The most recent articles from IT Week

Motorola to acquire AirDefense

Dave Bailey — 2008-07-29T15:50:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Tuesday 29 July 2008 at 15:50:00

Motorola looks to extend wireless security offerings with acquisition

Communications provider Motorola is to acquire pioneer wireless security vendor AirDefense, one of the last remaining independent providers of enterprise wireless intrusion prevention (WIPS) systems.

The acquisition will help Motorola compete in the fast-growing wireless security market, said Kathy Paladino, Motorola's enterprise mobility president.

"Wireless security remains a leading concern for enterprises, and this transaction will enable Motorola to deliver a common platform solution for greater indoor and outdoor protection to wireless LAN (WLAN) networks in support of the all-wireless enterprise.”

Motorola recently announced a planning tool for 802.11n deployments and the AirDefense acquisition will boost its potential to compete in the IEEE 802.11n wireless market. Although the 802.11n standard has yet to be ratified, test deployments are being looked at by enterprises.

The market for both replacement of legacy 802.11a/b/g systems and 'greenfield' deployments by 802.11n will be huge according to industry experts, and associated with that will be a demand for 802.11n WIPS.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Meru locks out car park hackers

Dave Bailey — 2008-07-28T12:43:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Monday 28 July 2008 at 12:43:00

New system aims to stop wireless data seeping out of the office

Wireless vendor Meru Networks has unveiled a new system to protect business users from eavesdroppers hoping to hack in to their wireless networks.

Meru's new RF Barrier is intended to protect users from so-called 'parking lot' attackers, who passively listen for insecure wireless traffic which they can use to obtain passwords and other critical security information.

Meru said that because RF Barrier used directional antennas and selective enforcement technology, it would not impact internal wireless traffic or that from other WLANs close by.

“Previously, both wireless security and infrastructure vendors have focused on protecting the connection and the back-end network, while the perimeter – where attacks cannot be detected – has remained undefended,” said Joe Epstein, Meru’s senior director of technology in a statement.

In 2007 hackers using a telescope wireless antenna siphoned off wireless traffic from US retailer TK Maxx, which they subsequently used to crack back office network security at the firms parent company TJX, resulting in nearly 50 million credit and debit card records being taken.

RF Barrier will be available this September and can use any Meru 802.11a/b/g access points. Pricing for a starter kit including four antennas, four APs, cabling and software is £1,800 ($3,595).

More firms turn to 3G to get data on the move

Daniel Robinson — 2008-07-18T16:05:00.000Z

Daniel Robinson, IT Week, Friday 18 July 2008 at 16:05:00

With bandwidth increasing and connection costs falling, uptake of 3G-enabled laptops is rising

Laptops with support for 3G mobile networks are set to account for a much larger share of the market in future, according to communications vendor Sierra Wireless. The firm also said it sees little threat to the cellular networks from upcoming wireless technologies such as WiMax, despite the latter being given substantial backing from industry giants such as Intel.

Sierra Wireless is one of the leading global suppliers of 3G modules and adapters. In June, the firm introduced its latest products, the MC8790 and MC8790V embedded modules, which support high-speed packet access (HSPA) capability at up to 7.2Mbit/s on the downlink and 2Mbit/s on the uplink. These modules are intended for laptop vendors looking to embed 3G broadband capability into their systems, a market that is growing rapidly, according to Larry Zibrik, Sierra’s director of marketing and product management.

“A million and a half laptops shipped with embedded 3G in 2007, and this year I believe we will see from two to three million,” he said, adding that other markets such as 3G routers are likely to account for the same volume. Cisco is a big customer for Sierra’s hardware.

Overall, the 3G attach rate is set to grow at almost 100 per cent per year in the near future, according to Zibrik, but with an interesting split occurring between business users and consumers. While corporate buyers are opting for laptops with 3G capability built in via an embedded modem and antenna, consumers are driving demand for plug-in dongles that connect to a laptop USB port.

This trend perhaps reflects the fact that a 3G modem is still a relatively costly item to integrate if not all buyers want it. And while consumers can add this if need be, corporate buyers are more likely to see wide-area connectivity as a necessity.

Other markets where Sierra is seeing demand for its 3G modules include handhelds for mobile workers such as field service engineers. Recent models from vendors such as Intermec and Motorola’s Symbol division have included this capability so that workers have access to data wherever they are and whenever they need it.

