Wireless Field Day 2 Video Archives

In addition to all the videos from the Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium, check out the great videos from the subsequent Wireless Field Day 2.

The videos contain technical details on vendor solutions and are filled with answers to the questions that every engineer wants to ask the vendors but few get meaningful replies to. The delegate crew interacts with founders and technical experts at each of the vendors, making these discussions much more valuable than sales product pitches and marketing!

Thanks to Gestalt IT, Tech Field Day, and Prime Image Media for hosting the event!

Video Recordings

COMPLETE WIRELESS FIELD DAY 2 PRESENTATIONS

• Ekahau Presents at Wireless Field Day 2
• Aerohive Presents at Wireless Field Day 2
• MetaGeek Presents at Wireless Field Day 2
• BYOD and Mobile Device Management Panel From the WiFi Symposium
• Gigabit Wi-Fi Panel From the Wi-Fi Symposium
• Hotspot 2.0 Panel From the Wi-Fi Symposium
• WiFi Symposium Presentations From Aerohive, Aruba, HP, and Ruckus

INDIVIDUAL WIRELESS FIELD DAY 2 VIDEOS

• GT Hill demonstrates Ruckus Wireless’ ChannelFly technology
• David Stiff and Wilson So demonstrate 802.11u at Ruckus Wireless
• Victor Shtrom talks about Ruckus Wireless’ beamforming and antennas
• Rob Haviland continues his discussion of the HP Wi-Fi product line
• Rob Haviland introduces HP’s wireless product line
• Virtual Controller technology and RF management Q&A with Pradeep Iyer of Aruba Networks
• Carlos Gomez and Cameron Esdaile demonstrate Aruba’s security and policy controls
• Keerti Melkote of Aruba Networks suggests wireless as a primary network strategy
• WFD2 Day One Wrap Up
• Live demonstrations of Meraki Wi-Fi gear with Pablo Estrada
• CEO Sanjit Biswas talks about founding and developing Meraki
• EJ Jackson demonstrates Ekahau RTLS in 10 minutes
• Jussi Kiviniemi and EJ Jackson present Ekahau’s wireless site survey tools
• Ryan Woodings demonstrates MetaGeek Sputnik, Eye PA, and other cool stuff
• Trent Cutler of MetaGeek demonstrates Wi-Spy at WFD2
• Aerohive demos at Wireless Field Day 2
• Aerohive at WFD2 Part 1: Devin Akin, Matthew Gast, Founders
• WFD2 Introduction

INDIVIDUAL WI-FI MOBILITY SYMPOSIUM VIDEOS

• Hotspot 2.0 and 802.11u Discussed at the Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium
• Gigabit Wi-Fi (802.11ac/ad) Discussed at the Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium
• BYOD and Mobile Device Management Discussed at the Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium
• Aerohive’s Devin Akin presents at the WiFi Mobility Symposium
• Ruckus Wireless’ GT Hill presents at the WiFi Mobility Symposium
• HP Labs’ Paul Congdon presents at the WiFi Mobility Symposium
• Aruba Networks’ Carlos Gomez presents at the WiFi Mobility Symposium
• WiFi Mobility Symposium Introductions
• WFD2 Introduction

Cheers,
Andrew

Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium, Live 25-Jan-2012

The Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium will take place on Jan. 25th, 2012 in San Jose, CA live and streaming on-line at the Tech Field Day website.

This one day event will bring together panelists from industry vendors developing the latest Wi-Fi technology with the larger community to discuss emerging solutions and provide a vision for the future. Stay tuned for a full list of panelists as they are announced prior to the event. Organized by the Gestalt IT crew of Stephen Foskett and Matt Simmons, and will be moderated by independent industry experts Marcus Burton and myself.

Tickets for free attendance will be available through EventBrite. Be sure to join the conversation on Twitter by following @TechFieldDay, @SFoskett, @standaloneSA, @MarcusBurton, @RevolutionWiFi, and the rest of the Wireless Field Day 2 delegate and sponsor participants.

Topics of discussion will include:

• Mobile Devices & BYOD - The appeal of the latest generation of smartphones and tablets is undeniable. Consumers are buying mobile devices in record quantities, replacing sales of traditional PCs and laptops, and becoming more tech-savvy than ever. And now they want that flexibility and ease-of-use in the workplace too. The industry is calling this trend the "consumerization of IT" and one thing is clear, enterprise IT departments have little say in the matter due to executive level sponsorship. Symposium panelists will present the challenges and opportunities with mobile devices in the workplace, and discuss solutions that allow IT departments to effectively enable workforce mobility without compromising corporate data security.
  
