The WLAN Iconoclast

Blog Has Moved to WLANIconoclast.com

2010-03-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

This blog has officially moved to Blog Has Moved to
http://WLANIconoclast.com

or you can also reach it at
http://wirelesslanprofessionals.com/category/blog/

You can subscribe to the new blog at
http://feeds.feedburner.com/wirelesslanprofessionals

I'm not dead...

2010-01-12T20:21:00.001-08:00

Just coming on line to post that I'm not dead.

Quite the contrary, I've just be very busy finishing up the calendar year 2009, holidays, family, and working on a couple new projects.

I'll be announcing these projects in the near future.

I'll try to get back to weekly blogging about the life of a Wireless Road Warrior next week.

Keith

Evolution of Storage

2009-11-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

It's sad... but I've worked with each of these (except for the wax cylinder)

How far back do you go?

Reading my posts in Facebook and/or Twitter

2009-11-24T05:50:00.001-08:00

An Apology: If you follow my posts on Facebook and/or Twitter. You might only see my side of a conversation. That can be difficult to read.

If you want to see both sides of the conversation, follow me in Twitter (@keithparsons) and also follow whomever I'm talking with.

If my post starts with an @name - this means I'm responding to that person. So there was a part of the discussion that went on before.

If my post starts with a 'RT @name' - this means I'm re-quoting something someone else said.
After the quote I might add my own comment.

Sometimes I'll embed a picture in my post. This will look like the following URL http://twitpic.com/qqy53 (BYU Spring Lax Schedule)

Sometimes I'll embed a link to another web site using a 'URL Shortener' service. It looks like this http://tinyurl.com/yabdexb

Remember, you might be reading these posts in reverse order, so start at the bottom of the conversation.

And finally - sometimes I might add a hashtag. So others can follow the topic easier online. These will start with a # followed by a tag.

Sometimes I'll make comments about Technology, sometimes about my Professional Interests, or other times just what I'm doing.

Sometimes I use this forum for 'mini blogs'. Short 140 character comments. If there is more to say I might post a larger blog entry.

If there is a blog entry - I'll post it with a URL so you can link to the larger blog post. At either my personal or professional blogs.

Further questions? You can reply in Facebook, Twitter, or drop me an e-mail to keith at inpnet dot org.

The more you learn...

2009-11-23T09:46:00.001-08:00

I had an open week last week because of a last minute cancellation... so I took advantage of the time to catch up on some updated technology. A chance to 'Sharpen the Saw'.

Turned my home office into a little lab area and tested a variety of new technologies. Wi-Fi access points, baby FTP Servers on a USB drive (for class), beta testing some new software for a variety of vendors, configuring Wi-Fi on a series of netbooks using Linux, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, re-wiring a cradlepoint device to a battery for more MiFi type usage, etc.

Through this experience I was reminded of a thought I've had over the years.

"The more you learn about something, the more you understand how little you really know..."

I've focused most of my professional energies for the last 8 years on learning about, installing, troubleshooting, and testing Wi-Fi. I thought it was wireless networking... but have since learned I can barely stay current with just 802.11 issues, let alone stay current in WiMax, Cellular, etc.

Now I can barely stay current with the equipment from a small subset of vendors. So many vendors in the Wi-Fi space are moving to more propietary solutions -- trying to carve out a niche for themselves -- that it's hard to have hands-on expereince with all of their various interfaces and technological improvements.

How do end-user IT departments expect to be able to decide on one vendor over another. They are all shouting and hawking their wares in the marketplace. Dis'ing one another, scambling to get an 'edge' on the competition.

If I'm having a hard time keeping them all straight--and this is my full time job--how can an IT Professional who has other responsibilites as well, make the correct decision for thier facility?

More and more it falls to the 'Certified Magazine Reader' class of managers and their counterparts in the vendor community (the marketing guys) to make the decisions. Then the IT folks are left trying to implement a wireless network that was never truly analyzed... just purchased.

An Unfair, and Unwise situation for any IT staff to be stuck with. They are now tasked with making a wireless network work... with equipment that may, or may not, be able to meet some undefined goal.

So with this second week of 'prep time' - I'll be looking into more Wi-Fi solutions, finding myself ever further behind on the proprietary techonology curve, but still trying to learn all their is to learn about Wi-Fi.

I do foresee a future where I'll have to focus my knowledge down even further to just one aspect of Wireless Networking... perhaps just Surveying (proving the capabilities of installed systems) - or focus only on designing for 802.11n or something like that with a tight focus.

There is just too much to learn...

Network Apps for iPhone - Revisited

2009-11-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

Below is a list of the recommended Network Apps that I use on my iPhone and iPod Touches.

I posted a previous detailed review on my blog post earlier this year in April. This is an updated list to reflect updated apps and how I actually use these apps in my daily work. These are based on a review of over 100 network apps purchased and tested over the last few months.

Try them yourselves - I think you'll enjoy using your iPhone as a nice portable network analysis tool.

If you want to see the full 100+ apps, icons, pricing and features. Drop me an e-mail at KEITH at INPNET dot ORG and I'll send you the spreadsheet in Excel and PDF form for your review.

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Tier One Apps
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Deep Whois - Professional Whois Browser

NetBrowser - does Multicast DNS searches (Bonjour) with nice details

Bytes - does dec/hex/bin conversions, ASCII reference and metric units

My System 2 - gives you System information as well as Local station info

ASCII Chart - the best of the many ASCII reference apps

My Network Ports On-The-Go - detailed analysis fo the port database

Pinouts - Details on RJ-45, Firewire, USB, etc.

Emerald Time - NTP Accurate time

iNet - Professional robust network tool with Scan, Bonjour, Portscan & Device Info

Net Scan - Scan IP, Range, Country, MAC, Whois, ICMP, TCP

Network Diagnostics Pro - Ping, Ping Range, Tracert, DNS, Device Info

Snap - Local Scan, ID Devices, Bonjour Services, detailed export

Net Status - Professional TCP, UDP update and MAC Lookup

Nice Trace - Professional Trace, Whois, Country and Details

TCPinger - Both ICMP and TCP Ping with details and 'What's Up'

RF Toolbox - Very well done RF, GPS and Site tools for Wireless Pros

IP Calc - the best of the myriad of Subnet calculators

iPico SIP Client - a fully configurable and robust SIP Client

Skype Client - yep - just what you think

WiFiFoFum - best 'NetStumbler' around for iPhone - Get it!

FTP On The Go - FTP App with Viewer capability

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Tier Two Apps
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DNS-SD - $2.99 - Browse Bonjour Services
nDNS Watch - $0.00 - Browse Multicast DNS Services
Network Solutions Whois - $0.00
iNetCalc - $0.99 - Calculate file transfers, bandwidth, VoIP
SpeedCalc - $0.00 - Calculate file transfer times
iNetInfo - $0.00 - Quick MAC, IP, Gateway, DNS
File Name Extension Reference - $0.00 - Yep, just hat is sounds like
iHexView - $0.99 - Base converter for bin/dec/oct/hex
IT Tools - $2.00 - Ping, Route, Interface, ARP, MAC Database
IP Port LIst - $0.99 - Reference Tool for IANA Ports
RF Calc - $0.00 - CWNP RF Calculators from G.T. Hill
IP Calc - $0.99 - Best Simple IPv4 Subnet Calculator
IPEToolbox - $0.99 - IP Engineer's Toolbox with Subnet, VoIP bandwidth
NetCalc - $0.00 - Easy to use Subnet calculator
The Mask - $9.99 - Professional Extensive IPv4, BinHexDec, VLSM, CIDR
Acrobits Softphone - $6.99 - Customizable SIP Soft Phone with easy setup
WiFiTrak - $0.99 - WiFi Scanner with Connect
Datacase - $6.99 - WiFi Drive Apps with Viewers
iDisk Mobile Me - $0.00 = Access your Mobile Me iDisk

Internet Speeds and Costs Around the World

2009-10-25T08:54:00.001-07:00

I saw this graphic about the various connection speeds and costs around the world for Internet access.

We in the US are no where near the top on this one... shame on us! Not to mention, we are paying too much!

Check it out.

Carrying Case for Lots of USB Devices

2009-09-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

I carry with me a bunch of little devices that do different, necessary at specific times, things. I've tried lots of different contraptions and cases trying to get 'just right'. Lately I've been using some cosmetic bags (don't laugh - since they are see-through, they get through TSA security at the airport easier)

But it wasn't 'just right' - So I decided to design up my own solution. I made a pattern out of paper, dummied up a cardboard version, then asked a nice neighbor lady who has sewing skills to make me one. I even went to the fabric store and crafts stores to get the components. (that was almost more embarrassing than buying the cosmetic bags)

Here is the result.It allows me to carry lots of USB devices all at the same time. Folds right up, and velcros shut so everything stays copacetic in my shipping cases during transport. In class, or on a client's site, I just whip this out and all my tools are ready and waiting to go!

I've already got the seamstress working on a couple more. Then on to getting ones designed to hold all the PCMCIA cards I carry as well.

Here's a list of what is in the current USB Case:
- CACE Technologies - AirPcap Nx 802.11n Packet Capture
- PowerDsine - Power over Ethernet test tool
- CACE Technologies - AirPcap Tx - 2.4GHz Packet Capture
- three of these so I can scan Channels 1, 6, 11 simultaneously
- MetaGeek - WiSpy 2.4i - Spectrum Analyzer w/3D
- MetaGeek - WiSpy 2.4x - Spectrum Analyzer with External Antenna
- MetaGeek - WiSpy dBx - 2.4GHz and 5GHz Spectrum Analyzer
- NutsAboutNets - AirHorn 2.4GHz Jammer w/External Antenna
- NutsAboutNets - AirHorn 2.4GHz and 5GHz Jammer
- NutsAboutNets - AirHorn 2.4GHz Jammer - small form factor
- Smartronix - LinkCheck - tests 10/100 Ethernet
- Nintendo - WiFi USB Connector - Insidious automatic Rogue AP
- Xyzel - AG-225H - 802.11 abg WiFi Finder, NIC and Soft AP
- NetGear - WNDA3100 802.11n Dual-Band USB Adapter
- Ubiquiti - SR71USB 802.11n Dual-Band USB Adapter

Plus a couple of PCMCIA cards I always have with me:
- Ubiquiti - SRC 300mw abg Card
- Senao - 802.11b (with Prism Chipset)
- AirMagnet - C1060 abgn Card
- AirMagnet - Cognio Spectrum Analysis Card

Free WiFi HotSpots

2009-09-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

OK, I like Free WiFi.

NOT the kind that makes you pay per minute.
NOT the kind where you watch lots of adverts.
NOT the kind where all web pages go through something that puts an advert on every page.
NOT the kind where you have to put in some special code.
NOT the kind where they block ports so you can't get your e-mail, VPN, etc.
NOT the kind where they throttle the connection to a crawl.
NOT the kind where you can only be in lobby to get net access.

Just REAL Free WiFi!

Oh, I don't mind hitting a web page and clicking 'yes' to their silly legal pages.

What I really like is the kind where you just get fast, easy access to the things you normally do with your laptop/iPhone. That's the kind that will keep me coming back again and again to your establishment.

I think it should be more like a water fountain, or a public bathroom. A service that is provided by businesses freely for their patrons. Not just in hospitality - but in all businesses that work with the public.

Most of the hotel chains have figured this one out. (not the high-end ones - they still charge, but then again they charge a lot for everything)

Now let's get the rest of the business world to come on-board!I've been in business a long time, have a MBA, and have run many companies. So I *do* understand there are costs involved in Free WiFi that have to be paid from somewhere.

Installation costs, maintenance costs, and of course the monthly Internet connection costs. But when you compare the actual cost per user, it will be WAY BELOW what a business would pay for getting a new client/or keeping a client. (compare to marketing and advertising costs)

So the next time you are somewhere with real Free WiFi - thank the management folks and tell them it made a difference in your choice to be there.

And for all those sites who still - "Don't Get It" - and do any of the things on the NOT list above. Remind them there is a better way to offer WiFi to their customers.

What about your own company?
Do you have REAL Free WiFi for your customers?

Moved to a New Macintosh

2009-09-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

I just moved my 'main computer' from a MacBook 13" uni-body to a new MacBookPro 13". Now I can have a 'spare' in case anything happens in the future.

I'm using SuperDuper to keep a 'mirror image' of the working hard drive. If anything goes wrong, I can be back up and running very quickly.

The process to 'move' my main computer to the new one was quite simple. (So much easier than the move to a new 'Instructor' computer last week. Thank move from a Dell D630 to a Dell E6400 took over 10 hours of manual work.... whew!)