As the number of 3G connections is growing, the technology has sometimes been seen as a rival for Wi-Fi, since both technologies are now included as standard in many corporate laptops. But comparisons are not valid, according to Zibrik, because while Wi-Fi offers higher connection speeds, it is a relatively short-range technology.

“Wi-Fi is designed for use when you are in range of your company network. Outside the office, IT managers would much rather see their users on a commercial 3G network connection than using Wi-Fi hotspots because they are more secure and coverage is much more widely available,” he said.

Although 3G data rates have previously been seen as costly, carriers now offer all-you-can-eat business tariffs that have a generous ceiling on data volumes or no cap at all, according to Zibrik.

On the subject of rivals such as WiMax, the Intel-backed technology that supports speeds of 10Mbit/s to 70Mbit/s over distances of several kilometres, Zibrik was pretty dismissive. “You can only compete with someone when you have coverage,” he said, pointing out that WiMax can hardly be said to exist in the UK. He added that the 3G network operators have spent large sums of money over the past few years rolling out their coverage, so that 3G networks are now available to the vast majority of the population, while WiMax is still confined to one or two pilot installations.

“When setting up a network, the majority of the cost is in site acquisition, and 3G is past that – it’s already there,” he said.

In addition, the cellular network operators are already planning a roadmap to higher bandwidth via new standards such as HSPA+, which may offer download speeds up to 42Mbit/s, while further off there is Long Term Evolution (LTE), which may offer speeds in the region of 320Mbit/s. These plans make the operators a moving target for proponents of any rival network technologies seeking to take over their market.

“It would be a very tough treadmill for any outsider to step onto,” Zibrik said.

Wireless vendors pile on 802.11n pressure

Dave Bailey — 2008-05-07T14:43:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Wednesday 7 May 2008 at 14:43:00

Firms are spoilt for choice when it comes to 802.11n kit, but is it still too early to upgrade?

The latest standard for wireless networking, IEEE 802.11n, is currently in draft form, and while some industry experts believe that it could be ratified before the end of this year, others expect it will be well into 2009 before the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) manages to complete the process.

When finally ratified, 802.11n is expected to offer up to 600Mbit/s of raw throughput at ranges up to 300m, well in excess of the 54Mbit/s and 100m range of the earlier IEEE 802.11g standard. The use of multiple antennas, so-called multiple-input multiple output (Mimo) support, is also touted to gives firms a more reliable connection compared with earlier 802.11a/b/g technology.

In a research note from 2007, analyst firm The Farpoint Group predicted that demand for enterprise-class 802.11n-based systems will be enormous, particularly as the specification will form the physical layer standard for wireless networks for some time to come and there is nothing on the horizon to replace it. “802.11n represents such an enormous discontinuity in price/performance that many firms that have already installed wireless LAN (WLAN) systems will be motivated to go out to bid once again,” the report stated.

The huge potential demand from enterprises for 802.11n kit explains the large number of wireless vendors already supplying draft-n systems, with six of them releasing new equipment during the past few weeks.

Aerohive and Foundry Networks have both recently released their first 802.11n products, while Meru Networks, Ruckus Wireless and Trapeze Networks have all released systems that they claim can replace Ethernet as the endpoint connection for corporate networks.

Meanwhile, Aruba Networks has unveiled a range of wireless access points it said can be upgraded “over-the-network” to enable 802.11n operation and allow customers to prepare for a future migration to the wireless specification without incurring the cost of an immediate upgrade.

But despite Aruba’s claims, question marks still hang over whether a firmware upgrade is all that would be required to make any pre-802.11n systems fully compatible with the finished standard.

This uncertainty over upgrade paths to the final IEEE standard means most organisation remain cautious about deploying draft-n systems. The University of Birmingham, for example, is in the final phase of a major wireless rollout that uses 802.11g technology. Senior network specialist at the university, Chris Lea, said users had not requested 802.11n connectivity.

“The general consensus is that 18 months down the road, we may do that [deploy 802.11n], but at the moment we’re very happy with performance and we do have to get some return on investment first,” Lea explained.

Another recent big UK roll-out of wireless infrastructure was at Heathrow Terminal 5, but here too the decision was made not to deploy 802.11n. Aruba was contracted for the deployment in 2006, and the 802.11n standard still seemed far from ratification at that point, according to the company. “It’s 802.11b/g technology that’s been deployed here, but 802.11n is being considered for the future,” said Aruba marketing director Roger Hockaday.

Analyst firm Gartner advised that companies should wait for the technology to mature before deploying in production environments. “As with a lot of new mobile technology, there’s usually fragmentation and volatility surrounding it, which means [client] device types can change very rapidly. It would be sensible for enterprises to wait, since it’s better to invest in something that’s been stable for a while, but it’s just a matter of time,” said research vice president Monica Basso.

However, there may be some firms that want to take a risk in order to benefit from the better performance offered by 802.11n. Quocirca principal analyst Rob Bamforth said, “It comes down to deciding why 802.11n is being considered is it being chosen as the best fit for the task and the specific environment, or simply because it is the latest thing?” Bamforth advised firms to make sure that any products being chosen have the most current firmware release, but more importantly, to check the vendor’s firmware upgrade commitments. However, 802.11n is still best regarded as a green field site option rather than as an upgrade to existing installations, he added.

The other piece of the 802.11n jigsaw enterprises need to consider is security, a concern that should not be overlooked. The threats are not expected to differ great from current ones. “While there are not yet any known vulnerabilities or attacks specific to 802.11n, this is not to say that they will not develop in line with the technology itself,” said Ian Schenkel of wireless security vendor AirMagnet. “In the short term however, threats will simply be the same as those that have threatened older wireless technology. It’s a clear cut case of ‘more of the same’, just with a slightly different flavour,” he explained.

The Cloud betas easy access

David Neal — 2008-05-06T15:59:00.000Z

David Neal, IT Week, Tuesday 6 May 2008 at 15:59:00

Easier Wi-Fi access is on the cards, thanks to The Cloud

The Cloud is making it easier for Wi-Fi users to hop onto networks when they are out and about thanks to a beta service launched today.

Mycloud (beta) is designed to facilitate mass adoption of wireless, mobile internet use, and, the firm said, "Simplifies the Wi-Fi user experience by providing seamless log-on to home, office, public access and free networks."

The service is enabled through The Cloud's use of the Devicescape Connect Service, technology that they firm has taken and further developed. Using it Cloud subscribers can access connections from firms such as FON, BT and T-Mobile with ease.

Niall Murphy, Chief Strategy Officer, The Cloud, said, "mycloud will simplify the connectivity experience for all types of users, in particular heavy business users who need to access a range of networks throughout their day, whether that's in the home, office or out and about on public Wi-Fi networks."

Murphy added that the service could remove many of the barriers commonly associated with mobile wireless use, People have to learn how to use different networks when they encounter them, and remember different usernames and passwords. MyCloud eliminates all that complexity" he explained.

Existing Cloud users have to register for inclusion in the trial, the address for which is mycloudbeta@thecloud.net. From May 19th, the mycloud connector will be available for existing Cloud subscribers with a Cloud Unlimited (Multi) subscription

Vendors tout 802.11n capabilities

Dave Bailey — 2008-04-21T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Monday 21 April 2008 at 00:00:00

Deliver fixed network performance without wires

Two major Wi-Fi vendors today released 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, which they said could allow firms to replace their edge wired network infrastructure.

Meru Networks and Ruckus Wireless both claim their systems can replace wired networks without any degradation in quality of service while also enhancing firms' ability to serve a mobile workforce.

Ruckus Wireless has released its SmartMesh system, which it claims can deliver wired-LAN performance. It also released its ZoneDirector 3000 wireless controller, capable of supporting 250 wireless access points, which is targeted at the high-end WLAN market.

Ruckus's mesh technology will redefine WLAN economics, said David Callisch, communications director, Ruckus: "We're able to deliver a WLAN with three times the performance, in half the time and half the cost."

The SmartMesh system, which is offered as a software upgrade to its ZoneDirector 6.0 WLAN management console, allows firms to create a robust and reliable mesh system without having to wire up every access point to the network, said Callisch.

Mesh networks allow access points to form a single radio network, where data is transmitted entirely by wireless and is passed along a chain of mesh-configured until backhauled to the wireless controller through standard wired network infrastructure. Ruckus SmartMesh uses so-called 'beam steering' technology to optimise the data transmission across the mesh network.

