WLANs / Wi-Fi - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Techs for the memories: What did we do before...

  We take so much technology for granted today, but it wasn't that long ago that laptops, ATMs, cell phones and the Internet didn't exist-and hold enormous sway over our day to day lives.

• Smartphones, data hogs causing wireless network capacity crunch

  Two-thirds of wireless carriers say their networks are suffering due to the surge in data traffic. They're racing to apply a wide range of technical and tariff changes to cope with the problem, and with the growing customer dissatisfaction, according to a new global survey of network operations staff.

• Inside an alleged iPad killer: the Samsung Galaxy Tab

  While not quite ready to declare the Galaxy Tab a true Apple iPad killer after looking inside the new 7-inch touchscreen tablet computer, teardown specialists at iFixit confirm that Samsung has delivered some technology to die for.

• Italy to remove public Wi-Fi restrictions

  Italy will remove existing restrictions on public Wi-Fi access to the Internet starting in January, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni announced Friday.

• How Wi-Fi and wireless data-sharing cures patients' ills

  There are traditional ways to justify a costly IT project-financial return on investment, regulatory compliance, increased productivity. But for Chad A. Eckes, CIO of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), determining the benefit of a technology investment starts with one simple question: Would you want it for your mum?

• AirMagnet bolsters Wi-Fi management tools

  AirMagnet is releasing updates to two of its main Wi-Fi network management tools. Wi-Fi Analyzer now can explore delve deeper into roaming problems. And Survey can now run passive and active Wi-Fi scans at the same time.

• Wi-Fi won't kill the office LAN ... yet

  While Wi-Fi has increasingly become the primary choice for office worker connectivity, it may be some time before it replaces wired networks altogether, according to panelists at the Interop conference, held last week in New York.

• How 'smart antennas' could boost Wi-Fi performance

  We've all had the problem of going into a crowded Starbucks and suffering through a substandard Wi-Fi signal, most likely caused by too few access points and too many end users. But what if Wi-Fi antennas could do a better job of detecting how many devices were in a given room and could push data out to them more rapidly on a one-by-one basis? That's what researchers at Gonzaga University are trying to accomplish by testing "smart antenna" technology in their new research lab that just received a federal research grant worth nearly $1.2 million from the National Science Foundation. In this interview, we ask Gonzaga electrical engineering associate professor Steve Schennum to outline the basics of smart antenna systems, to describe how they'll improve Wi-Fi performance and to describe how a smart antenna lab would help out small wireless companies.

• In-flight Wi-Fi turbulence: Travellers reluctant to pay

  In 2008, the number of commercial aircraft that offered in-flight Wi-Fi service totaled just 25, according to market researcher In-Stat. By the end of 2010, however, In-Stat predicts that number should reach 2,000 planes.

• Wi-Fi, smart antennas power new carrier gear from Ruckus Wireless

  At 4G World this week, Ruckus Wireless is announcing new 802.11n Wi-Fi products aimed at wireless network operators, for indoor and outdoor coverage that can offload their cellular data networks.

• AT&T wants your business’s iPad business

  AT&T isn’t just going to make the Apple iPad available in retail stores on Oct. 28, as it announced yesterday.  It’s also going to start selling the popular tablets to businesses that day.

• Gartner: Nearly 20 million tablets to be sold in 2010

  Gartner estimates worldwide sales of iPads and other tablets will total 19.5 million units this year and nearly triple that number next year as the devices win over both consumers and business customers.

• Aruba strengthens Wi-Fi network software

  The new version of Aruba Networks' Wi-Fi network software includes code to improve voice and video performance, automatically identify non-Wi-Fi radio interference and trap rogue wireless devices.

• Tomato for Linksys, making Wi-Fi better

  Gad! I complained a few weeks ago about frequent DNS lookup errors on my AT&T DSL connection. I tried using Google's DNS servers instead of AT&T's and, for a while, it looked like the problem was fixed. Alas, this was not the case …

• Cisco expands 11n Wi-Fi line, mobile VPN client

  Cisco Tuesday unveiled new additions to its mobility product lines, including an entry-level 802.11n Wi-Fi access point, a mobile VPN client, and the first step toward extending virtual desktop environments to mobile devices in the field.