Wireless Tech Radio

February 2, 2005 Wireless Tech Radio Show

wtr@wirelesstechradio.com (Jim Sutton, Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer) — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 01:12:39 -0400

Industry News: Steve Stroh and Marlon Schafer
The merger of AT&T and SBC - One wireless angle is that AT&Ts announced plans to offer AT&T Wireless as a MVNO running on Sprint is likely dead, dealing a small blow to Sprint/Nextels planning. Apple is shipping (the first) Bluetooth 2.0 in its refresh of its PowerBook line. Koreas SK Telecom and Earthlink are have announced SK-Earthlink, which will do an MVNO running on Sprint/Nextel and Verizons networks. The Associated Press reports that RADAR systems at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida are experiencing false targets, possibly as a result of the use of Wireless systems that operate in the 5.6 - 5.8 GHz range.www.bwianews.com

VOIP for WISPs : Is This Sticky Enough - Tony Surak
Voice Over IP is shaping up to be the next killer Internet application. Wireless ISPs everywhere are looking to add voice calling and enhanced feature capabilities , its sticky, adds value and brings them additional revenue. Tony Surak of Newforth Partners joins us to discuss VOIP technologies and the important choices ISPs and WISPs need to consider. Tony explains not only why wired and wireless ISPs should offer VOIP services (customer stickiness & retention, higher ARPUs), he will also discuss the ways to implement them. Should you build, it, buy it or partner up Each has its costs and advantages. Mr. Surak is Senior Director of Newforth Partners, an M&A advisory firm which also provides business & technology consultancy. He was a cofounder of TalkingNets, one of the first all VOIP based CLECs, which was later acquired by DSLnet.
www.newforth.com

Wireless Remote Rebooting Product - Myron Anduri
Marlon Schafer has been fascinated with this unique variant of rebooting equipment that uses paging services instead of dedicated lines or IP addressing. He met Myron Anduri of Nighthawk Systems first at WISPCON and recently at EXC EXPO in Denver. So now you have an untethered way to reboot a digital camera in your deep-in-the-woods deer blind or jumpstart recalcitrant equipment at the most inaccessible tower location. www.nighthawksystems.com

If you have any questions you want to ask the guests or you have any of your own comments about a topic, please Instant Message us at AIM: JimSuttonVA, Marlonoffice, or SteveStroh2..
Hope you get a chance to listen in!

If You Missed The January 26th Show ... Check it out below!

Industry News: Steve Stroh and Marlon Schafer
Steves picked out some interesting topics for this weeks wireless industry news and developments. www.bwianews.com

WiMAX: Can it live up to the Hype - Michael Young
I predict that WiMAX stories in 2005 will be the wireless industry equivalent to National Enquirer articles on busty starlets. Everyones interested in them and boy those covers sell! So heres our first bodacious cover story article on WiMAX for 2005. The WiMAX interoperability plug fest has reportedly slipped out to year end which suggests theyll not be official WiMAX gear until 2006. Michael Young, founder and former CTO for YDI Wireless, joins us to suggest some good points, bad points and some recommendations on what to BUY while were waiting. "If you are ready to deploy now, do not wait for WiMax. There are several radio manufactures that make good outdoor OFDM P-P and M-MP systems that are very effective. CAUTION: Do not buy systems that use straight 802.11a or g WLAN cards that run the standard .11a/g protocols."

Back to Basics - Mounting Antennas, Doing Cables & Connectors Right, Weatherproofing - Marlon Schafer
"I bet 90% of WISP equipment failures are mechanical in nature." says Marlon Schafer, WISP Owner, Operator, and Consultant. "For example, an antenna installed with the weep holes facing upward. We see it every day." Marlon brings us Back to Basics with tips on smarter ways to mount antennas, how to construct cable and connectors properly, and since its Winter - he cant pass up weatherproofing. Hes suggested some excellent links from the Times Microwave website that offer excellent streaming instructional videos. www.odessaoffice.com

First Anniversary Show - Wireless Tech Radio February 16, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:32:23 -0400

Industry News: Tsunami Relief Efforts - Mike Outmesguine
Steve Stroh is traveling to Chicago for WISPNOG that begins this week. Mike Outmesguine, Co-founder of SOCALWUG, joins us to bring us up-to-date on Tsunami Relief Efforts. He has some thoughts on wireless networking and wireless technologies as disaster relief platforms. www.bwianews.com

Part 1: Consumer Wireless (WiFi) Equipment - Mike Outmesguine, Matt Wilkinson
The first segment on relief planning status and efforts continue in the second segment. Matt Wilkinson joins the discussion in mid-segment as the relief effort updates are completed. Matt kicks off his discussion of consumer router gear and choices aided by Mike Outmesguine who, too, has considerable expertise in choosing and deploying consumer equipment.

