February 22, 2005
Howto use your PocketPC as a WiFiphone
It's an older HOWTO and Vonage doesn't have unlimited minutes with their Softphone plan anymore. But still a good one to follow if you're interested in cutting the wires and being able to be reached anywhere there is broadband.
Via Engadget
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 20, 2005
Howto secure your e-mail over Public WiFi
Saw this post for MacOS-X, but it conceptually works exactly the same for every other OS. This tutorial covers why you should secure your email over public WiFi and how to do it. Most of the howto covers SSH tunneling which can be done through Windows (PUTTY), or Linux. Good when you don't want the next guy over in the airport to just happen to read your e-mail about what you drank last night.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 07, 2005
Taking over wifi routers
This is another example of the poor engineering in the world of WiFi. Here, a Slashdot reader points out the WiFi in Boston's South Station that is running on default passwords.
Personal note: This goes back to my personal opinion that most IT people have no clue what they are doing when it comes to WiFi. I have personally run into more than enough people in the world of WiFi, that do not understand how radio waves work. Yes folks, there is something called "INTERFERENCE". And you do share spectrum in the ISM bands. Why people do not realize this simple fact is beyond me since this is exactly the same when it comes to network engineering. Perhaps they never learned Networking 101 in their certification courses.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 03, 2005
WiFi Detector Ring
WiFi Detector Ring. Neato. Now if only came in a box of Captain Crunch.
Slashdot < WiFi Detector Ring
Posted by darkmoon at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2005
WiFi in Philly by Mid-2006, but at what cost?
AP has an article by Michael Rubinkam, on Philadelphia's surge forward on its municipal WiFi cloud. The Chief Information Officer Dianah Neff spoke about the pricing for the Internet blanket covering 135 square miles.
Businesses and other residents will pay more for the service but still get broadband speeds at dial-up rates.
Rubinkam also writes:
Neff said Philadelphia's service will offer upload and download bandwidth of 1 megabit per second. In early March, the city will ask companies to submit proposals to build and run the wireless network, which is expected to cost $10.5 million to erect.
Personal note: This REALLY bothers me. Why? A couple of matters. First off, I founded a nonprofit that provides wireless Internet to low-income housing (still looking for more projects to launch in Greensboro area). I know for a fact that the lowest you can go for pricing with a volunteer staff of maintenance is around $5-10 a month, that's with Greensboro fiber pricing. So how is Philadelphia, where cost of living is probably more, going to provide "dial-up" pricing? Interesting thought provoker.
Second, Philadelphia is going to provide upload and download bandwidth of 1Mbps? With WiFi? Who are they kidding. They should scrap their RFP right now, since that RFP is fine-tuned towards corporations like Vivato only (phased-array antennas are the only solution to guaranteed 1Mbp movement). Otherwise, bandwidth will likely go down as userbase goes up.
Last, 2006? Can we say OLD TECHNOLOGY? I'm bringing on low-income folks because they have nothing: no cable, no DSL, no wireless broadband. I'm even researching WiMax and Motorola Canopy, in search of better solutions to bring any inner city child's connectivity up to par with any suburbia's connection. Municipal clouds should be looking to WiMax, or MIMO technology, not WiFi anymore.
WIFI HOTSPOTS ARE A FAD. Look to new technology to build out for cheaper and better solutions. Well, this definitely proves that city governments are not on top of technology base. Most obviously Philadelphia is lagging behind some.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 13, 2005
Verizon makes marketing boo-boo
The chief marketing officer for Verizon falls for reading sales pitches instead of knowing the technologies.
"For the business customer, especially the laptop guy, it’s all about speed and ubiquity,” Mr. Stratton added. “I think this really puts a hurt on the entire Wi-Fi concept for the business user."
Glenn Fleishman of WiFiNetNews is correct in the speeds that EVDO brings. On average, EVDO test markets are averaging about 300kbps. With more users on these systems, the bandwidth will drop depending on how the timeslots are handed out. While this technology is cutting edge for the United States market (Asia is already testing 1Gbps over cellular), this is not a replacement for WiFi. Both in cost-effectiveness, and scale, WiFi has 1X and EVDO beat. Until people realize that you need WiFi to supplement cellular data technology, no one will ever understand from what perspective Verizon is coming from.
If you don't understand what was just said above, here is the simplified version: Would you rather log onto a free hotspot via a WiFi card, or pay through your minutes via cellular?
I would assume that most would choose the former if it was available.
Posted by darkmoon at 10:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 09, 2005
CES pictures of new Vonage WiFi phone
I've spoken about the Vonage WiFi phone from UTStarcom called the F-1000. Engadget luckily has had the chance to take pictures of it at CES 2005 and graced the rest of the world with pictures of the phone they've been lucky enough to touch and play with a few months back. Not the super sexiest thing that I've seen when it comes to phones, but for the estimated $100 price tag, I'll definitely be waiting for this to hit the market.
Posted by darkmoon at 03:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
Free WiFi Filtering needs to go
Over at Pulver:
Jeff Pulver, VoIP evangelist, reports
While there is "free" Wi-Fi access at the Las Vegas airport at the moment, the network administrators at McCarran are port blocking most applications including: VoIP, IM and telnet.
