The Italian Province of Brescia will soon become a Wi-Fi zone, thanks to a network being developed by Cisco Systems. The mesh extends over 4,800 square kilometers and covers over 200 rural towns.
Cisco put about 600 access points on light poles, and plans to deploy 200 more to complete the project. It also installed switches in town halls and a management system for the network. Aside from Internet connection, the Cisco-built network will offer VoIP and videoconferencing to city agencies and local businesses.
Building municipal and city-wide wireless networks has become a global trend. In the U.S., over 300 municipalities are looking at rolling out WiFi networks. A similar phenomenon is seen in Mexico, China, and Taiwan.
Via [informationweek.com]
Cisco has teamed up with Congio to reduce the volume of radio interference around WLAN devices. Cognio’s Spectrum Expert for WiFi — a CardBus device that plugs into a Windows notebook — can analyze WiFi interference and would complement the company’s Wireless Control System. These tools would help companies deploy wireless LANs and manage interference from a range of sources, including non-WiFi appliances like microwave ovens. The Spectrum Expert is sold at Cisco’s regular sales outlets.
Via [techworld.com]
Silicon Valley has chosen MetroConnect, a coalition involving IBM Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and wireless Internet firms Azulstar and SeaKay, to provide wireless Internet coverage to most of the area. Under the contract, the group will shoulder the costs of developing the massive hotspot spanning over 1,000 square miles of Silicon Valley. Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network expects MetroConnect to start building antenna towers as early as January 2007 and offer Internet service, which will range from a basic free service to paid subscription starting at $20 per month, within 12 months to 18 months thereafter. Seth Fearey, vice president and chief operations officer for Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network, said municipalities that immediately approve the proposal will be on the roster of areas that will get the service first.
Via [bizjournals.com]
Cisco announced two severe vulnerabilities in Wireless Control System software. The vulnerabilities could lead to attackers gaining encryption keys, and in one case, full control of the administration utility. Cisco is planning an update soon.
Via [informationweek.com]
Cisco has released a new line of stackable WLAN controllers to it’s catalyst line. The new controllers bring cisco back into competition with companies like Aruba in terms of features like wireless roaming. The new switches will hopefully help fill the demand for more port density in the wiring closet for the increased user demand.
Via [eweek.com]
At about $20,000, Cisco’s new Catalyst 3750g is a bargain if merging your wired and wireless networks into one will simplify your business life. Merging systems via Catalyst allows not only wireless laptop use but also dual-mode mobile phones and uniform security settings. Cisco has also released version 4 of their Unified Wireless Network software supporting the not-yet-certified 802.11w standard. Catalyst 3750g is available now and can be upgraded immediately with free Unified Wireless Network software.
Via [vnunet.com]
Hewlett-Packard is introducing a Wi-Fi switch module for its ProCurve 5300 edge switch. The company believes its Wireless Edge Services Module (WESM) is more tightly integrated than the Wi-Fi Services Module (WISM) from rival Cisco. HP plans to sell WESM, which will initially include support for 12 access points or “Radio Ports”, for 3,699 euros and will charge another 2,959 euros for an additional 24 access points with software keys. It expects its ProCurve 5300 edge switch to hold a pair of the modules, thus providing support for 72 access points and therefore accommodating 1,000 users.
Via [techworld.com]
This year’s plan for a “seamless” cellular/WiFi roaming technology partnership between Cisco Systems Inc. and Motorola turned out to be not so seamless, so a new generation of fixed/mobile convergence devices won’t be coming your way until at least 2007. The devices are predicted to allow handsets to roam seamlessly between WiFi and cellular networks without a loss of service or data.
Via [informationweek.com]
Cisco ClO Brad Boston found there was no single place to buy all the software he needed to power a mobile workforce, and his team had to cobble together components to secure and manage the devices and enable remote access to corporate data. “When I talk to my peers, they all have the same problem,” he said.
Via [cio-today.com]
The Internet Engineering Task Force chose Cisco’s lightweight access point protocol to help ensure WLAN interoperability.
Via [informationweek.com]
Cisco has made a ’strategic investment’ in home control specialist Zensys. The network giant’s interest is directed towards Zensys’ Z-Wave wireless home control technology.
Via [eet.com]
Cisco Systems has revealed that it is making an undisclosed investment in Zensys, developer of the Z-Wave wireless mesh networking technology. While this move is a huge fillip for Zensys, it constitutes a setback for the development of the standards-based ZigBee protocol to which Z-Wave is an alternative.
Via [cbronline.com]
Cisco Systems has thrown its support behind an evolving set of wireless standards that will enable cellular carriers to offer new services based on the Internet Protocol.
Via [news.com.com]
With the growing importance of RFID, Wi-Fi companies, which specialize in location awareness of wireless devices don’t want to miss the bus. Confident that the Wi-Fi based active RFID solutions are the way to go, Cisco has announced that it is investing in AeroScout Inc., a specialist in the field of Wi-Fi based Active RFID solutions.
Via [cxotoday.com]
Though a late entry, Cisco’s first wireless LAN mesh product will throw fuel on an already hot market.
Via [networkworld.com]