  
• Hotspot 2.0 - Public Wi-Fi hotspots are predicted to grow at an astounding rate, quadrupling in number from 1.3M to 5.8M between now ant 2015 according to the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA). Due in large part to the growing demand for mobile data by consumers and the lack of available capacity on cellular data networks (even after LTE upgrades), Wi-Fi offload has become a key strategy for most mobile network operators. Recognizing this need, the Wi-Fi Alliance and WBA teamed up to create the new Wi-Fi Certified Hotspot program which promises to provide a cellular-like user experience by streamlining Wi-Fi network selection and access. Hotspot operators will also be able to leverage cellular or 3rd party credential providers to facilitate network access and to provide data security. Symposium panelists will present the business drivers for the next generation of Wi-Fi hotspots, and discuss progress made by industry participants to bring Hotspot 2.0 solutions to market.
  
  
• Gigabit Wi-Fi - Speed is king. The desire for in-home video and multimedia distribution is growing as consumers increasingly adopt more dynamic time-shifted and location-shifted media consumption behaviors. Wireless networking is the preferred method due to its ease-of-use, ubiquity, and low-cost compared to wired network installation. Two separate standards are being developed to enable higher capacity and support for multiple high-def video streams: 802.11ac provides gigabit speeds for multi-room access and ensures backward compatibility with existing Wi-Fi equipment in the 5GHz frequency band, while 802.11ad provides multi-gigabit speeds at much shorter ranges but does not provide compatibility due to operation in the much higher 60GHz frequency range. Symposium panelists will present the benefits and development progress for both standards, and discuss use-cases within the home as well as enterprise environments.

Community discussion will be facilitated through live attendance as well as Twitter for those not able to attend in-person.

Supplemental material will also be provided through support from the Packet Pushers Podcast and the brand-new No Strings Attached podcast for Wi-Fi professionals!

We hope you will join us for this informative event on the future of the Wi-Fi industry!


Cheers,
Andrew vonNagy


P.S. - For a feel of what the Symposium is all about, check out the previous OpenFlow Symposium organized by Tech Field Day!

Wi-Fi Article Round-Up: 2011/12/22

A recap of interesting Wi-Fi and IT industry articles from around the interwebs.

Author's Note
Since my last article round-up, Google has decided to completely gut the sharing features from within Google Reader, which includes notes, tagging of external articles not in your subscriptions, and lack internal sharing capabilities. Everything has been ported over to Google+, which is not nearly as useful. Therefore, an RSS feed of my shared articles is no longer available from my shared article feed (only historical shared items from before the change in November). I'm still looking for an alternative solution.

Wi-Fi Articles:
Wireless Tech Field Day 2 is coming this January, and we're adding to the mix with the Wi-Fi Symposium the day prior! Symposium topics will include the rise of mobile devices, BYOD, hotpsot 2.0, and gigabit Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium – San Jose, CA: "Wireless networks are everywhere, and mobility is the order of the day from the enterprise to the consumer space. Wi-Fi technology is changing as a result, and the industry will come together to present a vision of the future at the Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium!"

Speaking of gigabit Wi-Fi, consumers can expect products to emerge in 2012 with enterprises following in 2013.

Another milestone for 802.11ac and gigabit wireless LANs: "One-gigabit wireless LAN products should enter the retail channel for the 2012 holiday season thanks to the fact that the 802.11 working group concluded balloting on the proposed 802.11ac standard last summer, meaning enterprise-focused products should follow in 2013."

Wi-Fi market growth shows no signs of slowing down. Find out why from Kevin over at CWNP.

What happens in Wi-Fi after 2015? | CWNP - Enterprise Wi-Fi Career Certifications: "Three studies: Informa Telecoms & Media / Wireless Broadband Alliance, Cisco, and IDC. One conclusion: between now and 2015, Wi-Fi is going to explode."

Still skeptical of those reports that Wi-Fi hotspots will grow dramatically in the next few years? Carrier Wi-Fi is only one reason, retail Wi-Fi could be even bigger! Brick and mortar retailers can take back the momentum from e-commerce retailers by opening up that in-store Wi-Fi! Here's why:

The Smartphone and the Revival of Impulse Purchases: "nothing compares to the instant gratification of buying it in the store with the comfort that they have done their research and they are getting a good price. The price doesn’t have to be the same as lowest online price - it just has to be close enough to offset the additional value the consumer receives from buying their products within the store, such as taking the product home with them immediately as opposed to waiting, and having the ability to easily return the product to the physical store if they need to instead of shipping it back to the online retailer."