WiFiNetNews reported.
Interestingly enough, I was on my way home from Columbus International yesterday, and the same thing was true. Everything was blocked off. Cincinnati Airport doesn't have free service so I suppose Columbus has one up on them.
Posted by darkmoon at 04:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 04, 2005
More drooling over new Vonage products
As I posted earlier, Vonage is finally putting a WiFi phone in our hands. Slashdot covers a link to USAToday where the approximation of $100 for the pricetag of this hot and sexy device. Unfortunately, the rollout date is sometime between April and June.
Some battery issues have rolled out on LightReading:
Tribolet says that there were some technical hurdles that had to be overcome before the company could introduce a WiFi option to its subscribers. “The predominant issue has to do with battery life,” he says. “It’s different than a traditional cell phone which can go into sleep mode. A WiFi handset must always stay awake and be able to search for hotspots. The F-1000 has a battery life of about 100 hours, similar to a standard cordless phone.”
Personal note: The battery life quote obviously comes from a management type and not an engineer. ANY device can be made to sleep, and there just needs to be a page flag just like cellular. It would take a bit of specialized coding, from my perspective, very achievable. While 100 hours isn't much, you can guarantee that I'll be sporting one of these babies when they come out if it truly is only $100.
Posted by darkmoon at 02:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Come to daddy... oh boy it's a WiFi phone!
Engadget JUST posted on Vonage having a WiFi phone that will be able to make a call from any WiFi hotspot using your Vonage account. Made by UTStarcom, the F-1000 will provide me with "free" service anywhere there's a hotspot. Greensboro's CenterG hotspot will definitely be the first public drooling grounds.
Posted by darkmoon at 12:26 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
December 02, 2004
Chinese delegates refused visas to ISO/IEC
Mid-November, there was a ISO/IEC conference in Florida. Three days before the conference, all four of the technical presenters (WAPI) were denied visas to the United States without reason. The two non-technical members of the group went to the conference. Complaints were filed, with the support of member countries and several U.S. corporations. Speculation by the media on reasons for the denial could stem from the U.S. corporations being against the Chinese implementing a new WiFi security protocol called WAPI. Coverage is here.
Personal note: I think this is ridiculous. Nothing to do with the visas, but everything to do with US corporations. They want to play in Asia, and make large amounts of revenue since it's an untapped market. Yet, when someone brings in some "competitive" know-how, they try to squash it. Bravo to the Chinese for doing something that creates competition. Can we say, VHS vs. Betamax? The last thing the world needs is a technology where if it fails, everyone goes down with the ship. At least in this fashion, it keeps everyone on their toes for the next "BIG" thing. SCDMA? Fine. WAPI? Fine. U.S. corporations need to understand that you can't pull a Qualcomm anymore (they brought commercial CDMA to everyone and made a tremendous amount off the royalties). That was a one time deal. Just look at the craziness behind Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-Ray, or closer to home, Intel vs. AMD. Competition drives technology forward.
Posted by darkmoon at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 19, 2004
Stealing Neighbor's WiFi
According to an article linked from WifiNetNews, Paul Boutin says that the FCC has said that they're not "aware" (keyword is aware) of any federal or state laws that prohibit from logining onto an open network.
Amusingly enough, aside from ethics, I don't think there is anything stopping you from logging onto your neighbor's networks. I've actually accidentally done it at my apartment complex when I was trying to make a SVEASOFT linksys box work. There's about 7 802.11B APs half of them have the usual default name of "linksys".
You might hose up their contract about sharing the line if you stream and download huge things, but it's amusing none-the-less that FCC has said this. In any case, it's a good article, I suggest reading it.
Posted by darkmoon at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 18, 2004
Misguided media on WiFi
Interestingly, there was an article today on WiFi on CNN. Scary how media picks up on the fact that WEP is "flawed" after at least over a year of coverage on the fact that WEP can be cracked. What's amusing is that they don't say anything about WPA. Take a look at WiFiNetnews on Nov. 5th here. Hmm. Crackable WPA? Wow.
Word of advice for CNN. If you want to be a respectable news source (not like Fox really is that either), please at least do some research on the topic you're writing about. The industry knew about the WPA issue and would have been happy to share. Forget fair and balanced, or being the most trusted news source. How about getting all the facts before it airs?
Posted by darkmoon at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 16, 2004
Tampa Airport obviously never heard of "public" spectrum
Glenn Fleishman of WiFiNetNews has an interesting tidbit on how the Executive Director and the trade association of Tampa International Airport say that the FCC cannot regulate the spectrum where their 802.11 resides.
Two words seem to stand out on this one. "PUBLIC SPECTRUM". Now if the airport deployed cellular or some other band where you have to bid for the spectrum, I don't see any problem with the aiport going nuts on managing it. Along the same lines, that would mean that public safety can use the public spectrum and kick off anyone else that uses it (like FRS) just because the FCC doesn't have any right to "manage the spectrum."
Posted by darkmoon at 09:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack