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Wi-Fi Smartphone Use Growing Rapidly

By Michelle Megna

As smartphone sales continue to grow, Wi-Fi is emerging as an integral component of the lucrative mobile market, with a recent study showing a triple-digit spike in consumers using the wireless technology to access the Internet on their handsets.

In its first “Wireless Census,” networking firm Meraki reported that the overall number of smartphones using its access points for hotspots quadrupled over the past year.

New sales figures out Wednesday from NPD Group also help quantify the red-hot smartphone market. Smartphones accounted for 28 percent of all handset sales in the U.S in the second-quarter, a whopping 47 percent increase in the category’s market share since the same period last year, the research firm reported. Twenty percent of those devices sported Wi-Fi connectivity.

Meraki’s report highlighted the staggering increases in the number of Apple devices connecting to its Wi-Fi access points.

The census compared activity seen by a single set of randomly selected Meraki wireless access points in North America in 2008 and 2009 in order to understand macro-level traffic and end-user device trends.

Apple devices, including laptops, iPhones, and iPods, grew by 221 percent. They now represent 32 percent of all the devices seen by this set of Meraki access points in North America, compared to just 14 percent in 2008.

The number of Research In Motion devices accessing Meraki’s Wi-Fi network surged by 419 percent from 2008 to 2009, while Nokia devices increased by 114 percent. In 2008, RIM devices represented just 2 percent of all devices observed, but climbed to 8 percent this year. In 2008 and 2009, Nokia represented 1 percent and 2 percent of all devices, respectively.

As smartphones post huge gains, the number of Intel-based devices using Wi-Fi, primarily laptops, declined 11 percent, suggesting that users are increasingly opting for handsets over portable computers to access the Internet on the go.

“It’s unambiguous that more people are using more devices to access the Internet via Wi-Fi than ever before,” Meraki CEO Sanjit Biswas said in a statement. “But the trends identified by the census also reveal a lot about the devices people prefer and are gravitating towards. The growth in devices overall is impressive, but the growth for Apple, Nokia, and RIM devices is stunning. It paints a vivid picture about how people now access the Internet, and the trends we can expect for years to come.”

Meraki’s findings echo recent reports studying the connection between Wi-Fi and smartphones. ABI Research found that 74 percent of people who have Wi-Fi on their smartphone use it, and 77 percent say they want Wi-Fi on their handset when they make their next purchase.

The increased Wi-Fi usage on smartphones comes as carriers try to maintain their overtaxed 3G networks straining under the heavy data traffic.

As a result, some carriers are scooping up Wi-Fi companies to expand their hotspot coverage in an effort to offload heavy data users to these wireless networks.

Verizon, for instance, announced in July that it would partner with Wi-Fi firm Boingo Wireless that will allow the carrier’s broadband customers to use Boingo hotspots.

Similarly, AT&T, the exclusive operator for the iPhone, purchased Wayport in November 2008.

Also highlighting the role of Wi-Fi in the mobile market is the support for auto-authentication in the iPhone’s software, OS 3.0, designed to let users seamlessly switch from the AT&T 3G network to hotspots without having to manually enter any information.

Those same benefits also apply to the enterprise, as more workers use their smartphones for business, according to a whitepaper on the topic by iPass, a mobile enterprise firm with Wi-Fi services. Spotty coverage issues with 3G, international roaming charges and choking 3G networks are also factors for companies managing mobile services.

Wi-Fi also plays another role in the complex relationship among handset makers, developers, and carriers–that of the workaround. When applications are released that are seen to compete with the carrier’s network or duplicate the phone’s functionality, access is sometimes limited to Wi-Fi, as was the case with the Skype for the iPhone.

With the mobile market fueling Wi-Fi usage, it’s no surprise that the overall Wi-Fi sector is slated for significant increases. Wi-Fi chipset shipments will total more 100 million just for smartphones this year, while Wi-Fi chipset vendors will ship 1 billion units in 2011, according to a market forecast issued yesterday from ABI Research.

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com.