Meanwhile, Meru Networks will start shipping its AP440 access point in the third quarter of 2008. The AP440 will overcome enterprise reluctance to rely on wireless networks, by providing the sort of performance associated with traditional fixed networks, said Rachna Ahlawat, Meru’s strategic marketing vice president. "What’s made WLAN systems exciting now is 802.11n, because this technology addresses enterprise objections about wireless throughput."

The AP440, a four-radio wireless access point (AP) which provides four 802.11n streams with a raw throughput of 300Mbit/s per stream giving a 1.2Gbit/s capacity. Meru claimed the four radios provide internal redundancy, load-balancing and security, allowing enterprises to cut the cost of deploying wireless networks through reducing the number of access points and security sensors needed.

Meru’s approach to deploying WLANs is to create a so-called ‘channel blanket’, where all the access points are set to a single channel and any additional channels are only added to provide extra capacity, security or redundancy. This ‘channel blanket’ approach reduces both co- and cross-channel interference and the necessity for extensive site surveys to check wireless access.

The AP440 uses two gigabit RJ45 ports and needs two IEEE 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) feeds for full operation, although Ahlawat points out that newer IEEE 802.3at PoE standard switches, such as those produced by PowerDsine and Phihong, could also be used to provide power for the AP. However, like the 802.3at standard, the 802.11n standard has yet to be ratified.

The AP440 also has a USB port which allows other ceiling-installed but non-802.11 devices, such as video surveillance cameras or public address systems, to be incorporated into the WLAN.

Meru has also added a new 4Gbit/s Acceleration Module for its high-end MC5000 wireless controller, which when fully provisioned with five of the acceleration modules, gives a raw throughput of 20Gbit/s of encrypted traffic.

Meru’s AP440 access point has a US list price of $2,995, with the MC5000 4Gbit/s Acceleration Module priced at $15,000.

The Ruckus ZoneDirector 3000 will be available in July and will cost £3,000 + VAT with a 25 access point management licence.

CSR demos first Ultra-Low Power Bluetooth chips

Daniel Robinson — 2008-04-15T00:00:00.000Z

Daniel Robinson, IT Week, Tuesday 15 April 2008 at 00:00:00

Expects to ship chips by year end

Chipmaker CSR has demonstrated silicon supporting the Ultra-Low Power (ULP) extensions to Bluetooth, aimed at supporting applications for low-power communication. The firm said it is on track to deliver production chips this year.

ULP Bluetooth is derived from a low-power wireless standard known as WiBree, developed by Nokia. The Bluetooth SIG announced in 2007 that this would be incorporated into Bluetooth to support applications based around small button-cell batteries, where very low power consumption is vital to ensure battery longevity.

CSR said its demo showed that ULP Bluetooth data packets could be transferred using as little as 1/50th of the power required for standard Bluetooth communications.

The company previously said it envisions dual-mode chips supporting Bluetooth and ULP will be built into PCs and smartphones, while ULP-only chips will be used in peripherals and other low-power devices.

ULP Bluetooth is expected to be used for remote controls, linking smartphones with devices such as a digital watch, and also in medical applications where sensors such as a wireless heart rate monitor can be used to gather data.

Time for WiMax to prove its worth

Dave Bailey — 2008-03-10T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Monday 10 March 2008 at 00:00:00

A major trial aims to demonstrate the business value of mobile WiMax for both users and providers

Mobile WiMax systems will finally hit the UK this April, when Maidstone in Kent hosts a pilot service run under the auspices of the Mobile WiMax Acceleration Group (M-Wag). However, doubts remain about the ability of mobile WiMax to deliver a service that customers would want at a competitive price.

Factors that could hold back the mass rollout of mobile WiMax include issues over radio spectrum availability and suitability. Another potential problem area is backhaul network capacity, which will need to cope with data transfer rates as high as 10Mbit/s on the downlink. Availability of hardware that conforms to the mobile WiMax standard is another possible stumbling block.

These problems, combined with the competition from mobile operators’ existing high-speed mobile services and wired broadband connections, some of which offer 50Mbit/s, could mean mobile WiMax will struggle in vain to gain a foothold in the market.

M-Wag is trying to change this perception by bringing together communication and media firms that it hopes can work together to deliver a commercially viable end-to-end mobile WiMax service.

Currently, M-Wag consists of 10 firms, including industry heavyweight Nortel, which is supplying the base station technology, WiMax pioneer Alvarion, specialist systems integrator Quiconnect and wireless services firm Red-M.