I purchased a 'spare' 500GB 7200rpm hard drive from NewEgg to be the 'main' HD for the MacBookPro. (I put the 250GB that came with it in a drawer so I can have a 'factory fresh' install whenever I like)

I put the 500GB Drive in a USB enclosure and plugged it into my MacBook Unibody 13" and ran the 'SuperDuper' program (well worth the money) and 'cloned' the internal hard drive to the new external drive. This did take a couple of hours... but no time on my part other than a couple of minutes to get it plugged in and started. I made sure to check the 'Make Disk Startup' when the copying was complete.

Then I opened the case of the new MacBookPro 13" - only needed a small phillips head screwdriver. Removed the factory HD and replaced it with the cloned 500GB HD.

Put everything back together and fired it up.

Other than a little error message that there was a duplicate name on the local area network (the Mac OS automatically made a new suffix to the computer name and moved right on past the error).

I had to do a little bit of 'tweaking' to the system preferences. First configured MobileMe preferences with my account information. Then let the 'Sync' begin. Within 10 minutes I had an identical duplicate of my origional machine.

E-mail, browser, Tweetie, Things, iTunes, etc. Everything ready and working. No more than 15 minutes of my time and the task was completed.

Done!

Soooooo much easier than the same process on a PC.

The MacBookPro is a bit faster - especially at starting up only 35 seconds from a cold boot, compared with 70 seconds on the older version. It also has a much better battery with better than 50% more juice, and not only a Firewire port, but also an SD card reader.

Computer Support Travel Kit

2009-07-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

I do travel a lot... and like to get as much work done as possible, whether it be in the airport, hotel, or just about anywhere. After all these years of traveling - over 2 million miles and 1500 flights... let me share with you what I've finally coalesced on the near perfect travel kit for computers.

All of this fits in the front pocket of my backpack - is easy to use, easy to pack up, and makes for a consistently successful work environment for me.

Of course I have other stuff for in-flight entertainment, like my Amazon Kindle2 for reading, my iPhone 3GS for music and watching movies, and my wonderful Dr. Dre Noise Canceling Headphones. Those all go in the larger section of my backpack with my MacBookPro 13" Unibody laptop.

The below travel kit is the 'supporting stuff' that makes working away from home and office 'work'. After many attempts at finding the 'just right' bag for hauling stuff around I finally have ended up with a neoprene bag made for carrying charger bricks... I use it as a place to house most of this kit in one place. Easy to pickup - use - and put back. Enclosed in that kit are the following items - tucked into one of the six soft pockets of the bag.

AT&T USB Connect 881 - this 3G device lets me get Internet connection even when there is no WiFi available. As long as there is Digital Cell service - I can get on the 'net'. Syncharger Dual cable - allows for me to charge USB powered devices, my iPhone and also sync my iPhone when needed. Spare Cat5 Cable to connect either wired Ethernet, or the Apple Extreme to be able to share wired Internet wirelessly. DisplayPort to VGA adapter so I can project my Mac to a TV or LCD projector when needed.APC 4-port USB port - so I can have multiple USB devices all sharing a single USB port - Small and compact. Two Zio Shorty USB cables - one to 'mini' port and one extension. Apple 45w Power supply for MacBookPro - with 'stub' power so I don't need another power cord. Apple AirPort Extreme N - supports 802.11n and allows me to 'share' wirelessly wired connection. Great for running Skype or a SIP phone on the iPhone when overseas - and have multiple computers share a single hotel Internet connection. Invaluable! Kindle2 Power Charger - Not just for the Kindle2, but I use the USB power base to charge other USB items with differnet cables. Monster Power2Go - a 4-port power strip - small and the power cable folds back on itself for compact storage.In the bottom of the front backpack pocket I aslo put the following items:

Two Western Digital 'Passport' 500GB drives - one that contains a full backup of my MacBookPro, and the other with 'working' documents, all my MP3 files, and hundreds of movies - both with Zio Shorty USB cables placed in a Case Logic portable hard drive case.

A Stanley 12' extension cord - very useful in hotel rooms without power by the desk, or to get power while waiting in an airport.

My latest addition is the amazing Kbex portable speaker systems from a previous post. This thing really works!

So that's what I carry with me. It helps a lot to the the right items with you when working on the road.

Computer Hardware Chart

2009-07-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you just need to look up a connector... here's a great resource. Go ahead and double-click on it to see the full size version.

Truly Amazing Portable Speaker

2009-07-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

A while back I saw a little 'bit' on the Internet about this speaker that worked on any surface. I'm a 'gadget' kind of guy - so I purchased one.

This thing is AWESOME! - I've had lots of little speakers I take with me on the road to listen to music from my iPhone or laptop, or even sometimes watch a movie in the hotel room. I've reverted to using my 'Beats' noise-canceling headphones to get sound I liked to listen to.

Then came along the K-Box from - this thing is amazing. It has over a 20-hour internal rechargeable battery - that charges off a USB port (like all my other portable devices) - and turns on/off by simply plugging in a headphone cable into the device. (simple elegant solution) And it is smaller than a blackboard eraser.

When you hold the little speaker thing in your hand it sounds very 'tinny' and weak. But place it on a flat surface and the internal 'guts' work with a gel pad on the bottom to produce astonishing bass. So much I had to change my iPhone equalizer settings because it was too 'bassy'.

This thing can rumble a room! I was watching the last couple of episodes of 'Winds of War' - and the Pearl Harbor scene made me turn down the volume. That *never* happens with other small portable speakers - they just don't have anything at the bottom end. This little guy, however, ROCKS!

I can wholeheartedly recommend this speaker for anyone who travels (it comes with it's own little travel case) it doesn't weigh much, is easy to use and recharge and best of all - sounds great!
Specs below:

Plug it into your laptop, phone, mp3 or portable gaming device and experience it turn surfaces into sound! Using patented 'gel-audio' technology when placed upon any solid flat surface, a wall, table or even windows, the K-box turns the surface into sound with a truly incredible bass response!
High Quality Audio Full Bass response 40-20KHz Compact and Portable (115x55x20mm) Up to 20 hours battery life (recharge via USB)

Travel Tips

2009-07-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Having spent two weeks in Europe on a little family vacation - it made me think a bit about some travel tips for those of you who might need to travel for work or holiday.

I've logged nearly 2 million miles in the last 15 years - and have gleaned some experience from all that travel.

In no particular order:
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Camera Strap - Black Rapid's RS-4
This strap is a new way to carry your D-SLR camera. Instead of a strap going around your neck, making the camera bounce along in front of your stomach - this strap is designed to mount to the tripod mounting hole in the bottom of your camera - and then go over one shoulder/neck, thus the camera rides easily off your back/hip and yet is still very easy to bring your camera up to eye level for a picture.This was a fantastic upgrade to my old Nikon camera strap. Much easier to carry a large camera all day - yet still very user friendly and easy to learn. Highly Highly Recommended!
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Travel Clothing
When teaching - I just wear dockers and a long-sleeve button-down shirt. But then again, those days are spent all inside teaching. But when traveling, or doing sightseeing I like to wear specially made travel clothing. A shirt with two front pockets (passport/tickets/iPhone/glasses) for flying and sight-seeing. Pants with more zipper pockets to help deter pick-pockets and are very lightweight.I've found it to be very difficult for pick-pockets to access shirt pockets that are buttoned - a person is much more protective of the front chest area - especially in a crowded area like the subway. Even with extra zippered pants pockets, I've found pick-pockets now how to work the zippers. So the wallet and cash go in the right front shirt pocket! (and the camera strap also covers right over that area for even extra security)

It might cost a bit more, but it is made for easy care, functional, and nearly wrinkle-free.
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Apple iPhones are Everywhere!
I thought our family was a bit on the edge with most of us having iPhones. But more and more I've been seeing iPhones everywhere. They do have a distinct look, so they are fairly easy to spot. More people on planes, hotel lobbies, and now even all over Europe the iPhones have really taken hold. I really enjoy mine, and find it to be not only a great phone, but a game platform, contact lists, calendars, to do list, Internet access, alarm clock, GPS, iPod for music and portable movie player.
No wonder they are everywhere!

This is also very highly recommended.
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Big Zoom Lens
I've got an older body Nikon D40 as the base... but put the extra money into a very nice lens. The Nikkor 18-200 VR lens is a great single lens to take on a trip. Not only can it let you capture wide-angle panoramic scenes, but lets you zoom way in. As a single lens it does just about all you'd want. And with the Vibration Reduction elements, you can shoot in much lower light conditions, even taking hand-held shots.Some of the shots inside the Cathedrals of Europe where made with just this lens in a hand-held position. A great addition to your camera bag. I'd opt for this upgraded lens and save money on the camera body - oh yeah, I already did that.All the pictures on my personal blog as well as my son Ryan's facebook were taken with this lens.
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England, UK, Britain Confusion
Check out an earlier blog that answers these questions.
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Skype - the ONLY way to call
I pre-loaded Skype on the iPhones before heading off to Europe. On previous trips, I've used a variety of methods to call home. Small WiFi phones, Skype specific phones, headsets and Skype on my laptop. But Skype on the iPhone was very easy to use. My wife Jill and daughter Alysha both have iPhones, and it was a simple transition to just use the Skype App rather than the normal Phone App.This saved us $$$ - especially with the daughter calling home to her boyfriend (they liked to talk...) At only $.02 per minute (an hour-long call only cost $1.20) it was great.In order to make the Skype phone work - you need to have Wireless Network Access. See following note.
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Bring your own Access Point
I travel with an Apple Airport Express - little guy - but packs a pretty good punch. I have it programmed with WPA for security, and it is easily 110v-220v capable. And it is 802.11n to boot!This just plugs into the hotel's Internet - then you do everything via WiFi. This lets us all share WiFi in the hotel. 4 iPhones and three laptops all using one Internet connection.

I've tried 5 other 'travel routers' but this is the smallest, simplest, and easiest to use. At only $99 - don't leave home without it!
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Pack only what you need
You can usually get just about anything you might need locally - if you need it. If you don't need it, why schlep it all over the world?

I use a very nice bag from RedOxx out of Montana. A single bag is a great way to travel. Easy, you can (if you have to) use it as carry-on. (see additional item below on carry-on luggage) - but it can easily hold a week's worth of stuff.Minimize the 'extra' stuff you 'think' you might need. Just learn to live with what you have and be glad for it. If you *really* need anything else - buy it locally.
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Know you own bags!
Another little pet peeve of mine with regards to luggage. At the baggage pickup, when people pick up and check bag after bag, trying to find their own. You just put in on the plane a couple of hours ago, you've already forgotten what it looks like?

If you need to easily identify your bags, just tie a piece of colored yarn or ribbon to the handle (or buy those ridiculous large luggage tags in bright green)
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Airline Carry On
Just because you *can* take a bag on carry on doesn't mean you *should*! Be a bit considerate of others on the plane. The overhead compartments need to be shared by everyone. And me, for one, ALWAYS put my backpack in the overhead compartment. I'm not going to travel uncomfortably with my feet wrapped around a piece of luggage. Don't ask to put your second carry on under my feet - just don't bring it on the plane. They have an entire baggage system to get your bag to where you are going!

Out of 2million miles of travel - I've have the airlines loose my bags on 9 times, and 5 of those were on my way home. So out of hundreds and hundreds of flights I've had to do without my bags 4 times. This is not the risk you are making it out to be. Pack an extra set of underwear in your carry on and be done with it.
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Always have pen and paper with you
I was taught by my father - and hopefully I'll pass it on to all my children - to always carry a pen with you! It is a sign of maturity and preparedness!

Also, within the last couple of years I've also started to carry 3x5 cards in my pocket. These have also been invaluable at times. Someplace to write little notes, take informaiton down, jot down a phone number or address.

Even in the age of iPhones - an index card in your pocket can be a great thing.

Always have a Pen and Paper with you!
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Get money locally
When you travel to different countries - it is so much easier (and way cheaper) to just get money locally from an ATM. They are everywhere. Don't waste your money, nor your time at the money changer places.

You use an ATM for cash at home, use one abroad as well!
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Don't Stink
This is to all the folks in Europe (and a couple in the States) - It is possible to have personal hygiene and not STINK! - Alysha would cover her nose with her hand when on the subways in Europe because all the body odor, and smell of unwashed clothes.

It's not that hard to clean yourself and your clothes! Just do it!

I think I blame the women in Europe. If they wouldn't have anything to do with these stinky men, the men would soon learn to change and worry about personal hygiene. The European women must like that smell of old sweat and wool... yeck!

If you haven't washed up your person or your clothes - don't travel! Sitting next to one of these on flights is nearly unbearable. They don't even seem to notice.
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Have stuff with you
If you need medicines, take them with you in your carry on. If you like to read, have a book with you, watch movies? take along an iPhone of iPod Touch. Just be prepared. Worried they won't have food for you, bring your own.
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Kindle & iPhone
Between these two little devices I can keep myself occupied for hours, even days.

