802.11n Deployment Considerations – Troubleshooting & Analysis Tools
Filed under: 802.11n, Deployment Considerations, Packet Analysis, Troubleshooting | Tags: 802.11n deployment considerations, 802.11n Deployment Planning, wireless packet capture, wireless spectrum analysis, wireless troubleshooting & analysis
Comments (1) This is the second in a series of 802.11n Deployment Considerations to include cabling, power, system architecture, etc. The focus of this particular post is to discuss the deployment considerations related to troubleshooting and analysis tools when deploying 802.11n wireless LANs.
Packet Analysis
One of the main troubleshooting & analysis tools for WLAN engineers is a wireless packet capture program. Personally, I use both OmniPeek Professional as well as the AirPcap device from CACE Technologies. With wireless packet capture programs, it is important for you to ensure both the wireless NIC you are using and the software support 802.11n functionality. Otherwise, 802.11n features such as channel bonding, frame aggregation, and block acknowledgement might not display properly (or show up in your display at all). AirPcap sells a specific model for 802.11n, called their AirPcap Nx.
Spectrum Analysis
Another important troubleshooting tool for WLAN engineers is a Spectrum Analyzer. I use both the AirMagnet Spectrum Analyzer and the Wi-Spy Spectrum Analyzer from MetaGeek. If you read my rant (post) regarding 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz for 802.11n networks, hopefully you realize the increasing importance of the 5 GHz spectrum. Therefore, I would suggest you utilize a dual band spectrum analyzer. The only Wi-Spy product that is dual band is the Wi-Spy DBx.
Another spectrum analyzer troubleshooting tool that I am curious to try is the AirMagnet Airmedic Product. If anyone has used the Airmedic product, leave a comment letting me know your thoughts!
Wireless IDS/IPS
While most people think of wireless intrustion detection & intrusion detection as a security tool, they can also be used monitor and preserve the overall well being of the WLAN. Therefore, it makes sense to deploy 802.11n capable sensors for security, troubleshooting, & analysis.
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WiFi Jedi Featured as Top Blog Post on CWNP.com
Filed under: 802.11n, Channel Bonding, Interesting Articles | Tags: 802.11n Deployment Planning, CWNP, Frequncy Band Selection
Comments (1) In case you haven’t seen it already, my post on 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz for 802.11n Deployments was featured in the CWNP newsletter, which has over 100k subscribers! Here is a snap shot that I took:
While, I am extremely honored to be chosen and excited to share the news, I am equally grateful for all those that read and comment on my blog posts here at WiFiJedi.com and on CWNP.com
Please pass along the web address or RSS feed info to anyone else you think would find value in good discussion around wireless networking & security. The comments, sense of community, and spirited debates are what I enjoy most – keep them coming!
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SANS Phoenix – Upcoming Interview
Filed under: External Training, Industry Events, Interviews | Tags: information security, SANS, SANS Phoenix, SANS Security Leadership Essentials, Stephen Northcutt
Leave a Comment As many of you already know, I am taking the SANS Security Leadership Essentials course at the upcoming SANS Conference in Phoenix, Mar 23-30th. It is being taught by none other than Stephen Northcutt, President of the SANS Institute.
I caught up with Stephen earlier this week on LinkedIn and told him that I will be blogging and Tweeting about the event in near real time. I also asked if I could interview him for WiFiJedi.com, to which he agreed.
Please leave me a comment or send me an email, Tweet, etc. if you have something specific that you would like me to address in the interview.
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Wireless IDS/IPS Post on CWNP.com
Filed under: PCI, Regulations / Compliance | Tags: data security standard, payment card industry, Wireless IDS/IPS
Leave a Comment 
I wrote another guest post for the Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) program. Among other things, CWNP offers vendor-nuetral wireless cerifications.
My most recent post is related to wireless requirements of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). It specifically talks about wireless intrustion detection & prevention systems with regards to PCI Requirement 11.1.
You can view my “Wireless Requirements of the Payment Card Industry” post on the CWNP website. However, if you are coming from the CWNP website, and are unfamiliar with my blog, I would suggest you start by reading my post, “Welcome CWNP.com Readers!”
Check out my updated sidebar!
There are a couple new features to my blog’s sidebar. Go ahead. Look left. You’ll see them there. 🙂
The first is the following row of graphics:
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These are meant to make it easy to share WiFiJedi.com with your friends & family (and complete strangers). Included are links to SlashDot, Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us, Facebook, Technorati, and StumbleUpon. I really appreciate any votes of confidence that you submit to these websites!
Just beneath that set of graphics, you will see an expanded set of links, which now includes my BlogRoll. For those that are fairly new to blogs & blogging, a blog roll is simply a list of my favorite blogs. Feel free to suggest other blogs (particularily those about wireless networking & security) within the comments section of this post!
Lastly, I wanted to let you know that I really getting more involved with Twitter. This seems to be a great micro-blogging and communication tool where I have barely scratched the surface. You can “follow me” @wifijedi
MetaGeek to Offer Upgrade Program for Wi-Spy Devices
Filed under: Troubleshooting, WLAN Vendors | Tags: AirPcap, CACE Technologies, MetaGeek, Wi-Spy, Wi-Spy DBx
Leave a Comment MetaGeek, makers of the Wi-Spy Spectrum Analyzer announced earlier this week a special upgrade program. It allows existing customers to upgrade from Wi-Spy v1 to either a Wi-Spy 2.4X or the newer, dual-band Wi-Spy DBx. To upgrade, customers pay only the price difference between the devices.
