wireless routers

Ruckus Wireless sues Netgear over WiFi patents

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Ruckus Wireless, which recently introduced its SmartMesh WiFi equipment for the enterprise market, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Netgear. Ruckus alleges that in the development of Netgear's RangeMax WPN 824v3 wireless router, Netgear infringed on two WiFi patents having to do with intelligent and adaptable WiFi antenna arrays like those developed by Ruckus.

Ruckus and Netgear entered into a technology licensing agreement back in 2005 under which Ruckus developed the underlying technology with in the Netgear RangeMax 824v1 and v2 wireless routers, which were the predecessors to the RangeMax 824v3 at issue. Ruckus says the resulting hardware and software technology developed for Netgear was owned and patented by Ruckus and Netgear never paid royalties on this latest version or asked for permission to release it.

Ruckus is seeking a permanent injunction against Netgear and Rayspan as well as damages and royalties.

To find out more about Ruckus Wireless' lawsuit against Netgear:
- check out this release

Related articles:
Ruckus makes aggressive push into enterprise WiFi
Ruckus Wireless named to Fierce 15 list

Motorola introduces pre-802.11n WiFi equipment

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

Motorola became the latest vendor to introduce pre-802.11n WiFi equipment. The company released the Motorola RFS6000 multi-core processor-based wireless LAN switch targeted at mid-sized enterprises. Motorola say the switch supports an "all-wireless enterprise vision, enabling businesses to build an enterprise WLAN that serves the entire organization from workers in corporate headquarters to manufacturing and distribution plants to remote branch offices."

Motorola also released a tri-radio 802.11n access point, the AP-7131. The tri-radio design integrates three 802.11n radios that simultaneously support high-speed client access, mesh backhaul,and dedicated dual-band intrusion protection. The third radio can be field-upgraded to enable next-generation 3G/4G technologies, such as WiMAX for wide area network connectivity.

To read more about Motorola's foray into 802.11n:
- check out this article from Wi-Fi Planet

Related articles:
- Cisco introduces enterprise 802.11n equipment Report
- Enterprise vendors put pre-802.11n stakes in the ground Report

Siemens says analyst confirms power-over-Ethernet 802.11n claims

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

When Siemens Communications announced in January that it had solved the 802.11n power problem by running a system on normal power over Ethernet, there were plenty of skeptics. So this week, Siemens issued a press release stating that test results from independent analyst firm Farpoint Group verify that the HiPath Wireless Access Points do in fact deliver dual-radio, 3x3 MIMO 802.11n functionality while remaining compliant with the wattage limitations of power-over-Ethernet.

Farpoint Group confirmed this capability recently published results of comprehensive lab testing of the Siemens HiPath Wireless AP3620. The firm performed its own tests aimed to verify if Siemens had met the difficult challenge of addressing both the physical power delivery constraints of the IEEE 802.3af PoE and the needs of power-hungry, dual-radio 802.11n APs.

Other enterprise WiFi vendors have said that two 802.11n radios require 15W, which is a higher power requirement than what can be delivered over powered Ethernet. Others have come up with various solutions to deal with the power problem, including using fewer antennas or proprietary power over Ethernet.

Siemens also announced that its new 802.11n HiPath Wireless AP has received the WiFi certified seal of approval for 802.11n draft 2.0 from the Wi-Fi Alliance.

To read more about the Farpoint Group's findings:
- check out this release

Related article:
Siemens says it solved 802.11n power problem Report

Duke University plans extensive 802.11n network

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:59:53 -0500

Duke University will deploy an enormous 802.11n WiFi network across its campus using more than 2,500 Cisco access points. Duke plans to blanket more than 6 million square feet of its Durham, N.C. campus with 2,500 WiFi-certified Cisco 802.11n Aironet 1250 Series access points. The deployment will provide ubiquitous wireless coverage in academic halls, libraries, residence halls and other campus buildings. Cisco calls the deployment the largest planned deployment of an 802.11n network by any organization to date.

For more about Duke's 802.11n plans:
- read this release

Related articles:
Enterprise vendors put pre-802.11n stakes in the ground Editorial
Cisco introduces enterprise 802.11n equipment Report

Siemens says it solved 802.11n power problem

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Siemens said it is launching a WLAN system based on 802.11n that can run on normal power over Ethernet--a feat other players have not managed to do. The vendor says it is using two concurrent radios, both running 3 X 3 MIMO with all the features running at 12W.

