How Long Does It Take For A Single Carrier To Get To 20,000,000 Wi-Fi Connections?

Posted August 3, 2011
Filed under: Cellular / Mobile Phones, Interesting Articles, Mobile | Tags: , , , ,
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11 Days!  That is just one of the stunning statistics from an AT & T infographic that I saw recently.  The infographic also compares how long it took to reach the same number of connections in years past.  Check it out – you’ll be amazed!   Much of the additional data is of particular interest to those in the Hospitality and Retail Industries.

Rather than re-invent the wheel, I’ll point you to a great blog post from Slashgear.com that pretty much says everything that I would regarding the data.

Enjoy!  http://www.slashgear.com/att-infographic-notes-massive-wi-fi-use-growth-on-mobile-devices-22167040/

 

 

 

 

 

The Packets Never Lie

Posted May 31, 2011
Filed under: 802.11n, Video | Tags: , , , ,
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OK.  If you have been following my blog (here or over at Computerworld), you’ll notice that I am really starting to incorporate a lot of video into my posts.  So far, I have found that one of the easiest & most effective ways to include video is to interview someone else.  However, I now realize that turn-about is fair play.

The fine folks at CWNP had a little fun by asking me what I though about their recent Certified Wireless Analysis Professional (CWAP) beta course.

I told them about one mantra I hold about wireless networking… that the packets never lie.  Then they took some liberties with my response.  🙂

See for yourself:

Oh, it’s all in good natured fun.  That is, if you can stand seeing & hearing me more than 10 times in under 5 minutes…  In all seriousness though, I had a great time at the CWAP beta course and learned a ton from all the real brains in the room.

If you want to read CWNP’s original post with the video montage, you can view it here: https://www.cwnp.com/index/cwnp_wifi_blog/cwapbeta-round-up-the-packets-never-lie

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Vegas! Who’s With Me?

Posted May 25, 2011
Filed under: Industry Events | Tags: , , , , , ,
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I am making the trek up to Las Vegas tomorrow to attend Forrester’s 2011 IT Forum.   The event actually starts today and runs through Friday.  It is being held at The Palazzo (which is part of The Venetian Hotel and Casino).

In year’s past, Forrester has used UStreamto broadcast many of the keynotes across the internet.  I don’t have the specifics, but it’s worth a search, when keynote presentations run from 8:30 – 12:30 Pacific Time (Friday morning keynotes end at 10:05).  Personally, Friday morning’s keynotes are of particular interest.  The first is titled “iPads And Torches And Droids — Oh My! Mobile’s Not In Kansas Anymore“.  That is followed up by another session called “Killing The Laptop: How IT Solutions Amplify Business Productivity On Tablets and Smartphones”.

After the morning keynotes, the afternoons are packed with 3-4 sets of track sessions.  The track that really jumps out at me so far is one called “Transform Processes That Touch Your Customers”.  It has sessions on topics such as next-gen CRM and customer service through social technologies.

The content is spot on.  For example, last year, I heard Ted Shadler speak about his book, Empowered, which mentions the rise of four key technologies: social, mobile, cloud, and video.  In my opinion, those four areas absolutely dominated the IT mindset in the past year, and are only growing in importance.

Like any conference, beyond the actual content, one of the most valuable aspects of attending are the networking opportunities.   In the past, Forrester has done a good job of trying to connect people with similar interest with role-specific ribbons to add to attendee badges.  They also put placards on the lunch tables to group people with similar interests.  Forrester also offers one-on-one meetings with their analysts — at no extra cost for attendees.

Please let me know if you are attending the forum (or happen to be in Las Vegas for something else), and would like to meet up.   If you are unable to attend, keep a look out here, my Computerworld Blog, or my Twitter stream for a recap of  what I find the most interesting and relevant.  You can also keep a tap on what’s happening at the conference with the official Twitter hashtag, which is #ITF11.

Wi-Fi Jedi… Now Powered By Cisco!

Posted April 29, 2011
Filed under: Cisco, ISE - Identity Services Engine, Video | Tags: , , ,
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It’s true.  I took a new job with Cisco.  I am now working as a Mobility CSE (Consulting Systems Engineer).  I am specifically working on Enterprise accounts within Cisco’s Pacific Southwest Operation. 

I was joking with my manager that I needed three things from Cisco before making a more official announcement on taking my new position – a badge, a laptop, and a pay check.   In my opinion, that’s the Cisco hat trick!  🙂  (For those of you who don’t know, I am a *huge* NHL hockey fan).   I’m happy to report that I have been on the job for approximately a month and right now, drinking from the firehose.  