New Wi-Fi Technology Using White Spaces

by John Messina

Prior to the analog-to-digital TV conversion, earlier this year, TV stations broadcast over lower frequencies to carry the signal longer distances. With the ongoing transition from analog to digital broadcasts, more unused frequencies are opening up. By utilizing these lower frequencies it would now be possible to provide broadband Internet access in rural areas thereby completing their Wi-Fi network.

The spectrum between 512 megahertz and 698 megahertz that was originally used for analog TV channels 21 to 51, offers a longer range than conventional Wi-Fi, networks that operate at 2.4 gigahertz.

In November of 2008 the FCC ruled that companies could transmit over white spaces but also gave them strict requirements that they must not interfere with existing broadcasts, both from TV stations and from other wireless devices that operate within the same spectrum.

Microsoft researchers are testing a new protocol, called White Fi, in their Redmond campus that uses UHF white spaces. The protocol would adaptively configure itself to operate in the most efficient part of the available white spaces.

A White Spaces Coalition group has been formed which consists of eight large technology companies that plan to deliver high speed broadband internet access in unused television frequencies between 54-698 MHz. The coalition expects speeds of 80 Mbps and above, and 400 to 800 Mbps for white space short-range networking.

Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed

By DAVID POGUE

Someday, we’ll tell our grandchildren how we had to drive around town looking for a coffee shop when we needed to get online, and they’ll laugh their heads off. Every building in America has running water, electricity and ventilation; what’s the holdup on universal wireless Internet?

Getting online isn’t impossible, but today’s options are deeply flawed. Most of them involve sitting rooted in one spot — in the coffee shop or library, for example. (Sadly, the days when cities were blanketed by free Wi-Fi signals leaking from people’s apartments are over; they all require passwords these days.)

If you want to get online while you’re on the move, in fact, you’ve had only one option: buy one of those $60-a-month cellular modems from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile or AT&T. The speed isn’t exactly cable-modem speed, but it’s close enough. You can get a card-slot version, which has a nasty little antenna protuberance, or a U.S.B.-stick version, which cries out to be snapped off by a passing flight attendant’s beverage cart.

A few laptops have this cellular modem built in, which is less awkward but still drains the battery with gusto.

But imagine if you could get online anywhere you liked — in a taxi, on the beach, in a hotel with disgustingly overpriced Wi-Fi — without messing around with cellular modems. What if you had a personal Wi-Fi bubble, a private hot spot, that followed you everywhere you go?

Incredibly, there is such a thing. It’s the Novatel MiFi 2200, available from Verizon starting in mid-May ($100 with two-year contract, after rebate). It’s a little wisp of a thing, like a triple-thick credit card. It has one power button, one status light and a swappable battery that looks like the one in a cellphone. When you turn on your MiFi and wait 30 seconds, it provides a personal, portable, powerful, password-protected wireless hot spot.

The MiFi gets its Internet signal the same way those cellular modems do — in this case, from Verizon’s excellent 3G (high-speed) cellular data network. If you just want to do e-mail and the Web, you pay $40 a month for the service (250 megabytes of data transfer, 10 cents a megabyte above that). If you watch videos and shuttle a lot of big files, opt for the $60 plan (5 gigabytes). And if you don’t travel incessantly, the best deal may be the one-day pass: $15 for 24 hours, only when you need it. In that case, the MiFi itself costs $270.

In essence, the MiFi converts that cellular Internet signal into an umbrella of Wi-Fi coverage that up to five people can share. (The speed suffers if all five are doing heavy downloads at once, but that’s a rarity.)

Cellular wireless routers, as they’re called, have been available for years. The average person hasn’t even heard of this product category, but these routers are popular on, for example, Hollywood movie shoots. On-location cast and crew can kill their downtime online, sharing the signal from a single cellular card that’s broadcast via Wi-Fi.

Those machines, however, get no cell signal on their own; you have to supply your own cellular modem. They’re also big and metal and ugly. But the real deal-killer is that they have to be plugged into a power outlet. You can’t use one at the beach or in the woods unless you have a really, really long extension cord.

The MiFi is remarkable for its tiny size, its sleek good looks, its 30-foot range (it easily filled a large airport gate area with four-bar signal) — and the fact that it’s cordless and rechargeable.

How is this amazing? Let us count the ways.

First, you’re spared the plug-and-unplug ritual of cellular modems. You can leave the MiFi in your pocket, purse or laptop bag; whenever you fire up your laptop, netbook, Wi-Fi camera or game gadget, or wake up your iPhone or iPod Touch, you’re online.

Last week, I was stuck on a runway for two hours. As I merrily worked away online, complete with YouTube videos and file downloads, I became aware that my seatmate was sneaking glances. As I snuck counter-glances at him, I realized that he had no interest in what I was doing, but rather in the signal-strength icon on my laptop — on an airplane where there wasn’t otherwise any Wi-Fi signal. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, completely baffled, “but how are you getting a wireless signal?” He was floored when I pulled the MiFi from my pocket, its power light glowing evilly.

If he’d had a laptop, I would have happily shared my Wi-Fi cloud with him. The network password is printed right there on the bottom of the MiFi itself. That’s a clever idea, actually. Since the MiFi is in your possession, it’s impossible for anyone to get into your cloud unless you show it to them. Call it “security through proximity.”

The second huge advantage of the MiFi is that, as with any wireless router, you can share its signal with other people; up to five road warriors can enjoy the same connection. Your youngsters with their iPod Touches in the back of the van could hop online, for example, or you and your colleagues could connect and collaborate on a corporate retreat.

Verizon points out how useful the MiFi could be for college students working off-campus, insurance adjusters at a disaster site and trade show booth teams. (Incredibly, Verizon even suggests that you could use the MiFi at home as your primary family Internet service. Sharing a cellular-modem account was something it strenuously discouraged only two years ago.)

Some footnotes: First, the MiFi goes into sleep mode after 30 minutes of inactivity, to prolong its battery life.

Yes, it means that a single charge can get you through a full day of on-and-off Internet noodling, even though the battery is supposed to run for only four hours a charge (it’s rated at 40 hours of standby). But once the MiFi is asleep, your Wi-Fi bubble is gone until you tap the power button.

It’s probably the height of ingratitude to complain about having to press a single button to get yourself online. But if the MiFi is flopping around somewhere in the bottom of your bag, just finding it can be a minor hassle.

Fortunately, you can turn off that sleep feature, or even change the inactivity interval before it kicks in. This gizmo is a full-blown wireless router with full-blown configuration controls. If you type 192.168.1.1 into your Web browser’s address bar — a trick well known to network gurus — the MiFi’s settings pages magically appear. Now you can do geeky, tweaky tasks like changing the password or the wireless network name, limiting access to specific computers, turning on port forwarding (don’t ask) .

A final note: If your laptop has a traditional cellular modem, you can turn on a Mac OS X or Windows feature called Internet Sharing, which rebroadcasts the signal via Wi-Fi, just like the MiFi.

But the MiFi is infinitely easier to use and start up, doesn’t lock you into carrying around your laptop all the time, has better range and works even when your laptop battery is dead. (The MiFi recharges from a wall outlet; it still works as a hot spot while it’s plugged in.)

It’s always exciting when someone invents a new product category, and this one is a jaw-dropper. All your gadgets can be online at once, wherever you go, without having to plug anything in — no coffee shop required. Heck, it might even be worth showing the grandchildren.

Are Wireless Networks Secure?

By Bradley Mitchell, About.com

Question: Are Wireless Networks Secure?

No computer network is truly secure, but how does wireless network security stack up to that of traditional wired networks?

Answer: Unfortunately, no computer network is truly secure. It’s always theoretically possible for eavesdroppers to view or “snoop” the traffic on any network, and it’s often possible to add or “inject” unwelcome traffic as well. However, some networks are built and managed much more securely than others. For both wired and wireless networks alike, the real question to answer becomes – is it secure enough?

Wireless networks add an extra level of security complexity compared to wired networks. Whereas wired networks send electrical signals or pulses of light through cable, wireless radio signals propogate through the air and are naturally easier to intercept. Signals from most wireless LANs (WLANs) pass through exterior walls and into nearby streets or parking lots.

Network engineers and other technology experts have closely scrutinized wireless network security because of the open-air nature of wireless communications. The practice of wardriving, for example, exposed the vulnerabilities of home WLANs and accelerated the pace of security technology advances in home wireless equipment.