My Favorite Consumer Wireless (WiFi) Equipment - Matt Wilkinson
So you are headed out to BestBuy to get that wireless router, finally, now that the new work laptop has its Intel branded wireless networking embedded somewhere inside. Or, your latest customer hasnt even heard of Wireless 101 and you need this advisor role like a hole in the head. Lockergnome IT channel editor and creator of JustCallMatt.net, Matt Wilkinson, joins us to discuss Linksys, Netgear, Belkin, Apple, SMC, D-Link and Hawking Technologies gear hes used and installed recently. www.JustCallMatt.net

Wireless Tech Radio Show - February 23, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:16:38 -0400

Industry News: Wrap-up of the WISPNOG Conference in Chicago - Steve Stroh
Steve Stroh has returned from Chicago where he attended the first and highly successful WISPNOG (Wireless ISP Network Operators Group) conference last week. He has a report on WISPAs organizational efforts and more. www.bwianews.com

Incumbents Will Staunchly Oppose Municipal Wireless Efforts- Jim Carlini
Northwestern University Professor and expert witness Jim Carlini says "there are MANY things going on including the sudden defense of the "traditional phone companies" trying to BAN municipally owned infrastructure (both fiber and wireless).". The bogus NMRC report is only one example of output from "White paper for hire" firms paid directly by the incumbent telephone companies. www.carlinij.com

IIndustry Leading Ultra-Wideband Capabilities - John Santhofff
John Santhoff, CTO & Co-founder of Pulse~LINK, joins us to discuss the recently announced availability of the worlds first UWB radio for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). The Pulse~LINK platform delivers wireless Gigabit data rates at Personal Area Network (WPAN) ranges and data rates capable of supporting multimedia and HDTV data streams at WLAN ranges. Pulse~LINKs technology is different than that of MB-OFDM and DS-UWB forms of Ultra Wideband presently pursued by other groups. www.pulselink.net

Wireless Tech Radio Show - March 02, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:24:27 -0400

Industry News: All Signs Looking Good For Mesh Networks - Steve Stroh & Marlon Schafer
Firetide has some new mesh products, more evidence that mesh is really starting to take off. Biggest news is that Aloha Partners got their adjacent channel waiver to start 700 MHz service in Tucson. Thats a big deal, and not just for 700 MHz. Minor news is the paper LPTV mini-scandal. www.bwianews.com

Orthogon OS Spectra Product Launched - Phil Bolt
I want to say the hot new OS Spectra product is like the Gemini on steroids - faster speeds, larger bandwidth, dual payload capability, better ERA but Im not so sure thats the politically correct phrase anymore. Orthogon Systems CEO, Phil Bolt, joins us again to discuss improvements in this product platform and who its targeted to serve. There are some very interesting and unusual applications the market is finding for the robust Orthogon products that I hope well have time to explore. www.orthogonsystems.com

Wireless Tech Radio - March 09, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:39:44 -0400

Industry News: Clearwire/Bell Canada - Steve Stroh
It may be too dramatic to opine that Telco execs are going to have a rough nights sleep tonight with the multiple bombshell announcements from Clearwire and Bell Canada. But maybe not ... Clearwire announced that Bell Canada will be their VoIP backend and that Bell Canada is purchasing a $100 Million stake in their company. This leapfrogs Clearwire around any number of ILEC induced obstacles. Steve Stroh will connect a lot of dots tomorrow as hes been watching Clearwire closely for more than a year. Also, Sprint has committed to 1xEV-DO, not the potentially faster variant that would have taken a few more years. So, no leapfrogging Verizon. Two rival factions on UWB are going to merge; finally some rationality on UWB. www.bwianews.com

Broadband Wireless Innovation Lags Technologys Pace - Scott Shamp
Is there enough true innovation in the wireless field Or are we just refining, rather than revolutionizing its use Professor Scott Shamp, Director of the University of Georgia New Media Institute, joins Wireless Tech Radio Wednesday to discuss innovation in the wireless Industry: The technical capability of wireless has outstripped creative uses for the technology. Putting our advanced technology to creative use will be the center of innovation. Many believe VOIP or adding voice services to broadband wireless is the next killer application. But is this innovation, voice is the original use of telephony dating back more than a hundred years So what is innovation and who will drive it �It will be content� and �I will argue that it has to be young people -- they are unencumbered by restrictive paradigms -- they wont let existing models hold them back say Shamp. This innovation [content] will not come from the commercial domain, either. �There isnt room for radical experimentation here. Profit is too crucial to these groups. Universities will play a major role. Professor Shamp will discuss the Mobile Media Consortium and examples of types of innovative projects that are underway. www.nmi.uga.edu

Anti-Municipal Broadband Legislation - Rick Harnish
According to MuniWireless, 11 states had legislation presented this Spring concerning this topic. Five of those states have avoided this legislation as it has died in committee, has been pulled by the author or has been delayed. The states of Colorado - SB 05-152, Florida SB 1714 and HB 1325, Iowa SSB 1136 and HSB Bill 182, Nebraska, Tennessee HB 1403 and SB 1760 and Texas - HB 789 are still active. For the record, I am generally opposed to MuniWireless projects unless all other options to partner with current private providers in the general area have been exhausted say Harnish. As most WISPs know, what looks good on paper today, in reality is a very challenging business. Our real world experience should give us expertise to partner or offer to cooperate with the municipalities that choose to move forward on wireless projects. I look at MuniWireless not so much as a threat but as an opportunity. Rick organized an email list of 40 WISPs in the state to keep them aware of the legislation calendar and language and to urge them to contact their legislators. He also worked directly with the Department of Commerce office in a series of meetings to discuss the bills, language and possible solutions.

