Mobile infrastructure must catch up with user needs and demands. Ubiquitous mobile computing is all around us. Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. As the power and capability of many mobile devices increases, the increased demand on networks. We watch more videos, and listen to music on our phones. Mobile Data Traffic To Grow 300% Globally By 2017 Led By Video, Web Use. Mobile network operators would have had an easier life if it wasn’t for smartphones and the flood of data traffic they initiated, and soon there will be also very many Internet of Things devices. Businesses and consumers want more bandwidth for less money.
More and more network bandwidth is being used by video: Netflix And YouTube Account For Over 50% Of Peak Fixed Network Data In North America. Netflix remains the biggest pig in the broadband python, representing 31.6% of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during primetime. In other parts of the world, YouTube is the biggest consumer of bandwidth. In Europe, YouTube represented of 28.7% of downstream traffic.
Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends For 2014 expects that Software Defined Anything is a new mega-trend in data centers. Software-defined anything (SDx) is defined by “improved standards for infrastructure programmability and data center interoperability driven by automation inherent to cloud computing, DevOps and fast infrastructure provisioning.” Dominant vendors in a given sector of an infrastructure-type may elect not to follow standards that increase competition and lower margins, but end-customer will benefit from simplicity, cost reduction opportunities, and the possibility for consolidation. More hype around Software-Defined-Everything will keep the marketeers and the marchitecture specialists well employed for the next twelve months but don’t expect anything radical.
Software defined technologies are coming quickly to telecom operator networks with Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV). Intel and rather a lot of telcos want networks to operate like data centres. Today’s networks are mostly based around proprietary boxes designed to do very specific jobs. It used to be that way in the server business too until cheap generic x86 boxes took most of the market. The idea in NFV is that low-cost x86 servers can successfully many of those those pricey proprietary boxes currently attached to base-stations and other parts of the network. This scents a shift in the mood of the telcos themselves. This change is one that they want, and rather a lot of them are working together to make it happen. So the future mobile network will have more and more x86 and ARM based generic computing boxes running on Linux.
With the introduction of Network Functions Virtualisation base stations will have new functions built into them. For example NSN has announced a mobile edge computing platform that enables mobile base stations to host data and run apps. Think of this as an internet cloud server that’s really close to the customer.
Hybrid Cloud and IT as Service Broker are talked about. Telecom companies and cloud service providers are selling together service packages that have both connectivity and cloud storage sold as single service. Gartner suggests that bringing together personal clouds and external private cloud services is essential.
The type of device one has will be less important, as the personal or public cloud takes over some of the role. The push for more personal cloud technologies will lead to a shift toward services and away from devices, but there are also cases where where there is a great incentive to exploit the intelligence and storage of the client device. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable, although many would like to see this working.
“Internet of Things” gets more push. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. The concept of “Internet of Things” will evolve a step toward The Internet of Everything. Gartner identifies four basic usage models that are emerging: Manage, Monetize, Operate, Extend. The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. The Industrial Internet of Things will be talked about. IoT takes advantage of mobile devices’ and sensors’ ability to observe and monitor their environments
Car of the future is M2M-ready and has Ethernet. Many manufacturers taking an additional step to develop vehicle connectivity. One such example is the European Commission’s emergency eCall system, which is on target for installation in every new car by 2015.
Smart Home Systems Are on the Rise article tells that most automated technology is found in commercial buildings that feature automated lighting that changes in intensity depending on the amount of sunlight present. Some of these buildings have WiFi incorporated into their lighting systems. There will be new and affordable technology on the market, but people today are still reluctant to bring automation to their homes.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
THP Entry: Cut Energy Consumption by 30 percent with this WiFi XBee Setup
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/23/cut-energy-consumption-by-30-percent-with-this-wifi-xbee-setup/
Paying electricity bills sucks. The amount paid is always too much, and the temperatures in the building are rarely set at a comfortable level. But now, with the help of this DIY Climate Control system, power-users can finally rejoice knowing that the heating and cooling process of their home (or commercial space) can be easily controlled through the utilization of an XBee Remote Kit and a process called zoning.
Their XBee system runs on a mesh network making it a perfect tool for sensing and communicating which areas in the house are too hot or too cold.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EFF Launches Open Router Firmware
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/21/eff-launches-open-router-firmware/
The Electronic Frontier Foundation have released an alpha of their own Open Wireless Router Firmware as part of the Open Wireless Movement. This project aims to make it easier to share your wireless network with others, while maintaining security and prioritization of traffic.