My Kindle has hundreds of books just waiting to be read - waiting for me to have some 'down time' to read them.My iPhone is full of great games, audiobooks, Internet, and videos. If I've got time, I've got a way to spend it.
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Relax
There is usually nothing you can do to change travel fiascos around you - so just be prepared with media of some type and just enjoy the extra time. You can't change anything - so don't let the stress get to you.

Enjoy!

Wireless LAN Analysis Virtual Machine

2009-06-26T04:02:00.000-07:00

Based on some of my experiences at the Sharkfest conference last week. I decided to start working on a new little 'side project' - getting a Virtual Machine developed for simpler Wireless LAN Analysis. The idea is to get a Virtual Machine that can easily be moved to different platforms, Mac, PC, Linux laptops that can perform Wireless LAN Analysis consistently across platforms. In order to do this... and since VMs can't have access to the PCMCIA hardware directly... I will have to use all USB-based devices. I've already configured one to work with Metageek's WiSpy spectrum analyzer, Wireshark's AirPcap (with three working together to cover channels 1, 6, and 11) Now on to work on getting AirMagnet's one supported USB device to work as well.

Any feedback or ideas you'd like to see in a Wireless Analysis 'Toolkit' would be helpful.

Thanks

iPhone 3G S Upgrade

2009-06-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

I know people call me the 'gadget man' - even to my face sometimes. And so to stay on the 'cutting edge' of gadgetry, I went down on Friday to the local AT&T store and picked up a new iPhone 3G S - only about 15 minutes, in and out.The first thing I did, before even turning it on, was to go to the 'Invisishield' place in the mall to get a little protection put on.

This way I can get a newer phone, Jill can get a much faster phone with more space, and we'll have the 2G to help someone else get onto the iPhone bandwagon. (Perhaps someone who had an iPhone but it somehow stopped working... ;-)

It is a bit faster, has built-in compass, takes videos, and little things like that. It's also 32GB compared to my old 16GB, thus I can carry more videos with me on trips. Additionally, it should have the ability to carry data in the future.

But best of all, it has a much better built-in camera. With auto-focus. It is far superior to the older iPhone 3G I had before.

Here are some comparative photos - things that I use my camera for, like taking pictures of peoples' business cards. (try using this with Evernote to have a great searchable record that's available on you laptop, phone, or via Internet)Now with this better focus, and better resolution this process will be much improved.

Can you tell the difference between the 3G and 3G S?

Sharkfest!

2009-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

This week I had the chance to attend the 'Sharkfest' conference held on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto. Last year I was busy with other work and missed it... this year I had a gig fall through at the last minute. I'm glad it did! Sharkfest was great! - a chance to go and 'hang' with a bunch of other nerds/geeks/techies who like to talk about packets, networking, and stuff.

I was also able to finally put a face to many colleagues I've known and worked with for years, but only via phone calls, twitters, and e-mail exchanges. Quite enjoyable.

The campus was beautiful, the buildings architecturally intriguing, and the weather nearly perfect. (OK, the parking was a bit over a half-mile trek from the classrooms - but I needed the walking anyway)There were many people here who do fantastic things keeping their own internal networks, as well as the Internet up and running - I was in awe of these folks. I'm not that into the whole wired network infrastructure thing. I'm a Wireless LAN guy. So I picked the sessions that would help me to better understand and work with Wireless LANs.

Hopefully, next year I'll be able to present at the 2010 Sharkfest conference. - Mark it on your calendars as soon as it's announced. You should attend!

Sessions I attended:

Ray Tompkins - How Protocols Work
Loris Degioanni (AirPcap) - Sneak Peek at Wireshark and Pilot - Cool Things!
Betty DuBois - I've just downloaded Wireshark... Now what do I do?
Rolf Leutert - Analyzing WLANs with Wireshark and AirPcap
Mike Kershaw (Kismet) - Get Thinking about WiFi Security
Ryan Woodings (WiSpy) - Complementing Wireshark in Wireless Troubleshooting
Laura Chappell - Network Forensics: Wireshark as Evidence Collector
Joe Bardwell - Wireshark Saves the Wireless LAN

Others I got to meet:

Gerald Combs - creator of Ethereal/Wireshark
Douglas Haider - the 'WiFi Jedi'
John Bruno - CACE Technologies
Janice Spampinato - CACE Technologies - (Thanks for all your help Janice!)
Fyodor - of NMAP fame

In case you missed the conference, most of the presentations are now available at the Sharkfest web page for download. I know it's not as good as sitting at the feet of these 'masters' - but reviewing the slides will be a good start toward adding some more knowledge.
Now for some highlights - in no particular order:

Browse over to this site and download the latest Wireshark 1.2 - just released with some great new features.
Go and buy one of the new WiSpy 2.4i adapters - the price is only $99 and these are a great addition to your Wireless LAN toolkit. I've been teaching and using the AirMagnet (Cognio) Spectrum Analyzer for years - and it does a great job. But for $99 - EVERYONE who is in the wireless industry needs to have one! Pick yours up here.
All attendees received an AirPcap usb device for wireless packet capture in a Windows environment. These come in all sorts of 'flavors' from the simple 802.11 b/g 'classic' to a new 802.11n with external antennas. It is the ONLY way to do full 'promiscuous mode' capture of wireless frames on a Windows platform. You can find them here.
When you put three of them together, you have the ability to capture through a 'virtual' driver that allows you to see 'all' packets on channels 1, 6, and 11 simultaneously. The best way to help troubleshoot a roaming client. The drivers come with it, and work directly in Wireshark.

Use the Wireshark 'Wireless Toolbar' to be able to change and adapt your data capture on the fly.

Add appropriate Wireless specific columns to Wireshark to get the most out of your analysis.

Color code Wireshark to support wireless analysis better. Make special color sets for Management, Control and Data frames. (and even subsets of those for better analysis)

I'm very excited now to have seen lots of Macintosh folks at the conference - using Wireshark, either in a native mode (wireless doesn't work - only wired), or running in a VM or Parallels using USB devices. I've been prepping a couple of VMs to run on my Macbook 13" Unibody as a wireless analysis platform... cool!

If you haven't played with the CACE Pilot... go online and request an evaluation. The current version is fantastic. A great addition to the 'normal' Wireshark interface. With Pilot you can do much easier, pretty, and detailed analysis of your captures. Loris did a demo of some of the new features in the 2.0 product (to be out in a month or so) that will really 'blow your socks off' with respect to analyzing your network traffic and to help in troubleshooting.
The 'WiFi Pilot' is a subset of the full blown 'Pilot' product - but for me in my industry, it will give me a big step up from the simpler Wireshark analysis. I can't wait to get some 'face time' with the WiFi Pilot.
Go over to Laura Chappell's site for more training and learning. Or at her new site with more online training.

By the way, I was reminded this week of what a great presenter Laura is. We travelled and taught together for years - through the White Hat, NAST, etc. class series... but it's been awhile since I've sat in one of her classes. I was again impressed with her inate ability to work the 'techie' crowd. Just the right about of humor, tech, stories, and information. Well done Laura!

Kudos to all the other presenters as well. I've been in this training/consulting/presenting business for many many years, and this was a great group of techincal presentations - based on experience, sprinkled with humor, and yet still able to deliver hard-core technology that the attendees can use.

Congratulations on all those who made this a great conference!

'The Shark... Go Deeper"

Broadband Speeds Around the World

2009-05-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

No wonder I want to go over to Europe for awhile.
Perhaps I can get some decent Internet speeds while I'm there.

Perhaps the next trip needs to be to Japan and South Korea, eh?

Look how pitiful the US is on this graph. We should be ashamed.And my Broadband connection at home is even worse that the graph. This is on a Sunday afternoon with little load on the local POP. Usually it's way under 3MB.Here's a link to the BBC article with a supporting map.

Family Vacation to Europe

2009-05-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'll be leaving for a two week family vacation to Paris and London. So this blog will be on 'hiatus' for awhile.

In the mean time, my personal blog over at http://wirelessroadwarrior.blogspot.com will have the latest on my personal life and vacation.

Looking forward to a bit of a break...

Keith

WiFiJedi's Blog on Pre-Shared Keys

2009-05-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

I participated in a virtual roundtable discussion with some other tech savvy minds over at WiFiJedi's (Douglas Haider's) Blog.

The topic was Pre-Shared Keys and some of the new techniques Aerohive and others are bringing to the table. You can find the discussion here.

Thanks to Bruce and Ken for their comments.

Want, Don't Want, Don't Care - Meeting Design Specs

2009-05-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

The goal of wireless networks is to provide an appropriate and workable RF implementation for the accurate transmission of data across a wireless medium.

To this end we work hard to get the correct number of access points with the proper power and channel settings using the best antenna patterns to cover the area we are interested in. In the simplest terms, there are three design specs to consider.

First there is the 'Want' - what we are designing for.

Second - the 'Don't Care' - the level of RF that we don't care about.

Third - In between the above two items - 'Don't Want' - where we find same-channel (co-channel) interference.

Want

In the ‘old days’ when we employed the ‘AP on a stick’ method of site surveys in a pre-deployment mode, trying to come up with the best possible design, we’d end the survey with a design showing access points and their ‘coverage’ patterns. (sometimes called a heat map – though it had absolutely nothing to do with heat)

In this ‘AP on a stick’ process, after placing an access point in a temporary position we’d walk away until we reached the lower limit of our design goal. Perhaps -70dB or -67dB… then we’d stop. We met the design goal in that direction, so we’d stop.

But the RF energy projecting from the access point in question did not stop, it kept going. Since we never completed the Site Survey to the end of the radiation pattern, our designs did not, and could not, tell us where we’d run into interference with other access points.

This would give us what we wanted… Thus this is the WANT area.

The want area is normally defined to meet a specific design requirement based on the devices we’re designing for. Perhaps a -67dBm for voice, or a -75dBm for a hand-held scanner device.

This is the ‘easy’ one. Remember “Coverage is Easy”. See other article on “How to Spec your Physical Layer”

Coverage patterns looked something like this, with nice simple circles all lining up in neat rows.

NOTE: the -67dBm, and -86dBm used in the following examples are SAMPLES ONLY - Not indicative of any specific design!!

Don’t Care

Lets talk about the second RF design consideration next. This is the area where there is RF radiation, but at a level that is below the threshold of our device to actually use.

I call it the DON’T CARE area. In the don't care area, there is too little RF to make the client (STA) stop and wait for another client or access point to finish talking.

In other words, the amplitude of RF signals in this area are too low to be considered in the frequency’s collision domain.

With AirMagnet Survey, we can raise the color bar on the right side to make the areas with signals weaker than a given threshold turn grey.

This is usually set to -85dBm, but some devices are more sensitive and you might need to set your Don’t Care to -90dBm.

Don’t Want

Now we get to the difficult one. This is the one we normally don’t even measure in an ‘AP on a Stick’ survey.

This is the one that really causes a lot of problems.

One vendor draws their graphics to explain this, as shown in the following diagram. Note the WANT area is inside the dark circle, and the RF that is less than the desired goal still continues to radiate, causing interference and a large collision domain to all devices within the larger circle.

The trouble isn’t when two access points are next to each other. Since we have channels 1, 6, and 11 to use as non-overlapping channels, we can have a little ‘buffer’ between the same channels.

The problem starts when we don’t ‘look’ to see where the DON’T WANT area is in our survey. We never notice the access point's RF that is less than what we want, which continues all the way past the buffer zone and into the next sam- channel access point's space.

One graphic from a vendor details it like this.

This graphic shows that you must keep at least a 19dBm difference on the same channel from the ‘want’ to the ‘don’t want’ areas.

Another way to look at the situation between same-channel coverage pattern overlaps looks like this.

I ran a little online survey, and folks were just about evenly split between the above graphic and the following graphic.

I think an easier way to explain this situation is to turn the graphic on its side, like this.

Leaving the access point on the left, the RF propagates and looses RF energy along the way until it reaches the design goal, or the want line. We normally stop at this point in our surveys, but you must continue on to see where the RF continues.

The signal degrades and attenuates as we go further to the right, eventually reaching the level at which we no longer care. This is the don’t care line.

In between the access point on the left and the access point on the right is the area that is below the design goal threshold. This area should be covered by the other two access points on channels 6 and 11.

Coming back from the right, we have the same thing. The access point on the right on channel 1 starts strong, and as we move to the left, continues to get weaker until it reaches the design goal (want). After that, there is still RF on channel 1, but it is below our goal, and thus falls into the DON’T WANT area.

Another name for the don’t want is 'Interference.' If the two access points on channel 1 are too close, the signal from the right AP will interfere with the signals from the left AP.