Concerning Legislation:

Beware of deceiving titles: Anti-Municipal Broadband Bill may mean PRO-RBOC Broadband Bill or Anti-Competition Broadband Bill
Content of the bills language is what is important. Read it once, then reread it again, speculate what each line can mean to your future in the business
Contact your State Department of Commerce or related agency that oversees broadband deployment, make a name for yourself with the people who count
Begin to organize with other WISPs and ISPs in your state to battle and amend legislation and even to formulate solutions for various MuniWireless projects
Sources of Information: State Legislation Websites, if you dont know it, Google it!, Muniwireless.com, Wispa.org, wispcentric.com. Most important point here is Get Connected, Get Reading, Get Active or Get Run Over!
www.oibw.net

Wireless Tech Radio - March 16, 2005 Show

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:55:18 -0400

Industry News Marh 16, 2005: - Steve Stroh & Marlon Schafer
Verizon coughs up $100MM for LEAP Wireless spectrum, Motorola debuts MOTOMESH operating in 2.4ghz and 4.9ghz, FCC creates new unlicensed "contention based" band from satellite earth station freqs (3.65ghz - 3.70 ghz), and Redline, Airspan, and Alvarion announce theyll do private interoperability testing -- Can you say "first to market with interoperable WiMAX" And more in a big news week! www.bwianews.com

Brief History of Unlicensed Spectrum Operation - Kenneth R. Carter
"Part 15 was established in 1938, only four years after the founding of the FCC," says Kenneth Carter, Counsel in the FCCs Office of Strategic Planning, "even then the FCC anticipated experimentation at emission levels too weak to cause interference. Its important to remember the Cardinal Rule: do not cause interference; accept all interference when discussing unlicensed spectrum and its use. "I think were entering the Golden Age of Unlicensed Operation, the most interesting technologies are emerging there, rather than in licensed." Stay tuned because things are changing. www.fcc.gov

Wireless Tech Radio Show March 23, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 21:22:24 -0400

Industry News: - Steve Stroh & Marlon Schafer
WISPCON wrap-up; Progress on 802.11n; Airespace joins MESH parade on the way to their Cisco buy-out; Proxim announces a Starter Kit. www.bwianews.com

Open Spectrum International - Robert Horvitz
Robert Horvitz founded Open Spectrum International in 2004. It is an advocate organization for license-exempt spectrum internationally. "We cant use the US style First Amendment argument in international markets, its a more subtle process advocating free speech issues. Robert indicated that its an interesting process to convince foreign governments that they can avoid expenditures and still experience growth when a license-exempt model is allowed. www.open-spectrum-international.org

Ultra-Wideband Is Not Just a PAN Technology - John Santhoff
Julie Knapp of the FCC, at a WISPCON briefing Tuesday afternoon, indicated that UWB is not just a PAN (Personal Area Network) technology - some companies envision HDTV and in-home multimedia uses. Pulse~LINK is one of those firms as theyve demonstrated their bandwidth carrying capacity. John Santhoff, Pulse~LINK CTO and Co-founder discusses how UWB and software defined radios might blend capacities and what applications that technology could serve. John was recently honored as Innovator of the Year as we reported earlier in the Wireless Tech Log. www.pulselink.net

Wireless Tech Radio Show for April 6, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 20:20:34 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Araya radios tested by Marlon in his network. ISCWest coming up this week in Las Vegas. Steve announces hell be a speaker at the WISPCON Pacific conference coming up in Auckland, NZ. Sprint PCS announces M-Spot radio - streaming music from their CDMA network. Aircell to test new ground to air radio system in July for Internet access at 300-500 Kbps. NextWeb expanding coverage to all of Los Angeles. Waverider announces MobileWan enhancement to 900mhz systems to offer mobility and nomadic services. XIRRUS debuts enterprise wireless LAN AP product with array antennas and multiple radios. IEEE 802.22 and 802.16 Committees create PR tug-of-war. Dishnet Wireless, LTD announces 2.5 Billion Rupees investment to deploy hybrid WiMAX/WiFi system in India - 6000 WiFi Hotspots in 38 cities by early 2006. More deployments in Zambia and St Petersburg (Russia). www.bwianews.com

WiMax - the 2005 Vision : Service Providers, Equipments & Chips Conference - David Ahlgren
The San Diego Telecom Council sponsored the event of WiMAX outlook for 2005 including markets forecasts of computers, chipsets, etc. for the near term.