Other enterprise WiFi vendors say that two 802.11n radios require 15W, which is a higher power requirement than what can be delivered over powered Ethernet. Others have come up with various solutions to deal with the power problem, including using fewer antennas or proprietary power over Ethernet. Siemens doesn't use any of these approaches but won't divulge much about how it accomplished this capability.

To read more about Siemens' claims:
- take a look at this article from TechWeb

Related articles:
Siemens CEO dropped in scandal fallout Report
ABI: Siemens trumps Microsoft on middleware Report

Researchers: WiFi virus could hop among routers

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

According to researchers from Indiana University, more than 20,000 WiFi routers in New York City could be attacked by viruses within a two-week period. The researchers say that this swift attack could happen by guessing administrative passwords since routers are typically installed out of the box insecurely. Criminals could then install new firmware that would pass a virus along to other devices in the router's range. Since WiFi networks tend to be closely connected in urban areas, the attack could quickly spread from router to router for many miles.

For more about the research from Indiana University:
- read this article from IDG News Service

Related articles:
Security often ignored Report
WiFi security isn't keeping up with deployment Report

ALSO NOTED: picoChip is teaming with Systems4Silicon; Netgear's RangeMax Next Wireless-N Routers received 802.11n draft 2.0 cer

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:59:51 -0400

> picoChip is teaming with Systems4Silicon to support advanced HSDPA and MIMO. Article | Release

> Software Cellular Network Limited, which develops and operates the Truphone mobile VoIP service, applied for an interim injunction against T-Mobile (U.K.) Limited, which is blocking the Truphone client. Release

> Netgear's RangeMax Next Wireless-N Routers received 802.11n draft 2.0 certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance. Release

And Finally... One in three Americans wants an iPhone. Article

Consumers drive UK WiFi sales

Mon, 22 May 2006 20:01:36 -0400

Sales of WiFi equipment in the U.K. have rocketed over the past year, with consumers adopting the technology at a faster pace than expected. Report from market analysis firm Gfk says that sales of wireless routers increased 108 percent in the first quarter of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005. Some 380,000 units were sold over the three-month period, worth a total of £24 million. Sales of wireless cards increased by 87 percent year on year to 525,000 units, worth £13 million, in the same period.

GfK noted that it is personal wireless users who drove this increase, rather than businesses, as more and more people take to the nomadic use of WiFi equipment. Price is also important, as about 70 percent of WiFi cards now sell for under £25, and the average price of a wireless router down to about £60, convincing more consumers that the time for the wireless home has arrived. Gfk also reports that 62 percent of wireless routers were sold though retail channels in the first quarter of last year, a figure which has grown to over 75 percent in 2006. Over the same period, 78 percent of WiFi cards were sold through retail channels in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 63 percent a year ago.

Note, though, that business users are still the main users of mobile wireless technology, primarily 3G data cards. The first quarter of 2006 has seen a whopping 580 percent increase on the first quarter of 2005 in sales of 3G data cards, up to nearly 30,000 units worth £1.7 million. Again, the reason for businesses being the main driver of mobile wireless equipment sales is price, as the cost of mobile data card hardware, especially when substantial tariffs are added on top, remains prohibitive for consumers.

Jean Littolff, IT business group director at GfK, said, "Although there has been an explosion of retail purchase of mobile wireless data access in the beginning of 2006, the trend is very much on the equipment allowing nomadic wireless data usage. But the possibilities for nomadic usage are not problem free. Vendors have done a great job selling wireless technology, but this is of no benefit if the users are unaware of how to utilize the technology." He adds, "To see growth rates continue in such a strong up ward direction, we also need to see the infrastructure behind the technology improve at a similar rate."