Overall, conventional wisdom holds that wireless networks are now “secure enough” to use in the vast majority of homes, and many businesses. Security features like 128-bit WEP and WPA can scramble or “encrypt” network traffic so that its contents can not easily be deciphered by snoopers. Likewise, wireless routers and access points (APs) incorporate access control features such as MAC address filtering that deny network requests from unwanted clients.

Obviously every home or business must determine for themselves the level of risk they are comfortable in taking when implementing a wireless network. The better a wireless network is administered, the more secure it becomes. However, the only truly secure network is the one never built!

What is a passphrase?

By Bradley Mitchell

Definition: In computer networking, a passphrase is one or a few small words chosen by an administrator for use as a security setting. The passphrase represents a long, but easy to remember password.
Some WiFi home networking equipment utilizes passphrases to generate static WEP keys. Rather than create the long hexadecimal numbers WEP requires, an administrator may instead enter a passphrase into the setup screens of wireless routers and network adapters. That setup software then automatically sets the appropriate WEP key based on the passphrase provided.

WiFi passphrases can simplify wireless network setup. Because passphrases are easy to remember, administrators are less likely to enter mismatched security settings on any of their devices. However, not all WiFi gear supports passphrases. In addition, passphrases normally cannot be used on a network when mixing equipment from different manufacturers, as each manufacturer generally employs different algorithms for generating keys.

Top Free Wi-Fi Hotspot Locators

By Bradley Mitchell

Hotels, airports, restaurants and many other businesses offer free or paid wireless Internet access via hotspots. Each of the services below listed below offer searchable listings of these public hotspots. When planning your next holiday or business trip, use these services to locate hotspots on a map and get the Wi-Fi information needed to access them.

1. JiWire
The JiWire search engine supports dozens of countries and indexes both free and paid hotspots. Search by street address, airport code, postal code or name (SSID) of the access point. Alternatively, browse listings by business type (e.g., airport, hotel and cafe).
Several other popular Wi-Fi hotspot online listings are powered by the JiWire database including CNet Hotspot Zone.

2. Wi-Fi ZONE Finder
The Wi-Fi ZONE Finder is a an official service of the Wi-Fi Alliance. This directory indexes only hotspot providers that have registered for the ZONE program. Such a certification system helps keep inactive hotspots, or hotspots of lesser quality, out of the index.

3. Wi-Fi-FreeSpot
This directory is geared toward free hotspots. (Some of these otherwise free locations may require a store purchase, however.) Worldwide listings are organized both geographically and by business type.

4. The Hotspot Haven
Hotspot Haven offers a large directory with clickable maps. Search by address and by service provider. A user rating service allows customers to score and rank the quality of these hotspots.

5. WiFinder
WiFinder is privately held company that indexes hotspots worldwide. WiFinder can be searched by location and by protocol type (e.g., 802.11b or 802.11g). WiFinder lists fewer total hotspots than some competitive services, but it may contain some entries that other services do not.

10 Tips for Wireless Home Network Security

Many folks setting up wireless home networks rush through the job to get their Internet connectivity working as quickly as possible. That’s totally understandable. It’s also quite risky as numerous security problems can result. Today’s Wi-Fi networking products don’t always help the situation as configuring their security features can be time-consuming and non-intuitive. The recommendations below summarize the steps you should take to improve the security of your home wireless network.

1. Change Default Administrator Passwords (and Usernames)
At the core of most Wi-Fi home networks is an access point or router. To set up these pieces of equipment, manufacturers provide Web pages that allow owners to enter their network address and account information. These Web tools are protected with a login screen (username and password) so that only the rightful owner can do this. However, for any given piece of equipment, the logins provided are simple and very well-known to hackers on the Internet. Change these settings immediately.

2. Turn on (Compatible) WPA / WEP Encryption
All Wi-Fi equipment supports some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Several encryption technologies exist for Wi-Fi today. Naturally you will want to pick the strongest form of encryption that works with your wireless network. However, the way these technologies work, all Wi-Fi devices on your network must share the identical encryption settings. Therefore you may need to find a “lowest common demoninator” setting.