In order to get access points on the same channel closer together (get the angles of the dropping signals to be steeper), you must lower the power.

Higher power gives you a longer ‘tail,’ and lower power give you a shorter ‘tail’.

Setting AirMagnet AirWise Interference Settings

In AirMagnet AirWise, there is a feature that allows you to visually show where interference meets or exceeds the design parameter. Remember, different devices have different design parameters.

To set the Want, Don’t Want, and Don’t Care values in AirWise we need to re-label them to meet the AirMagnet vocabulary.

The end of the want area is the same as your design goal for Minimum AP signal strength required.

The end of the Want value IS the start of the Don’t Want area (if it is below our want, it must be our don’t want) In AirWise, this is labeled with a weird English phrase of “Interfered APs: Exclude APs signal if strength is weaker than.”

The end of interference, where the signal is below the threshold of causing any harm, is called the Don’t Care. In AirWise, this is labeled with a second instance of the phrase “Interfering APs: Exclude APs signal if strength is weaker than.”

Conclusions

So there you go; simple, easy terms to define where you Want RF, where the RF signals on a specific frequency will cause interference -- Don’t Want -- and the area where the signal is too weak to make a difference -- Don’t Care.

Keith Parsons, CWNE #3
The WLAN Iconoclast
keith at inpnet.org

May 24th, 2009
Orem, UT, USA

Additional Article for Support of WLAN Site Surveys
- 7 Rules for Accurate Site Surveys
- How to 'Cheat' Using Survey - Don't be a Victim
- How to Properly Analyze Survey Data
- The Fallacy of Channel Overlap
- Predictive Survey vs Onsite Survey - What's the Big Deal?
- How to 'Spec' your Network's Physical Layer
- Want, Don't Want, Don't Care - Meeting Design Specs
- The Truth about SNR - Where Did that 'N' Come From Anyway?
- What is an Access Point Anyway - Hub, Bridge, Switch or Router?
- Passive vs Active - What's All the Fuss About?
- The False God of dB
- Meeting All Device Design Parameters

Never go network on me, kid...

2009-05-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

What plug goes to what country?

2009-05-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ever have the trouble of remembering which of many power plugs to take depending on what country you are traveling to? Those 'multi-country' ones are so large! I'd rather just take the smaller ones that I need.

I found this site and graphic that makes it much easier.

Update on Dell Mini 9 - Hackintosh

2009-05-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

I've been quite pleased with my little Dell Mini 9 - loaded with Apple Macintosh OS X.

The couple of little things that bothered me, namely the smaller keyboard, and the lack of the standard Macintosh two-finger scrolling and two-finger right-click.

Well, this week I did an update to the OS X operating system to the latest 10.5.7. It totally crashed the little guy... until I went online and learned a couple of 'tricks' on how to let the software/hardware find itself all over again. Now we're fine!In addition - and to my great surprise - I also found the latest drivers that allowed me to make the little Hackintosh's trackpad act just like a real Macintosh! I now have two-finger scrolling and two-finger right-clicks working. Yea!

No software is going to make this little keyboard get bigger all of a sudden - so I guess I'm stuck with that.

The little Hackintosh makes a great second computer. I take it on all my trips. I've pre-loaded the 64GB Solid State Drive with a bunch of TED Talks, Movies, etc. so it's a small little lightweight entertainment device for use on the plane.

In addition, it has an SD slot on loaded with even more movies on a 16GB SD card.

This has been a very fun little project!

On her trip to NYC with the High School Fashion Team, my daughter used it as in-flight entertainment, and to check her e-mail and update her facebook page during the trip. (WiFi in the hotel worked great)

Since I've got all my 'important' stuff like Calendar, Contacts, E-mail, etc. all sync'd to Mobile Me - it was a simple exercise to get the Hackintosh to also sync to Mobile Me. Now it is a nice 'backup' laptop if anything happens to the 'big brother' (my main machine - the Macbook 13" Unibody).

And for everyone reading this - Backup your data today!
(a quick message brought to you by our sponsor... Your conscience)

If you'd like your own Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh, just drop me a line and I do my best to help out.

From my Twitter posts - http://twitter.com/keithparsons or @keithparsons

Dell Mini9 Hackintosh *lives* once again. Just had to do a bit of 'tweaking'. Yea! - Instructions here http://bit.ly/EUes4

Hackintosh is even better than before! Now with 2-finger scrolling, and 2-finger right click! Yea! Instructions here http://bit.ly/oQLpw

Which Graphic Explains Co-Channel Interference Best?

2009-05-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

I've been teaching WiFi for many years now. And one concept folks seem to have a hard time with is co-channel interference. Not that there *is* interference, that's pretty obvious, but at what level does co-channel interference actually start to 'hurt' the Wireless LAN?

I've started to call these areas 'Want' - 'Don't Want' - 'Don't Care' - but the concept is still the same.

Question: At what point does another device on the same channel equate to a 'collision domain'?

So I'm asking for the reader's help in deciding which of the following graphics make more sense?

Which should I use in classes?

Thanks for your help!

Keith

_____________________

A - Multiple small circles

B - One large circle

C - Multiple large circles

D - Wedges

Gap-Minder - World Statistics

2009-05-14T22:24:00.001-07:00

I was watching a TED presentation this evening on my computer and experienced a new 'view' of the world's AIDS epidemic, but shown graphically - with animated data. It was very enlightening!

The FULL data set, not just AIDS, but education, life expectancy, income, births per woman, and many many others are all available. But best of all there is an easy-to-use interface that allows one to pic the variables, and then watch how things in the world have changed over the last 200 years.

This is a *fantastic* tool to learn and understand differences in countries, cultures, and how we all fit in this world. It's amazing to see how the world has changed over time.

There is something about having the freedoms, liberty, captialism, etc. that has allowed this 'winning' way. The US is NOT the best at everything - this data from world statistics shows that. We have problems and issues - that's true - but I'm pretty glad to be an American anyway.

Please spend some time learning - and I mean that - LEARNING from the historical data and statistics at this site. It will be good for you to think about the 'whys' of some of these.

Here's the site.

A couple of places to start - AIDS -vs- Income, Number of Children per Woman -vs- Income, Life Expectancy over time, just to get you started.

Enjoy - and please share your insight you learn from evaluating this information. Why does the world work like this?

Some TED Talks that might help
Best Stats You Have Ever Seen
Insights on Poverty
Truth about HIV

The False God of dB

2009-05-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

In the Wireless LAN (WLAN) world, we have started to worship in front of the False God of dB.

Books, white papers, study guides, and design manuals have touted the value of the RSSI (dB) so much we have used this as a sole way of designing and evaluating our Wi-Fi Networks. dB is a false god and we need to mature and move past having ‘Signal’ be our main goal in WLAN designs!

Signal is Immensely Important!

I’m not in the least bit saying Signal levels – RSSI – is not terribly important in our WLAN designs. It is critical, required, and even mandatory. But RSSI alone is not sufficient.

To give an analogy of a wired network, consider connectivity. It’s the ability of copper pairs to conduct electricity at a certain level, and it’s paramount in getting wired networks to work.

dBm is to a WLAN what connectivity is to a Cat6 cable. It is a base level requirement. Without it, nothing works.

Compared with Category 6 Cabling

But just as connectivity in a Cat6 cable isn’t the only factor in determining whether or not a cable run meets the design characteristics, RSSI (signal strength) isn’t the only factor in determining whether or not a wireless network meets its design characteristics.

Cat6 cable actually means cable that meets the Category 6 physical requirements as defined by the TIA/EIA organization. These requirements include:

• Connectivity
• near-side crosstalk
• far-side crosstalk
• pin-outs
• cable twist ratios
• and more

Much more than simple connectivity alone!

In a WLAN design, a certain level of signal strength is required, but signal strength alone is not sufficient. We have yet to find a wireless industry group to take on the responsibility of defining the specifications for a ‘voice-grade’ WLAN or a ‘video-grade’ WLAN, let alone even a generic ‘data-grade’ WLAN. We are still in the early stages, and each vendor is still defining their own specifications.

WLAN Design Specifications

I’ve started a new project working with other CWNEs to develop a WLAN Design Matrix to help codify and analyze the various vendor recommendations for design parameters to make their client devices work on WLANs. As an example, VoWiFI devices need specific dB, overlap, jitter, latency, packet loss, DTIM intervals, etc.

In this early stage of the process, we have already defined nearly one hundred unique identifiers and specifications collected from the various WLAN vendors. Of course the first one is always ‘RSSI’ – or Signal Strength defined in dB - but that is merely a baseline. On top of the Signal Strength, there are many more categories of WLAN requirements.

Some vendors require an ‘Overlap’ (see my blog post on the fallacy of channel overlap ). Other vendors specify the co-channel interference at very specific levels. Still others add data rate support, number of devices per AP, minimum MCS requirement, and many more.

Some of the requirements are based on designs for the STAs (clients), and others are specifications for the Access Points and cabling. Together all these requirements must be met in order to deliver a WLAN infrastructure that will work with the vendor’s devices.

Do you know all the design specs for your Wi-Fi enabled client devices?

How can you tell if your WLAN meets those specs?

Car Analogy

In my consulting practice and WLAN training classes, I like to give the following analogy concerning the design of WLANs.

While working with a vendor in the auto industry in Detroit, I was frustrated by their lack of understanding of why their WLAN, which was originally designed for data and was currently working well, was failing so miserably as a VoWiFi network. My explanation led to the following analogy:

You are an automobile designer, and your boss comes to you and asks for a new vehicle design. A vehicle is defined as a system of wheels/tires, engine/transmission, seats, frame, and chassis. They have asked for a vehicle that can carry two adults, travel at freeway speeds, and carry a 2200 lb payload. You might answer, “That’s easy. I’ll build you a truck!” The truck would meet all their design specs, and everyone would be happy.

If, at a later time, your boss asks you to design a vehicle that can do 0—60 mph in less than 5 seconds, with great cornering characteristics and a very low drag coefficient, then you would likely design a small, lightweight, high-powered, sports car. All would certainly be pleased.

Finally your boss requests a vehicle that can comfortably carry seven adults with their luggage, has lots of cup holders, and allows easy entry. You would likely design them a mini-van. Again, all would be pleased.

The problem surfaces when the truck owner thinks to himself, ‘Since my truck is a vehicle, it should go from 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds.’ Almost as an afterthought the truck owner asks you to make his truck become a fast sports car.

Sure, it’s possible, but at a significant cost. You could take out the old engine and replace it with a much stronger one, but since the truck was originally designed for carrying a heavy payload, it is built with a heavy suspension and dual-I-beam construction. In order to get it to have a fast race time, you’d also have to replace many of the ‘guts’ with carbon fiber composite parts!

Even after all that work, it would no longer be a good truck, nor a fast sportscar.

Certified Magazine Readers

Sometimes our bosses are like the bosses in the above vehicle analogy. They have read something in a magazine about WLANs doing Voice over IP, Video, or even Location Tracking. They come to the IT folks asking to simply ‘add’ this feature to the existing WLAN infrastructure.

Many of the design characteristics of these newly requested services require, indeed demand, mutually exclusive design goals!

For example, the VoWiFi WLAN might be the sports car design since it doesn’t carry a lot of payload. Yet the VoWiFi network needs to have very high tolerance and characteristics for the small set of data it does carry.

For example, VoWiFi vendors define the following detailed specifications:

Minimum RSSI >= -65dBm
Backup/Second AP at >= -65dBm
Signal to Noise Ratio > 19dBm
Maximum Noise Floor < -90dBm
Maximum Jitter <5 msec
Maximum Latency <50 msec
Maximum Packet Loss <1%
Total End to End Delivery <150 msec
DTIM Interval 2
Channel Overlap 25%
Roaming Time <50 msec
Required Data Rate 1Mbs
Co Channel Separation > 19dBm
Roam to 2nd AP if >= 5dBm higher
Roam back to 1st AP if >= 10dBm higher
802.11e QoS Required
Fast Roaming Required
Multicast Enabled Required
Specific Codec Required
Maximum Calls per AP <= 7
And even more…

Obviously the minimum RSSI in dB must be met, but note all the other detail specifications that also must be met.

Designing networks with just dB in mind will no longer work!

Web Surfing and large file transfers are more concerned with the size of the ‘pipe’ and can easily live with retries and temporary changes in the quality of the pipe. (the Truck)

RFID tagging and location tracking needs to have lots of access points in specific locations to support accurate triangulation, but those extra APs can cause more co-channel interference and make larger collision domains, thus lowering throughput. (the Mini Van)

Just because your boss read in a magazine about another company’s fast sports car, doesn’t mean your company’s truck will be a good vehicle to use in drag racing!

Know Your Design Requirements

My clients constantly amaze me when I ask them to specify (list) the design requirements of their WLAN devices. They rarely know what the design characteristics are for their own devices!