Covering 7.5sq km of Maidstone, the pilot network will consist of three base stations using a temporary licence from UK communications regulator Ofcom that allows use of the 2.5GHz radio band for the trial. Normally, a single base station can service a number of so-called cells or sectors, but each base station, two at one site and one at another, will service one sector only. The base stations will be sharing 30MHz of radio spectrum at the lower end of the 2 .5GHz band, with channel sizes of 10MHz.

A range of devices will be trialled during the pilot, including PC Cards, USB dongles, nomadic customer premise equipment (CPE) and also some handheld devices.

Potential applications

M-Wag said it would trial a range of applications in order to explore the business case for national wholesale and retail mobile WiMax networks. These will include mobile voice over IP (VoIP), video streaming and live broadcasting using WiMax between client device and base station.

M-Wag chairman Kerl Haslam said, “The Maidstone 2.5GHz network is the next step in M-Wag’s strategy to assemble the mobile WiMax ecosystem and demonstrate the business case for the technology.” The first application to be tested over the network will be CCTV, which Haslam said would demonstrate how well the system handled broadcast television applications.

Mobile WiMax is defined by the IEEE 802.16e standard, which is an amendment to 802.16-2005, itself an amendment to the 802.16-2004 standard. The advantage mobile WiMax gives over current 802.11a/b/g variants of Wi-Fi is range, and where Wi-Fi connections are shared, higher upload and download speeds, with M-Wag quoting 2Mbit/s and 10Mbit/s respectively. To put this into perspective, Vodafone’s recently launched High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) service offers a maximum upload speed of about 1.5Mbit/s and a download rate of about 5Mbit/s. Cost, however, could be the main deciding factor in whether customers take up WiMax, with M-Wag claiming it will be cheaper than rival high-speed 3G technologies such as HSUPA.

Meanwhile, the WiMax camp received a boost recently on the issue of hardware availability when chip giant Intel announced a “substantial investment” in WiMax pioneer Freedom4. Intel’s UK and Ireland managing director Graham Palmer said, “We’re working closely with Freedom4 from a business perspective to get a mobile broadband service using WiMax.”

Palmer said that Intel’s mobile WiMax system would provide users with web access “on the move”. Dubbed Echo-Peak, the WiMax system will form a key part of Intel’s next-generation Centrino mobile platform, currently codenamed Montevina. “This will be available in the middle of the year, primarily focused on the US,” he said.

Palmer added a rider pointing to one of the next steps on the road to major mobile WiMax rollouts in the UK: “We’ll see [WiMax] as an add-in capability coming into the UK market as radio spectrum becomes available,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Ofcom said the Maidstone trial would have a test and development licence to use the 2.5GHz spectrum. Meanwhile, consultation on arrangements for the main spectrum auction for mobile WiMax services closed on 1 February, according to Ofcom. “We’ll publish the draft regulations in the spring, and a notice of who the bidders are will be published before the auction kicks off, which should be around July,” the spokeswoman said.

While big-hitters such as BT are reported to be planning bids, the auction is unlikely to raise anywhere near the £22bn spent on 3G licences.

WiMax cannot rely on a killer app

Early adoption will be patchy, writes Quocirca principal analyst for mobility Rob Bamforth

"The big question regarding the viability of WiMax is: how do you balance the investment necessary to achieve a critical mass of coverage, both in the air and in people’s hands, against the returns generated from patchy initial usage? The likelihood is there will not be a killer application, so initial WiMax usage will consist of a patchwork of early adopters, with everybody buying it for different reasons. This means those firms looking to provide WiMax services will have to nurture a varied portfolio of users and applications. Focusing on the right ones will be key to success.

Remember, with 3G it was not consumers using clunky 3G phones to do video calls that drove uptake, it was mobile business users with 3G modems on their laptops. So the model was nurture the early wins and grow to mass adoption, with cheap ubiquitous chips with everything – à la Centrino – being a necessary requirement. I do not see WiMax as being a disruptive force that will unseat rival mobile offerings. The opportunity for fixed carriers to build mobile propositions using it will be the most interesting thing to watch."

Wi-Fi dream turns sour

Guy Kewney — 2008-03-03T00:00:00.000Z

Guy Kewney, IT Week, Monday 3 March 2008 at 00:00:00

Hopes for hassle-free public Wi-Fi were riding high five years ago. So what went wrong?