The EFF have based their router firmware off of CeroWRT, one of the many open source firmware options out there. At this time, the firmware package only targets the Netgear WNDR3800.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HOPE X: Citizens Band Microwave Spectrum And Free Internet For All
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/21/hope-x-citizens-band-microwave-spectrum-and-free-internet-for-all/
The short version of the talk was the fact the FCC is extremely interested in opening up 100 to 200 MHz of spectrum at 3.5 GHz. The idea is to create something like cellular service that can either be implemented by companies, or normal, everyday people. The initial goal of this is to provide -possibly- free Internet to anyone with the right USB dongle. Since it’s just radio, and open to everyone, just about anything can be implemented.
This is something the FCC, Google, Microsoft, and a whole bunch of startups are extremely interested in, and the fact that about half of the spectrum will be open to anyone creates some interesting opportunities. A community-based freenet of wireless Internet links becomes an easy solution, and since the hardware to access 3.5 GHz is similar to other hardware that’s already available means building your own wireless ISP could be relatively easy in 12 to 18 months.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hey There Little Plant. Let’s Be Friends!
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/22/hey-there-little-plant-lets-be-friends/
Created by [Dickson], this project monitors soil moisture, air temperature, and air humidity of your indoor plants and will alert you via email and SMS when your plants are thirsty. No longer will your sprouts shrivel up in the sun, but rather, they will be well-hydrated ready to produce their veggie goodness.
The system is battery operated, wireless, Arduino and Raspberry Pi based and comes with an Android app, which in turn allows you to view real-time and historical data
Tomi Engdahl says:
Long Range Wireless Sensors for the Home-Area-Network
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/19/long-range-wireless-sensors-for-the-home-area-network/
[Eric] hopes his work will help bring the truly expansive Home-Area-Network (HAN) into fruition by letting developers build cheap, battery-powered, long-range wireless sensors. His method integrates with the pluggable OSGI architecture and home automation platform openHAB along with using an Arduino as the lower power, sensor node that is capable of utilizing many types of cheap sensors found online.
[Eric]’s tutorial depicts a few examples of the possibilities of these open-source platforms. For instance, he shows what he calls a ‘Mailbox Sentinel’ which is a battery-powered mail monitoring device that uses a Raspberry Pi to play the infamous, and ancient AOL sound bite “you’ve got mail.” It will also send an email once the postman cometh.
The key to making this project work, as [Eric] states, is the MQTT binding that ties together the Ardiuno and openHAB platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kumo Connect: from Automated Desktop and Backyard Gardens to Automated Everything
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/16/kumo-connect-from-automated-desktop-and-backyard-gardens-to-automated-everything/
Enter the Sparkfun Arduino Inventor’s Kit. Once he achieved Hello, World, he was unstoppable. After a couple of months, a lot of googling, and several prototype iterations, he arrived at the current design.
Niwa does pretty much everything you’d want a connected garden to do: it measures the soil moisture, relative humidity, ambient light, temperature, and barometric pressure. Inside the controller is a custom ATMega328 shield that can work as a standalone or on top of a Pi for web connectivity and control.
He can set it to water on a schedule through Google calendar, but he prefers to do it himself from his phone. The Pi sends a sensor data breakdown the Xively web service so he can check out the graphs from his hotel room. Niwa doesn’t use anything weird or difficult to source, just good ol’ ebay sensors like a photocell, the DHT-11, and a BMP-085 for barometric pressure data.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pinoccio: Mesh All The (Internet Of) Things
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/15/pinoccio-mesh-all-the-internet-of-things/
Yes, IoT can be done with a few cheap radios and a hacked router, but then you don’t get all the cool features of a real Things project – mesh networking and a well designed network. Pinoccio is the first Thing we’ve seen that puts a proper mesh network together with a server you can own.
The hardware on the Pinoccio is basically an Arduino Mega with a LiPo battery and an 802.15.4 radio provided by an ATmega256RFR2. The base board – technically called a ‘field scout’ – can be equipped with a WiFi backpack that serves as a bridge for the WiFi network. It’s a pretty clever solution to putting a whole lot of Things on a network, without having all the Things directly connected to the Internet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast Carrying 1Tbit/s of IPv6 Internet Traffic
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/07/24/1835244/comcast-carrying-1tbits-of-ipv6-internet-traffic
Comcast has announced 1Tb/s of Internet facing, native IPv6 traffic, with more than 30% deployment to customers. With Facebook, Google/YouTube, and Wikipedia up to speed, it looks we are past the “chicken and egg” stage. IPv6 adoption by other carriers is looking better too with AT&T at 20% of their network IPv6 enabled, Time Warner at 10%, and Verizon Wireless at 50%.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The World IPv6 Launch site has measurements of global IPv6 adoption.
http://www.worldipv6launch.org/measurements/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cable Companies: We’re Afraid Netflix Will Demand Payment From ISPs
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/07/26/0133258/cable-companies-were-afraid-netflix-will-demand-payment-from-isps
While the network neutrality debate has focused primarily on whether ISPs should be able to charge companies like Netflix for faster access to consumers, cable companies are now arguing that it’s really Netflix who holds the market power to charge them.
