on the car’s roof. In a half hour of “war driving” (as he called it), we accessed over 40 wireless networks in homes, real estate agencies, businesses, schools–and even a bank. I could have browsed the Web on someone else’s account or created a Hotmail account and sent untraceable e-mail. If we were unscrupulous hackers, we could easily have broken in and examined–or deleted–files on any of those wireless-networked PCs.
Via [pcworld.com]