Airspan - Eric Stonestrom
Airspan, Alvarion, and Redline jumped the pack two weeks ago with their announcement to conduct private interoperability testing of their WiMAX products later this year. So we thought wed like to learn more about Airspan by inviting CEO Eric Stonestrom to join us. Airspan, founded in 1992, has revenues now approaching $100 Million with over 300 customers in 95 countries and is a founding member and Board member of the WiMAX Forum.With products poised to deploy WiMAX around the globe, Eric may tell us a bit of their plans for WiMAX as he sees it evolving and, of course, what differentiates their product today. www.Airspan.com

Wireless Tech Radio Show for April 13, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:13:22 -0400

Wireless Tech Radio can now be found live on Wednesdays right here on the web at www.wirelesstechradio.com at 10AM Eastern, 7AM Pacific and 3PM London/Madrid. But you dont have to hear it live to hear it!

You can also listen to this or previous shows at the show archive. We make it convenient for you! This show will be found archived at www.wirelesstechradio.com

Weve got some great guest segments lined up this week including:

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Philadelphias release of its wireless plan and RFP dominates the news this week. And the opinions are as varied as you could possibly imagine. Some observers suggest it will be the poster child for failure as it appears not to follow any of the previously successful models for municipal deployments.
www.bwianews.com

NeighborNode: What is it - John Geraci & Mohit SantRam
"Neighbornode is a network of online neighborhood bulletin boards that people access through open wireless routers. Hosts of Neighbornode place an open router in their apartments window, and anyone within wireless range (+/- 300 ft) can log on to discuss things with their neighbors." It began as a class project by John Geraci at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. It was started as a way of reintroducing the notion of the Old Town Center into modern cities, which are mostly lacking in common space for community members to meet and exchange ideas and get to know one another. This seems to be an "out there" use of wireless connectivity but it has a growing group of followers and just maybe youd enjoy hearing about it too.
www.neighbornode.net

Sveasoft firmware for Linksys Routers - James Ewing
Perhaps most good start-up companies have unique and interesting stories to tell in the pub over a few pints - Sveasoft is certainly in that class. James Ewing, founder of Sveasoft, will tell us the how and why of their start but explain the business model and what new developments can be expected in 2005. "We currently produce firmware for just 3 models of Linksys brand routers. We are expanding this to support models from three other manufacturers right now and will expand support for other platforms and manufacturers through Summer 2005. " Also look for specific application versions to supports things like hotspots, VPN, mesh and VOIP.
www.Sveasoft.com

Wireless Tech Radio Show April 20, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:12:27 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
You might have thought nothing else happened this week except INTEL announcement that they are shipping their Rosedale chips with WiMAX - or in Steves words: "Intel "legitimizes" the WiMAX industry with the introduction of their PRO/Wireless 5116 chipset, until now known by Intels codename Rosedale.".And NextWeb, a Broadband Wireless Service Provider based in California offers VOIP services by partnering with CommPartners. BelAir Networks is the vendor behind Cityspace, a large Wi-Fi HotZone in London, UK. An interesting partnership - GigaBeam teams with Adaptix to offer complementary Broadband Wireless products. Redline launches RedMAX, their WiMAX product line www.bwianews.com

UK/EU Wireless Market Update - Tony Fish
Tony is the Principal of AMF Ventures in London and Chairman of the WiFi Community at Ecademy. Tony joins us for a discussion of the latest developments in Wi-Fi in the UK and EU. wireless.ecademy.com

A Hackers Guide to Secure Wireless Networks - Don Beetle Bailey
Youve read it a dozen times from every security pundit: 1) turn on WEP, 2) turn off your SSID broadcast, 3) put tin foil over your windows - Shazaaam - youre SECURE. So what would a hacker tell us about that Don Bailey, security consultant by day, AKA "Beetle by night or when organizing ShmooCon events, joins us for a Hackers view of how NOT to secure your network and some how-to tips from simple, cheap methods for home networks to not simple, not cheap, but effective ways to secure a corporate network. www.shmoo.com

Wireless Tech Radio Show for April 27, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:17:06 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
FCC authorizes new 1.92GHz band for digital telephone services using DECT standard common in Europe, T-Mobile says that its pleased with Flarion trial, fSONA and Laserbit join forces, Vonage solves blocking problem for at least one Clearwire subscriber, but the battle is just begun. More .. www.bwianews.com

