If anyone thinks the jury is out on 802.11n, check out last week’s AirWave panel on the pros and cons of 802.11n in higher ed for a different perspective.

It’s not a matter of “if”; now it’s a matter of how.

Click here to view the 802.11n in Higher Education Webcast

Our three panelists – Chris Murphy from MIT, Steve Lee from Virginia Tech, and Dan Eklund from Wayne State – were peppered with a non-stop stream of questions about implementation and deployment – concerning multiple radio frequencies, deployment, spacing, transition, capacity planning and more. Chris and Dan are deploying 802.11n now; Steve is holding off for the moment, which provided an interesting counterpoint to discussions.

And while the discussion was solely focused on the campus environment, I think anyone looking to deploy 802.11n in the near future will find this a useful discussion to listen in on, since most of the issues addressed are the same, whether your network serves a college, a company, a school or a government agency.

Feedback was very positive. Over 300 people attended. More are downloading it daily. Sample feedback: “I found this especially interesting and helpful since you featured multiple universities using different wireless vendors.”

Not for the first time, our panelists came across as three tough and experienced customers, who have high standards for their vendors and suppliers and a clear understanding of how to make technology fit the needs and goals of their employers. We’re grateful for their time and efforts.

And for their willingness to answer the tough ones. To me, toughness peaked towards the end of the event, when they were asked the big “What If” question overlying all discussions of 802.11n today: What if the final 802.11n standard differs so much from the current interim standard that you find you have to change hardware?

You could hear a pin drop at that moment. Or at least, I could. Their answers were great, but I don’t have space to report it, so you’re going to have to listen to the recording to hear them.

In case you missed it, we hosted our 2nd-highest attended webcast ever on Tuesday, “Troubleshooting the Wireless LAN.”

Beyond the large attendance, the demand for a recording of the webcast post-event has been overwhelming!

So, without further ado, we present to you our newest addition to AirWaves:

Click to view “Troubleshooting the Wireless LAN” Webcast

If you have any questions or comments regarding the show, please direct them to the forum!

Here are a couple of slides that we went over, giving you an idea of the show:

Enjoy!

We recently hosted a webinar (click to view) with Craig Mathias on wireless trends for the upcoming year. Craig, as always, did a very interesting job of talking about both WWAN and WLAN technologies as well as the impact on devices and users. By far the topic that is generating the most interest is 802.11n. Most questions centered around the additional speed and coverage that “n” brings but also a lot of questions about how “n” will co-exist with existing a/b/g networks. One of Craig’s main points was the “n” shouldn’t be considered a replacement for “g” and should be used to augment existing networks. He also stressed using “n” in the 5GHz range (same as 802.11a) to avoid interference with existing “g” networks.

Craig was able to answer quite a few questions and if you have some of your own feel free to post them on our forum.

Senior AirWave engineer Jeremy Haltom discusses what he is advising actual customers in the field interested in 802.11n to do to prepare their networks for this high-speed wireless:

• how to baseline the WLAN
• The implications of 802.11n’s higher speed and wider coverage
• Impact on client devices
• Infrastructure life cycles and replacement schedule (and their cost implications)

Click to view the “Capacity Planning WLANs: How to Get Ready for 802.11n” webcast

Learn the latest developments in Fixed/Mobile and Mobile/Mobile Convergence — and what you need to know for managing convergence of voice and data on your wireless network and on single wireless devices– from leading wireless industry analyst Craig Mathias of the Farpoint Group – part of AirWave’s “Staying Ahead of the Curve” series of webcasts.

Click to view the “Fixed-Mobile & Mobile-Mobile Convergence” webcast

Congratulations. You did it. You just went out and bought a bunch of the most high-tech WiFi access points on the market. Too bad they will be obsolete in a year or two.

It is inevitable.

With the advent of every “latest & greatest” WLAN infrastructure purchase (see: 802.11n, WiMAX, mesh, “thin APs,” etc.), comes the question that has network engineers everywhere scratching their heads:

Now what?

Now what do I do with my legacy gear? Now what do I do to prevent downtime as we migrate? Now what areas need to be migrated first? Now what does my vendor have to help me manage my multi-vendor, (possibly) multi-architecture network?

These can be daunting challenges and I have to assume that nearly everyone purchasing enterprise wireless APs is going through this same line of questioning right now.

Our featured keynote speaker Craig Mathias helped to allay some of the fear created by WLAN migration:

Click to view the “Managing Wireless Migrations and Upgrades” webcast

This is the AirWaves webcast (visit AirWave Webcast Library for more) to have, as we shattered our previous registration and attendance records featuring Craig Mathias’ presentation on everyone’s hot topic in the wireless space: 802.11n.

When will the first enterprise units ship? What will this mean for my legacy gear? Will my users be able to connect to .11n APs? Will my users with .11n cards be able to connect to my old B or G equipment?

Find out here:

Click here to view the “What’s New with 802.11n & Beyond” webcast

So what is covered in a best practices for WLAN management webcast, anyway?

We discuss the latest WLAN management trends and approaches in user and client device monitoring, capacity planning and monitoring, help desk involvement, diagnostics, event correlation, network growth and evolution, device configuration, compliance, and maintaining complex security policies.

Yes, the world of management is growing and it never hurts to hear what Jeremy Haltom had to say about it.

Click here to view the Best Practices in WLAN Management webcast

Jeremy Haltom has become a bit of a “diamond in the rough” for us here at AirWave as he continues to shine brightly as our guest speaker on some of the more pressing industry topics today. We don’t want to inflate his ego too much, but he does a great job of helping you understand what practical tips you can walk away from and put to use in your own WLAN environment.

This time, Jeremy helped explain the eight most common security threats facing a WLAN infrastructure today and how to deal with them, followed by an open Q&A with the audience. If you have any more questions for Jeremy or AirWave, feel free to post away in the forums.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Jeremy Haltom’s webcast on WLAN Security Best Practices:

Click here to view the Best Practices in WLAN Security webcast

As the wireless access point has continued its maturation process, the outdoor WiFi solutions have become robust and service providers are looking at new ways to leverage the technology.

The result is a powerful niche market that has caught the interest of cities of all sizes.

Muniwireless.com, owned and operated by Esme Vos, is a well-respected resource and we were lucky enough to have Esme Vos join us and share her insights on the industry.

Click here to view the “Municipal Wireless Market Overview” webcast.