Wi-Fi hotspot aggregators are increasingly appealing to IT organizations, as the wireless technology becomes a complement to existing enterprise remote access and broadband services, according to a report from META Group. Via [techweb.com]… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Commentary
WiFi Standards Compete For Market Dominance
While networking vendors were a bit slow to support 802.11a products, consumer manufacturers were not. “Home entertainment devices from companies like Sony are coming out with integrated high-speed connections, and they were designed to work with 802.11a, not g,” said Michael Disabato, a senior analyst at the Burton Group. Via [technewsworld.com]… Continue Reading
Cutting The Cord With WiFi’s Help
From hockey rinks to RV parks to ships at sea, wireless firms are making big net connections. Via [washingtonpost.com]… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Remains A Work In Progress
Regardless of the amount of Wi-Fi security infrastructure, end-users often are the weakest link, because they can be fooled or coerced into giving up user IDs, passwords and WEP keys. Consequently, organizations need to create and, more importantly, enforce security policies. Via [newsfactor.com]… Continue Reading
Will Pressure To Speed Up 802.11n Wreck Standards Process?
This week sees a major IEEE meeting in Vancouver, Canada, with high hopes that the standards body will accelerate progress on several of its key specifications. There is particular pressure to speed up the development of the 802.11n extension to Wi-Fi, which will support speeds of up to 108Mbps, since vendors are already pre-empting this… Continue Reading
Free Wi-Fi May Be In The Cards
The future of Wi-Fi may be playing out in a quiet neighborhood in Austin, Texas. At a Starbucks Corp. store, Wi-Fi users fire up their laptops and log onto the Internet. At nearby Schlotzsky’s, the sandwich shop’s patrons likewise log onto the Web. The difference? Starbucks charges $40 a month for the privilege; at Schlotzky’s,… Continue Reading
For Now, Wi-Fi Is A Hacker’s Delight
You’ve heard of a drive-by shooting, but maybe not drive-by hacking. It’s a worrisome sort of cybercrime in which burglars sit in a car outside a company and use laptop computers with antennas to hack into cash registers and corporate records by snagging data as they travel over the airwaves. Via [businessweek.com]… Continue Reading
The Next Big Thing For Wireless?
WiMax is a lot faster than Wi-Fi and has a bigger range — but success isn’t assured. Via [businessweek.com]… Continue Reading
How WhyFi Can Turn Hotspots Into A Real Industry
WiFi — 802.11b, -a, and -g wireless networking — is the big Internet success story of this decade. It’s successful because it is simple, cheap, and unlicensed. And that lack of a required license is taking WiFi places nobody ever expected it to go. How could a local area networking technology, for example, compete with… Continue Reading
Wireless Networking: Trend May Be What Stealing Cable TV Was In The ’80s
In apartment complexes, dormitories and neighborhoods, people are using Wi-Fi technology to set up communal wireless networks with friends. The process allows multiple users to take advantage of one high-speed broadband Internet connection, sparing many from shelling out the extra bucks for a connection of their own. Via [deseretnews.com]… Continue Reading
Wireless Web Reaches Out In 2004
The UN says it is good for poorer nations, Exeter is the best place for it, you can get it with your burger, lager or latte, it is in 200 phone boxes, and the UK’s E-commerce Minister Stephen Timms wants every library to have it. Via [news.bbc.co.uk]… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi And The Future Of Wireless
What started a century ago with Marconi’s radio and became the now ubiquitous cellphone is now taking shape around a two-way radio technology called wi-fi (short for “wireless fidelity”). It promises to unplug more communications devices by making the Internet available just about everywhere and letting people talk to each other more easily than ever… Continue Reading
Looking Back At Wireless Security In 2003
Wireless security is one of the hottest topics in our business. In the article you are just reading, I’ve tried to cover some of the most interesting wireless security topics and events in 2003. The article is divided into several thematical sections: general overview of the wireless security happenings, look back on some software tools,… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi: Reaching New Heights
One of the few bright spots this year was the growth of Wi-Fi. But even as the wireless-networking technology drew praise for its potential, it became clear that it still had a lot left to prove. Via [news.com.com]… Continue Reading
Where Are The Standards?
Interoperability problems are only going to get worse as more companies implement non-standard extensions to Wi-Fi devices. Via [insight.zdnet.co.uk]… Continue Reading