Today’s Internet ecosystem is dominated by a number of “hyper-giants” with growing power over key aspects of the Internet experience—including Google in search, Netflix and Google (YouTube) in online video, Amazon and eBay in e-commerce, and Facebook in social media. If a broadband provider were to approach one of these hyper-giants and threaten to block or degrade access to its site if it refused to pay a significant fee, such a strategy almost certainly would be self-defeating
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Box Can Hold an Entire Netflix
http://gizmodo.com/this-box-can-hold-an-entire-netflix-1592590450
At the heart of the peering argument is something Netflix calls Open Connect. The logic goes like this: people who are watching Netflix generate a lot of traffic. It’s 34 percent of the traffic on the internet in North America at peak hours, i.e. when you get home from work and flop on the couch. And when all that data has to get passed from one part of the internet to another—the places where the internet’s many pipes connect—it needs a lot of room to fit through.
So ordinarily, if you flop down to watch some Netflix, you’re contributing to this tidal wave of data, and you’re pulling video content allllll the way across the internet through various different pipes and chokepoint and junctions, adding to the volume of emails and Skype calls and everything else. If there’s just too much, it can’t all get through, so either something (Netflix, usually) has to get slowed down, or someone has to pay to make bigger pipes.
Netflix’s Open Connect offers another option though. The company will gladly put a box with a copy of itself—which is to say, nearly the entire catalog of its offerings—inside your friendly neighborhood ISP data center.
Each one of Netflix’s Open Connect Appliances (OCAs) is basically a badass connected hard drive. But we’re not talking in GBs of storage here. No, OCAs are measured in TB.
The most basic unit, known as a Rev. A, is a 100TB device.
How much storage is that in practical terms? According to Netflix, HD video streams use 3GB of data per hour, so if you do a little math you’ll find that a 100TB device holds some 34,133 hours of HD video. That’s 1,422 days, or 203 weeks or just under four years of HD video. And for all that, it’s a mere 7″ x 17″ x 23″, about the size of an old-school PC tower, and weighs just 100 pounds.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Router-Based Dev Board That Isn’t A Router
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/27/a-router-based-dev-board-that-isnt-a-router/
Here’s somethirouterng that be of interest to anyone looking to hack up a router for their own connected project or IoT implementation: hardware based on a fairly standard router, loaded up with OpenWRT, with a ton of I/O to connect to anything.
It’s called the DPT Board, and it’s basically an hugely improved version of the off-the-shelf routers you can pick up through the usual channels. On board are 20 GPIOs, USB host, 16MB Flash, 64MB RAM, two Ethernet ports, on-board 802.11n and a USB host port.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Consumers OK with Data Limits on Wireless, But Not Wired Broadband
GAO Finds That Internet Users Were Confused About How Much Data They Use
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/consumers-ok-with-data-limits-on-wireless-but-not-wired-broadband-1406658718-lMyQjAxMTA0MDIwOTEyNDkyWj
WASHINGTON—Consumers are OK with caps on how much data they can download on their wireless devices every month, but are much more concerned about limits on their home Internet usage, a government watchdog agency has found.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T, IBM Research and ACS create faster way to distribute bandwidth in the cloud
http://gigaom.com/2014/07/29/att-ibm-research-and-acs-create-faster-way-to-distribute-bandwidth-in-the-cloud/
The new SDN prototype, developed as part of the U.S. Government’s DARPA CORONET program, is basically a powerful resource management system that can coordinate data flow and hand out more bandwidth when needed.
claimed that they were able to get results in under a second by using advanced reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) equipment, which helps allocate wavelength distribution for increased bandwidth.
Earlier this month, a team of MIT researchers developed their own networking management system called Fastpass that helps data get transferred across networks when periods of heavy traffic cause routers or network nodes to be congested.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet.Org’s App With Free Access To Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, Local Info Launches In Zambia
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/31/internet-org-app/
85% of the 5 billion people without Internet simply can’t afford data plans. So Facebook’s accessibility initiative Internet.org today launches its Android and web app for the developing world with free data access to a limited set of services including Facebook, Messenger, Wikipedia, and Google Search. It also provides local health, employment, weather, and women’s rights resources.
Internet.org’s app is launching in Zambia before coming to other developing countries eventually, and is a partnership with local carrier Airtel who provides the free access in hopes that Zambians see the web’s value and buy pre-paid data through the app to explore the rest of the Internet.
Internet.org, Facebook’s partnership with six telecom companies, is also working on drones and satellites to deliver Internet connection infrastructure to the 15% of people who are unconnected because they’re in remote areas with no cellular towers in range.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Multipath TCP speeds up the internet so much that security breaks
Black Hat research says proposed protocol will bork network probes, flummox firewalls
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/31/multipath_tcp_will_bork_your_network_probes_flummox_your_firewalls/
The burgeoning Multipath TCP (MPTCP) standard promises to speed up the internet but will also break security solutions including intrusion detection and data leak prevention, says security researcher Catherine Pearce.
