Mobile broadband subscribers who want to share their Internet access can plug their broadband USB dongle into the Prolink 3-in-1 router which also serves as a NAT router and 802.11 b/g WiFi access point. The PWH 2001 works for both ADSL and cable and is EVDO and 4G compatible.

Sharing mobile broadband is a great idea, in theory at least, as one can take the broadband connection anywhere.

However, current mobile broadband speeds are not really that great compared to wired connections and are also patchy, depending on the
location.

More ISP is rolling out HSPA+ service which, again in theory, can reach speeds of 21 Mbps versus the current maximum of 7.2 Mbps for HSPA connections. If this works out, more people may switch to mobile broadband and use the PWH2001 router to spread cheer around.

Source: MyPaper 30 June 2009

Tags: Mobile Broadband, Mobile Wireless, 802.11g

Do you have two routers in the house and need to use one of them wireless access point (WAP) instead of a router? You may want to do this would to extend the reach of your wireless or wired network or simply to have a second access point on the router.

Here’s how to set up your second router as an access point. We’ll use the Linksys Wrt54G router for this example:

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Tags: Wi-Fi, Mobile Wireless, 802.11n

Any Wi-Fi discovery tool can find a hot spot, but some network operators also provide connection managers for their Wi-Fi services, mainly to integrate account information easily on both ends of the link.

A good example is Wi-Fi aggregator Boingo Wireless. We installed its GoBoingo client on our Windows XP machine. Operating this application is a bit counter intuitive, it wakes up when near a Boingo hot spot, but otherwise remains invisible. So, while GoBoingo is frequently listed as a discovery tool, it is’nt really. It’s just a way to connect to Boingo, and only Boingo, and subsequently manage your Boingo account.

We also tested T-Mobile’s HotSpot Connection Manager 1.8, a fundamentally consumer oriented tool that unsurprisingly allows the selection of a skin during installation. Upon start-up, it rapidly produced a list of potentially conflicting applications, disabled them and subsequently fired itself up.

Selecting the “networks” button brought up the usual information such as Service Set Identifier, icons for ad-hoc and infrastructure-mode availability, Basic SSID, radio , details on encryption, and a bar graph depicting signal strength. While slower than our Intel manager, T-Mobile’s tool is very usable and suitable even for those who do not regularly use T-Mobile’s not spot service.

We should point out that neither the Boingo nor the T-Mobile services require a connection manager, but the whole point of these, apart from discovery, is to make network access simple, especially for the less than technically literate.

Interestingly, some wireless WAN operators also provide discovery and connection-management tools that are occasionally configured to support WI-FL For example, Smith Micro Software, whose QuickLink Mobile application is used by a number of carriers, is sometimes made available with basic WLAN connectivity.

The product, however, is sold only on an OEM basis, and the version we frequently use at Farpoint Group Verizon Wireless’ VZ Access Manager 6.7.3 has no WLAN capability. In WWAN mode, however, it functions in much the same way as a WLAN connection manager, discovering networks, letting users choose their connection, setting up links and gathering statistics. Similarly, T-Mobile’s manager is configured to enable the setup of T-Mobile GPRS and EDGE connections.

Click to find out more on related info-products.

Tags: Mobile Wireless, 3G,

Once thought safe, the WPA standard used by countless wireless routers has been revealed to be vulnerable- but only in theory, for now.

Security researchers say they’ve developed a way to partially crack the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption standard that is used to safeguard data on many wireless networks.

Researcher Erik Tews was to demonstrate the attack at the PacSec conference in Tokyo in mid-November. Cracking WPA encryption could be exploited to read data being sent from a router to a laptop, or to send bogus information to a client connected to the router.

Tews and coresearcher Martin Beck found a way to break the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) key, which WPA uses, in a relatively short 12 to 15 minutes, says Dragos Ruiu, the PacSec conference’s organizer.

In this particular attack, however, they have not managed to crack the encryption keys used to secure data sent from the PC to the router.

WPA, widely used on today’s Wi-Fi networks, is considered superior to the original WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) standard, which most security professionals now deem insecure. Retail store chain T.J. Maxx was in the process of upgrading from WEP to WPA encryption when it experienced one of the most widely publicized data breaches in United States history, in which hundreds of millions of credit card numbers were stolen over a two-year period. The new WPA2 standard is considered safe from the recently developed attack.

