WiFi Speed Testing Using WLANController.com

Version 2013.1 of WLANController.com has been released and one of the new features is centralized speed testing. See below on how to use new feature.

1. If don’t have one already sign up for account at wlancontroller.com



2. Note Profile ID and Key from confirmation screen.



3. Download latest software agents for Mac OS and Windows (iOS and Android agents coming soon).



4. Install agent and start agent. Agent will show that it is connected to server but not registered or active.



5. Configure with Profile ID and Key for account and click save. If needed enter server hostname manage.wlancontroller.com. Agent will register with server and activate.



6. Login in to wlancontroller.com.



7. Dashboard will show demo data watermark until data is received from agent.



8. Click Configuration and then Active Agents menu option. By default speed testing feature is not enabled per agent. Click deactivate to remove agent from active state.



9. Navigate to Configuration and then Available menu option. Check the speed testing option and click activate.



10. Navigate to Configuration and then Active menu option to confirm that agent is now active with speed testing feature enabled.



11. To run a speed test, navigate to Speed Tester menu option. Select Agent(s) and then select Run Speed Test



12. Test will download a 5MB file from the Internet. Refresh screen to see BSSID, SSID, Download Speed, Downloaded File Size, and Download Time in results screen.



13. To run speed tests with a custom size file from a custom URL navigate to Configuration and then Default Configuration. Add URL to Default Custom Download Server URL field.



14. To run speed test using custom download server URL follow directions in step # 11 and select Run Custom Server Speed Test.



15. Repeat test for all agents. The 10 fastest agents will be summarized in dashboard.

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OpenVPN Connect for iOS – iPhone and iPad

Good news!! The open source VPN solution OpenVPN is now available for iOS!

Download from App Store

OpenVPN Connect is the official full-featured iPhone/iPad client for the OpenVPN Access Server, Private Tunnel and OpenVPN Community, developed by OpenVPN Technologies, Inc.
Features:
* Easily import .ovpn profiles from iTunes, OpenVPN Access Server, Private Tunnel or via a browser link.
* Improved power management – preferences setting allows VPN to pause in a low-power state whenever network is unavailable.
*Support for multi-factor authentication using OpenVPN static and dynamic challenge/response protocols.
*Full IPv6 support (at both the tunnel and transport layer)

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iPad WiFi Survey App v1.5

iPad WiFi Survey app has been updated. Many new features including using a remote agent to collect RSSI in dBm. See app store description and demo videos below.

New Project Setup

- Add project details
- Add floor plan
- Configure RSSI agent info

Floor Plan Tools

- Calibrate floor plan
- Mark floor plan boundary
- Calculate floor plan area

Heatmap Generation

Adding Markers on Floor Plan

Adding Marker Labels

WiFi Survey can be used to perform WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n speed tests and wifi site surveys of indoor and outdoor networks. An iPerf3 client and server is integrated with app and allows for placements of speed test markers on a floor plan. The iPerf3 client/server is compatible with WiFiPerf and iPerf3 apps.

Signal collection in dBm is achieved by using an agent running on a non iOS smartphone, tablet, or computer that sends RSSI information to the app via an IP connection.

Other Features
- Add floor plan images to project from device camera, image library or Dropbox
- Copy/Clone projects
- Scale floor plan using touch interface
- Measure area of a floor plan or select areas using touch interface to draw outline
- Limit heat map generation to a defined area using touch interface to draw area
- Place WiFi and WiFi sensor markers
- Place computer room, electrical/POE and router/switch markers on floor plan
- Document WiFi or WiFi sensor location using device camera
- Draw cabling paths and app will measure distance and include in reports with total length
- Generate signal and speed test heat maps
- Internet download speed test
- Internal/Custom web server download speed test
- Multiple markers/icons to help document existing and planned networks
- Enter data into app using device camera and barcodes
- Flexible reports can include all items placed on floor plan or select information
- Reports in HTML format to allow editing and custom text
- Export report via email or Dropbox
- Many more…

Filed under: WLAN Deployment, WLAN Design, WLAN Site Survey, WLAN Tools, WLAN/WiFi News | Comments Off

Rebuilding a 90,000 Cubic Foot Verizon Cable Vault Devastated by Hurricane Sandy

The electronics and copper cabling was damaged but the fiber cabling is fine. Verizon is going to take this opportunity to build out a parallel fiber network instead of replacing damaged copper with new copper. Very cool video below and full story at The Verge with pictures.

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History of Cisco Systems WiFi Acquisitions

Cisco has made five WiFi focused acquisitions since 1999 totally almost $3 billion dollars. The latest acquisition of Meraki for $1.2 billion is the most Cisco has ever paid for a WiFi focused company.

Meraki, Inc. – November 18, 2012, $1.2 Billion

Meraki is a leader in cloud networking, offering midmarket customers easy-to-deploy on-premise networking solutions that can be centrally managed from the cloud. The acquisition of Meraki complements and expands Cisco’s strategy to offer more software-centric solutions to simplify network management, help customers empower mobile workforces, and generate new revenue opportunities for partners.

