wireless – Enginerve's Blog

Keeping My Eyes on Republic Wireless

The mobile networks in the US are designed to prevent new competition from entering the market. The US isn’t likely to see a new carrier to deliver a service that functions the same way that the current traditional carriers do. In order to succeed, a radical concept needs to be deployed. Republic Wireless hopes to deliver that radical concept, by offering unlimited everything for $20/month. The catch? The service is designed for you to use Voice over IP and your local wireless network whenever you can.

Troubleshooting Wi-Fi

This was a good recent read about the usual suspects that interfere with your wireless networks and a few new ones that are always good to know about. If you have WiFi issues it is worth the time.

Getting Your Wireless Network Up to Speed

The NY Times discusses the issues, solutions, and equipment in the area of wirless home networking. If you didn’t know that powerline networking is working on Gigabit speeds or where you might wish to deploy it check out the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/technology/personaltech/13basics.html.

A reminder that for so many of the current uses, a wired network provides the best solution. I have run into more and more issues with folks using only wireless and assuming that with the convenience comes everything else. Trade-offs occur.

Ekahau HeatMapper maps out WiFi signals

For the full article see http://hackaday.com/2009/06/16/ekahau-heatmapper-maps-out-wifi-signals/

The term ‘warwalking’ isn’t used very often, but the Ekahau HeatMapper adds a new tool to the pod bound hacker’s arsenal. The tool maps out wireless access points as well as their signal strength within a facility. A test of the HeatMapper on a map made with AutoDesk Dragonfly accurately determined the location of a router within 3 feet and helped tune the angle it needed to be at for maximum range. Ekahau made a fantastically cheesy promotional video for their product, which is viewable after the jump. The program is free of charge, but unfortunately only runs on windows, so mac and *nix users are out of luck, though it might run under wine.

[via Download Squad]