Also check out my article on 5 Retail Trends Driving Wi-Fi while you're at it.

Ruckus Wireless released ChannelFly, joining the crowd in automatic and [dare I say] intelligent Wi-Fi channel selection... with a twist. Instead of passively listening to channels, Ruckus claims a better method is to actively measure performance with live clients to determine the optimal channel for operation. I'll reserve judgement until I see it in action (hopefully at Wireless Field Day 2).

Ruckus joins real-time wireless channel selection fray: "Ruckus access points enabled with ChannelFly use the dynamic frequency selection [DFS] feature of the 802.11h IEEE standard to bring wireless clients with them as they migrate from one Wi-Fi channel to another to perform real-time wireless channel selection analysis."

Any engineer can relate to this article. A fictional short-story on falsely accusing the network infrastructure for application problems!

Falsely Accused: The Wireless Controller Story - Your NCI: "This is another tragic case of the victim turning out to be our perp. Once we started looking at the evidence, it was clear that the WLAN controller was being falsely accused. After that, it was a simple matter of following the evidence back to the victim."

This Cisco newsroom release proposes using public VPNs as a solution to insecure Wi-Fi hotspot access. This is bad advice which is backwards-facing rather than forward-looking. Mobile access today requires an excellent user experience, and VPNs are not the solution. Secure hotspots are, which is why I find this article strange. Is the writer not aware of Cisco's efforts in carrier Wi-Fi and Hotspot 2.0 solutions?

Reducing the Risks of Public Wi-Fi - The Network: Cisco's Technology News Site: "One solution is to have corporate users connect to public Wi-Fi networks using public VPNs. These are less secure than corporate VPNs since they provide encryption only from the device to the service provider, not all the way through to the corporate network. But they do protect the most vulnerable zone, the Wi-Fi link and associated local area network."

IT Industry Articles:
A fascinating story on the history of Silicon Valley!

The Secret History of Silicon Valley » ÆtherCzar: "Entrepreneur Steven Gary Blank delivers an outstanding lecture on “The Secret History of Silicon Valley.” The story is in large part how Frederick Terman invented the culture of entrepreneurship at Stanford and Silicon Valley in the aftermath of World War II."

Why should we love a company or their products? Because they differentiate and are "evangelistic" about their products.

Why I Don’t Love Your Company Or Your Products. | In Search of Tech: "There is no differentiation from everyone else. There is nothing special about them. Their marketing stinks. Their ability to execute stinks. All they can do is jump up and down like a spoiled little child demanding that you notice them, but when you do take time to notice them, there is absolutely nothing remarkable about them."

Other Great Articles:
Forbes dives into why large companies lose great talent. It's not all about the money, it's about igniting their talent with exciting work and empowering employees to innovate.

Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent - Forbes: "large established companies have a tremendous advantage in retaining their top talent and don’t. I’ve seen the good and the bad things that large companies do in relation to talent management. Here’s my Top Ten list of what large companies do to lose their top talent"

Follow that by reading this article from the Corporate Executive Board on the bleak outlook for employee retention and what IT organizations need to do to about it

CEB Tech Views » A Bleak Outlook for IT Employee Retention: "Only 25% of IT employees show a strong inclination to stay with their current employers and the number continues to fall. In response, IT leaders must take another look at the how they attract and retain key employees"

Comic for the Week:
I'm becoming a HUGE fan of the 1.00 FTE webcomic!

Cheers (and happy reading)!
Andrew

It's Coming! Wireless Tech Field Day 2

Wireless Field Day 2 -
Getting all up in your Wi-Fi!

It's coming.... Wireless Tech Field Day 2! Are you ready?!

It's been almost one year since the first-ever Wireless Tech Field Day (WFD1) took place in sunny San Jose, CA. Stephen Foskett and the team at Gestalt IT are back at it, preparing for a second go-round with even more Wi-Fi tricks up their sleeve for the viewing audience. WFD2 will be the community's pre-eminent source for the latest news on industry direction and advancements, and lively discussion around solutions to meet the growing need for Wi-Fi in all types of environments. It will take place Jan. 25-27th in Silicon Valley and on-line in real-time.