MPTCP technology is an update to the core communications backbone of the internet that will allow the Transmission Control Protocol to use multiple paths and network providers to improve speed, redundancy and resource utilisation.
As El Reg hack Richard Chirgwin detailed last October, MPTCP was already used by Apple’s Siri for iOS but would not be more widely deployed in mobiles anytime soon because it broke current network designs, could lead to expensive data bills and may be torpedoed by carriers worried that firing more user data over wifi could starve bottom lines.
“I can use MPTCP to break your intrusion detection system, data loss prevention, and many application-layer security devices today,” Pearce wrote i
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast, Time Warner boost net speeds in Google Fiber city – COINCIDENCE?
Aah, the power of competition
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/01/cable_companies_boost_speeds_in_google_fiber_hotspot_amazing_coincidence/
The pair of telco giants will boost transfer rates without a price increase, the Kansas City Star in Missouri reports. Kansas City is one of the few US markets where Comcast and Time Warner have real broadband competition beyond phone company DSL: the Midwest metropolis is the home of Google’s first Fiber broadband project.
Tomi Engdahl says:
43Tbps over a single fiber: World’s fastest network would let you download a movie in 0.2 milliseconds
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/187258-43tbps-over-a-single-fiber-worlds-fastest-network-would-let-you-download-a-movie-in-0-2-milliseconds
A research group at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), which was the first to break the one-terabit barrier in 2009, has today managed to squeeze 43 terabits per second over a single optical fiber with just one laser transmitter.
you could transfer the entire contents of your 1TB hard drive in a fifth of a second — or, to put it another way, a 1GB DVD rip in 0.2 milliseconds.
The previous record over a single optical fiber — 26 terabits per second, set by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology way back in 2011 — had remained unbroken for a surprisingly long period of time
How did the DTU hit 43Tbps and steal the world record away from Karlsruhe? Well, rather amusingly, they kind of cheated. While the researchers did only use a single laser, it used multi-core fiber.
Currently, the fastest commercial single-laser-single-fiber network connections max out at just 100Gbps (100 Gigabit Ethernet).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industry consortium introduces 25G, 50G Ethernet standards
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/25g-ethernet-consortium.html?cmpid=$trackid
A consortium of companies in the cloud-computing arena has developed and made available royalty-free (to consortium members) a specification that is “optimized to allow data center networks to run over a 25- or 50-Gigabit-per-second Ethernet link protocol,” the group stated. “This new specification will enable the cost-efficient scaling of network bandwidth delivered to server and storage endpoints in next-generation cloud infrastructure, where workloads are expected to surpass the capacity of 10- or 40-Gbit/sec Ethernet links deployed today.” The consortium includes Arista Networks, Broadcom Corporation, Google, Mellanox Technologies, and Microsoft Corp.
The consortium added, “By deploying 25- and 50-Gbit/sec Ethernet in their networks, builders of mega-scale data centers such as Microsoft expect to achieve operational advantages, including reduced capex and opex.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
CommScope provides 10 reasons to use Category 6A cabling in buildings:
Top 10 Reasons to Consider Category 6A in the Building
http://www.commscope.com/Blog/Top-10-Reasons-to-Consider-Category-6A-in-the-Building/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Ethernet Standard: EtherSAM
http://www.exfo.com/solutions/metro-core-networks/carrier-ethernet/ethersam
With multiclass Ethernet services being deployed globally, legacy test standards such as RFC 2544 are no longer adequate to validate today’s service-level agreements (SLAs). With customers thirsty for a new test methodology due to aggressive deployment plans, largely driven by the migration to packet-based mobile backhaul infrastructure worldwide, EXFO was the first to introduce the recently approved ITU-T Y.1564 standard (formerly known as Y.156sam) to the market on its modular Ethernet testing solution—even before the standard was officially approved.
EtherSAM: Fast and Accurate Testing for Real-Life Scenarios
Since its availability in early 2010, EtherSAM has proven to be instrumental in real-life scenarios—drastically speeding up deployment and eliminating repeat testing by offering full visibility into all SLA metrics, immediately and accurately
Tomi Engdahl says:
Service Activation Testing and Troubleshooting in Carrier Ethernet Networks
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4430470/Service-Activation-Testing-and-Troubleshooting-in-Carrier-Ethernet-Networks
Tomi Engdahl says:
Understanding the kaleidoscope of unlicensed spectrum
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4431432/Understanding-the-kaleidoscope-of-unlicensed-spectrum
The simple shared access model employed today in the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands will not be a sufficient model when new targeted licensed bands start sharing their bandwidth. Not all bands can be treated equally; at least not from a policy perspective.