“Of course, the airport departure lounge is not the only location where mobile wireless systems would be useful,” wrote my esteemed colleague, Martin Banks, five years back.

In a startlingly prescient piece, Martin predicted there would be accusations of overworking as people found themselves expected to be “on tap” for the office even when in bars and pubs. He also predicted extra productivity, but what he couldn’t have foreseen was just how darned long it would take before Wi-Fi was available in enough places, at the right price.

Martin wrote: “Pessimists warn this could lead to a world where we all work even longer hours under more scrutiny, but optimists say it will lead to a world where we can work more flexibly and productively, at times and places that suit us best.”

I have experienced more rage, frustration and plain broken IT in wireless hotspots than in any other part of my daily encounters with computers — and that includes trying to set up Windows for Workgroups. Looking back, and trying to re-imagine the futurescape as I expected it at the time, it’s really hard to think what caused the current clumsy mess of security-enabled private access, profiteering incompetence by carriers, and spectrum fog, which means that these days, when I fly, I buy a book for the airport, and don’t pull my notebook out.

And I suspect the sad truth is I simply failed to anticipate the problems of open Wi-Fi access. I honestly didn’t think that people would cause problems if they used the nearest hotspot to pick up email. I never anticipated the “corporate bot army” that can be infiltrated through one executive’s laptop, if compromised at home.

And above all, I never dreamed that compatibility was going to be an issue. Why would I have foreseen that? The Wi-Fi Alliance was there to ensure that all wireless systems could unplug and play together. And it was, obviously, in everybody’s interest to make that dream work.

So I rather think that the Wi-Fi dream will remain a Wi-Fi nightmare for another year or two. If I’m wrong, I certainly can’t think of a reason why.

UK’s first mobile Wimax network to go live in Maidstone

Dave Bailey — 2008-02-11T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Monday 11 February 2008 at 00:00:00

The first UK mobile Wimax service is to be rolled out in Maidstone Kent this April by the Mobile Wimax Acceleration Group (M-WAG).

Covering around 7.5 sq. km from the centre of Maidstone, the pilot network will use three base stations operating in the 2.5GHz radio band for the trial.

M-WAG chairman Kerl Haslam said, “The Maidstone 2.5GHz network is the next step in M-WAG’s strategy to assemble the mobile WiMAX ecosystem and demonstrate the business case for the technology." The first application to be trialled over the system would be CCTV, which Haslam said would demonstrate how well the system handles broadcast TV applications.

Mobile Wimax is another name for the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard, with 802.16e being an amendment to 802.16-2005, itself an amendment to the 802.16-2004 standard.

M-WAG hopes to deliver data uplink speeds of 2Mbit/s and downlink data transfer speeds of 10Mbit/s using the technology and said that specific service and application trial details would be announced shortly, and that it would also be trialling Wi-Fi to Wimax handovers.

Cisco goes it alone on 802.11n PoE

Dave Bailey — 2008-02-07T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Thursday 7 February 2008 at 00:00:00

Network giant enhances IEEE 802.3at standard for devices requiring extra power

Network giant Cisco has announced it is not prepared to wait for ratification of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3at enhanced Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard, and is moving forward with its own system, called enhanced PoE (ePoE).

The IEEE 802.3at standard – or PoE-Plus as it is also known – has been in development since September 2005 and is due to be ratified later this year. It will cater for devices requiring more power than the current 802.3af standard supplied over standard network cabling.

Cisco has introduced new Catalyst switches and features to its Campus Communication Fabric, a blueprint for network services that will now feature its ePoE system across all Catalyst hardware, beginning with 3750-E, 3560-E and 2960 series hardware.

Firms deploying yet-to-be-ratified 802.11n standard wireless kit may need to upgrade their current 802.3af PoE systems, since these new access points (APs) could require more power than can currently be provided by 802.3af at about 15 Watts.

New 802.11n systems have gigabit network connections rather than the 10/100Mbit/s of 802.11a/b/g APs, and also need to power the new multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) feature of 802.11n radios, as well as the 802.11a/b/g radios themselves. The extra bandwidth and processing requirement of Gigabit Ethernet means that 802.11n systems will also need more power.

Other firms, including comms vendor Siemens – which recently announced its 802.11n system – have said they can provide enough power to their 802.11n APs using switching hardware which conforms to the earlier 802.3af standard. This is a claim that would preclude firms purchasing 802.3at-compliant hardware at a later date.