For more on WiFi UK sales:
- see this Vnunet report

PLUS: AT&T is expanding its wireless footprint in Europe. Since teaming up with Swiss company WeRoam in February, AT&T now has more than 10,000 places in Europe with WiFi, capabilities, including areas in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, France and Israel, the company said. AT&T also has WiFi accessible areas in Brazil, Japan and Taiwan. Report

WiFi-assisted GPS system

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:01:34 -0500

Skyhook Wireless has released software which uses WiFi to turn notebooks and wireless handheld computers into global positioning systems (GPS). The Loki software, now in beta, is based on WiFi detection and location software used to match 802.11 wireless signals transmitted from a user's PC with hotspots. Loki can map locations, pinpoint a particular event within a city or find a gas station with the lowest per-gallon costs. Users can also email their locations to friends and associates trying to find them. The software also provides a menu bar and selections that let users "geo-tag" a location or get a WiFi view of the nearest movie theater or restaurant. This feature is useful to bloggers and creators of targeted content Web sites who normally have to use XML scripting to tag their whereabouts.

Skyhook is onto something. There are more than 82,000 documented WiFi hotspots worldwide, with about 40 percent of them located in the U.S., according to In-Stat. The number of consumer and business wireless APs, however, is in the tens of millions. Last year alone, for example, more than 140 million WiFi chip sets were shipped and roughly 30 percent were used in wireless gateways and routers, In-Stat noted. Skyhook mapped the location of these wireless routers in 100 cities by enlisting people across the country who engaged in "war-driving on steroids," CEO and founder Ted Morgan explained.

These people used WiFi-signal sniffing devices to collect the unique MAC address fingerprint from wireless APs, and the data were then associated with the location information provided through GPS satellite systems. The system also incorporates IP location technology developed by MaxMind to validate a location and geographic data in the absence of multiple WiFi signals. The result, the company claims, is location-based information which is accurate within 20 meters. The technology relies on a number of overlapping WiFi signals rather than signals transmitted by satellites or cell towers. Unlike GPS, the WiFi-based location technology also works within buildings and with more accuracy within tightly congested city areas since there is usually no shortage of WiFi transmitters in these places.

Skyhook says their plan is not to compete with GPS technology, but rather enhance the location-based experiences with a more granular solution. That having been said, the company does have long-term plans to offer the technology and applications to wireless service providers and others. "More people are using the Internet and searching for information and things to buy, and they want to know where these places are," said Morgan.

For more on Skyhook location-based solution:
- see Tim Scannell's internetnews.com report
- visit Skyhook's Web site
For more on the Skyhook-MaxMind partnership:
- see MaxMind's press release

Pre-802.11n to drive home WLAN market in 2006

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:01:36 -0500

The 802.11n first draft was unanimously confirmed last week by the IEEE, but the standard will not be approved until 2007. This will stop consumers from purchasing products based on the 802.11n draft, and their purchases will account for about 15 percent of all home wireless routers shipped in 2006, according to research firm Dell'Oro group. Consumers will buy about 3 million pre-standard 802.11n APs and an equal number of PC Card clients for notebook PCs.

802.11n will offer a real-world throughput of about 100 Mbps, allowing consumers to stream video around the home. By 2009 Dell'Oro forecasts 802.11n gear to make up 90 percent of consumer WLAN shipments. Unlike home buyers, enterprises will wait for the standard to be ratified and notebooks to hit the market with integrated 802.11n chipsets, so the presence of 802.11n networks in the enterprise will begin around 2008. Consumers' preference for the faster technology will boost worldwide sales of WLAN equipment to $3.4 billion in revenue in 2006, up from $2.5 billion in 2005, according to Dell'Oro's forecast. This is good news after years of declining margins and slow revenue growth in the market, especially since early 802.11n gear will be priced at a premium.

Note that Dell'Oro's figures do not include DSL and cable modems with built-in WLAN capability, as these devices typically come from a service provider rather than being sold at retail. These devices make up a growing portion of the consumer WLAN market, and shipments of these devices doubled between 2004 and 2005 at the same time that shipments of stand-alone consumer WiFi routers and APs grew only 30 percent. The 802.11n gear will accelerate this trend as carriers roll out voice, video and data services in an effort to give consumers a way to share them around their homes.

The coming year will be good for WLANs in the enterprise, even if not owing to 802.11n. Rather, enterprises were holding off in 2005 as the industry saw a transition from traditional independent APs to WLAN switches with easier centralized security and management. The transition was highlighted by Cisco's acquisition of Airespace. Cisco dominates the enterprise market with a share of about 60 percent, and the company's Linksys division commands the consumer sector with about a 45 percent share. By 2009, the overall WiFi market, not including integrated routers, will reach $4.8 billion in revenue.