A lot of change has occurred in the industry in one year. Wireless field day 2 will cover the latest advancements in Wi-Fi technology, likely including:

• Broader availability of 3-spatial stream access points
• Evolution of Wi-Fi architectures (controller versus controller-less anyone?)
• The mobile craze sweeping enterprises (including BYOD trends and solutions)
• Beamforming advancements that improve device connectivity and reduce interference
• Hotspot 2.0 progression with cellular to Wi-Fi authentication (and derivatives)
• Spectrum Analysis growing in importance with increasing utilization of both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands
• ... and probably a few surprises along the way too!

Tech Field Day events are made special by the three groups involved: delegates, sponsors, and community viewers. I call it the "Tech Field Day Trifecta!"

The Tech Field Day Trifecta

In attendance will be some of best independent industry experts ... our team of delegates who will poke and prod the vendor sponsors to get past marketing fluff and talk down 'n dirty about the future of Wi-Fi. Delegates come from a broad range of backgrounds, including training and certification providers, vendor partners, consultants, and customers.

	Marcus Burton	CWNP	@MarcusBurton
	Sam Clements	SC-WiFi	@Samuel_Clements
	Daniel Cybulskie	SimplyWiFi	@SimplyWifi
	Rocky Gregory	Intensified	@BionicRocky
	Tom Hollingsworth	The Networking Nerd	@NetworkingNerd
	Jennifer Huber	Wireless CCIE, here I come!	@JenniferLucille
	Blake Krone	Digital Lifestyle	@BlakeKrone
	Chris Lyttle	WiFi Kiwi’s Blog	@WiFiKiwi
	Andrew vonNagy	Revolution Wi-Fi	@RevolutionWiFi

Vendors will host the sessions, preparing presentations, hosting discussions, providing live demonstrations of technology in action, and fielding hard-hitting, brutally honest, thought-provoking questions from delegates that should make for some great discussion. The mix of vendors covers both large and small companies, and their differing approaches to delivering Wi-Fi solutions highlights the rapid pace of innovation in this industry.

	AeroHive	@Aerohive
	Aruba	@ArubaNetworks
	Ekahau	@Ekahau
	HP	@HP_Networking
	Meraki	@Meraki
	MetaGeek	@MetaGeek
	Ruckus	@RuckusWireless

Vendors, don't forget to bring the bacon (both figuratively and literally, or even bacon as a service)! Dirty chai will also be welcomed. Our delegate crew loves to be challenged with thought-provoking new ideas while avoiding the doldrums of presentation slides. Let's sink into the nitty-gritty with demonstrations, hands-on labs, and honest discussions.

Xangati "brought the bacon" at Tech Field Day #5

Both delegate and vendor groups will have a few returning faces from WFD1, as well as some new faces to provide some new perspective and opinions.

Community viewers, are you prepared to:

• Tune-In to the live video feed that will be hosted on the TechFieldDay website?
• Interact in real-time on social media?
• Contribute to the discussion and get answers to your most relevant and pressing Wi-Fi questions?
• Learn about new and exciting innovations that are coming in the world of Wi-Fi?

The industry sponsors are set. The independent delegates have been picked. In-depth discussions are imminent. We ask that you, the community of viewers, get involved. This event is for the community more than for the delegates. We want to hear your discussion, thoughts, and questions live during the sessions so we can drill into the information that is relevant.

It's coming! Be prepared. Get involved!

Cheers,

Andrew

P.S. - Stay tuned, we may have another trick up our sleeve related to this event!

* Updated 2011/12/22 to include HP as a sponsor.

Wi-Fi Article Round-Up: 2011/03/30

Here are a collection of Wi-Fi related articles that I have found useful, interesting, or enlightening. As always, for a complete list of articles check out my shared article feed from Google Reader.


My Stuff

• I posted recaps for Wireless Tech Field Day (Day 1 and Day 2), and more thorough reviews of HP Networking and MetaGeek presentations.
• I compiled a comprehensive list of articles and videos from Wireless Tech Field Day. Keep checking back, as it will be updated as new articles and videos are posted!
• I detailed Aerohive HiveAP Provisioning Basics.
• I wrote two articles on DHCP related topics and wireless LANs: Explaining DHCP Server 1.1.1.1 and Preventing DHCP Starvation Attacks.
• I gave a rundown on Understanding Wi-Fi Carrier Sense. You may also be interested in my previous 5-part series on Wi-Fi QoS and Medium Contention.