Open Architecture MESH products from Qorvus Systems - Tom Sharples
Founded in 2002 sin Vancouver, WA, Qorvus Systems provides an interesting array of single, dual and triple radio wireless mesh products including management software. President and CTO, Tom Sharples, will describe Qorvus products and intended markets.
(1) Flexible organic rollout in under served broadband markets- can start with just two or three strategically placed nodes and easily add more as customer demand warrants
(2) Can easily be deployed to provide a pervasive low-level wireless cloud, therefore cheap or no CPE, taking advantage of existing installed base of wifi users
(3) Low device and installation cost allows service provision with modest capex
(4) Available as software only (runs on several commonly available embedded x86 platforms including mini ITX, wrap, and legacy Soekris), or as fully-integrated hardware and software solution, in one, two, or three radio versions
(5) Open Linux software environment in a continual state of improvement, with extensive standard and custom engineering support available www.qorvus.net

Trango Broadband Wireless Product Roadmap - John Seaman
Trango Broadband Wireless products have earned a strong reputation in the WISP community with their PTP systems. Interesting things are coming! John Seaman, Director of Product & Customer Support, discusses the Trango Product Roadmap, a preview of PtMP platform plans, and a view into their WiMAX product strategy - their first WiMAX product will be a 3.5 GHZ band used in markets outside the US. www.trangobroadband.com

Wireless Tech Radio Show May 4, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:10:01 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Canada allocates an additional 255 MHz of license-exempt spectrum in 5 GHz band; US Wireless Online juggernaut continues acquisition binge, acquires iSkywire; Verizon Wireless decides to kill free Wi-Fi network; New product family of Wireless Mesh Network Routers from Tropos. And from the If You Have More Money Than Good Sense Dept, you ve heard of the WiFi shielding house paint probably, now a company is claiming WiFi shielding window film - Steve will rip this one. www.bwianews.com

WISP Of The Month: Tampas Rapid Systems - Dustin Jurman
Rapid Systems founder, Dustin Jurman, joins us to discuss building a carrier class ISP/WISP network. "I wont do it any other way, I wont use consumer grade products in my network." Rapid Systems is a Tampa, FL area ISP that also uses wireless technologies to serve customers. "I dont ever call myself a WISP, Ill use dial-up, DSL, fiber, or wireless technologies to serve customers."

Airaya Gets FCC Grant for Public Safety Banded Products - Bill Pabst
Bill Pabst, Co-founder and VP of Engineering for Airaya joins to discuss the company and their products. . Airaya was co-founded by Mike Nydam and Bill Pabst in 2001. Bill has spent the last 16 years developing Spread Spectrum wireless products for Point of Sale, Pen Computers, access points and mesh systems. Currently, Bill is responsible for the design and development of the AIRAYA
Bridge Products. The current products allow users to do pt-to-pt, pt-to-mpt, and functions between Ethernet networks over a number of different frequency bands world wide usage. The product functions as a MAC layer bridge.
www.airaya.com

May 11, 2005 - www.wirelesstechradio.com

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 15 May 2005 23:06:39 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
FCC broadcast flag rule is ruled illegal by court; Azulstar (formerly Ottawa Wireless) launches Metro VOIP over Wi-Fi Service in Rio Rancho New Mexico; GPS indoors Well, kind of but not really. Would you believe radiolocation using TV signals Ultrawideband takes on role new roles, posing as RFID and Bluetooth; Sprint and Intel will collaborate on speeding up the development of Mobile WiMAX; NextWeb and MPower Communications commence broadband wireless service in Las Vegas; TowerStream commences broadband wireless service in San Francisco. . www.bwianews.com

Mobile Broadband Public Safety Is Not Just For Small Towns - Patrick Leary

http://informationweek. com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160403766

The Fresno system provides greater than 95% coverage of the 50% of the city has chosen to roll out first, and does so at about 1/10th the cost of mesh systems that the city trialed according to Alvarions Chief Evangelist aka Patrick Leary. "Several other things make this project important: it is an excellent example that demonstrates that wireless broadband for public safety is no longer just for small, rural towns." Fresno has a population around 500k, so it is a major tier 2 city. Also, it is the first major public safety network that converges BWA with WiFi, since each police vehicle will receive an Alvarion SU-M with integrated 802.11b.
www.alvarion-usa.com

Avalan 900 Mhz Products- Michael R. Derby
"Why our 900MHz gear" Avalan CEO Mike Derby explains, "Three reasons: 1)Ease of installation 2) Ease of configuration. AvaLANs AW900 radios have no IP addresses, no MAC addresses and no browser interface. Simply take them out of the box and plug them in. They are an installers dream by all accounts in the field.
3) Security. "The AW900 radios are not 802.11-based and do not employ the somewhat vulnerable WEP technology prevalent in off-the-shelf 802.11 Ethernet bridge components. 128-bit keys are dedicated per pair, so radios only work with their matching mate. As a result, it is nearly impossible to dis-intermediate using a man-in-the-middle attack."

May 18, 2005 Wireless Tech Radio show

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 29 May 2005 18:11:54 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
New laptop from Sony with built-in GSM-based EDGE broadband wireless (with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth); Verizon Wireless reduces the price of its 1xRTT NationalAccess service to $60/month for unlimited use with national coverage; MetroFi Emerges From Stealth Mode, offers 1 Mbps metropolitan Wi-Fi service for $19.95/month, follows the Stroh model of no services, just access; Fierce Wireless names its 3rd Annual Fierce Fifteen companies for 2005.