Market Opportunity: Cloud Networking, MDM, BYOD

Cognio, Inc. – September 18, 2007, ??

Cognio is the market leader in wireless spectrum analysis and management for wireless networks. Cognios industry-leading spectrum technology enhances performance, reliability, and security of wireless networks by detecting, classifying, locating, and mitigating sources of radio frequency (RF) interference. The acquisition will provide Cisco with complementary and differentiating technology, intellectual property, and a core team to expand Ciscos leadership in unified wireless networking.

Market Opportunity: Wireless Troubleshooting, Spectrum Analysis

Airespace, Inc. – January 12, 2005, $450 Million

Airespace is a provider of wireless local area networking (“WLAN”) systems, which provide a secure, flexible, and cost effective solution for enterprise and commercial customers. Airespace’s product portfolio will expand Cisco’s WLAN solution portfolio, accelerating delivery of key WLAN features and capabilities for Cisco’s entire customer base. Airespace’s product portfolio includes WLAN controllers, Access Points, WLAN Management and Location Software, and Security capabilities, including IDS. The acquisition will allow Cisco to address a broader set of market segments and integrate advanced capabilities into current Cisco products.

Market Opportunity: WLAN Controllers, “Thin” Access Points, WIDS, Location Tracking, Access Point Central Management

Linksys Group, Inc. – March 20, 2003, $500 Million

Linksys Group, Inc. is the market and product leader in the Consumer/SOHO networking market. Linksys’ products include wireless/wired home routers and access points, wireless adapters for laptops and desktops and unmanaged switches.

Market Opportunity: Consumer/SOHO WiFi and Wired Networking

Aironet Wireless Communications, Inc. – November 9, 1999, $799 Million

Aironet is a leading developer of standards-based, high speed wireless LAN (local area network) products. Wireless LANs are used in enterprise, small/medium businesses and home environments. They enable PC users to establish and maintain a wireless network connection anywhere throughout a building, providing benefits in mobility, simplicity, flexibility, scalability and reduced cost of ownership.

Market Opportuinity: Wireless LANs

If the Navini acquisition is lumped into group the total is $3.3+ billion.

Navini Networks, Inc. – October 23, 2007, $330 Million

Navini Networks is a leader in the Mobile WiMAX 802.16e-2005 broadband wireless industry. Navini is a pioneer in the integration of “Smart Beamforming” technologies with Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) antennas, a combination that improves the performance and range for WiMAX services and lowers the overall deployment and operational costs for service providers. Navini’s WiMAX products will extend Cisco’s market-leading WiFi and WiFi-Mesh portfolios, allowing Cisco to uniquely address the rapidly growing markets for broadband wireless services.

Market Opportunity: WiMAX, Outdoor Wireless

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Microsoft Surface Tips and Tricks for Windows RT

(updated: 10/31/2012)

Below are tips and tricks I have found via Microsoft documentation, Internet sites and experimentation. I’ll update below as I get more time to use Microsoft Surface.

“Home Button”

The Windows logo on the device is the home button. Touch the graphic to toggle between “Start” or “Desktop” view.

Screen Shot on Microsoft Surface

Press volume down and the home button at the same time. The screen will dim indicating a screenshot was taken.

The screenshot will be stored in Photos Library

Email Photos

View the photo on screen and then swipe right to left. Select Share from right menu.

WiFi Scanning on Windows RT Using Netsh

Swipe left to right
Select Search
Type in “cmd” to find command prompt app
Launch command prompt

Type netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid

Show Detailed Driver Info for Wireless Card

Yes, use netsh to confirm.

Run netsh wlan show drivers

C:\Users\Zaib>netsh wlan show drivers
 
Interface name: Wi-Fi
 
    Driver                    : Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-N Network Controller (SDIO)
    Vendor                    : Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.
    Provider                  : Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.
    Date                      : 9/20/2012
    Version                   : 14.62.17202.65
    INF file                  : C:\windows\INF\oem8.inf
    Files                     : 2 total
                                C:\windows\system32\DRIVERS\mwls97w8arm.sys
                                C:\windows\system32\drivers\vwifibus.sys
    Type                      : Native Wi-Fi Driver
    Radio types supported     : 802.11g 802.11b 802.11a 802.11n
    FIPS 140-2 mode supported : No
    802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes
    Hosted network supported  : Yes
    Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                WPA-Enterprise  TKIP
                                WPA-Enterprise  CCMP
                                WPA-Personal    TKIP
                                WPA-Personal    CCMP
                                WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
                                WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
                                WPA2-Personal   TKIP
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP
                                Vendor defined  TKIP
                                Vendor defined  CCMP
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined

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SuperScan Mac App – TCP Port Scanner, Banner Grabber and Bonjour Scanner

SuperScan provides TCP port scanning, banner grabbing, and detects enabled Bonjour services. User SuperScan to discover devices on your network and which ports or services are enabled. SuperScan’s Bonjour detection feature is a great way to troubleshoot and test Bonjour Gateways on enterprise networks.

Download SuperScan app from the Mac App Store

See video below for demo.