General Wi-Fi Articles

• Ekahau Site Survey 5.5 was released, which includes capacity planning, helping administrators design networks for increasingly dense client environments.
• Enterprise Wi-Fi needs a change in mindset (ZDNet) describes how wireless network have historically been under-provisioned, and that designs must be updated for pervasive coverage and capacity.
• Wi-Fi calling is getting a lot of press lately, especially after the T-Mobile acquisition by AT&T.
• What's Up (or Not) with Convergence? - Network World
• Wi-Fi starts playing a key role in telecom - Buddle Blog
• Mobile broadband the only way forward - ComputerWorld
• T-Mobile Says 5 Million Customers Use Wi-Fi Calling Service - TmoNews
• Three, Two, One, Launch! T-Mobile announced 3 new phones with Wi-Fi Calling. - Kineto
• T-Mobile, AT&T and Me - Kineto
• Wi-Fi Calling for Canada Businesses - Kineto
• The Wi-Fi Alliance announced official support for a hotspot certification program (built on 802.11u). I am disappointed by the initial (sole) focus on cellular carrier operated hotspots. I have a few contacts into the WFA that I am pursuing to get more information.
• Wi-Fi Alliance launches hotspot certification program, aims to ease cell-to-WiFi handoff woes - Engadget
• Wi-Fi Alliance tackles cellular-to-Wi-Fi roaming - FierceWireless
• Unsafe at any SSID: Wireless Hotspot (In)Security - RioSec.
  I highly recommend reading this article. The current carrier focused initiative will leave independent hotspot operators behind, left without a secure solution.
• New Standard Eases Carrier Wi-Fi Access and Roaming - Wi-Fi Net news
• Aruba announced its MOVE unified network architecture which includes wired switches managed by a wireless controller, pushing security to the edge for wired and wireless networks and providing unified management of both platforms.
• Aruba's MOVE Architecture - CWNP
• Aruba strikes down wired, wireless silos - Network World
• Aruba's unified architecture addresses consumerization of IT - SearchNetworking

Comic for the Week!
Zealous Autoconfig - XKCD

Cheers (and happy reading!),
Andrew

Wireless Tech Field Day Article Round-Up

Here is a round-up of the Wireless Tech Field day articles written about the event by both delegates and sponsors.

Additional links to videos, photos, podcasts, and event articles can also be found on the official Gestalt IT Tech Field Day page for this event.

It truly was an amazing experience to be a part of the group. So much wireless brain power in one room was amazing! Special thanks go to Stephen and Claire for organizing the event, and pulling it off without a hitch. Thank you to all of the sponsors as well for sharing product roadmaps and providing engaging demonstrations and discussions.

A large part of the event was engaging the larger wireless community through blogs and twitter. Thank you to everyone who participated on the Internet, your input and discussion was appreciated!

Delegate Articles:

• I wrote about the WTFD Day 1 activities and Day 2 activities, reviewed the HP Networking wireless presentation and the MetaGeek Chanalyzer Pro.
• Greg Ferro (@etherealmind) blogged live from WTFD, discussed Aerohive, HP, and 'Big Boner APs', and received a Cloud Security Blanket along with all the WTFD delegates courtesy of Tom.
• Tom Hollingsworth (@networkingnerd) recapped WTFD Day 1 and Day 2, and reviewed vendor presentations from MetaGeek, Cisco WNBU, Aerohive, HP Wireless, AirMagnet, and Fluke (in which he explains why you can't cram an engineer into a plastic box). Yes, he's been busy!
• Jennifer Huber (@jenniferlucille) also blogged live from WTFD.
• Rock Gregory (@bionicrocky) live blogged as well.
• Chris Lyttle (@wifikiwi) compared Cisco CleanAir versus Atheros Spectrum Analysis solutions, described how AirMagnet is part of the Wi-Fi Engineer's Tool Belt, and discussed using MetaGeek WiSpy as an RF spectrum analysis learning tool.
• George Stefanick (@wirelessguru) reviewed the MetaGeek Wi-Spy and the Fluke AirCheck, and gave a big shout out to CWNP for their market and community contributions!
• Sam Clements (@samuel_clements) got some hands on time with the MetaGeek product and the AirMagnet Spectrum XT.
• Marcus Burton (@MarcusBurton) urged the online community to get involved in Wireless Tech Field Day.
• Steve Williams (@stevewilliams_) laid out the journey through the first ever Wireless Tech Field Day event, and spent some time with Greg and myself discussing blogging tips and tricks.
• Matthew Norwood (@matthewnorwood) reviewed wireless controller history and Aerohive's controller-less architecture stance.