Tomi Engdahl says:
For Category 6A channels, alien crosstalk matters most
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-5/features/standards/for-category-6a-channels-alien-crosstalk-matters-most.html?cmpid=$trackid
The ability of network electronics to cancel internal noise has left alien crosstalk performance as the single most important factor in the ability to support 10GBase-T.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TIA cautions FCC on Net Neutrality: No utility-style regulation
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/tia-cautions-fcc-re-net-neutrality.html
On July 15, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) issued new comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding that agency’s efforts to draft new Net Neutrality rules.
“We continue to make the case that the Internet has flourished because of our nation’s longstanding commitment to a light regulatory approach.”
“Consumers would suffer if new regulations inadvertently undermined networks’ ability to deliver services with the quality that users have come to expect…popular consumer services…depend on prioritization to overcome difficulties with latency and jitter that can be made worse by traffic congestion.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Macro, small cell radio deployments to surge over next 5 years
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/delloro-lte-ran-mobile-report.html
A newly published market forecast report by Dell’Oro Group, a specialist in the networking and telecommunications industries, states that the Mobile Radio Access Network (RAN) LTE equipment market for both macro and small cell radios will witness tremendous growth over the next five years — with LTE RAN revenue levels expected to outdo the RAN revenue peaks of GSM in 2007 and WCDMA in 2011.
“The momentum around LTE coverage build-outs and subscriber adoption is stronger than anything we have experienced with previous mobile technologies,” comments Stefan Pongratz, analyst of Dell’Oro’s RAN and Small Cell programs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analyst: $1 trillion to be spent on telecom, datacom equipment/software over next 5 years
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/infonetics-trillion-telecom-datacom.html
Infonetics Research has released preliminary data from its 2014 Telecom and Datacom Network Equipment and Software report, which provides a big picture of the health of the overall market, as aforementioned.
“Despite the fact that enterprises and service providers are in the middle of massive network upheavals due to the evolution of software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) technology, the telecom and datacom networking equipment and software market is on track to grow annually through 2018 with the fastest growth coming in 2015,” says Jeff Wilson, principal analyst at Infonetics Research.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wired vs. wireless for utility networks?
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/wired-vs-wireless-utility-networks.html
Could physical cabling could be left out in the cold in favor of wireless technology usage in the growing market for utility network communications?
Wired vs. Wireless Technologies for Communication Networks in Utility Markets
Many utility industry operators are looking for new ways to maximize their investment in communication networks while ensuring reliable, secure data transmission. There is a variety of communications solutions, the two most common being wireless technology and wired options-such as copper and fiber-optic cable. While both have a place in utility market applications, such as distribution automation, we are beginning to see an increase in the use of wireless technology.
Communication networks are not one-size-fits-all
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surviving disasters with new shared mesh resilient fiber networks
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/lightwave-shared-mesh.html?cmpid=$trackid
Network resilience and disaster recovery are key requirements for today‘s networks as the hyper-globalized economy drives enterprises to adopt distributed IT architectures, such as data center virtualization and cloud-based infrastructure. This interdependence of business processes and the network, combined with an increasing number of natural disasters and man-made fiber cuts, has made it a requirement for the network to recover in milliseconds. At the same time, network operators are moving towards mesh-based transport networks for richer connectivity.
A new class of network resiliency technology, called Shared Mesh Protection, is emerging to take advantage of this architectural shift and deliver more reliable networks at lower cost.
Network bandwidth is growing at a staggering rate, estimated at 40% growth year over year, driven by business applications such as cloud, mobile, and video technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Industry consortium introduces 25G, 50G Ethernet standards
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/25g-ethernet-consortium.html?cmpid=EnlCIMJuly142014
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 best practices for high-density wireless network design
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/netgear-wireless-network-best-practices.html?cmpid=EnlCIMJuly142014
1. Identify high-density areas.
2. Use dual band access points (APs).
3. Design in AP overlap.
4. Load balance traffic.
5. One AP per classroom in educational networks.
6. Set AP power lower.
7. Upgrade the wired network.
8. Conduct a physical site survey.
9. Conduct a network stress test.
10. Share knowledge.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ethernet Alliance considering Power over Ethernet logo certification program
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/ethernet-alliance-poe-logo.html
“We believe an industry-driven logo certification program will help promote greater interoperability between IEEE 802.3-standardized PoE solutions. Additionally, a logo certification program will help end users more easily identify PoE products that have undergone Ethernet Alliance PoE logo certification and better ensure their performance, helping to further PoE’s rapid adoption across a broad array of markets and applications, like the coming Internet of Things.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Expensive Hotels Really Do Have Faster Wi-Fi
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/08/07/1722225/expensive-hotels-really-do-have-faster-wi-fi
OpenSignal, by means of mobile apps for iOS and Android, has been amassing data on Wi-Fi and cell-network signal strength. They released yesterday a few of their findings on the speed of Wi-Fi available at U.S. chain hotels
Tomi Engdahl says:
Emerging PoE standard aiming for 49W per-port minimum
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-22/issue-7/features/technology/emerging-poe-standard-aiming-for-49w-per-port-minimum.html?cmpid=EnlCIMJuly282014
The high-power promise of IEEE 802.3bt carries with it certain demands of a network’s twisted-pair cabling infrastructure.
