Thursday, June 2, 2011

Wi-Fi Article Round-Up: 2011/06/02

A recap of Wi-Fi related articles from around the interwebs. As always, for a complete list of articles check out my shared article feed from Google Reader.

My Stuff:
Industry Wi-Fi Articles:
Techie Wi-Fi Articles:
  • Sam Clements busted out some Linux kung-fu on Cisco networking equipment to resurrect an NM-AIR-WLC6 from death. He reminds us just how useful some basic Linux skills can be as a swiss-army knife for many occasions as an IT professional. And that "dd" is our friend :)
  • The guys at MetaGeek give practical advice on building a spectrum analysis report with their Chanalyzer Pro Report Builder. Remember, include only the appropriate amount of data and graphs to get your point across. Too much data can be self-destructive!
  • Aerohive released HiveOS 4.0, which includes enhanced support for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), spectrum analysis based on the Atheros chipsets, and Partner Admin which enables managed service provider cloud NMS control for customer deployments. See reviews by Chris Lyttle and Marcus Burton.
  • PC Pro (a UK based magazine) researched What's Killing Your Wi-Fi? This article is full of so many mistakes, mis-conceptions, and flat-out wrong advice, that I would caution anyone reading it to dismiss most of what it says. From getting the unlicensed frequency ranges wrong, describing co-channel interference of other Wi-Fi networks minimal compared to non-Wi-Fi interference, to coming dangerously close to advising users to leave their networks unsecured for performance gains, PC Pro shows very poor journalism. I also would like to know what "wireless industry experts" they "canvassed", because they don't site any sources (other than generically) and their facts are incomplete or wrong in many cases.
Other IT Related Articles:
  • Riverbed unleashes the fury on competitors paying for so-called "independent lab testing", which is arguably skewed to shed favorable light on the sponsoring vendor's products. I think we've all read these types of reports, and most of us are smart enough to see through them. However, it's unfortunate that some customers will never know better, and take these reports at face value. Matthew Norwood also recently called out the need to study vendor solutions and be careful who you trust prior to making decisions. Bravo Riverbed and Matthew!
  • My good friend, Nate Lee, covered ARP Spoofing / Man-in-the-Middle attacks, DHCP Snooping, and Dynamic ARP Inspection security controls on wired switches. This is a great intro to these network security features that all organizations should consider implementing on edge access switches. This must be his way of showing me how secure his network can be after I've heckled him for years about how my Wi-Fi network was much more secure than his wired network :)
  • Stephen Foskett gave the low-down on what Tech Field Day is all about, and I am super jealous about the Fenway Park visit during Tech Field Day 6 in Boston next week. I know it's virtualization focused, but I soooo want to be there!
  • FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn visited my hometown of Omaha, NE and spoke about broadband availability being so much more than just access to the Internet. The Internet is already a necessity for almost everyone to function in today's society. She spoke of the issues of physical broadband availability, adoption, and important access provided by local libraries, schools, employers, friends and families. Also of critical importance, especially in rural America, is access to distance learning programs for children and students (something which I am proud to have worked on at my time early in my career with a local NE school district).
Comic for the Week:
Take a break, with a Geek Meditation Session (courtesy of AllThingsD, via @travis_schlafke)


Cheers (and happy reading!),
Andrew

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