Sponsor Articles:

• Devin Akin at Aerohive coined a new term for the event, Distributed Marketecture.
• Rich Horsley at HP got passionate about wireless technology during the event.
• MetaGeek provided an overview of their Time Segment Spectrum Analysis, which was demoed to the delegates during Tech Field Day, and recapped their TFD presentation.
• AirMagnet explained the need for Dynamic Signature Updates in WIPS/WIDS products.

Presentation Videos:

• Stephen Foskett Welcomes the community to the event.
• Several delegates and vendors provide a Day 1 Event Wrap-Up. Go ahead and laugh at my portion (I am!), that light was really bright!
• Aerohive presentations from the event have been posted. Go check them out!

Cheers,
Andrew

P.S. - When is the next one? Sign me up NOW!

Wireless Tech Field Day - MetaGeek Spectrum Analysis

MetaGeek was the first presenter at Wireless Tech Field Day and kicked off the event with a superb presentation and demonstration of their flagship products, the Wi-Spy DBx and Chanalyzer Pro.

The MetaGeek Wi-Spy family of wireless spectrum analysis adapters offers Wi-Fi engineers a workstation-based wireless physical layer analysis solution at a much lower cost than competitive products such as Cisco Spectrum Expert or AirMagnet Spectrum XT.

A Culture of Innovation
Ryan and Trent started off the presentation describing MetaGeek's roots as a company. Back in 2005, Ryan worked as a wireless protocol developer for semi-conductor company that manufactured parts for wireless mice. The company began experiencing problems with 2.4GHz mice not working properly, and narrowed the problem down to times when large amounts of Wi-Fi transfers were occurring. Ryan was dispatched to Japan to work with partners to resolve the issue.

As any IT engineers is well aware, the first step in troubleshooting is to accurately replicate the issue on-demand. At first, an intern was assigned the task of repetitively drawing circles with the mouse for data collection (poor schmuck!). And the cost of an industrial automated mouse tester proved prohibitive. However, Ryan developed a more elegant solution to automate the process using an unconventional technique that geeks will especially enjoy: Legos!

Lego Mouse Tester

The Lego mouse tester (it's official name) was controlled by a Lego RCX unit to provide variable speed and timed tests. The mouse tester allowed the company to accurately replicate the issue and provide a volume of data necessary to identify the interference issue, quantify impact, and develop a resolution. What's more important, is the experience got Ryan thinking about how to create an effective spectrum analyzer to observe and quantify the source of the problem, the RF environment. Thus, the first Wi-Spy adapter was born from the modification of a wireless mouse dongle!

MetaGeek still provides employees with 20% time to work on side-projects and keep innovation alive (as they have time and time again over the last 5 years)!

Product Features
The Wi-Spy adapter family and Chanalyzer software have evolved over time to provide a feature-rich spectrum analysis solution for inexperienced and "multi-hat" administrators, as well as professional wireless engineers. The Chanalyzer software's main display provides core RF information in the density and waterfall graphs, with additional relevant information such as duty cycle, networks, and channel data in tables in the lower pane.

Chanalyzer Density Graph

The best feature of the product, without a doubt, is the density graph (displayed above). This density graph shows similar data to the real-time fast fourier transmission (FFT) of other products by displaying RF data in an amplitude over frequency format. However, the RF energy is color-coded either by density (the collective amount of energy at specific points over time) or by amplitude (the energy intensity). This really make RF signal patterns "pop" as data is collected over time, allowing much easier pattern recognition by the user. This is what makes the tool simple and intuitive for users inexperienced in RF spectrum analysis. MetaGeek pioneered the use of the density view in 2007, and has since been adopted by AirMagnet (but not Cisco/Cognio). I still find MetaGeek's implementation the best.

Chanalyzer Pro
Timescale

Another great feature of the product is time segment analysis using the waterfall timescale panel on the left in Chanalyzer Pro (shown left). This allows the user to capture, pause, and rewind spectrum data to isolate and review potential issues. Additionally, the configurable time span being viewed allows the user to focus in as narrowly or broadly as required to pinpoint the pattern requiring further analysis. Spectral anomalies can easily be identified in the timescale, and hovering over a section presents a preview of the density graph at that point in time. Time segment analysis unifies the data in all other graphs and tables for complete replay capability. The feature is invaluable when performing spectrum surveys or for remote analysis by an expert after the issue has occurred. Competitive products also offer time segment analysis, but not as intuitively or comprehensively as Chanalzyer Pro in my opinion, offering recording and playback but not timescale previews that allow the user to quickly navigate to the point in time of most interest.