We rarely do personnel news on Wireless Tech Radio, but were making an exception today. Wireless Tech Radio and I personally congratulate Charles Brown on being named CEO of WaveRider Communications. Charles new position was just announced. Charles is a very good friend to the Broadband Wireless Industry, especially to smaller WISPs with their pioneering 900 MHz system, and Charles is also a friend to Wireless Tech Radio : you�re hearing Wireless Tech Radio over a WaveRider system graciously provided to WTR. www.bwianews.com

Wireless Broadband Access Task Force - Lauren Van Wazer
An exciting opportunity for the wireless community to hear from and speak to Lauren Van Wazer, Special Counsel to the Chief of the FCCs Office of Engineering and Technology when she joins us for this special show. Its perfect timing to get a read from the person so intimately involved in the Wireless Broadband Access Task Force report development. The official Comment period has closed, Reply Comments are due May 23rd, but the FCC maintains a policy of always being open to industry comments and suggestions.

Discuss creation and purpose of FCC Wireless Broadband Access Task Force
Define wireless broadband and discuss attributes, including portability, mobility, off-the-shelf
Discuss growth trends in wireless broadband
Focus on role of wireless broadband in rural areas
Review FCC role in wireless broadband over the last few years
Review recommendations of Task Force - unlicensed and licensed
View of the future - convergence; technological developments; seamless connectivity; integration between services
www.fcc.gov/wbatf/

Wireless Tech Radio Show - May 25, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Mon, 30 May 2005 15:01:20 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Marlons moving Odessa Offices office into town, Terabeams bringing Karlnet products back to market, ISPCON Spring show update, FCC mandates E911 availability for all VoIP phones that connect to PSTN, Vonage bringing Wifi router with its service embedded to market, WIMAX.com information portal has launched Michael Wellerben locates his new venture in Austin, TX; Clearwire announces service in Medford, OR, SUPERCOMM announces SuperQuests awards
www.bwianews.com

UK / EU Wireless Market Update - Tony Fish
Tony Fish, Principal at AMF Ventures in London and Chairman of the 3500+ member Wireless SIG at ecademy.com joins us to provide his monthly update on the Wireless Market in the UK and European Union. Its been conference season in Europe these past five weeks and Tonys got insights from several shows.
wireless.ecademy.com

TechTalk Primer: ZIGBEE - Venkat Bahl
Venkat Bahl, VP of Marketing at Ember joins us for our first tutorial session on Zigbee technologies. Headquartered in Boston, Ember is a promoter of the ZigBee Alliance and was named one of Fortune Magazines top "Cool Companies" for 2004. ZigBee is a proprietary set of high level communication protocols designed to use small, low power digital radios based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for wireless personal area networking. The relationship between IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee is analogous to that existing between IEEE 802.11 and the Wi-Fi Alliance. The ZigBee 1.0 specifications were ratified on December 14, 2004, but are available only to members of the ZigBee Alliance. www.ember.com

More Information on Zigbee:

ZigBee is poised to become the global control/sensor network standard. It has been designed to provide the following features:

* Low power consumption, simply implemented
o Users expect batteries to last many months to years! Consider that a typical single family house has about 6 smoke/CO detectors. If the batteries for each one only lasted six months, the home owner would be replacing batteries every month!
* In contrast to Bluetooth, which has many different modes and states depending upon your latency and power requirements, ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 has two major states: active (transmit/receive) or sleep. The application software needs to focus on the application, not on which power mode is optimum for each aspect of operation.
* Even mains powered equipment needs to be conscious of energy. ZigBee devices will be more ecological than their predecessors saving megawatts at it full deployment. Consider a future home that has 100 wireless control/sensor devices,
* Low cost to the users means low device cost, low installation cost and low maintenance.
o ZigBee devices allow batteries to last up to years using primary cells (low cost) without any chargers (low cost and easy installation). ZigBees simplicity allows for inherent configuration and redundancy of network devices provides low maintenance.
* High density of nodes per network
o ZigBees use of the IEEE 802.15.4 PHY and MAC allows networks to handle any number of devices. This attribute is critical for massive sensor arrays and control networks.
* Simple protocol, global implementation
o ZigBees protocol code stack is estimated to be about 1/4th of Bluetooths or 802.11s. Simplicity is essential to cost, interoperability, and maintenance. The IEEE 802.15.4 PHY adopted by ZigBee has been designed for the 868 MHz band in Europe, the 915 MHz band in N America, Australia, etc; and the 2.4 GHz band is now recognized to be a global band accepted in almost all countries.