3. Change the Default SSID
Access points and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers normally ship their products with the same SSID set. For example, the SSID for Linksys devices is normally “linksys.” True, knowing the SSID does not by itself allow your neighbors to break into your network, but it is a start. More importantly, when someone finds a default SSID, they see it is a poorly configured network and are much more likely to attack it. Change the default SSID immediately when configuring wireless security on your network.

4. Enable MAC Address Filtering
Each piece of Wi-Fi gear possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Many such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment, that restricts the network to only allow connections from those devices. Do this, but also know that the feature is not so powerful as it may seem. Hackers and their software programs can fake MAC addresses easily.

5. Disable SSID Broadcast
In Wi-Fi networking, the wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where Wi-Fi clients may roam in and out of range. In the home, this roaming feature is unnecessary, and it increases the likelihood someone will try to log in to your home network. Fortunately, most Wi-Fi access points allow the SSID broadcast feature to be disabled by the network administrator.

6. Do Not Auto-Connect to Open Wi-Fi Networks
Connecting to an open Wi-Fi network such as a free wireless hotspot or your neighbor’s router exposes your computer to security risks. Although not normally enabled, most computers have a setting available allowing these connections to happen automatically without notifying you (the user). This setting should not be enabled except in temporary situations.

7. Assign Static IP Addresses to Devices
Most home networkers gravitate toward using dynamic IP addresses. DHCP technology is indeed easy to set up. Unfortunately, this convenience also works to the advantage of network attackers, who can easily obtain valid IP addresses from your network’s DHCP pool. Turn off DHCP on the router or access point, set a fixed IP address range instead, then configure each connected device to match. Use a private IP address range (like 10.0.0.x) to prevent computers from being directly reached from the Internet.

8. Enable Firewalls On Each Computer and the Router
Modern network routers contain built-in firewall capability, but the option also exists to disable them. Ensure that your router’s firewall is turned on. For extra protection, consider installing and running personal firewall software on each computer connected to the router.

9. Position the Router or Access Point Safely
Wi-Fi signals normally reach to the exterior of a home. A small amount of signal leakage outdoors is not a problem, but the further this signal reaches, the easier it is for others to detect and exploit. Wi-Fi signals often reach through neighboring homes and into streets, for example. When installing a wireless home network, the position of the access point or router determines its reach. Try to position these devices near the center of the home rather than near windows to minimize leakage.

10. Turn Off the Network During Extended Periods of Non-Use
The ultimate in wireless security measures, shutting down your network will most certainly prevent outside hackers from breaking in! While impractical to turn off and on the devices frequently, at least consider doing so during travel or extended periods offline. Computer disk drives have been known to suffer from power cycle wear-and-tear, but this is a secondary concern for broadband modems and routers.

If you own a wireless router but are only using it wired (Ethernet) connections, you can also sometimes turn off Wi-Fi on a broadband router without powering down the entire network.

Health care reach expands with wireless monitoring

LONDON, England (CNN) – Cardiologist Steven Greenberg keeps tabs on his patients around the clock, but he doesn’t have to lose much sleep to do so.

Virtual care: A teen, with her mother, gets counseling from a psychiatrist via telemedicine.

Greenberg is able to monitor his patients daily, thanks to a device billed as the world’s first wireless pacemaker.

The pacemaker communicates with a monitoring system in the patient’s home, vital information is then gathered and automatically relayed to Greenberg’s office.

Greenberg became the first doctor to implant the pacemaker in an operation which happened in the U.S. last month.

Since then he has inserted around a dozen of the pacemakers in his patients and says the treatment could soon become standard.

He envisions even more sophisticated devices that allow doctors to monitor other key vital signs like blood pressure and glucose levels to be developed down the line.

Besides daily updates, the device alerts him if it detects any irregular heartbeats which the pacemaker isn’t programmed to handle, thereby helping him stay a step ahead of potentially life-threatening problems.

“If a patient’s asleep and you see this abnormal rate, you can bring them in, put them on a blood thinner and prevent them from having a stroke,” said Greenberg, a heart specialist at the Arrhythmia and Pacemaker Center at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, NY.