Chanalyzer Pro includes numerous other features, such as a report builder, device signature overlays, Wi-Fi network identification and overlays, and channel statistics.

Product Previews
To wrap up their presentation, MetaGeek showed us advanced previews of a few products and features they are actively working on. This provided the delegates opportunity to provide insights into how they use spectrum analysis products and desired features.

Ryan showed a live prototype of an iPad application for playback of recorded spectrum captures, which was a hit with the delegates to be sure! The need for portable Wi-Fi tools is always top of mind for wireless engineers, and MetaGeek has their sights on targeting that need in their products.


Ryan (right) and Trent (left) preview iPad integration

Other previews included work being performed on directional antenna prototypes for device locationing (similar to the current Device Finder antenna they offer), and remote spectrum sensors embedded in Pogoplug units. This will allow remote monitoring of spectrum at distributed offices, or on-demand shipment of a spectrum analysis solution to sites and installation by on-site personnel with minimal training involved. This reduces travel expenses for organizations to resolve wireless interference issues when expert staff is centrally located. Coupled with on-board storage and a remote access to the unit, this solution could be a killer feature for medium and large organizations.

Revolution or Evolution? - Andrew's Take
MetaGeek is a clear innovator in spectrum analysis. The company is focused on product differentiation and aggressively developing features to meet customer needs. What's more, the product provides comparable capabilities, and even better in many instances, than higher priced alternatives. The Wi-Spy is a great tool for both the inexperienced as well as the professional wireless engineer.

What also excites me about MetaGeek as a company is their solid grasp of customer requirements and a simple yet powerful user experience. Ryan, Trent, and team really listen to customer feedback and use it to drive product direction that makes sense for the company and remains relevant for users.

The Chanalyzer software does have a few gaps that should be noted. MetaGeek does not provide an in-house wireless site survey solution, but partner to integrate Wi-Spy into the VisiWave tool to map interference. Also, device identification has been a feature in flux for the company. They have created a large community forum for users to upload and share device signatures, and have integrated a few verified signatures into the Chanalyzer software. However, automatic device identification is not available; users must manually correlate observed RF patterns to the signatures.

MetaGeek also offers InSSIDer for Wi-Fi network discovery, Device Finder for interferer location via a directional antenna, and GPS integration with Google Earth maps.

Cheers,
Andrew

Other Posts You Might Like:

• Tom Hollingsworth recapped the MetaGeek WTFD presentation.
• George Stefanick reviewed the Wi-Spy product line.
• Sam Clements got some hands-on time with the Wi-Spy.
• Chris Lyttle compared Cisco CleanAir versus Atheros spectrum analysis solutions.
• MetaGeek explained the importance of Time Segment Spectrum Analysis.

Wireless Tech Field Day - HP Review

The Wireless Tech Dield Day delegates working in the HP EBC conference room

Day 2 started out at the HP Executive Briefing Center (EBC) for an overview by Rich, Chris, and Andres of their wireless architecture from the 2008 acquisition of Colubris. HP has been playing the shell game over the last few years trying to figure out their wireless networking strategy to compete in this market, as they previously did not offer an in-house solution but opted to OEM Symbol gear until their acquisition by Motorola.

HP Wireless Architecture
The HP / Colubris architecture is built around the now-common wireless LAN controller and "smart" APs, calling the collective solution an "optimized wireless LAN". I find this to be a case of marketing hubris, as the pushing control and data planes to the controller can hardly be called optimized. This architecture was pioneered 5-7 years ago by Airespace to solve serious challenges around system-wide wireless network coordination (RRM, QoS, security, roaming, etc.) which was not prohibitively expensive with AP hardware and silicon of the time.

Unfortunately, HP is late to the game and trying to play catch-up. They are just now offerring solutions that  competitors have had for at-least 4 years or more. What's worse is the Colubris acquisition appears to making their job harder because they are trying to re-design an existing controller architecture into a modern distributed architecture which is proving difficult (as it is for other vendors as well). HP may have been better served to design a solution internally from the ground up, which was fully distributed from the beginning. As it stands, the HP solution is typical of most controller solutions with central traffic forwarding, optional distributed traffic forwarding directly from the AP, and serious feature limitations when APs process traffic locally.