Pat Calhoun, chief technology officer for the access networking and services group at Cisco, said the power issue was not mainly concerned with the amount of network traffic running through the AP.

“If your Cisco 802.11n AP is connected to a port that can only supply the 802.3af standard 15W, only one radio will actually operate – although you can define which radio you want to use, the 2.4GHz (802.11b/g/n) or the 5GHz (802.11a),” said Calhoun.

Users cannot choose which radio they want turned off when it is operating. “This has to be specified in advance,” Calhoun said. “Unfortunately, because of how 802.11 wireless systems work, dynamically turning radios on and off is difficult.” Cisco has borrowed some ideas from the future 802.3at standard, but maintained compatibility with 802.3af.

“802.3af has a specific way in which it transmits power over the line and we have preserved that,” said Calhoun. “We have used the part of 802.3at standard that is concerned with negotiation between devices, requiring power and the switches that supply the power. We have extended the Cisco Discovery Protocol to negotiate how much power will be required by our 802.11n APs and supply this accordingly.”

Calhoun said he was not aware of any 802.11n chipset available that required less power than that provided by 802.3af systems.

New 802.11n AP works with legacy PoE

Dave Bailey — 2008-01-30T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Wednesday 30 January 2008 at 00:00:00

Siemens is offering firms a route to 802.11n that does not involve a costly PoE upgrade

Comms vendor Siemens announced plans earlier this month to release 802.11n equipment that is designed to make deployment of the high-speed wireless networks easier and more affordable.

Siemens said a key feature of its forthcoming HiPath 802.11n access points (APs) is their ability to work with the same 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) systems that many firms already use to power older 802.11a/b/g APs, while still delivering full 802.11n functionality.

Siemens wireless vice president Luc Roy said 802.11n deployments require firms to “overcome the challenge of integrating with existing PoE LAN infrastructure”. This means not breaching the current Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3af standard, which allows a maximum of 15.4W to be delivered to network devices requiring PoE, over 100m of Category 5 copper network cabling.

Roy said that unlike rival 802.11n kit, Siemens’ HiPath technology uses around 12W and supports 802.3af without compromising coverage, throughput or the distance between the AP and WLAN controller.

According to Siemens, the only other option open to organisations looking to take full advantage of the 802.11n standard is to wait until the arrival of switches based on the IEEE’s 802.3at PoE spec, which is due to be ratified later this year. PoE switches based on 802.3at will provide at least twice the power of 802.3af kit, but will cost significantly more. Roy said most organisations have been deterred from implementing 802.11n systems by the perceived need to also invest in costly 802.3at PoE switches.

The HiPath APs will be available in March, Roy said, adding that “our wireless LAN controllers only need a software upgrade to cater for 802.11n and our wireless intrusion prevention system sensors can be software upgraded as well”.

Meanwhile, according to new figures from research firm Infonetics, the g lobal market for WLAN infrastructure equipment was worth $870m for the third quarter of 2007. Infonetics predicts WLAN switch and controller revenues will triple between 2006 and 2010.

Infonetics wireless analyst Richard Webb pointed out that Cisco still leads all three market segments consumer, enterprise and service provider although he did point out Aruba Networks’ improved performance in the enterprise market. “Cisco has an increasingly dominant position that looks unassailable, though other players such as Aruba Networks continue to improve their performance in the enterprise segment quarter on quarter,” he said.

One factor in Aruba’s favour could be its recent acquisition of WLAN management vendor AirWave Wireless. Quocirca analyst Rob Bamforth said that although Aruba would find it difficult to dent Cisco’s dominance, “the [AirWave] deal does give it opportunities in the enterprise market to place itself in front of customers who have Cisco kit, but use AirWave’s management platform to run their WLANs.”

Time to end the Wi-Fi security obsession

Alan Stevens — 2008-01-17T00:00:00.000Z

Alan Stevens, IT Week, Thursday 17 January 2008 at 00:00:00

IT managers need to think about wireless defences, but only as part of a comprehensive security plan

Ask most corporate networking managers why they have yet to implement wireless and they are likely to mention security. This would be fair if it were a new technology, but this is not the case anymore. Moreover, managers who continue to obsess about wireless security above all else, could leave themselves vulnerable in other areas.

