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FierceWiFi May 3, 2006
- Editor's Corner
- Mex. offers concession-free access to WiMAX
- Standard gear and first-mover advantage?
- Vonage expanding hotspot service
- Using neighbor's WiFi goes legit
- WiFi health concerns mount
- SPOTLIGHT: Better safe than sorry
- ALSO NOTED: Review: Cognio WiFi spectrum analyzer; second headline; and much more...
Editor's Corner
As reported in our first story, Mexico is experimenting with offering concession-free access to a portion of the spectrum to be used by WiMAX service providers. The move will certainly have the effect of encouraging more companies, including small start-ups and ISPs, to offer the service and offer better deals to consumers; but there are potential negative consequences as well. …
Mex. offers concession-free access to WiMAX
Is there such a thing as a free lunch after all? The authorities in Mexico decided to open up frequency bands for wireless technologies without the need for a concession license. Analysts have generally welcomed the move and say it should help define future WiMAX spectrum use parameters. In March, Mexico telecom regulator Cofetel published regulations which will monitor the use of certain frequency bands for wireless technologies such as WiMAX and WiFi. Authorities agreed that spectrum in …
Standard gear and first-mover advantage?
Which of the following moves more slowly: IEEE standard bodies or the planet's tectonic plates? While they contemplate the answer, consumers should be aware that buying pre-standard or draft-standard gear may cost them when the standard is finally ratified. Analysts point to 802.11n as the latest category at the heart of the debate on whether it is wise to buy non-certified kits. The increasingly common practice of launching pre-standard gear has been the source of contention in WiFi and …
Vonage expanding hotspot service
Citron's Vonage is increasing the number of wireless hotspots where U.K. users of WiFi telephones may place calls. Vonage's service expansion comes against the backdrop of news that Vonage's F1000 series has been plagued with service problems, with calls being cut off mid-conversation whenever a user exits wireless-enabled hotspots such as Internet cafés and Starbucks coffee shops. Rushing to fix the problem, Vonage has just signed a deal with U.K. national WiFi network operator …
Using neighbor's WiFi goes legit
Typically the residents of a building or suburb would use their neighbors' WiFi access stealthily, and in some states it is already against then law. Never mind. Haiyun Luo, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and head of the Systems, Wireless, and Networking Group at the university, has developed a technology which would allow neighbors to pool their WiFi Internet access to deliver better performance and exploit bandwidth which …
WiFi health concerns mount
Concern about the health consequences of steady exposure to radiation emanating from WiFi networks just won't go away. A few months ago the president of a small Canadian college banned WiFi from campus owing to health concerns, and there is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that certain people are sensitive to the emissions from wireless APs and other electromagnetic devices and, when spending time in a WiFi-saturated environment, tend to suffer from headaches, fatigue, …
SPOTLIGHT: Better safe than sorry
Do you own a business in Westchester County, NY? Do you use WLAN to handle sensitive customer or client information? Now you'd better make sure your network is secure against hackers or you will run afoul of the law. Westchester County and the city of White Plains have just passed a law that makes it illegal for a business not to take the necessary precautions to protect its wireless networks from accidental or deliberate abuse. Precautions range from internal firewalls to switching …
ALSO NOTED: Review: Cognio WiFi spectrum analyzer; second headline; and much more...
> WildPackets has introduced the OmniSpectrum, a portable RF spectrum analyzer which runs in a standard Windows laptop PC and identifies the devices causing interference on a WiFi network. Release
> A look at Cognio's WiFi spectrum analyzer. Review
> Linksys, NetGear and …