I ask you: If you don’t know what you are designing your WLAN for, how can you know when you’ve achieved the proper WLAN design?

In the automobile industry, no designer would willingly take on the job of designing a ‘vehicle’ without first understanding the detailed characteristics that are being requested.

In the wired network world, no ‘cable-puller’ would start pulling barbed-wire to each desktop! Barbed wire will easily meet the ‘connectivity’ goal, but obviously not any of the other Cat6 specs!

Yet somehow in the wireless LAN world, we allow ourselves to do just that. We design our WLANs without specific design goals, we design for only ‘coverage’ (dB), and then we later wonder why the WLAN doesn’t work…

If you don’t know the specific design parameters your client stations require, your WLAN can NEVER meet those goals!

Conclusions

Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes… dB is VERY IMPORTANT! But it is NOT the ONLY goal around which you should be designing.

You don’t design wired networks with ‘barbed-wire’; so don’t design your WLANs with ONLY dB!

Keith Parsons, CWNE #3
dThe WLAN Iconoclast
Keith at inpnet.org
May 2nd, 2009
Orem, UT, USA

Additional Articles for Supporting WLAN Site Surveys
- 7 Rules for Accurate Site Surveys
- How to 'Cheat' On A Survey - Don't be a Victim
- How to Properly Analyze Survey Data
- The Fallacy of Channel Overlap
- Predictive Survey vs Onsite Survey - What's the Big Deal?
- How to 'Spec' your Network's Physical Layer
- Want, Don't Want, Don't Care - Meeting Design Specs
- The Truth about SNR - Where Did that 'N' Come From Anyway?
- What is an Access Point Anyway - Hub, Bridge, Switch or Router?
- Passive vs Active - What's All the Fuss About
- The False God of dB
- Meeting All Device Design Parameters

http://wlaniconoclast.blogspot.com

Pronunciation of WLAN Acronyms

2009-05-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

OK, I know I'm just being a bit 'picky' here... but I've found a correlation in a variety of industries with respect to how professionals pronounce a 'short-hand' version of an acronym versus the 'layman' way.

My wife is a Labor & Delivery Nurse, and they don't call the OB Docs 'awbzz' ('obs') - they call them 'O', 'B' doctors.

In the old days, when Apple Macintosh computers first came out the SCSI interface wasn't called 'sexy' (like I heard many uniformed people use) - nor was is 'S', 'C', 'S', 'I' either. It was just 'Scuzzy'.

In our industry of Wireless Networks, we too have acronmyns that sometimes get 'shortened' - No one calls the WWW in front of a URL 'wwwwwwaaah' - pronouncing the letters, you call it 'W', 'W', 'W'...

WLAN is 'W', then 'lan' - Get the picture? - you could also say this one as 'Wireless', 'lan'. But never 'wha-lan'.

Now lets go over the ones that the folks who work at Best Buy always seem to get wrong. If you are using the wrong pronunciation... please stop. That is unless you *want* to work at Radio Shack or Best Buy...

AP - pronounced 'A', 'P'... this is not a 'wap', or an 'app' - an Access Point is NOT an applciation, and it is not the sound of a flag 'wapping' in the wind - wap, wap, wap... An Access Point is an 'A', 'P'.

Wireless Access Point - this is an Access Point (do you know of other networking devices that are Access Points that are not wireless?) - call it an 'A', 'P'. This is NOT a WAP... it is an 'A', 'P'.

VoIP - this one can go two ways. Either 'voip' ('vo ee p') - starting to enter common nomenclature... or just spell it out 'V', 'O', 'I', 'P'.

SSID - a Service Set Identifier - pronounced 'S','S','I','D' - it is not a 'sid' - a 'SID' is a term used to describe the unique identifier on a Windows Hard Drive... it has nothing to do with Wireless LANs. If you want the plural, it is 'S', 'S', 'I', 'Ds' - put the 's' sound after the last 'D'.

MAC Layer broadcast address isn't 'fffffwwff' - but 'F', 'F', 'F'...

Normally when you have to say a MAC Address out loud - just use the last four digits (counting from the right side) - and say them out loud - one letter or number at a time. To be very sure that your recipient heard it correctly - you could also repeat it, but this time use the international phonetic codes for the letters. Something like 'One', 'Foxtrot', 'Alpha', 'Four' for 1F:A4.

(don't know the codes? - spend an free moment sometime just memorizing them. You will sound more professional if you use the correct terms rather than making up some word for the letter 'N' on the fly... "like N as in never")
In the CWNP program we try to use the 'correct' terms for everything. The 'Rosetta Stone' article was one step toward making industry terms shared and to mean a specific thing.

Is there any other terms that you've heard mis-pronounced?

How to find a WiFi Antenna - Bruce Hubbert

2009-05-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Finding the right Wifi Antenna is a pain in the connector. When I meet with WLAN managers the most often asked question about antennas is, "Where can I get one that is camouflaged or hidden in some way?" Most antenna sales or manufacturers websites are really bad. Either these websites haven't been changed since 1997 or the are broken or just plain unusable.

I get a lot of requests for sources of antennas. Not high gain, site to site antennas. Not parabolic or Backfire. Not a 4 foot long ultra-high gain omni.

All the requests I get are for one simple thing. A disguised antenna. This could be an antenna that looks like a smoke detector, an alarm light, a speaker grill or anything except a wifi antenna. In almost every case the antenna must do 2.4GHz and 5GHz. More recently it also must do 802.11n.

How hard is it. I am pretty good at Google but I have a real hard time finding one. Everytime I look I get pages that look like this:

Now why is that? I searched for "camouflaged WLAN antenna" and I get the above. When what I want is this:

Anyway, here a short list of websites I have found for wifi antennas. If you have a better resource, especially for camouflaged antennas, please post a comment.

WiFi Antennas|| RadioLabs

WLANMall.com

WLANAntennas.com

Must View Interview on US Banking Debacle

2009-04-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

Please, Please watch the following Bill Moyers interview! Every single American and tax payer NEEDS to to watch and understand what's happened to our banking system.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html

Why always a US Centric View?

2009-04-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've been asked at times when I'm teaching around the world, "Why is everything in the US so US-Centric"?

And I must agree, many times we are too caught up in our own politics, technology, sports, and entertainment that we ignore some of the best the world has to offer. Many US citizens don't have a clue about the rest of the world.

We need to be better World Citizens - better 'learners' of World situations - better understanding of how 'the rest of the world' thinks and operates!

I can't believe we are still using inches, feet, pounds, miles, etc. instead of the World standard of Metric. I remember decades ago in school when we were on the 'road to metric'... yeah right... that's sure come a long way.

But in our favor... a couple of graphics that show some of the US-Centricity is to be expected. First is a graphic of phone call traffic... kind of obvious that one is. Remember, we are NOT the largest, nor most populated...
The second based on Internet traffic. The colors represent volume of traffic.
These were both found at the following web site. http://www.telegeography.com/maps/index.php

WLAN Professional's Portable Toolkit

2009-04-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

Based on an Apple iPod Touch!

OK, before you ‘freak’ and think that I’ve lost my mind… just hold on a minute and read the rest of the article. This is the smallest, lightest, and ‘funnest’ WLAN test kit out there.

For doing a lot of smaller, quicker WLAN troubleshooting, this is a suitable solution. In addition, you get all the benefits of having an Apple iPod – with music, podcasts, videos, and games available as well as the Network Troubleshooting Tools!

I picked up an Apple iPod Touch (I always want to call it an iTouch) – at the local Costco, sync'd it to my laptop's iTunes and had a working troubleshooting and support tool within mere minutes. In addition to the WLAN and Network tools, I use this as an 'end-point' to test VoIP calls when doing AirMagnet VoFi Surveys. With an attached headset with microphone this makes an excellent VoFi Phone as well. (both for standard SIP as well as SKYPE calls)
So what more could you ask for in a small light-weight device?

WLAN troubleshooting
Network Troubleshooting
VoIP over WLAN Calls
File sharing over WiFi
Repository of Technical PDFs, White Papers, Docs
Music, Podcasts, Videos & Games
And it can easily be charged by any USB port!

Here is the parts that I use for this kit

Apple iPod Touch - 8GB $214
Stereo Headset with Mic $9
Free SIP Service $0
Apple iTunes $0
WiFiFoFum $3
WiFiTrack $1
Network Utility $1
iNetInfo $2
Bytes $1
GPS Utility $1
Network Ping $4
iNet $2
Skype $0
SIP Phone $7
AirSharing $5
WiFi Sharing $6

Total Outlay $256

You can easily go up to a 32GB device - just add a bit more money. With the extra space you could hold lots of PDFs (support documents) or Movies if you are so inclined.

Here's some photos and specs on the little guy - cute, lightweight, small and yet powerful and FUN!
Below is a list of the Apps I use on my iPhone/iPod Touch to help me work on Wireless LANs.

WiFiFoFum a quick easy way to see the local WLANs with channel, signal strength and security. It also has one of those 'weird' radar views - totally useless, it has no actual info on direction, only simple RSSI.
WiFiTrack Lists local WLANs by Open vs Locked. Includes Signal, Channel, and type of encryption, ie. WPA2/Radius... Clicking on an AP will also give you the MAC address and if the AP is broadcasting SSID. This one also allows you to connect to a new AP directly from the App.
Network Utility This is not a WiFi specific tool, but it does allow you to Ping, Scan IP Ports, GeoIP Lookup, Whois Query. In addition, you can use it to find your Internal and External IP Addresses.
iNetInfo A quick way to see your IP Address, Hostname, MAC, Default Gateway, DNS. Network Ping A 'super-ping' that can not only do simple Ping tests, but ping-sweep a subnet, traceroute and Telnet.
iNet A network scanner that can give you quick simple information on your network, including Bonjour services and devices. It also has a great deal of detail for individual devices on your subnet.This one will scan your local subnet and report on all the devices it can 'see'. Not just the APs, but all the clients on your subnet. Clicking on a seen device give you it's IP, MAC, OUI and if it answers a PING. You can then do a scan for supported services on that specific device. Kind of fun to use to see what is OPEN around you.
Bytes A binary calculator with a great set of tools for doing a variety of binary and bit-level manipulation on top of Unit conversion and a quick reference for 2 to the x power results.
GPS Utility I use this tool to convert Lat/Long specs from Minutes/Seconds to decimal. (AirMagnet Survey using an outdoor GPS survey needs decimal, and most mapping software uses minutes/seconds)
Skype - Yes, just like your big computer, your little iPod Touch/iPhone can now run Skype via a WiFi connection. Voice calls, Chats, etc. - available from your small WLAN Troubleshooting device!
SIP Phone I use this tool to keep a live SIP call going while doing an AirMagnet VoFi Survey. It is also a great little test tool for connecting and tracking VoFi calls when doing troubleshooting of LANs. As your iPod Touch/iPhone roams, the calls can attempt to stay connected, and with your network packet analyzer you can track these packets to help in your troubleshooting issues.AirSharing I use this tool 'host' a file sharing session. I can share saved/archived documents on the iPod Touch/iPhone to share with clients, contacts, students, etc. Support documents are great to have available in an instant.Connects with Mac, Windows, Linux or just any Browser.
WiFi File Sharing Like the above tool, this software lets me share files, maintain a locally accessable archive of technical documents, and have it all easily shared via WiFi to any browser. This also lets me view PDF, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc. directly on the iPod Touch/iPhone.
Anyone else find some other useful App to add to my iPhone?

What's Your Favorite App?
Please comment, I'm always looking for better tools!

1934 Cartoon - Socialism Repeats...

2009-04-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is so appropriate for today's government problem with spending.

The Socialist Liberal mentality of the Democrats back in the 1930s never solved anything but put the country into more debt... same as now... I just don't see any way out other than to get involved in another World War (that's what brought our economy back last time...) jk

Double-click on the graphic to expand and see the details.

Twitter - http://twitter.com/keithparsons

2009-04-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

I've started using Twitter to stay in contact with friends, colleagues, etc.
Twitter is... that's a hard question. And for people who haven't tried it the reaction is usually the same. "So what's the big deal?" - in fact, I was in that very boat not too long ago. I opened up a Twitter account... looked around, then did nothing with it.

A couple of weeks ago I again started and this time I finally 'Got It' and have my software called 'Tweetdeck' on my Macintosh running in startup mode and it's always on.

It is a way to stay in touch, learn about new things, and socially network. Sometimes the 'tweets' are boring, useless, or offensive. But it's a new way for me to keep a finger on the pulse of my industry. I also use it to 'watch' the BYU Lacrosse games I can't get to. Some of the folks watching the game send a stream of 'tweets' letting all of us who 'follow' the @BYULax account to follow along with the games.