Admittedly the industry’s first attempt at wireless was poor. It lacked both bandwidth and range, and had easily cracked WEP encryption tacked on. Those days, however, are long gone. Now more man hours are spent on improving security than any other aspect of wireless technology. Today’s wireless users are likely to be far better protected than any others on the corporate LAN.

And on the face of it, that is exactly what you want: secure wireless access that only allows authorised users onto your network and which scrambles the Wi-Fi data as it is transmitted. But what about all the other users, with wired desktops do you know as much about their use and can you be as confident of their security? Probably not. It is still unusual for firms to use anything beyond basic passwords to authenticate users or put tools into place to control what they can do once they are in.

If users are really concerned about security, they need to look at the end-to-end protection of the network as a whole rather than concentrate on wireless.

There are lots of things worth considering, especially user authentication. In fact, I would give up on just using passwords in favour of more secure two- or even three-factor technologies using smartcards and biometrics. These are readily available and straightforward to implement. When deployed properly, support burdens can be significantly reduced.

Next I would look at what users are allowed to do on the network once authenticated. Enforce security policies and lock down devices such as CD/DVD writers and USB storage devices, which are a potent security threat. Tools to limit access to such devices are readily available, but in their absence you can at least make sure this hardware is only provided where absolutely necessary.

Of course, I’d still be concerned with wireless security, but the latest technologies provide a high level of protection and those worries should not get in the way of progress. Wi-Fi is set to become a key part of the corporate networking infrastructure. With the 802.11n standard almost ratified, corporate acceptance cannot be far off. It’s a wise manager who starts planning for its adoption as part of a wider view of network development.

Milton Keynes gets commercial WiMax offering

Dave Bailey — 2007-12-18T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Tuesday 18 December 2007 at 00:00:00

Council and private firms unite on wireless access

Freedom4 and a private firm created by Milton Keynes Council called ConnectMK, have partnered to offer what they say is the UK's first commercial Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) service. In a statement the partnership said that, "Over 1000 people in Milton Keynes have registered interest in joining Freedom4’s network."

The business service is called Datamax and offers a claimed 4Mbit/s symmetrically, with installation promised in under seven days. The hardware for the service is provided by mobile kit vendor Airspan Networks, chosen according to Freedom4, because, "The HiperMax platform supports voice and data services and can be upgraded to the 802.16e standard in the future without any hardware change."

ConnectMK's chief executive Steven Jewell said that the aim of the partnership was, "to make Milton Keynes the first WiMax-powered wireless internet city." Freedom4's chief executive Mike Read said "We can provide service in areas where traditional ADSL broadband access is not feasible, giving residents and businesses an alternative."

Silver Peak irons out WAN creases

Dave Bailey — 2007-11-05T00:00:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, IT Week, Monday 5 November 2007 at 00:00:00

WAN acceleration provider Silver Peak upgrades its appliance firmware

WAN acceleration specialist Silver Peak has upgraded its appliance firmware to address enterprise issues such as packet loss.

The new optimisation features minimise the effects of lost packets, packets arriving in the wrong order and network flow restrictions. Silver Peak's vice president for product marketing Jeff Aaron, said, “Packet delivery is an increasing issue for enterprises, and it can be a ‘silent killer’, especially during data backups and replication.”

Aaron explained that Silver Peak was addressing WAN optimisation in three ways. Firstly, application acceleration by overcoming excessive ‘chattiness’ in the protocol used by the application, secondly making data easier to transport - therefore better utilising bandwidth reduction techniques like compression, and finally network optimisation, a way of overcoming problems inherent to WANs.

It is the third technique that Silver Peak hopes to tackle with its firmware upgrade. “Application acceleration and data reduction won’t work if you don’t fix the problems in the WAN itself. You can put a big, fast engine in your car, and add as many motorway lanes as possible, but if you don’t fix the potholes in the road, you’re not going to get to your location quickly,” explained Aaron.

The ‘potholes’ in this case are lost and out of order packets. Non-real time traffic can re-transmit if packet loss occurs and with email and similar applications this would not be critical. Real time applications however like IP voice can not retransmit.

Silver Peak is addressing the lost packet problem by using dynamic forward error correction (FEC) which means lost packets are reconstituted in real time at the far end of the WAN link. Packet order correction (POC) is used to re-sequence out-of-order packets on the far end of the WAN link. Finally Silver Peak uses packet striping to send packets over multiple IP links to allow for bottlenecks in router and firewall systems.