Jun 11, 2009 News
The previous version of E(z)RF software, like most other WLAN management packages, periodically polled access points, requesting summaries of statistical data on throughput, signal strength and the like. Many enterprise sites have relied on a companion tool, a wireless sniffer that captures packet level data. (See our Clear Choice tests on spectrum analyzers.) But it’s been difficult to bring together and correlate the information from the statistical tools and the sniffers, says Kamal Anand, senior vice president of marketing for Meru.
“There’s been no concept of a history of [WLAN] events to see what was happening in the network at various time,” he says.
Wireless events are a series of back and forth interactions that reveal how and why some feature or characteristic of a Wi-Fi client or access points changes. “You want to capture the meaningful bits of information, for example, those that cause a client’s IP address to change,” says Joe Epstein, Meru’s senior director of technology. “We can capture these and see the actual error codes.” It’s this subset of data that the new E(z)RF version captures and uploads to the appliance-based inference engine for processing, analysis and correlation.
Meru Networks has released a radically revised wireless LAN management application that for the first time runs on a dedicated appliance to collect only periodic summaries of access point statistics and look for problems.
Version 2.0 of E(z)RF Network Management digs up the equivalent of log information — packet-level data that shows the interactions “events”) of the Wi-Fi client with access points and back-end servers. A Meru-built inference engine correlates the events, searching for patterns that show immediate or developing problems.
Meru executives say the application can pinpoint specific problems quickly, and identify the root causes precisely. That in turn saves IT troubleshooting time, and minimizes or prevents users being offline and unproductive.
Problems, trends, WLAN states can be displayed in a package of customizable graphical dashboards that give network managers a quick visual summary of what’s going on (an optional software module creates a visual representation by mapping this data to a floor plan showing WLAN access points and clients). With a few clicks, customers can dig down into details and histories of a given client or access point. Because this event data is stored in a PostgreSQL RDBMS on the appliance, managers can replay events to watch what happens when a laptop, for example, repeatedly requests an IP address.
Read More..
Jun 11, 2009 News
Intel’s venture capital arm is investing $43 million in a Tokyo-based WiMAX operator that plans to launch the world’s fastest WiMAX service in July.
The investment, from Intel Capital, will help UQ Communications to build-out its network, which is now under test in Tokyo. The service offers download speeds of up to 40Mbps and uploads at up to 10Mbps. It will be formally launched on July 1.
The network currently covers Tokyo and the nearby cities of Kawasaki and Yokohama and will expand to cover additional cities later this year. UQ plans to offer coverage of over 90 percent of the population by 2012.
Intel has backed the company from the time it applied to the Japanese government to launch service. UQ Communications is also backed by KDDI, Japan’s number two cellular carrier, JR East, the major railway operator in Eastern Japan, Kyocera, Daiwa Securities and Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank. Read More..
Jun 11, 2009 Wireless
The scoop: Sprint Mi-Fi 2200 mobile wireless hot spot, by Sprint (and Novatel Wireless), about $100 (after rebates, plus data service).
What it is: The Sprint Mi-Fi is a credit-card-sized device that includes a 3G wireless (Sprint’s EV-DO Rev. A) connection combined with a Wi-Fi router and GPS radio. The device is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and does not require an external power source (although it has a power cord for recharging the battery or if you want to keep it powered during use). The 3G/Wi-Fi combination lets users take advantage of 3G network access and provide Wi-Fi LAN coverage for as many as five other users. This can be advantageous in locations where Wi-Fi or other network access is unavailable, yet 3G coverage is.
Read More..
Mar 15, 2009 News
After years of growth, the global market for mobile handsets will contract by about 8% this year although smartphones will remain a growth area, according to a new forecast from IDC.
The decline is worse than the 2% drop for this year that the company forecast in December 2008 and indicates further weakening in the handset market.
“Expectations for 2009 were negative going into the fourth quarter of 2008. However, worse-than-expected results and a steady flow of negative economic news are indicating that 2009 will be gloomier than predicted,” said Ryan Reith, an analyst at IDC, in a statement. IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group, the parent-company of IDG News Service.
Read More..
Mar 15, 2009 News
The wireless LAN market shriveled at the end of 2008, according to new, if sketchy, data released by Infonetics.
The Boston-based market researcher says worldwide WLAN equipment revenues dropped 11% in Q4 compared to the previous quarter. For the year, revenues fell 4% to $2.4 billion worldwide.
Two vendors who apparently saw revenue increases were Motorola and D-Link, though Infonetics didn’t provide specifics. The research firm says Motorola is very close behind second-place Aruba. [Compare enterprise and SMB WLAN products in our online Wireless & Mobile Product Guides .]
Read More..
Latest Entry