When the IEEE formed a study group in early 2013 to examine the possibility of a four-pair PoE specification, it said the group would “consider a four-pair solution’s capability to enhance energy efficiency and provide greater than 25.5 watts of power in improving PoE.”
Since that time, the effort has received a project authorization request (PAR) approval and is now officially in development as 802.3bt.
Vanderlaan pointed out the two different means of supplying power per 802.3af, called Alternative A and Alternative B. Each of these alternatives used two of the cable’s four pairs for power transmission.
IEEE 802.3at (commonly referred to as “PoE Plus” but not officially called that in the standard) was ratified in 2009. Along with increasing power delivery to 25.5 watts with 600 mA, the PoE Plus standard also raised the minimum cabling-performance requirement to Category 5.
research has shown that a PoE variant using all four pairs to deliver power is more efficient than the currently standardized two-pair variants in the “af” and “at” standards.
The other objectives for the “bt” standard are: to be backward-compatible with “af” and “at”; to support 10GBase-T operation (which, like 1000Base-T, uses four-pair full-duplex transmission); to specify parameters to limit pair-to-pair current imbalance; and to supply a minimum of 49 watts at the powered device. More on that 49-watt minimum shortly.
several have brought to market device-powering systems that are not standardized by the IEEE
Cisco’s Universal Power Over Ethernet (UPOE) technology, which delivers 60 watts
Power Over HDBase-T by the HDBase-T Alliance “delivers up to 100 watts of power”
“As a general rule, increased copper content, or larger gauge size, will aid in power delivery. That’s not always the case, but in general it can be said that when you migrate to a higher grade of cabling-from Category 5e to Category 6 to Category 6A-you should see larger gauge sizes and more copper content.”
“The IEEE 802.3bt four-pair PoE standard is expected to assume a maximum temperature rise of 10 degrees Celsius when all four pairs are energized. For cabling with an operational temperature range of -20 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius, the ambient temperature should not exceed 50 degrees Celsius.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Survey: Majority of electrical contractors work on structured wiring, cabling for communication systems
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/ecm-survey-contractors-comms.html?cmpid=EnlCIMJuly282014
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wi-Fi moves forward with connected vehicle certification program
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/wifi-connected-vehicle.html
Wi-Fi Alliance announced that the United States Department of Transportation has issued a Request for Applications (RFA) for the next stage of the consortium’s connected vehicle certification program.
Wi-Fi contends that the initiative promises to advance the United States towards wide-scale implementation of both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure capabilities aimed at improving traffic safety and efficiency. The consortium contends that the success of its connected vehicle certification program “will hinge on delivering interoperable products and solutions that governments, industry, and consumers can depend on.”
According to Wi-Fi Alliance, the standards for connected vehicles cover a range of protocol layers and functionality. IEEE 802.11 and 1609 reside at the lowest levels
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wi-Fi’s coming 802.11ax standard
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/wifi-11ax-standard.html
Tammy Parker at FierceWirelessTech today reports on how “researchers are busily working on 802.11ax, a follow-on technology for 802.11ac Wi-Fi” that uses developing MIMO-OFDA signaling technology to potentially deliver Gigabit-speed connections to individual devices, in addition to improving overall network capacity.
The report notes how the board of the IEEE officially approved the 802.11ax task group in March, and how operators, chip vendors, OEMs and universities have since jumped on-board
“The 802.11ax standard should be complete in July 2018. However, ratification of the standard is not expected before March 2019″
Tomi Engdahl says:
Plastic Optic Fiber (POF) – An Evolving Technology
http://electronicdesign.com/components/plastic-optic-fiber-pof-evolving-technology
The advanced FDA approved PMMA fiber structure features large light acceptance angles, delivering: EMI/RFI Immunity, 100Mbit bandwidth (soon 1Gbt), handling ease, flexibility
Tomi Engdahl says:
Disposable fiber cleaver uses diamond wire rather than blade
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/06/3m-easycleaver.html?cmpid=EnlContractorJuly172014
Each Easy Cleaver provides approximately 120 precise flat cleaves
After 120 cleaves, users can dispose of the tool per their own company practice.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EXFO introduces cloud-based Test Function Virtualization
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/06/exfo-tfv.html?cmpid=EnlContractorJuly172014
EXFO Inc. recently introduced EXFO TFv – Test Function Virtualization, which the company describes as “the industry’s first suite of defined offerings that focuses on test function virtualization. Building on EXFO’s market-leading EXFO Connect solution—the industry’s first cloud-based test results and asset-management solution—EXFO TFv offers all the benefits of virtualization through the seamless enablement of test functions on any EXFO test asset, at any time.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fiber identifier displays cables’ core power, signal direction
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/07/greenlee-fiber-identifier.html?cmpid=EnlContractorJuly172014
Greenlee has released its FI-100 Fiber Identifier, a tool designed to quickly and efficiently measure the presence and direction of traffic in fiber-optic cables and display the approximate core power on the instrument’s seven-segment display.