I use a program called 'Tweetie' on my iPhone rather than have the tweets come in via text messages. Or on my Mac it is Tweetdeck.
It's kind of like micro-blogging...

I'm at http://twitter.com/keithparsons - I'd love to have more Followers!

Here's a video that might help as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

From Wikipedia.
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific, Twitterfon, TweetDeck and feedalizr. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.

Things - My To Do List Manager

2009-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've gone through an entire series of To Do managers. On my mission I used these 'Do It' cards I kept in my shirt pocket. Then back in my university days I used a full-page system from the very first Franklin planner. Moved on to the Daytimer 1/2 page size. Palm Pilot, Microsoft Outlook, and probably 15 other systems.

After moving to the Macintosh last summer I spent some time trying different To Do managers... none seemed to do what I wanted. I especially wanted a nice fast sync to my iPhone, and something that worked with the way I work.

I think in 'projects' and 'where' - something that would let me keep all those items that were errands in the same area together, then later see them all together.

I've found my latest tool. It's called 'Things' - and also comes in an iPhone format.

I can strongly recommend it to anyone with a Macintosh. I especially like the simple quick way to add a new item as so as it pops into my head (ctrl-option-space) and then I can later re-organize them, and prioritize them, and assign them to specific dates, or even just drop it into a 'someday' category.

Syncing to the iPhone is fast, simple and easy - I can enter a new To Do on my iPhone and then it shows up on the Mac... or vice versa.

Give it a try! - here's a short video on Things

The ABC's of 802.11

2009-04-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Props to this Xirrus blog for this great chart.

An overview on standards under the IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) umbrella (as of Mar 09)

^#Excerpted from http://www.ieee802.org/11/QuickGuide_IEEE_802_WG_and_Activities.htm)

Standard	Description
IEEE 802.11	The WLAN standard was original 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps, 2.4 GHz RF and infrared [IR] standard (1997)
IEEE 802.11a	A PHY to operate in the newly allocated UNII band.
IEEE 802.11b	A higher rate PHY in the 2.4GHz band
IEEE 802.11c	Provide the required 802.11 specific information to the ISO/IEC 10038 (IEEE 802.1D) standard
IEEE 802.11d	The current 802.11 standard defines operation in only a few regulatory domains (countries). This supplement will add the requirements and definitions necessary to allow 802.11 WLAN equipment to operate in markets not served by the current standard
IEEE 802.11e	Enhance the current 802.11 MAC to expand support for LAN applications with Quality of Service requirements. Provide improvements in security, and in the capabilities and efficiency of the protocol.
IEEE 802.11F	Specify the necessary information that needs to be exchanged between Access Points to support the P802.11 DS functions.
IEEE 802.11g	Develop a new PHY extension to enhance the performance and the possible applications of the 802.11b compatible networks by increasing the data rate achievable by such devices.
IEEE 802.11h	Enhance the current 802.11 MAC and 802.11a PHY with network management and control extensions for spectrum and transmit power management in 5GHz license exempt bands, enabling regulatory acceptance of 802.11 5GHz products. Provide improvements in channel energy measurement and reporting, channel coverage in many regulatory domains, and provide Dynamic Channel Selection and Transmit Power Control mechanisms
IEEE 802.11i	Enhance the current 802.11 MAC to provide improvements in security
IEEE 802.11j	Obtain Japanese regulatory approval by enhancing the current 802.11 MAC and 802.11a PHY to additionally operate in newly available Japanese 4.9 GHz and 5 GHz bands
IEEE 802.11k	The original standard has a basic set of radio resource measurements for internal use only. These measurements and others are required to provide services; such as roaming, coexistence, and others; to external entities. It is necessary to provide these measurements and other information in order to manage these services from an external source.
IEEE 802.11l	Not to be used by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group for inclusion into the published standard
IEEE 802.11m	Maintenance of technical and editorial corrections to the 802.11-2007 Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications standard.
IEEE 802.11n	Improve the 802.11 wireless local area network (LAN) user experience by providing significantly higher throughput for current applications and to enable new applications and market segments.
IEEE 802.11o	Not to be used by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group for inclusion into the published standard
IEEE 802.11p	Amend the existing IEEE 802.11 standard to make it suitable for interoperable communications to and between vehicles.
IEEE 802.11q	Not to be used by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group for inclusion into the published standard
IEEE 802.11r	Improve BSS transitions within 802.11 ESS’s and to support real time constraints imposed by applications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
IEEE 802.11s	Provide a protocol for auto-configuring paths between APs over self-configuring multi-hop topologies in a WDS to support both broadcast/multicast and unicast traffic in an ESS Mesh using the four-address frame format or an extension.
IEEE 802.11T	Enable testing, comparison, and deployment planning of 802.11 WLAN devices based on a common and accepted set of performance metrics, measurement methodologies and test conditions.
IEEE 802.11u	Amendments to the IEEE 802.11 PHY/MAC layers which enable InterWorking with other networks. This includes both enhanced protocol exchanges across the air interface and provision of primitives to support required interactions with higher layers for InterWorking.
IEEE 802.11v	Amendments to the IEEE 802.11 PHY/MAC layers that enables management of attached stations in a centralized or in a distributed fashion (e.g. monitoring, configuring, and updating) through a layer 2 mechanism. While the 802.11k Task Group is defining messages to retrieve information from the station, the ability to configure the station is not in its scope. The proposed Task Group will also create an Access Port Management Information Base (AP MIB).
IEEE 802.11w	Improve the security of some or all IEEE 802.11 management frames by defining enhancements such as data integrity, data origin authenticity, replay protection and data confidentiality.
IEEE 802.11x	Not to be used by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group for inclusion into the published standard
IEEE 802.11y	Standardized the mechanisms required to allow shared 802.11 operation with other users in the 3650-3700 MHz band in the USA. Likely required mechanisms include: Specification of new regulatory classes (extending 802.11j), Sensing of other transmitters (extending 802.11a), Transmit Power Control (extending 802.11h) and Dynamic Frequency Selection (extending 802.11h).
IEEE 802.11z	Defines a new DLS mechanism which: a) Does not require access point upgrades (i.e. supports DLS operation with the non-DLS capable access points), b) Which supports power save mode (when associated with either DLS or non-DLS capable access points), and c) Continues to allow operation of DLS in the presence of existing DLS capable access points
IEEE 802.11aa	Specifies a standard for robust audio video stream transport over 802.11 for consumer/enterprise applications.

Hackintosh - Dell Mini 9

2009-04-15T07:55:00.001-07:00

As a little 'project' - I ordered a little Dell Mini 9 - Netbook computer. Then proceeded to load a purchased licensed copy of Apple Macintosh OSX 10.5.6 on the little guy!The Dell Mini is a cute little netbook with the following specs. I ordered a copy with

2GB RAM
Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU
64GB SSD (Solid State Drive)
Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024 pixels x 600 pixels)
802.11g WiFi Card
10/100 Ethernet
Bluetooth
3 - USB 2.0 Ports
Built-in Webcam
Ubuntu 8.04 OS
Only 2.3 lbs

I got the extra RAM and big SSD drive so this would be fast enough and have enough HD space to be useful as a 'DVD Player' as well as do most of the things I do with my larger Macbook 13".

Following the directions and processes from this web site - I was able to use a couple of USB drives to copy, install, and then configure this to work just like my Macbook.

After loading the applications, I setup the Sync to my Mobile Me account, and thus the little guy is now working just like my main machine. A nice 'spare' Macintosh. Running Mail, Firefox, MS Office, iTunes, iPhoto, Things, Tweetdeck, and the AT&T 3G connection as well.

It's about 1/2 the size of my Macbook 13" Unibody laptop

I'm pretty proud of myself in getting a totally different OS loaded on this Dell. It works great!

OK - now for the things that I miss.

the keyboard is a bit cramped and the ' key is in a weird place.
two finger right click - doesn't work, so I have to go back to the right clicker, or use the CTRL Click
two finger scrolling - not available (bummer)
Screen is only 1024 x 600...

Sometimes when screens need more vertical screen-space, I use a program called 'Scale Resolution' to go to a 80% view, but that is very seldom. Additionally I use a Bluetooth mouse and all's good.

I highly recommend this - go get one!

How to 'Cheat' on a Survey - Don't Be A Victim!

2009-04-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Because of the flexibility and reporting capabilities built into most site survey applications, individuals can either knowingly, or accidentally, use these features to ‘Cheat’ and make survey data look different than it really is.

OK, I understand the word ‘Cheat’ is a pejorative, and connotes some sort of blatant attempt to break some rules or misrepresent. Many individuals just didn’t know any better when they applied these methods in their survey reporting. I’m not implying that these techniques suggest any malfeasance, only ignorance.

As a customer, the best protection against this type of deception is to request not only the paper or PDF report, but the actual data files so you can review and analyze the data directly yourself.

Below are some of the techniques that allow one to modify and present survey data to reflect whatever you might desire.

Be wary of using any of these techniques on your own analysis or in reviewing data presented by other third parties.

Method 1 – Incorrect Signal Propagation Value

One of the easiest ways to save money and time in the data-gathering phase of an RF site survey is to minimize the number of actual data points collected.

It is possible to use site survey software to interpolate a small number of data points and produce a complete ‘Heat Map’ of an entire building. The software and algorithms will usually allow for this. Just because the software can try and compensate for a poorly conducted survey doesn’t mean you should accept it.

A telltale sign this is being done is to look at the outside ‘arc’ of coverage. A tight Signal Propagation Assessment (SPA) value will have a tight arc, a large SPA or ‘guess range’ will have a very wide, almost flat, arc. Of course, if you have the actual survey data, you can see what the Signal Propagation Assessment value is set to.

This technique is used to ‘mask’ a survey with not enough data points and/or a survey that is showing ‘white’ areas on the floor plan. White does not mean there isn’t RF coverage; it just means there isn’t any data to support the heat map ‘painter’ to color that area.

I suggest you always go with an SPA no larger than that suggested by the survey application’s default values for the type of building you are surveying.

Method 2 – Using ‘Auto Contrast’

When configuring AirMagnet Survey, as an example of a site survey application, you can set the color adjustment to a variety of color palettes. Some of these are easier to see than others.

Note: Some persons with color-blindness have a hard time with the ‘smooth’ color gradients. There is one specific color option that is easier for them to see. But I find this very difficult for me to interpret because of the high-contrast changes.

One of the options in the Color Configuration is to set the ‘Auto Contrast Adjustment’ checkbox. Normally, the top of the color bar is always the same color, and the bottom is always its same color. Thus the middle is also always the same color. Thus a -65dBm is always represented by the same color on screen and in reports.

If you turn on ‘Auto Contrast Adjustment’ the top and bottom colors ‘move’ as you raise or lower the limits. Thus you can make -65dBm appear as any color you’d like.

This is a nice ‘feature’ is you already have a color palette and expectation; you can make AirMagnet Survey match to your expectations. But, in the wrong hands this one tool allows one to make any survey look good or bad. Any color can mean any dB!

The telltale sign this is being used is when the bottom of the color palette, like red for example is NOT showing for -100dB, something higher on the scale.

I have seen some companies actually use this technique to ‘standardize’ their reports so the same colors always mean the same dBm. Unless you are closely attuned to their legend, you’ll be misled on the signal strengths.

I recommend locking on a single color palette, turning off Auto Contrast Adjustment and having consistent universal colors on all your surveys. Green will always mean the same thing; Blue always the same, etc.

Method 3 – Use of ‘Banded’ Color Schemes

Another one of the many Color options typically available is ‘banded colors’. The use of this color option is sometimes applied to show what is ‘acceptable’ or not. Above a certain color band is approved, and below is unacceptable.

The problem with this technique is that there is often only a single dB difference between the color bands. So the strong, high-contrast line between acceptable and unacceptable is only 1 dB… This mis-represents the actual data and how close the subtle changes in RF are.

Smooth color palettes represent these slight changes in RF in a more representative fashion.

Method 4 – Access Points Where No Data Exists

Site survey software and algorithms often compensate for a poorly collected survey by generating ‘phantom’ data based on where an end-user ‘places’ and access point on the survey screen.

It is easy and possible for accidents to take place and an access point is placed not where it is in real life, but where you’d like it to be. Or the opposite, one can place an access point where it is in the real world, but not have any data collection points near that location.

In either case, the calculated and interpolated data is manipulated by the site survey software to generate RF data to support in placement location and power setting of the Access Point in question.

If your data collection is accurate and has followed all of the survey rules, there should be no need to process the data with this access point placement. If you do need the graphic of the access point on the screen, just place it without processing the data. (Display Only) When used incorrectly, the results show much stronger signals around the access point than were actually collected during the survey.