Wireless Tech Radio show June 1, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 17:00:21 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Nokia Introduces Web Browser Tablet� With Wi-Fi. Very cool! Details in Steves blog post at www.bwianews.com. A draft Bill Proposes To Sunset Analog Television Broadcasting By December 31, 2008 - proposed by House of Representatives Commerce Committee Chairperson, Representative Joe Barton of Texas. Highlights from Ernest Miller of Corante�s �The Importance Of�� weblog:

FCC must finalize channel assignments by the end of 2006, appeals complete by the following July
Cable must carry digital signals, but can continue to carry analog signals. On cable, the signals have to be carried at the same resolution as they are broadcast.
Portions of spectrum from Channel 52-69 that are actually slated for auction (Channels 54/59 � �Lower 700 MHz Block C�, Channel 55 � �Lower 700 MHz Block D�, and some portions reserved for public safety and guard bands) would be auctioned by April 1, 2008
Warning labels on analog TV�s stating that they won�t work after 12/31/2007 without buying an additional adapter or a subscription service like satellite or cable. Television broadcasters must air public service announcements with this information.
As of July 1, 2006, all television sets 13� and larger that have analog tuners must include a tuner for receiving digital broadcasts
Sticking points are likely to be the broadcast flag included with the bill, and the possibility of subsidies for digital television coverters for analog televisions.

A new product offers easy(er) migration From CDPD To CDMA Data Services CDMA - the iPORT EMIV from AnyDATA Corporation is now certified for Verizon�s CDMA data network. It offers easy migration from systems using CDPD, which was a low-speed, TCP/IP-based wireless data system that operated �on top of� analog cellular. www.bwianews.com

Highlights from MuniWireless 2nd Annual Report - Esme Vos
If you seriously follow market trends in municipal wireless, youre already a MuniWireless fan. To celebrate the second anniversary of the site, Esme Vos, founder, is releasing on July 1st the Second MuniWireless.com Annual Survey of cities and regions around the world that have deployed wireless broadband networks. (Think this will be a trend) The report will also discuss adoption of VoIP by wireless ISPs, the use of mesh and latest hype surround WiMAX. But you get to hear a preview here, first, on Wireless Tech Radio. www.muniwireless.com

Continued Discussion of Pro/Cons Municipal Deployments - Marlon Schafer
The discussion of the Pros and Cons of municipal backed broadband wireless deployments spilled over from the second segment. Marlon continues his advocacy for non-interference with any operating WISPs. www.odessaoffice.com

Wireless Tech Radio show - June 8, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 17:07:49 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Supercomm press conference for Aperto Networks announcement of WiMAX product portfolio called Packet MAX. Steve will provide in-depth information of their product announcements.BellSouth announces yet another broadband wireless system trial in Athens, GA. more D-Link www.bwianews.com

State of Wireless Broadband and Disruptive Technologies - Noah Elkin
eMarketers senior analyst for all things wireless, Noah Elkin, joins us to share insights from his latest research on broadband Wireless technologies, likely adoption rates in US and international markets with a number of observations that product marketers and analysts will be interested in. eMarketers new report, Wireless Broadband: The Future Around the Corner has just been published, check out this preview and you may need more. www.emarketer.com

Dartmouth Colleges Wireless Operation Is One of the Largest - Brad Noblet
Dartmouth College may be the smallest of the Ivy League schools, but it has one of the most advanced enterprise Wi-Fi networks in the country. They are in effect their own WISP. S. Bradley Noblet is the Director Of Technical Services at Dartmouth College. The college, nestled in the Connecticut River Valley in Hanover, N.H., was one of the first to deploy a campus-wide wireless network a few years ago. They began offering VoWLAN services last Fall using Cisco softphones and PDA clients made by TeleSym. Ultimately, the school intends to extend IP voice service to the entire community of 13,000, including faculty and staff. Interestingly, in addition to the softphones, Dartmouth will also Star Trek like communicators from Vocera Communications. The Cupertino, Calif.-based startups wearable badges use speech recognition to allow for hands-free calling; users just say the name of the person theyre trying to reach -- no phone numbers required. "We felt it would be a real advantage for the kids to be able to communicate with their classmates no matter where they were. Say youre sitting in the library in the middle of January and its two degrees below. If you have a friend coming over to the library, rather than you having to walk back over and get a paper you forgot, you could call him up and ask him to bring it." www.dartmouth.edu

Wireless Tech Radio Show - June 15, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 13:56:19 -0400

June 15th Show

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
BridgeWave 60GHz milimeter microwave products, Proxim Corp. declares bankruptcy but products continue with buyer, Aruba Wireless wins BIG! displacing Cisco wireless gear at Microsoft for 277 buildings in 60 countries supporting new applications; Microsoft developing mesh technology in software; Intels 3rd Annual Most UnWired Cities List released and declares Seattle "Most UnWired" in the US; Sprint squating on their 2.5 GHz frequencies in Seattle area; 3rd Annual DEFCON WiFi Shoot-out to be held July 29th; FCC 3650 Proceedings attract many comment filers - manufacturers position in opposition to WISPA interests. www.bwianews.com