Wi-Spy DBx
MetaGeek then sends out the new device and a pre-paid FedEx envelope to return your legacy device. The program was designed this way to allow for no down time in your Layer1 WiFi analysis capability. However, returns must be sent back to the company within seven days.
The official announcement states that this is a trial offer, and that the program may not be permanent. It is also limited to one upgrade per customer. Additional details, pricing, and ordering information can be found on the company’s official upgrade page.
The Wi-Spy is definitely one of my favorite troubleshooting and analysis tools, and I think this is a great program. It actually reminds me of another favorite tool, the AirPcap Wireless Packet Capture Tool, which offers a similar upgrade program by its manufacturer, CACE Technologies.
Kindle e-books for the iPhone
Filed under: Cellular / Mobile Phones | Tags: Amazon Kindle, Apple iPhone, e-books, New Rules of Marketing
Comments (1) I just purchased my first e-book for the Kindle application on the iPhone. I purchased The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott.
I actually purchased it a couple days ago, but wanted to wait until I had some “hands on” time with the application before blogging about it. I wondered how it would compare to a traditonal printed book.
The price tag of each e-book is definitely attractive – most available titles are $9.99, which is much less than I usually pay for a printed copy. However, I still prefer a paper book – something that I can underline, highlight, dog ear the pages, and write notes in the margin. It is through this process that I feel I truely own the content.
As far as new technical features of such e-books, there is some interactivity between the actual Kindle device and the iPhone. They apparently sync including last page read, bookmarks, etc.
To me, the fact that it functions on the Kindle device as well as the iPhone is a real value-add. It also places the Kindle squarely in the lead of e-book readers, should I ever buy one.
There are some features in the application that seem to be missing (or I haven’t played with it enough). Namely, the multitouch features the iPhone is famous for, vertically scrolling text at a configurable pace, etc. However, I believe that like most iPhone apps, this one will receive multiple updates adding new functionality and making the application even more stable and user-friendly.
Lastly, if you are looking for more information on the subject, here is some good analysis on Kindle for the iPhone provided by Van Baker of Gartner.
Optimize Your 802.11n Performance (Webinar Review)
Filed under: Industry Events, WLAN Vendors | Tags: 802.11n, AirMagnet Survey, AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer
Leave a Comment Yesterday, I attended a webinar hosted by AirMagnet entitled “Optimize Your 802.11n Performance”.
It was an hour well spent, which isn’t always the case with webinars. The product sales pitch was kept to a minimum.
It really focused on educational aspects of 802.11n networking and security. Additionally, the webinar contained several live demos during the webinar, which were executed flawlessly.
The live demos were of the WiFi Analyzer and Survey programs. While I use the AirMagnet Survey product several times a week, it has been almost a year since I used the AirMagnet WiFi Anlyzer tool. They have instituted some really great features since I have last used it. Most of these features directly relate to 802.11n networks:
The first is an 802.11n Device Throughput Calculator. It calculates the throughput of a single device depending on a number of parameters – MCS, max frame size, channel bonding, block acknowledgement, etc. It also factors in the effect of the Least Common Denominator client (i.e. effect of adding an 802.11g client).
The second is a WLAN Throughput Simulator, which estimates the aggregate throughput of an entire WLAN. The tool takes actual meaurements from the existing WLAN, and then allows users to add simulated APs or Clients. This allows users to consider an infinite number of “what if” scenarios with regards to how to optimize the WLAN.
The webinar wasn’t limited to exploration of the cool features of the WiFi Analyzer. A good portion of the presentation talked about the importance of live/active site surveys and how using real meaurements of the uplink and downlink rates is valueable to network administrators. It was also exciting to see that the iPerf throughput testing tool is now integrated directly into AirMagnet Survey.
Lastly, I wanted to point out that one of the five main points of the webinar was that channel bonding in 2.4 GHz is not suggested. This is something that I blogged about in a post regarding 5 GHz vs. 2.4 GHz in 802.11n networks on CWNP.com I seemed to take a decent amount of “heat” in the comments, primarily from advocates of channel blankets, so I am glad to see that the fine folks at AirMagnet agreed with me. 🙂
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Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit… In Review (Part #2 of 2)
Filed under: Industry Events, Interesting Articles | Tags: Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit, online society 2020, reputation management
Leave a Comment I recently reviewed the Next-Generation WLAN presentation given at the Gartner Mobile & Wireless Summit that took place Feb 23-25, 2009. I said the authors hit a home run with that presentation.
This go-around, I am reviewing the “Online Society 2020” presentation which, to me, is more of a ground rule double than a home run. The ball still went over the center field fence, it just wasn’t as satisfying as a pure home run…
The presentation started with a high level overview of some of the factors affecting online society in 2020. These factors were logical based on the information available today:
- Technology
- Social Attitudes
- New Jobs/Hobbies
- External Factors
From there, the discussion turned to networked Healthcare, Personal Communications & Collaboration, Education, Entertainment, and Financial Services.
Some of the predictions seemed rather straight-forward:
(In 2020… “Division between personal and professional life has blurred”)
Other predicitions were insightful (even downright brilliant):
(In 2020… “Reputation management will be a billion dollar business”)
Personally, I would have liked to see a tighter focus on Wireless & Mobile technologies, which was the theme of the conference. That being said, I applaud the presenters (Nick Jones, Jackie Fenn, and Monica Basso) for attempting to predict society a decade from now. Futhermore, I would suspect the audience discussion in this session significantly contributed to the overall quality of the presentation.
Related Posts:
- Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit… In Review (Part #1 of 2)
- Requesting Press Access to the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit?!?
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