“The Greenlee Fiber Identifier FI-100 can measure the approximate core power and direction of travel of signals in fiber-optic cables by introducing a macrobend,” explains Thieu Do, Greenlee Communications fiber product manager. “This is very useful because the technician is able to determine if a fiber is carrying potentially critical traffic before they disconnect that fiber.”
A laser source is connected to one end of the fiber and a 270-Hz, 1-kHz, or 2-kHz tone is activated on the laser source.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trying to sell your house? It’d better have KILLER mobile coverage
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/30/mobile_coverage_is_the_top_thing_house_renters_look_for/
Young property buyers see mobile coverage as a more important when it comes to choosing a location – rating it as more important than proximity to schools and transport or local crime rates, says a report commissioned by mobile survey company RootMetrics.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BT FON fail: Telco CHARGES customers for FREE Wi-Fi usage
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/06/bt_bills_customers_for_using_free_fon_wifi_hotspots/
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s the point of the Internet of Things?
World peace, natch, what did you think it was?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/05/whats_the_point_of_the_internet_of_things/
Smart-homes are not designed for the young, fit 20-something. Instead, smart-homes have been absorbed into the Internet of Things (IoT), a broader form of connectivity worship that seemingly aims to unify fridge and washing machine, automobile and heart monitor.
The purpose of all of this technology isn’t readily apparent those of us in peak physical and mental condition.
The IoT in general – and the smart-house more specifically – is not likely to give birth to one killer product that rules them all.
Instead, the whole point of building so many seemingly useless internet-connected widgets is that they will each help out a niche.
We are so diverse as a species that each of us has different needs.
This is the purpose of the Internet of Things. It is to make our lives better, by solving one disability – no matter how minor – at a time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beware WarKitteh, the connected cat that sniffs your Wi-Fi privates
Inventor says, despite it all, he’s still not a cat person
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/09/beware_warkitteh_the_connected_cat_that_sniffs_your_wifi_privates/
Defcon 22 An inventive security researcher has successfully tested a war-driving kitty collar – so its wearer can prowl around the neighborhood exposing the lamentable state of Wi-Fi security.
“Techies get security, but try to explain the technology to the average consumer and you can see their eyes glaze over so I’ve become known for getting them back engaged with cat pictures,” he said. “Then someone told me about a cat collar with GPS and a cellular modem built in that texted the pet’s location, and I had the idea for WarKitteh.”
Bransfield built the WarKitteh collar using a Spark Core chip, which is an ARM processor backed by a Wi-Fi chip and a GP-635T GPS unit.
The WarKitteh collar found 23 unique Wi-Fi networks, including four that were completely open and four more that were using the easily broken WEP encryption standard. It’s clear from the data that security best practices still aren’t filtering down to many home Wi-Fi users.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finnish telecommunications firms revenues declined and the investment rate increased
The investment rate increased by half a percentage point to 15.5 per cent last year. Euro-denominated investments remained at almost the same level as in 2012, even though sales fell by 4.5 percent year on year.
Investments totaled EUR 660 million and investments in the telecommunications activities of EUR 565 million.
Telecom operators’ total turnover last year was 4.7 billion euros, of which telecommunications operations accounted for EUR 3.6 billion.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/suomalaisten+telefirmojen+tulot+laskivat+ja+investointiaste+kasvoi/a1002495
Tomi Engdahl says:
Atmel SmartConnect
http://www.atmel.com/products/Wireless/wifi/smart-connect.aspx?utm_source=hackaday&utm_medium=banner&utm_term=Atmel-SMART&utm_content=SmartConnect-SAM-W23&utm_campaign=Atmel-SMART
Atmel® SmartConnect Wi-Fi is a family of self-contained, low-power, and certified modules bringing wireless Internet connectivity to any embedded design. These integrated modules offer the ideal solutions for designers seeking to integrate Wi-Fi connectivity without any 802.11, RTOS, IP Stack or RF experience. SmartConnect Wi-Fi opens the door of the Internet of Things to the vast array of battery-powered devices and applications requiring the integration of WLAN connectivity without compromising on cost and power consumption.