For more on the state of WLAN in the home and enterprise:
- see Stephen Lawson's Computerworld report

Linux driver available for Broadcom WLAN chipset

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:01:35 -0500

Who says reverse engineering takes place only in China? More than two years ago a group was formed to reverse engineer the Broadcom WLAN chipsets to provide Linux drivers. This chipset is used by many OEMs, among them Apple's AirPort Extreme in PowerBooks and iBooks, Linksys' WAP and WRT series of consumer grade wireless routers, different laptops from Acer, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, and others, and many more external and internal devices, including CardBus cards.

That reverse engineering work has now reached its first milestone with a free (GPL2 or later) Linux driver for a variety of these chipsets. Currently, only infrastructure and monitor modes are supported, but the chipset has advanced functionality for AP and ad-hoc modes which will be supported in the future, along with encryption and power-save features. Work is also being done to support plain 802.11b and also 802.11a chipsets, but progress has stalled because no product was made available to the developers.

For more on the free Linux drivers:
- see this LinuxElectrons report
- see this document for URLs of chip and driver specs (pdf)
- and free (GPL2 or later) Linux driver for a variety of chipsets
- also see the Web site of the reverse engineering group

McAfee shows WiFi security solution

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 20:01:37 -0400

McAfee is jumping on the WiFi bandwagon. Next week it will ship a subscription-based software aiming to protect home wireless routers. The Wireless Home Network Security software will automatically set up encryption keys on WiFi routers and the PCs connected to them; importantly, it will then rotate the keys every three hours. The solution is also backward-compatible and will work with older WiFi systems which use WEP encryption and with current equipment which supports the newer WPA and WPA 2 technologies.

The system will keep unauthorized users from accessing the WLANs and from deciphering the packets which are transmitted over the network. The software detects an insecure WLAN nearby and alerts the user, asking him or her whether they want to make the network more secure. The solution then puts a key on the PC, sets up a secure connection to the router, and sets up the same key on the router. The new product works with most of the popular WiFi routers, including gear from Linksys, D-Link, and Belkin.

McAfee Wireless Home Network Security will cost $49.99 for a 12-month license for use with five PCs at a time. There will also be a $9.99 annual fee for software updates.

For more on McAfee's WLAN security solution:
- see Stephen Lawson's Techworld report

Metric: Robust WLAN market up in Q1

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 20:01:35 -0400

The EMEA WLAN market increased by 6.1 percent to $444.9 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2005, compared with $419.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. IDC's EMEA WLAN Tracker says that EMEA WLAN infrastructure showed revenue growth of 14.7 percent as WLAN client revenue declined by 10.6 percent. The decline in revenue in the WLAN client sector was due to the growing number of pre-installed connections on notebooks and desktops. During the first quarter, only 1.4 million add-on clients were shipped, a decline of 13 percent compared with the fourth quarter, at the same time that more than 4.7 million WLAN connections were pre-installed on notebooks or desktops.

IDC's European Telecommunications and Networking group's Evelien Wiggers said, "Wireless gateways/routers continued to take the largest share of the WLAN infrastructure segment and increased by 19.6 percent, while revenue for in-building access points only increased by 6.7 percent. Throughout the quarter, shipments of wireless routers/gateways to EMEA increased by 24 percent compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, shipments of in-building access points decreased by 2 percent."

For more on WLAN Q1 performance:
- see IDC's report

Vonage to offer Wireless VoIP

Tue, 17 May 2005 20:01:35 -0400

Vonage is jumping on the bandwagon of wireless VoIP -- a bandwagon filling up rapidly. Skype is working on a wireless handset, and companies let it be known that they would soon be offering products for this market. There is every reason to believe that Vonage, a pioneer among independent providers of VoIP, would be offering a good product at a reasonable price. Reports in the press say that Vonage's customers are testing both wireless handsets for VoIP and wireless routers from Cisco's Linksys.

A combination of WiFi and VoIP may pose a serious challenge to cellular networks, and Vonage already tested a WiFi service with Boingo. In the current iteration, Vonage is testing hardware and software which solve issues of authentication and voice quality. Earlier this month Vonage closed some $200 million in venture funding.

For more on Vonage's wVoIP play:
- see Keith Regan's ecommercetimes report

PLUS: The billing challenges poised by VoIP. Article