For all those who want to take a drink with me, here’s a great 5 minute video on one of Cisco’s newest products – the Identity Services Engine. 

CWAP Beta Course – Recap

Posted April 19, 2011
Filed under: External Training, Industry Events, Interviews, Video | Tags: , , , , , , ,
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If you read my latest posts, you already know that I attended the Certified Wireless Analysis Professional beta course hosted by the CWNP program in Atlanta, GA last week. 

I really enjoyed all the side bar discussions between attendees.  There were at least 3-4 vendors represented, as well as VARs/Integrators and enterprise wireless network administrators.    I  spoke about my favorite side-bar discussion, which was about locating wireless devices through spectrum analysis on my Computerworld blog.   

Attending the course also really reinforced what a big believer I am in the CWNP program.  It’s great to see a vendor neutral training and certification body in our field.   I really think that along with the IEEE and Wi-Fi Alliance, they have done a great job promoting and educating the community about wireless technology, which helps drive growth / adoption, which is good for everyone involved. 

Therefore, I wanted to take the time to interview one of the CWNP co-founders, Kevin Sandlin, to have him explain about the program and how it fits an emerging trend  in the marketplace:

CWAP Beta Course – Day 2

Posted April 13, 2011
Filed under: 802.11e - Quality of Service, 802.11n, External Training, Packet Analysis, Troubleshooting | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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Today was the 2nd day in the CWAP (Certified Wireless Analysis Professional) beta course.  Today’s material was a lot more hand-on / lab type exercise in capturing and analyzing traffic.  From what I could tell, there were three main tools used by the course attendees:

They all seem to have their pros and cons, and they all seem to cost about the same amount of money (especially if you want to do multichannel packet capture on ~3 channels).  Which tool do you prefer?  Why?

The course contains an enormous amount of detail, such as the exact length (in microseconds) for slot times for each PHY type as well as a discussion on the application of that detail (i.e. how do the different slot times affect WLAN performance with and without QoS enabled).

Again, I thought one of the most valuable things were the networking opportunities with the other attendees and the sidebar conversations.  A colleague (and good friend) of mine, Ken Hall, was even inspired to sign up for a Twitter account (@wifiscubaguy) to continue the interaction outside of this course / classroom.  His account will definitely be on my next list of #WirelessWednesday mentions.

Tomorrow is the last day of the course.  From what I know, we are covering a lot of 802.11n concepts, as well as spectrum analysis, which should be a blast.

CWAP Beta Course

Posted April 12, 2011
Filed under: External Training, Packet Analysis, Professional Development, Troubleshooting | Tags: , , , , ,
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This week, I am at the CWNP offices in Atlanta, GA for training. If you’re unfamiliar with CWNP, they focus on vendor-neutral training and certification in the wireless networking space.

The program recently went through some changes, and they recently launched two new certifications:

I am here taking a Beta version of the CWAP course with some of the brightest minds of the WLAN world.  One of the authors of the new CWAP Study Guide, Peter MacKenzie, is teaching the course.  Two of the other authors are attending the course – Marcus Burton and David Coleman.  There are also some of my favorite wireless bloggers in attendance, including:

Today, we covered a lot of ground with regards to the Physical and Data Link Layers and what the bitwise fields look like at that those levels.  However, from my perspective, some of the most interesting discussion was not around the bits and bytes, but rather how an understanding of those fundamentals can be applied to real world wireless troubleshooting and analysis.

The afternoon consisted of some hands on work with protocol analyzers.  Peter taught this in a very dynamic way just stepping through captures we were all taking on the fly — very impressive!

If you are interested in knowing more, you can follow some of the happenings of the course by searching the #cwapbeta hashtag on Twitter.

It’s a Wireless World…

Posted November 26, 2010
Filed under: General | Tags: , , ,
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A little levity regarding the ever-expanding nature of wireless…  Happy Friday!

Super Tuesday Poll – Ethernet Adapters

Posted November 16, 2010
Filed under: Ethernet, Poll Questions | Tags: , , ,
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It’s been awhile since I have done a “Super Tuesday” poll, so I thought I would throw one in today.  You should answer this question for your primary computer, whether that be a desktop, a laptop, a tablet PC, or whatever.

I can’t give any “I voted” stickers away, but take satisfaction in the fact that you are shaping the (wireless) direction of America…. 🙂

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