The SAM W23 Wi-Fi modules are based on Atmel’s industry-leading ultra-low-power Wi-Fi SoC (System on Chip) combined with Atmel’s latest ARM® Cortex®-M0+ based microcontroller technology. This turnkey system provides an integrated software solution with application and security protocols such as TLS, integrated network services (TCP/IP stack), and a standard Real Time Operating System (RTOS) which are all available through Atmel’s Studio 6 integrated development platform (IDP).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ask Slashdot: Life Beyond the WRT54G Series?
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/08/08/1934201/ask-slashdot-life-beyond-the-wrt54g-series
“A replacement will be considered second-rate unless it catered for the same freedom as its predecessor.”
Comments:
I have a Linksys E900 I’ve been running DD-WRT on for a while
Linksys hardware is crappy, unfortunately. Also, it is debatable if any hardware made by a US company can be trusted
I recommend Buffalo.
Buffalo hardware is generally bulletproof and lasts. Some models come with DD-WRT pre-installed, many others fully support it. They are not too expensive either
Personally I love my Buffalo routers running DD-WRT.
I’ve kept my old Buffalo running Tomato. It’s fine as a router
I’m using a netgear WNDR3800 with gargoyle branded vs of openwrt.
I’m using an Asus RT-N12, which runs any of the DD-WRT (or DD-WRT-ish clones), and since it has 8MB of flash, it runs the “max” version of Shibby’s version of Tomato. This version has everything but the kitchensink, like OpenVPN, ipv6 support, including 4to6 tunnels.
I very recently replaced my faithful WRT54G with an ASUS RT-AC68U router
I have an Asus RT-N66W (same as N66U, only white). The latest stock firmware is decent, and if you don’t like it you can install a host of others. Asus develops the firmware as GPL, and is friendly to outside developers. I believe DD-WRT runs well on it, but I haven’t tried, the stock firmware does what I need.
The WRT54GL is a relic of an ancient time.
DD-WRT has support for 6in4 and 6to4, but not as much support for IPv6 over PPPoE or DHCP-PD or Sixxs.net AYIYA. I prefer OpenWRT
The original WRT54GL had a cult following, but in perspective was a pretty poor OSS router.
Go TP-Link. wr1043nd ; wr3600 or even bigger ones.
I use Mikrotiks for just about everything nowadays.
I’ve moved over to a Mikrotik RB2011 series device and I have to say I’m loving it. [routerboard.com]
It’s a little on the spendy side, but the Soekris [soekris.com] net6501s are fairly small and reliable.
If you like running your own OS, a Raspberry Pi or some other tiny StrongARM device is cheap and can run whatever GNU/Linux or BSD you like.
You can plug two USB-ethernets into a Raspberry Pi, for instance, and keep your wireless and wired networks on completely different segments.
My suggestion is most TP-Link stuff (except for the newer Archer C-series, it’s just not ready yet), or the Atheros-based Netgear stuff (WNDR3700v2 or 3800 if you can still get them). Stay the f*** away from Linksys and D-Link, Asus seems to be nice but they keep using Broadcom chips which are extremely poor for OSS software.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This looks interesting to add to previous list:
Gl.iNet 6416A Micro USB Powered Smart Router w/ 16M Rom – White
http://www.dx.com/p/gl-inet-6416a-micro-usb-powered-smart-router-w-16m-rom-white-335418?r=8527370
Atheros 9331, 400MHZ
IEEE802.3, IEEE802.3u , IEEE 802.11n , IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g
Ram: DDR 64MB; Rom: 16MB flash; Interface: 1 Wan, 1 Lan, 1 USB2.0, 1 Micro USB (Power)
Runs on openwrt
More info: http://www.gl-inet.com/w/?lang=en
Tomi Engdahl says:
Top Ten 802.11ac routers: Time for a Wi-Fi makeover?
Pricier than 802.11n kit, but worth it
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/06/review_round_up_802_11ac_routers/
The once-sage advice that wired networking was the only way to guarantee suitable speeds for streaming HD video, large file transfers, or buffer-free HD video playback no longer holds true – or does it?
The latest wireless standard, 802.11ac, delivers significantly improved speeds over 802.11n thanks to greater bandwidth and higher amplitude.
The performance of good 802.11ac router should be roughly three times faster than 802.11n.
Overall, 802.11ac performance is greatly affected by the number of MIMO streams supported by the client and router. Each stream can handle a theoretical maximum of 433Mb/s, so for the fastest speeds, you need at least a client with 3×3 802.11ac support. Nearly all modern laptops with 802.11ac only have 2×2 Wi-Fi, but one notable exception is Apple’s 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display.