Finding and Dealing With Interference - Marlon Schafer
Odessa Office Equipment Owner, WISP Operator and WTR Co-Host, Marlon Schafer, takes us through his recommended checklist and process for identifying interference. "First, believe it or not, you have to be sure youre really getting interference," says Marlon, "many times therell be another really weird problem like a faulty connector that presents itself as interference." He plans to explain the use of spectrum analyzers to isolate real interference problems www.odessaoffice.com

Wireless Tech Radio Show - June 22, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:43:40 -0400

June 22nd Show - Looks like its a Conference Wrap-Up and Preview Show

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
ArrayComms iBurst tested in Australia, ArrayComm and Intel make joint announcement; IPWireless and TMobile announcement for Czech Republic; Netgear Pre-N MIMO product uses seven (7) internal antennas , WaveRider EUM 3005 indoor gear announcement www.bwianews.com

WiFi Planet and ISPCON Wrap-up - Ken DiPietro
Ken DiPietro of New-ISP.net has been attending many of the Spring Wireless conferences and joins us to discuss last weeks WiFi-Planet and observations from the Spring ISPCON held in Baltimore. www.new-isp.net

WCA Spring 2005 Show Starts Next Week - Andrew Kreig
Andrew Kreig, WCAI President, joins us to discuss next weeks WCA conference in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel, June 28-31. WCA 2005 Show highlights include:

Biggest WiMAX show of the year, and last before July launch of certification
Key juncture in several regulatory efforts, including 3.6 GHz and 2.5- 2.7 GHz
Status of license exempt providers in post-Michael Powell era, including merger of LEA into WCA
Policy debate on municipal wireless, include rare if not unique debate between Verizon and Philadelphia CIO/Tropos
Heavy focus on applications, including those for broadband wireless in public safety (U.S. and Iraq), transportation, enterprises
www.wcai.com

Wireless Tech Radio Show - June 29, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:22:25 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
Travels out to San Diego to visit Trango Broadband and their manufacturing plant; extended discussion of the Supreme Court BrandX decision www.bwianews.com

MetroFi : Wireless Dial-up Replacement - Chuck Haas
Youve probably heard the introductory teasers on television: "Wireless broadband for $19.95 for three months!" But what if that was the model for your entire business MetroFi founder and CEO Chuck Haas joins us to discuss this new start-up business that begins commercial services in the SF Bay area in August. www.metrofi.com

Fill-in Segment: News Segment continued - Steve, Jim & Marlon
Steve gives Kudos to the NetNewsWire RSS reader application (Mac OS only) and explains how he uses NetNewsWire to watch and collect news through RSS feeds; Frank Lautenberg and John McLain sponsor a new bill (Community Broadband Act of 2005) to allow municipalities to deploy broadband networks; Dell and Texas Instruments are working to oppose anti-competitive laws being proposed in Texas; Marlon provides comments on Software Defined Radio forum and impact on television braodcasters; Earthlink is bidding to provide broadband services for NYCs broadband RFP; US Military apparently negotiating to use XM Satellite for its battlefield communications purposes.

Wireless Tech Radio - July 6, 2005

Jim Sutton jim@wirelesstechradio.com — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 15:31:25 -0400

Latest Wireless Industry News - Steve Stroh, Marlon Schafer & Jim Sutton
www.bwianews.com

MikroTik Routers and RouterOS - Arnis Riekstins
Mikrotik routers are known known to WISPs and wireless hobbyist around the world. Co-founder Arnis Riekstins joins us from Riga, Latvia to discuss the company and products. Also of note, Mikrotik was active in the Tsunami Relief efforts in Banda Aceh, Indonesia donating a 5GHz system and hotspot routers through their Indonesian distributor.
MikroTikls [trade name MikroTik�] was founded in 1995 to develop and sell wireless ISP systems. MikroTikls now provides wireless ISP systems for Internet connectivity in many countries around the world - some locations are Iraq, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Ghana and many others. MikroTikls is located in Riga, the capital city of Latvia. MikroTikls has more than 50 employees. www.mikrotik.com

Speak Softly And Carry A Big Stick - Jim Snider
Spectrum issues are most important to the wireless industry and one of the most entertaining and engaging Watchers of Spectrum Issues is J.H.(Jim) Snider. Hes developed a number of publications that poke holes in the myth of spectrum scarcity and broadcasters efforts to protect their ownership of Americas spectrum licensed to them for TV services. Why do broadcasters have the reputation for being one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington What implications does this have for spectrum policy What is going on with DTV legislation on the Hill and at the FCC

Jims just published his latest book entitled Speak Softly And Carry A Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power. If you want an inside look into how things work and what to anticipate, this is the book to read.
Jim Snider is a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in numerous publications including The Washington Post, U.S.A. Today, and Atlantic Monthly. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard University.communications purposes.
www.spectrumpolicy.net