“Everybody has been saying, ‘Go to WPA because WEP is broken,’” Ruiu says. “This is a break in WPA.”

If WPA is significantly compromised, it would be a blow for business customers who have been increasingly adopting it, says Sri Sundaralingam, vice president of product management with wireless network security vendor AirTight Networks. Although customers can use other Wi-Fi technology such as WP A2 or virtual private network software that will protect them from this attack, many devices will still connect to the network via WPA, or even by way of the thoroughly cracked WEP standard, he says.

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Tags: 802.11g, Wireless-N, 802.11n

The networking giant’s new UK supremo, Phil Smith, talks to Dave Bailey about the impact collaborative tools and rich media content are having on the internet, and explains how new networking innovations are helping to combat climate change

Networking giant Cisco posted a set of first-quarter financial results last week showing an eight per cent increase in sales, but with profit down 0.2 per cent year on year. The firm recently announced Phil Smith as its new UK and Ireland vice president and chief executive. He has been with Cisco since its birth in 1984 when it employed 12 people ­ a figure that has since grown to more than 65,000 worldwide. Computing talked exclusively to Smith to discuss the challenges faced by the supplier.

How do you see the current financial turbulence affecting Cisco?

Phil Smith: Our game plan for the downturn will be centered on the increasing role we think intelligent networks will play in all forms of communication and IT, with the top objectives for Cisco being: next-generation company and next-generation customer relationships; collaboration technologies/Web 2.0; datacentre and virtualization; video; and globalization.

Given your focus on collaboration technologies, what is your view of how firms should deal with systems such as Facebook?

Phil Smith: The new generation of collaboration technologies has posed a big management issue, rather than a technology one. Systems such as these need to be deployed and built around this generation of workers ­ if you ban Facebook, you’re cutting off a whole community at the knees.

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Tags: 802.11n, Wireless-N,

Mobile devices using a new radio band for free wireless service would not cause significant interference with cell phones employing a nearby band, the Federal Communications Commission has concluded from its tests.

The band was once used for microwave links between carrier facilities; but in 2006, citing the lack of any FCC plan at the time for assigning the spectrum, M2Z Networks proposed using it for a combination of free and paid wireless services that would reach 95 percent of U.S. residents. The startup proposed paying the government 5 percent of its revenue rather than going through a traditional license auction.

Last year, the government rejected M2Z’s plan, but FCC chairman Kevin Martin is now circulating a proposal that would set rules for an auction of the spectrum.

T-Mobile took issue with the FCC report, saying the agency based its conclusions on assumptions not used when the tests took place. M2Z, not surprisingly, praised the report.

“There is no longer any need for American consumers, the public interest, and the FCCs regulatory process to be held hostage” by carriers, M2Z said in a statement.

via PC World Dec 2008

Tags: Wireless-G, Wireless-N, Wi-Fi

For all of their conveniences, wireless networks can suffer from interference. Cordless phones, wireless game controllers, fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, cordless headsets, and even the neighbor’s wireless network can all interfere with your wireless network.

This interference occurs when devices emit signals into the same frequency that your network uses. For example, many cordless phones use the same 2.4GHz band used by 802.11b and 802.11g networks. Even 802.11n devices, which use the 5GHz band, aren’t immune to interference, because some cordless phones, radar, and satellites also use this band.

To help decrease interference, don’t place your wireless router near the aforementioned devices, and if you suspect you’re receiving interference from a network outside of your home, try moving your router to a more central point inside your home. You can also try changing the Wi-Fi channel on your wireless devices, which can help to avoid interference from in-home devices. Finally, angling the antennas on your routers or wireless adapters can help to ensure better reception.

If you’re in the market for a new cordless phone, buy a phone that uses a frequency different from your network’s frequency. Better yet, consider buying a phone that uses DECT 6.0, a new protocol that’s designed to avoid interference with other wireless networks. As an added bonus, DECT 6.0 features improved voice quality, range, and security over other cordless phone technologies.

Tags: Wireless-N, Bluetooth, Mobile Wireless