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Mobility+ Certification from CompTIA

CompTIA is vendor-neutral certification organization with 17 certification exams in PC support, networking, servers, convergence, training, Linux, security, IT sales, green IT and more. They have been delivering certification exams for more than 15 years.

Some of the well known networking exams are below.

Network+ – “The exam covers network technologies, installation and configuration, media and topologies, management, and security. Candidate job roles include network administrator, network technician, network installer, help desk technician and IT cable installer.”

Security+ – “CompTIA Security+ is an international, vendor-neutral certification that demonstrates competency in: Network security, Compliance and operational security, Threats and vulnerabilities, Application, data and host security, Access control and identity management, and Cryptography.”

With wireless and mobility exploding the demand for a CompTIA certification focused on wireless is a great idea. The new certification will be called Mobility+ (I love the focus on mobility and not just wireless or 802.11).

They are currently looking for mobility experts to help create the exam. If you are interested in helping go here and apply.

“CompTIA is looking for IT professionals who have experience in wireless networking, mobility architecture, mobile security (both Wi-Fi and R/F) and policy, and experience in troubleshooting mobile devices to be involved in creating our CompTIA Mobility+ certification exam.

The purpose of the Job Task Analysis workshop is to identify areas of competence required for a certification, and to ensure that the examination objectives are relevant to job roles and activities for the target audience.

Potential Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) must have strong knowledge and experience in deploying and managing corporate Wi-Fi and/or R/F networks, including device management, architecture, security, and device management — preferably in a multi-vendor environment. They should also have understanding of wireless networking operations and mobile devices and should have at least five years of IT experience, with at least two years of technical hands-on experience with wireless and mobile devices.

SMEs will receive a $300 a day stipend for the 4-day workshop, plus $300 to defray travel expenses and have their hotel lodging paid by CompTIA, after their acceptance and full participation in the program.”

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Kᴇᴄᴄᴀᴋ / Keccak Wins NIST SHA-3 Competition

Keccak (pronounced “catch-ack”) was selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as the winning hash algorithm after a five-year competition.

A cryptographic hash function is a hash function, that is, an algorithm that takes an arbitrary block of data and returns a fixed-size bit string, the (cryptographic) hash value, such that an (accidental or intentional) change to the data will (with very high probability) change the hash value. The data to be encoded is often called the “message,” and the hash value is sometimes called the message digest or simply digest. (Wikipedia)

“Hash algorithms are used widely for cryptographic applications that ensure the authenticity of digital documents, such as digital signatures and message authentication codes. These algorithms take an electronic file and generate a short “digest,” a sort of digital fingerprint of the content. A good hash algorithm has a few vital characteristics. Any change in the original message, however small, must cause a change in the digest, and for any given file and digest, it must be infeasible for a forger to create a different file with the same digest.

The NIST team praised the Keccak algorithm for its many admirable qualities, including its elegant design and its ability to run well on many different computing devices. The clarity of Keccak’s construction lends itself to easy analysis (during the competition all submitted algorithms were made available for public examination and criticism), and Keccak has higher performance in hardware implementations than SHA-2 or any of the other finalists.” (NIST)

NIST’s Policies on Hash Functions

“SHA-1: Federal agencies should stop using SHA-1 for generating digital signatures, generating time stamps and for other applications that require collision resistance. Federal agencies may use SHA-1 for the following applications: verifying old digital signatures and time stamps, generating and verifying hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), key derivation functions (KDFs), and random bit/number generation. Further guidance on the use of SHA-1 is provided in SP 800-131A.

SHA-2 (i.e., SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/224 and SHA-512/256): Federal agencies may use these hash functions for all applications that employ secure hash algorithms. NIST encourages application and protocol designers to implement SHA-256 at a minimum for any applications of hash functions requiring interoperability. Further guidance on the use of SHA-2 is provided in SP 800-57 Part 1, section 5.6.2 and SP 800-131A.

SHA-3: When the SHA-3 hash algorithm becomes available, it may also be used for all applications that employ secure hash algorithms. At this time, there is no need or plan to transition applications from SHA-2 to SHA-3.”

NIST Press Release

Keccak website

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Belkin F5U409 USB to Serial Driver for Mac OS X (and 64 bit Windows 7)

The Belkin F5U409 USB to serial adapter uses the same drivers as Magic Control Technologies U232-P9 Adapter. MCT has drivers for Mac OS X and Windows 7 64 bit.

Local Files
U232-P9 / Belkin F5U409 Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 64 bit
U232-P9 / Belkin F5U409 Mac OS X

A big thanks to Benjamin Close for finding solution.

It was then that I found the MCT U232-P9 DB-9 Serial Adapter High Speed 230K USB SERIAL RS-232. This device used the P87C52 80C51 8-bit microcontroller and PDIUSBD12 made by NXP Semiconductors founded by Philips.” It was perfect the chip matched. I hence spent quite a while working out who MCT were. It turns out that MCT stands for Magic Control Technologies. On the MCT website, on their driver page they had drivers for their USB/Serial convertor and they support Visa, Windows 7, 32bit & 64 bit. So I downloaded the driver U232-P9 Driver

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