The pacemaker, manufactured by St. Jude Medical, is the latest device to showcase the growing trend of using communications technology to deliver health care services.

Greenberg told CNN the wireless device not only provides safety but convenience for patients, who are able to rest easier and can make fewer trips to the doctor’s office.

 

Increasingly new technologies are making it possible for doctors to keep tabs on their patients from afar and around the clock.

At the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, Texas, doctors do everything from running mental health screens to providing post-surgery follow-ups via video terminal.

The academic medical center’s telemedicine program handles roughly 60,000 patient encounters each year and has delivered care to a swathe of patients, from prison inmates to researchers in Antarctica and passengers on cruise ships.

As Dr. Ben Raimer of UTMB sees it, remote medicine is another tool for doctors to expand the reach of their stethoscope. It’s being used to provide care to under served communities worldwide, particularly in areas like the developing world.

Distance treatment doesn’t only help broaden access of care, it also enhances care and lowers costs, said Raimer. “It expedites getting the patient to the right place and to the right level of care,” he said.

The virtual doctor has been made possible by the spread of high-speed Internet access and wireless technology.

“Devices are getting smaller, and it’s an awful lot easier to connect everything together,” said Jim Briggs, director of the Telemedicine and E-health Information Service run by the University of Portsmouth in the UK.

Dr. Alexander Vo, executive director of the UTMB Center for Telehealth Research and Policy, expects virtual care to become even more widespread in the future.

With health care systems around the world in crisis, now is the time for this technology to really take off, he said.

“All of this technology is being developed to provide access to care. “With access we can start providing preventive care which prevents inappropriate hospitalization and can really lead to tremendous cost savings,” he said.

While Wi-Fi and other new technologies will increasingly make electronic delivery of health care easier, don’t expect trips to see the doctor to disappear altogether.

According to Greenberg, even though he monitors his patients from a distance, his patients still make routine office visits.

But now when they come in, he’s able to provide better treatment. Since all the information from the device has been transmitted to him ahead of time, he doesn’t have to gather diagnostic information in the office and can focus on his patient’s needs.

“Before there would be reams of data to read when they came in, but now I can look them in the face and concentrate on them,” he said.

Broadband, Wireless Services to Play Vital Role in Smart Grid

While Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm are starting a new joint venture to provide machine-to-machine (M2) wireless communications and smart services to a wide range of markets including utilities, the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) has hired an energy and environmental director to look at how the U.S. broadband/communications infrastructure and policies can support the nation’s energy and environmental goals.

These are just a couple of the recent developments in the world of smart grids.

The FCC has recently hired former venture capitalist Nick Sinai of Polaris Ventures as its energy and environmental director to create a National Broadband Task Force to evaluate the nation’s broadband/communications infrastructure and how it will enhance the smart grid, reports Fierce Telecom.

The biggest proponents for the smart grid are the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the IEEE , which jointly developed the Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Project P2030.

The FCC will develop rules and regulations for utility companies leveraging wireless spectrum and broadband access technologies, reports Fierce Telecom.

The Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm joint venture, yet to be named, will focus on smart services enabled by M2M capabilities. As an example, smart grid technology enables utilities to wirelessly connect to their grid assets such as circuit breakers, transformers and other sub-station equipment, allowing them to develop more interactive utility networks. Analysts peg the M2M market at more than 85 million connections globally by 2012, according to the companies.

The joint venture will leverage Qualcomm’s advanced connectivity technologies and Verizon Wireless’ expertise and simplified device certification process. One new capability will include cloud computing solutions to automate device provisioning, and to track, monitor and manage assets. Others include custom white label applications for OEM customers, product-specific applications for end-use markets, new diagnostic tools for monitoring network health and device performance, data aggregation services, and back office integrations.

One of the applications within the smart grid is building automation. Market research firm Frost & Sullivan has introduced a white paper that will give building owners an overview of challenges in building automation and how the convergence of IT and building systems can help them better manage energy demand, maximize space and minimize environmental impact.

The white paper, A New Facelift for Existing Buildings, also provides a road map for defining the next generation of information and control networking, which includes an integrated IT enterprise platform approach to enhance connectivity between building systems.