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  • CWNP

Wi-Fi Frequencies: An Overview

All of the current and future Wi-Fi frequencies and technologies are getting confusing. There are actually more than you might think. Let’s take a high-level look at what’s out there and what’s coming up.

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  • CWNP

AirMagnet Multi-adapter Support

To all of you AirMagnet fans out there, AirMagnet released a press release yesterday to announce a handful of nice (could I use a more generic word?) updates to their WLAN analysis and survey products. I had the privilege of beta testing the core update, multi-adapter support. For anyone that spends time designing/surveying for new networks or troubleshooting existing networks, this feature is a must have because it provides network analysis insight that you can’t get from a single adapter and it makes the surveying process more efficient.

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  • CWNP

WPA with TKIP: No Fast Secure Roaming

In my previous post , I explained a few details about 802.11 preauthentication. There was a great comment after that blog asking/stating how preauthentication works with WPA. It went like this: “Wouldn’t pre-authentication only be valid for an 802.11i (WPA2) RSN network since the 802.11-2007 standard specifically states the pre-authentication capability is advertised in the RSN IE? This would mean that Wi-Fi Alliance pre-standard WPA would not be able to use this feature since it uses the WPA IE, not the RSN IE.” -- Andrew

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  • CWNP

Preauthentication and the Common Misunderstanding

Preauthentication is a seemingly duplicitous SOB of a protocol. Since I’ve had this same conversation at least 3 times in the last few weeks, it seemed a good time to extract the truth. You ready? Get your SCUBA (did you know that SCUBA is an acronym?) gear cause we’re going deep.

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  • CWNP

Biker shorts, M&Ms, and BigDogs

I spent the end of last week (6th-8th, that is) at Ruckus’ BigDogs partner and customer conference in Atlanta, and I have two words to describe it: fun and irreverent. In fact, I met David Callisch (VP, Marketing) at the reception on Wednesday night and that was the word he used to describe the event: irreverent. I’ll keep this blog short, but I do want to mention a few things about the conference and the company that hosted it.

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  • CWNP

802.11 Alphabet Soup

Have you ever tried to recite all 802.11 amendments from 802.11-1997 to today's working drafts? Ever wonder what happened to the lost letters of the 802.11 spec like 802.11o? Let’s review, shall we?

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  • CWNP

“Will Controllers Go Away?” and Other Industry Questions

I’d like to pose a question and then some more questions. Many of you started reading the CWNP blog back when the Devinator started writing it a few years back. He and I are still good friends, and I often look back on his decision to jump into the vendor-specific game from a critical vendor-neutral perspective. By “critical” I don’t mean that I am criticizing him for making that decision, but rather I’m talking about using critical reasoning to deconstruct the merits of his choice to go to Aerohive (making the assumption that he could have jockeyed for a position at any vendor for any predominant reason). Like many of you, I have a vested interest in the momentum of the Wi-Fi industry as a whole, the changes in technology, vendor positioning and market share, and the like. Thus, since I know he’s ok with it, I’d like to hear your opinions about his decision to put his flag in the sand with a controller-less architecture.

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  • CWNP

VeriWave’s WaveDeploy: An Introduction and Review

If you’ve been keeping up with recent industry news, vendor tests, and analyst articles, you may have noticed the seemingly ubiquitous presence of VeriWave. If you don’t know them already, VeriWave specializes in WLAN product testing and network validation tools/suites, and after looking through their product line, it won’t surprise you that many vendors depend on them for WLAN product assurance and competitive testing. Take a look around at some of their recent mentions.

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  • CWNP

Distributing 802.1X Settings to your Clients

Businesses and organizations should use Enterprise-level Wi-Fi Protected Access—preferably WPA2 with AES encryption—to secure their WLAN, which requires the use of a RADIUS server for the 802.1X authentication. However, you'll probably find that configuring the end-users is a road-block, or at least a big speed bump, to your 802.1X implementation. As the owner of a hosted 802.1X service, I see this problem daily. In Windows you can't simply just connect to these types of networks—you must preconfigure the 802.1X settings. You'll likely see an increase in trouble calls and visits to the help desk.

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  • CWNP

Factors to Consider while Evaluating a Wireless Security Solution

Wi-Fi proliferation and increased awareness about associated security risks is prompting many organizations to install Wi-Fi security monitoring systems, for which the industry term is WIPS (wireless intrusion prevention system). Protection from rogue APs, WiPhishing, corporate client connections to neighborhood APs, mis-configurations of authorized Wi-Fi, wireless DoS attacks, spoofing, and zero-day attacks are some of the commonly cited reasons to install WIPS. There are many WIPS solutions available in the market today, including those offered by WLAN infrastructure vendors and those offered by dedicated security vendors. However, WIPS being a relatively new security technology, organizations often face challenges in evaluating these solutions to determine what best suits them. More so, many end-users may not have the level of dedicated wireless skills and resources required to thoroughly test a WIPS. In this light, this article lays out some high level considerations that are important while evaluating a WIPS solution.

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