Note: If you show the resulting screen with placed-and-processed access points using the 3D display option you’ll easily see these ‘phantom’ results. I call it the ‘Circus Tent Syndrome’ – each access point has a little volcano looking mountain directly around its center point.

If there are no data capture points (red dots or blue dots) near an access point, but it shows very strong signal, then someone has mis-used this feature.

Method 5 – One-Sided Guesses

No ‘One Way Guesses’. This happens when you don’t capture on both sides of what you care about. If you take one data capture point on the inside perimeter of your building, and don’t also take one on the outside, then the site survey application doesn’t know anything about the ‘thickness’ (in RF Attenuation) of the exterior wall. It ‘learns’ this by having data captures on both sides of the wall.

If your survey was more ‘inside out’ the data processing algorithms must assume there is no walls, and uses a free-space-loss calculation. In the absence of better data (both sides of what you care about) – free-space-loss is all the software has to go on.

If you look at your survey results and there is heat map information, but you can see a wall between where the data point was collected, and a location where you ‘care’ – the resulting heat map will be incorrect.

Method 6 – Not Enough Data Points

This is usually the sign of a ‘lazy’ survey. Not only does the fact there is not enough data points lower the accuracy of the survey, more importantly it usually also comes with an increase in the Signal Propagation Assessment value to offset the lack of data to start with.

If the SPA is set to 5m, then there needs to be a red dot or a blue dot every 5m. Simple. More dots is fine, but fewer dots than your SPA will result in white spaces showing up on the floor plan. Then you might be tempted to increase the SPA in order to ‘hide’ these white spots.

Method 7 – Un-calibrated Survey

When you start a new site survey project, you are given the option to enter the drawing’s dimensions (not the building’s dimensions, but the drawing’s dimensions). If you leave it blank, (normal) some survey applications, such as AirMagnet Survey, will calibrate your drawing to a square 120’ x 120’. This will be your telltale sign you have NOT calibrated yet.

Calibration should be the first thing you do after starting a new project. If you forget, and go about your survey collecting data – it is very difficult, if not impossible to accurately adjust all the data to the new calibration after the fact. So, if you see a 120’ x 120’ in the site dimensions you have a survey that is un-calibrated!

In AirMagnet Survey in particular, above the upper right corner of your drawing there is a little dimension line. This is NOT the dimension line of your building, but what AirMagnet is using. Just because you have one there does not mean your drawing is calibrated.

Also, if you ever see a floor plan that looks a bit ‘off’ – like the X or Y axis is skewed – this is also a telltale sign you have an un-calibrated drawing.

Method 8 – PDF or JPEG Only

As a customer, you should request the PDF report, possibly the survey graphics in JPG format, but most importantly are the actual survey files. This way you can do your own analysis.

Another means of mis-representation is to not include the walking paths and data collection points. This, coupled with a high SPA (Guess Range), can be a sign the presented survey data is far too optimistic.

To properly analyze the survey data, you need to know where the data was collected and what data has been interpolated.

Don’t settle for just a report; require the data files along with the reports.

Method 9 – Showing Only the Results for a Single SSID

When analyzing survey data, it is very sometimes appropriate to include ONLY a specific SSID in the data set. In fact, this is the preferred method when analyzing for a (STA’s) device’s specific design requirements.

But, when doing analysis on interference (collision domains), ALL RF signals and access points should be included. These ‘other’ devices still have an effect on the collision domains of ‘your’ access points and clients (STAs).

The subset of collected data you are analyzing is important. Sometimes you need to look at ALL the data, and other times just the SSIDs you care about.

Conclusions

Whether it’s on purpose, or merely an oversight, the use of any of these aforementioned methods may present site survey data in an inaccurate light.

Be forewarned and prepared to make an accurate evaluation of the survey data presented to you.

If you are the one presenting Survey Data... be sure to take an accurate survey (following all seven rules) and don't use any of the above techniques. You don't want to be a 'cheater' do you?

Again another adage; Just because the software allows you to manipulate the presentation of the data doesn’t mean you should!

Keith Parsons, CWNE #3
The WLAN Iconoclast
Keith at inpnet.org
April 4th, 2009
Orem, UT, USA

Additional Articles for Supporting WLAN Site Surveys
- 7 Rules for Accurate Site Surveys
- How to 'Cheat' On A Survey - Don't be a Victim
- How to Properly Analyze Survey Data
- The Fallacy of Channel Overlap
- Predictive Survey vs Onsite Survey - What's the Big Deal?
- How to 'Spec' your Network's Physical Layer
- Want, Don't Want, Don't Care - Meeting Design Specs
- The Truth about SNR - Where Did that 'N' Come From Anyway?
- What is an Access Point Anyway - Hub, Bridge, Switch or Router?
- Passive vs Active - What's All the Fuss About
- The False God of dB
- Meeting All Device Design Parameters

The Fallacy of Channel Overlap

2009-04-15T07:47:00.002-07:00

We’ve all seen the design specs calling for Access Point overlap of some 15% to 30% depending on who’s talking. I think this is just pure *&^#@...

If you can not measure it… then don’t use it in your design spec!

Someone telling you, “I’ll know it when I see it” just isn’t good enough. We need to be able to PROVE or VERIFY that our wireless networks meet a design specification.

Calculating Overlap

Might I suggest that no one has calculated this ‘overlap’ properly? I, for one, don’t have the math skills necessary to do it properly.

Here’s an example (we’ll start out with an easy one)

This picture is obviously represents 0% overlap or no overlap at all.

Ok, now for a bit harder…

What is the overlap here?

Don’t jump right to your foregone conclusion… Let’s think about it first…

This is:

50% overlap of Diameter

100% overlap of Radius

29% overlap of Circumference

23% overlap of Area

The calculation to get the Diameter and Radius were pretty much brain-dead easy… but the other two, not so much…

Here’s just the example for the calculation of area when two circles intersect.

With the following associated formula:

Getting to Reality

Are telling me you do this calculation for each and every access point where it intersects with another one of your access points in your WLAN designs? I think not.

Not to mention, access points radiation patterns are never ‘really’ circles but normally look more like amoebas or starburst type patterns… do you even know how to start calculating those areas’ overlap?

So again, If you can’t measure it, then don’t include it in your design specs!

What you CAN calculate, and SHOULD be using, is the effect of overlap on individual clients. You can use this calculation to ‘prove’ or ‘verify’ that your WLAN design is meeting the actual design spec of your specific STA (device).

In AirMagnet Survey, this is found in AirWise and set the requirement for 2 access points at say -67dBm.

It’s pretty easy really. The reason we have this ‘overlap’ thing is to make sure the STA’s have adequate duplicate coverage. In other words, each STA needs to see at least one access point at a specific RSSI, and a ‘backup’ or secondary access point at a different RSSI.

Some vendors spec the same for both the primary and secondary – like some VoIP phones want to see a primary at -67dBm and a secondary also at -67dBm – or in other words – two at -67dBm.

Now this we can easily measure!

Just complete a passive survey with your favorite tool of choice and ask the system to show where in your network coverage areas you see TWO access points with a signal greater than -67dBm.

No more trying to guess on percent overlaps, no more making up some ‘eyeball’ answer. Just a plain and simple answer to the question –

Do I have adequate coverage to meet the design specifications of my client (STA) devices?

By the way – you’ll need to do a survey following all the rules of proper surveying. Of course, you always follow the rules, right?

Conclusions

Don’t pretend to be able to calculate access point coverage overlaps using a graphic based on area. Look at this from the client’s point of view, and make sure you have the correct RF everywhere to meet the ‘backup’ needs of the clients.

Keith Parsons, CWNE #3
The WLAN Iconoclast
Keith at inpnet.org
March 28th, 2009
Orem, UT, USA

Additional Articles for Supporting WLAN Site Surveys
- 7 Rules for Accurate Site Surveys
- How to 'Cheat' On A Survey - Don't be a Victim
- How to Properly Analyze Survey Data
- The Fallacy of Channel Overlap
- Predictive Survey vs Onsite Survey - What's the Big Deal?
- How to 'Spec' your Network's Physical Layer
- Want, Don't Want, Don't Care - Meeting Design Specs
- The Truth about SNR - Where Did that 'N' Come From Anyway?
- What is an Access Point Anyway - Hub, Bridge, Switch or Router?
- Passive vs Active - What's All the Fuss About?
- The False God of dB
- Meeting All Device Design Parameters

iPhone Apps for Wireless LAN Professionals

2009-04-15T07:47:00.001-07:00

Below is a list of the Apps I use on my iPhone to help me work on Wireless LANs.

WiFiFoFum a quick easy way to see the local WLANs with channel, signal strength and security. It also has one of those 'weird' radar views - totally useless, it has no actual info on direction, only simple RSSI.
WiFiTrack Lists local WLANs by Open vs Locked. Includes Signal, Channel, and type of encryption, ie. WPA2/Radius... Clicking on an AP will also give you the MAC address and if the AP is broadcasting SSID. This one also allows you to connect to a new AP directly from the App.
Network Utility This is not a WiFi specific tool, but it does allow you to Ping, Scan IP Ports, GeoIP Lookup, Whois Query. In addition, you can use it to find your Internal and External IP Addresses.
iNetInfo A quick way to see your IP Address, Hostname, MAC, Default Gateway, DNS.
Snap This one will scan your local subnet and report on all the devices it can 'see'. Not just the APs, but all the clients on your subnet. Clicking on a seen device give you it's IP, MAC, OUI and if it answers a PING. You can then do a scan for supported services on that specific device. Kind of fun to use to see what is OPEN around you.
Bytes A binary calculator with a great set of tools for doing a variety of binary and bit-level manipulation on top of Unit conversion and a quick reference for 2 to the x power results.
GPS Utility I use this tool to convert Lat/Long specs from Minutes/Seconds to decimal. (AirMagnet Survey using an outdoor GPS survey needs decimal, and most mapping software uses minutes/seconds)
I really wish someone would combine all of these Apps into a single program that does everything.

Anyone else find some other useful App to add to my iPhone?

What's Your Favorite App?

Seven Rules for Accurate Site Surveys

2009-03-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Seven Rules for Accurate Site Surveys

The process of gathering appropriate and accurate data during a Site Survey is as simple as following a few easy rules.

Break the rules, however, and you could end up with totally useless – but colorful – Heat Maps that have no value to your organization.

These rules have been gleaned through hundreds of site surveys and through teaching over hundreds networking professionals how to use Site Survey products.

Rule 1 – Calibrate Your Drawing Properly

Setting the underlying ‘grid’ is critical. If you don’t accurately calibrate the drawing to reflect the reality of the actual building, with the drawing on your screen – all your data will be virtually worthless. This is #1 in the list because it is the most important step, and you should always do it correctly as soon as you open a new project.

Do not use a doorway as your ‘baseline’ to calibrate from. Use a longer dimension, as long as you can measure. I use a Laser measuring device that works out to 50m or so. Measuring wheels, long tape measures, laser, or sonar all work; just try to find the longest edge. You only need to have one dimension to accurately calibrate a drawing that comes to you with the correct aspect ratio.

Better yet, have the CAD folks drop a Dimension Line underneath the actual building on the drawing to give you an even more accurate line to calibrate against.

Note: While we’re on the subject of the drawing, simplify your drawings as much as possible, using only black and white. ‘Flatten’ the drawing down to just the simple floor plan, no need for furniture, plants, where the jacks are located. Just simple black on white walls in your drawing is best

Rule 2 – Set the Channel Scan to the Correct Frequencies

Scan ONLY the channels you want, and don’t scan the channels you don’t want. This sounds simple… but making a mistake here can cost you greatly in the accuracy of the post survey data. If you ‘accidentally’ set it to scan ALL channels (over 200 are available to scan) – even at only 250 ms each (1/4 second) the system will nearly a minute of time to return back to the starting channel. (and you can walk quite a long way in a minute!)

I recommend setting the scan channels to the 11 (or 13) base 2.4 GHz channels and the 5 GHz channels for your regulatory domain (in the US this can be the 4 Indoor Only, plus the 4 Indoor or outdoor channels) and do a passive survey of the outside perimeter of your building first.

This will give you a nice capture of your neighbors, as well as your ‘leaking’ RF. But better yet – it will give you a nice set of channels to concentrate on when moving indoors to do the real Site Surveys.

Perhaps even do two survey walks, one for 2.4 GHz and one for 5 GHz channels. That, or watch the bottom left corner of your survey screen and don’t move to the next data capture point until the channel scan marker returns back to ‘1’.

Scan what you want, and don’t scan what you don’t want!

Rule 3 – Set Your Guess Range Properly

This goes by the more professional term ‘Signal Propagation Assessment’ – but it basically means how far do you want your Site Survey application to ‘guess’ (Interpolate) in between your captured data points.