In addition, I have serious concerns of the solution's high availability capabilities. A license upgrade is required to move from an "Access" controller to a "Mobility" controller, which enables layer 3 roaming and controller teaming for redundancy. Isn't that the point of a wireless network, to be mobile and highly available?! Additionally, the management platform seems to be an afterthought. Up to 5 controllers teamed together can be managed using the RF Manager software on the controllers themselves. For greater scalability the HP ProCurve Manager must be used, but it doesn't support all system features (such as WIPS/WIDS reporting). The graphical interface also leaves much to be desired, looking like it was designed in the mid-90's and does not appear to have been updated using modern HTML standards. I would expect frustration and a maddening workflow for system configuration.

Access Point Announcement
HP's recent announcement of the 3-stream MSM-460 and 466 APs looks promising, but the devil is in the details. The APs use a 3x3:3 configuration, and the 3rd spatial stream will likely be limited in range, especially given the loss of extra radio chain which prevents Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC). MRC is quite possibly the second most important advancement in 802.11n behind MIMO. Also, the MSM-466 is the only model which supports dual-concurrent 5GHz operation on both radios. Running both radios of an AP in the same band is tricky because of severe adjacent channel interference caused by RF side-lobes of each radio when in such close proximity. The radio antennas either need to be shielded properly from one another (which they are not in the MSM-460), or spaced a minimum of 4 feet apart (which is possible with external antennas on the MSM-466).

The OFDM spectral mask shows the relative power reduction at distances from the center channel frequency (in dB).
AP radios located too close will cause severe interference with each other without sufficient Free Space Path Loss.

Performance Demo
Andres, the self-proclaimed "lab rat", provided a live iperf throughput demonstration. The performance with distributed traffic forwarding and 3 spatial streams was comparatively high, at 231 Mbps downstream without competing traffic and clients at close range. I would have liked to see performance at greater ranges and under varying loads, but the time was not available for an in-depth demonstration. A second test resulted in 191 Mbps downstream with a simultaneous single video stream running to the client (I can't remember the video resolution).

The Future of Wireless
The HP visit wrapped up with a lengthy, detailed discussion on the future of wireless technologies. The delegates focused conversation around the changing requirements for mobile device security of both corporate-liable and personal-liable devices. Emphasis was placed on the need for greater context awareness of both users and devices not possible today, and dynamic policy enforcement at the edge of the network (not upstream, disconnected from device network access). Additional talking points included  a discussion of the need for layer 1 physical RF assurance and stability. This is a pain point for most wireless admins today, as the variance of device performance is directly attributable to vendor implementation variances. Greg (@etherealmind) mentioned the poor transparency in the IEEE standards process, causing vendor greed in delaying or stalling standards process.

Revolution or Evolution? - Andrew's Take
HP's wireless portfolio appears to have been a quick fix for a missing product in their solution catalog. They are just now releasing products that can compete with competitor's solutions from 3 years ago, and are struggling to maintain feature parity. This will continue as competitors migrate to distributed architectures. The product mainly appeals to existing HP customers who prefer a solution from a current vendor, and this product fills that gap. Unfortunately, I doubt HP is winning many customer evaluations based on the larger market.

Cheers,
Andrew

Other posts you might like:

• I wrote about the WTFD Day 1 activities and Day 2 activities.
• Greg Ferro (@etherealmind) blogged live from WTFD, discussed Aerohive, HP, and 'Big Boner APs', and received a Cloud Security Blanket along with all the WTFD delegates courtesy of Tom.
• Tom Hollingsworth (@networkingnerd) recapped WTFD Day 1 and Day 2, and gave a glowing review of the MetaGeek Wi-Spy.
• Jennifer Huber (@jenniferlucille) also blogged live from WTFD.
• Rock Gregory (@bionicrocky) live blogged as well.
• Chris Lyttle (@wifikiwi) wrote about Cisco CleanAir versus Atheros Spectrum Analysis solutions.
• George Stefanick (@wirelessguru) reviewed the MetaGeek Wi-Spy as well.
• Sam Clements (@samuel_clements) got some hands on time with the MetaGeek product.
• Marcus Burton (@MarcusBurton) urged the online community to get involved in Wireless Tech Field Day.