A really accurate survey would set this down to one meter. But the problem there would be that you’d have to go and click on every single meter of space in your building. Accurate yes, but practical, no.

Or the opposite, go to the center of your building and take a single data snapshot… then set the Guess Range to 50 meters… This one is easy and quick, but not accurate at all.

Reality is somewhere in between. Most survey applications have a couple of pre-defined options for you. You do not have to use these pre-defined Signal Propagation Assessment (SPA) numbers. Use what you think appropriate for your site; the smaller the better. It will force you to take more data points and thus get more accuracy.

For most indoor buildings, I like about a 5m Signal Propagation Assessment value.

Rule 4 – Set Appropriate ‘Snap Rate’ For Your Situation

The automatic snap rate is based on a time. You set the number of seconds when your survey application will take an extra ‘snapshot’ of your RF information. Too fast and you’ll get ‘blue lines’ with too much information and slow down your processing. Too few and your snaps will be too spread out. (Think of Goldilocks… just right…)

If you are doing a Manual (red-dot-only) survey – be sure to take a snapshot no further than what your SPA is set to. So if you set your ‘Guess Range’ or SPA at 5m, you must take a snapshot (click) at least every 5m.

Rule 5 – Capture on Both Sides of What You Care About

No ‘One Way Guesses’. This happens when you don’t capture on both sides of what you care about. If you take one data capture point on the inside perimeter of your building, and don’t also take one on the outside, then your survey application won’t know anything about the ‘thickness’ (in RF Attenuation) of the exterior wall. It ‘learns’ this by having data captures on both sides of the wall.

If you don’t care about the RF leaking outside, then this is fine. But if you do care about some area, whether it is inside or outside, you must do data captures on both sides.

Thus another corollary to this rule – Capture Outside In, Not Inside Out. Capture on the perimeters of the rooms you want to prove coverage – not one single shot from the center of each room.

One additional part to this rule; If you have ‘special’ places you need to be real sure about – then take extra data captures at those locations, ie. CEO’s desk, Board Room, etc.

Rule 6 – Click Accurately

You don’t actually walk through walls, walk on water, or fly when you are doing a Site Survey – don’t have your data look like you did or your credibility will be shot.

Prepare your walking paths in advance. You might even put little numbers on your drawing before you import it with the locations where you want to click (capture data) – and then you’ll just have to play ‘connect the dots’ with your feet later during the survey.

The old adage, Fail to Plan means Plan to Fail… holds true in this respect. I’ve seen many people who get lost, or get stuck down the end of a hallway and don’t seem to know what to do with the Survey, or where to go next. Preparation is key on this point.

If you can’t easily find yourself on the floor plan – it is a skill that can be practiced you know – then work on it until you are comfortable moving around in three-dimensional space.

When you are doing an AirMagnet Survey ‘manual’ survey, with red dots only, the dots are connected with dashed lines. These dashed lines, without blue dots, can go through walls, walk on water, and fly… it’s the autosnap blue dots we worry about.

Note: Here’s a trick to use while doing a survey. While standing still at the end of one data capture point, place your mouse cursor at the next place you plan on stopping, then start walking. When you arrive at the designated point, you only need to ‘click’ and the data point is collected right under where the cursor was waiting.

Anytime you can see a specific marking on a blueprint or floor plan, add a click for accuracy. Of course, you could walk the entire hall and your survey application would place all the data points as soon as you finished the length of the hall. But accuracy improves as you have accurate intermediate click points.

If you don’t go to all the locations and click accurately, you’ll be tempted to increase your SPA to ‘fill in’ the missing data points. (no one likes to see white spots on their heat maps).

Rule 7 – Always, Always Do A Passive Survey

You might have a reason to also do an Active Survey, (see Passive vs. Active Surveys article) but you ALWAYS must do a Passive Survey on the entire building you care about. I’d also recommend doing a Passive Survey on the exterior of the building as well.

A Passive Survey can give you information on your neighbors, others, and all of your own devices.

This is especially important for determining RF interference. If you don’t have neighbor information in your Active Survey, you can easily miss the interference on specific frequencies. Additionally, this can show you where your ‘collision domains’ are.

In addition to these rules that pertain to Passive Surveys, Active Surveys have some rules of their own.

Additional Rules for Active Surveys

Capture Data from ALL Access Points
It is quite easy to do an active survey and only get data on a subset of your Access Points. You can merge this with a Passive Survey data set and end up with what looks like an accurate survey, but it is NOT. You need to have ALL Access Points included in your Active Survey for accurate representation of your RF WLAN environment.

Capture To The Edge
When capturing Active Survey data from an Access Point, it is easy to not go to the edge of the coverage area… it’s so far to walk – so we might stop as soon as we can see the coverage meets some design goal, like -65dBm. But this is where the failure lies. The easiest requirement to design for a WLAN is RF Coverage, but it is only the first of many requirements (see False God of dB article). The hard thing to deal with is the interference, and you’ll only learn about this if you capture data to the edge of each Access Point’s coverage area. (yes, I know this is hard and expensive to do!)

Do NOT Set Roaming To Be Too Aggressive
I understand you may have the great power to over-ride the WLAN NIC’s roaming decision process with your survey application’s roaming options feature. This makes surveying much faster and easier. Don’t succumb to the temptation! If you set the Roaming Option to only connect at 54, 48, and 36 data rates, then your data will only show 54, 48, and 36 data rates. Since you didn’t capture the other data rate information, your report won’t show it to you.

In reality, your client cards will roam according to their own algorithms and will downgrade to whatever data rates are supported in the Access Points.

And another adage that should always be remembered with respect to wireless LANs – just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.

De-Skew Data In Sticky Situations
Sometimes when taking an Active Survey the data gets a bit ‘skewed’ in the direction of travel: away from the access points. If this is the case you’ll need to do two Active Surveys for each access point, one clock-wise and one counter-clockwise and then merge those together to ‘de-skew’ the stickiness.

Merge All Actives Before Merging With Passive
Just like it says.

If You Don’t Do Active Surveys Right – Don’t Do Active Surveys At All
If you do Active Surveys wrong, you’ll end up with a less-accurate and ‘worse’ data set than not doing any Actives at all.

Conclusions

Obey these rules or else… Or else the data you capture will be suspect at best, and totally useless at worst.

Also – don’t let your sub-contractors break the rules or ‘cheat’ on you either. Check out the How to 'Cheat' Using Survey - Don't be a Victim article.

Keith Parsons, CWNE #3

The WLAN Iconoclast
Keith at inpnet.org
March 21st, 2009
Orem, UT, USA

Additional Articles for Supporting WLAN Site Surveys
- 7 Rules for Accurate Site Surveys
- How to 'Cheat' On A Survey - Don't be a Victim
- How to Properly Analyze Survey Data
- The Fallacy of Channel Overlap
- Predictive Survey vs. Onsite Survey - What's the Big Deal?
- How to 'Spec' your Network's Physical Layer
- Want, Don't Want, Don't Care - Meeting Design Specs
- The Truth about SNR - Where Did that 'N' Come From Anyway?
- What is an Access Point Anyway - Hub, Bridge, Switch or Router?
- Passive vs. Active - What's All the Fuss About
- The False God of dB
- Meeting All Device Design Parameters

Why this blog

2009-03-09T08:19:00.001-07:00

I've been traveling around the world consulting and teaching Wireless Networking for the past 7 years or so. In those travels I've met with, consulted, taught, and enjoyed my time with hundreds of folks involved in the Wireless LAN industry.

I've also learned many things about Wireless Networks... many of these are a bit 'contrarian' to the generally accepted views.

This blog is a 'home' for those views.

Keith Parsons
Managing Director
Institute for Network Professionals
HOT Labs

WLAN Iconoclast

2009-03-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

WLAN
noun
a local area network that uses high frequency radio signals to transmit and receive data over distances of a few hundred feet; uses ethernet protocol [syn: wireless local area network]

i⋅con⋅o⋅clast

–noun

1.	a breaker or destroyer of images, esp. those set up for religious veneration.

2.	a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

Synonyms:
2. nonconformist, rebel, dissenter, radical.

Review of Nokia N800 for Wireless LANs

2007-04-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

In 2007 Nokia released an updated version of their popular Nokia N770 Internet Tablet. The N800 excels at being a small, light-weight, device capable of WiFi as well as Bluetooth access to the Internet.

I could go on an on about how this little device has changed how we access the Internet in our home. Instead of lugging around laptops, we have a couple of N800s that the kids access for Internet queries, (just what High School did ‘King James’ go to – while watching the playoffs), to googling, to streaming music, conducting mulit-user IM sessions, to just about anything you’d want to use the Internet for – but in a very small package.

The screen resolution is amazing! If the iPhone has this screen, I’ll be in line to buy one. Even though I’m so old now I have to use bi-focals to read the small stuff – I’m comfortable with the N800’s little screen – the resolution makes it possible to fit so much in a little package.

But for the interest of this Blog I’ll move on to the use of the N800 in a wireless analysis mode.

I saw an announcement for a new piece of wireless security gear – called a Silica. This software/hardware bundle puts the intelligent penetration attacks and exploits of Immunity’s Canvas software in a small Nokia. It looked WAY COOL and I *wanted* to have one. But the $3,600 cost felt a bit prohibitive.

I’ve since had a chance to play with a Silica – and was suitably impressed – I still haven’t parted with the $3,600 but here’s a bit of a review of the tool.

This is a customized version of the Canvas tool – shoehorned into this small form-factor Linux device (Nokia N800) It is VERY easy to use. Just turn it on and click the start scan…

It will run through a series of scans of the local wireless networks, then attempt to penetrate using a variety of currently known exploits to find and exploit holes in your wireless LAN. It’s like having a little team of hackers sitting in you hand.

I’ve found it to be easy to run with the Nokia in your pocket. Very unobtrusive! – but in reality it takes up to 20-25 minutes to do a full attack against a single AP. Not like while doing a real penetration test you’ll have an excuse to ‘hang around’ a specific area waiting for the attack to finish. (Though you could easily hide the device and come back to pick it up later – but that $3,600 cost will probably make you think twice about leaving it outside of your view)

The reports it gives are in HTML format – you can just e-mail them to yourself, or copy them off onto the SD cards used by the N800

It does a pretty cool thing when attacking a MAC-Filtered AP – it automatically finds an associated STA and spoofs it MAC address to get associated.

It doesn’t do ANY WEP Cracking or WPA cracking, or anything but the exploits that are in Canvas.

Ok, now for the less expensive, yet still fun stuff using a Nokia N800. As part of our Wireless LAN Security Assessment Toolkit course development. We came across the N800s, fell in love with them, then re-arranged and re-wrote many of our course lab exercises to specifically use the N800s. We added wVoIP, video over IP, as well as catching IM traffic, web browsing, and other conversations sent over wireless to use the N800 as our client of choice when ‘watching’ the open Wireless LANs and re-constructing conversations via packet capture.

Then we thought, “is there anything more we can use the N800s for”?

Since the N800 is just a little Linux computer… we added SSH, Terminal Shell, VNC, FTP, etc. to the system. Then once we got that running, it was a quick couple of steps to get Kismet and Metasploit running!

So just using Open Source software we were able to take the little $400 Nokia N800 and make it ‘like’ a Silica!

Just slip this little ‘bad boy’ in your pocket running kismet and go WarWalking to get all the APs in your area, including finding ‘hidden’ SSIDs. Or, start Metasploit and let ‘r rip – attempting whatever known exploits are available for Metasploit.

(By the way – this is NOT a fast device for Metasploit – but Way Cool to have running)

On the other hand – it makes a great Kismet platform!

We’ve got ours running the classroom with GoogleTalk and Gizmo Project for wVoIP and IM – but you have to have a Wifi access to use it, so this wont’ take the place of your cell phone. (It is possible to pair this device via Bluetooth to a cell phone running G3 speeds – but the easy way is with Wifi)

One more thing that is just *fun* to use the Nokia N800 and Wireless LANs – and I found this out by accident. I was testing in our offices a new access point – so I had the N800 associate to this new AP and started a ‘Hitcast’ session listening to some Internet Radio station. I kind of liked the station and so put the ‘radio’ in my pocket so I could have some tunes with me as I finished up writing up the analysis of this new AP. I checked my watch and realized the mail would have arrived, so I went out to the mailbox – down a long flight of stairs, outside the steel-sided building my office is in, and across the parking lot to the community mailbox to check the mail.

It wasn’t until I was heading back up the stairs and a co-worker commented on my choice of music that I noticed this little wonder continued to stream music the entire way. Thus was born the Audio Site Survey! Just associate, then walk till the music drops… Simple easy and leaves your hands free to work on other things while doing a fairly decent site survey. Cool!

Enjoy!

Keith Parsons - Managing Director

Institute for Network Professionals