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!

Managed Service Providers (or MSP’s) have been participating in a pretty high growth business environment over the last few years. These organizations range from the major Telcos (Verizon and AT&T) to major hardware vendors (IBM and HP) to major System Integrators (CSC and Accenture) to regional niche players. It seems that just about anyone who is involved in IT wants to join the lucrative business of outsourcing or co-sourcing their customers networks and environments.

As WLANs become more prevalent and mission critical, this new area of networking is drawing the attention of many of these players. A year and a half ago, Verizon Business was one of the first to jump in a public way into this arena. It makes sense with Verizon’s history of wireless, networking, and now outsourcing, that they would be a leader in WLAN management. But Verizon Business is not alone in this field. Just about every MSP that offers network management is preparing to also offer WLAN management.

As these organizations enter into the WLAN management arena there are a few pitfalls they need to be aware of:

1. WLANs need to be managed differently the LANs. Due to the inherent nature of wireless, these devices need to be monitored in very different ways than their router and switch brethren. MSPs who make the mistake of just offering simple “up/down” status will not be doing their customer any favors - it is critical to provide RF management and optimization to ensure that not only are devices up, but that the network is actually working.
2. WLAN management needs to be integrated with LAN management. I think MSPs grasp this one pretty quickly - from a purely cost perspective. If the MSP has to build out a parallel infrastructure just for WLAN management then it will take them a long time to make a profit. By integrating WLAN specific tools into their existing operational infrastructure they can gain leverage and re-use many of the skill sets and processes that they have in house.
3. WLAN is just the beginning. Any MSP who starts discussing with their customer about managing their WLAN needs to understand that its not just the APs and/or controllers that need to be managed…it’s all the rest of the network as well. This includes the authentication infrastructure, the wired network that the wireless devices connect to, power, firewalls, etc. This is a great opportunity for the MSP to showcase all of their wares but they have to have this mindset from the beginning.

MSPs have a great opportunity in the WLAN space and can provide a fantastic service to their clients. As this market matures this level of service is going to become more and more important.

 

 AirWave Podcast with CSU San Marcos [15:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As some of you may have heard, the California State University System announced back in September that all 23 schools will eventually be moving off of Cisco WLAN gear and onto Aruba Networks products. AirWave is currently being used to manage and monitor wireless networks at 7 of the CSU campuses including CSU San Marcos.

In this episode of AirWaves I spoke with John Humes who is the Network Manager at CSU San Marcos and was on the evaluation committee that selected Aruba as the standard for the CSU system moving forward.

Like many of the CSU schools, San Marco is currently using Cisco for their WLAN infrastructure and John discusses the issues he faces on a daily basis and how a tool like AirWave makes his life easier.

John also describes the migration path and how AirWave’s multi-vendor capabilities will play a strategic role in their network moving forward.

Last week I spent some time doing half-day AirWave training road shows. Most of the folks in my classes were from small to medium size companies and the types of questions that I received really hit home that there is still a lot of wireless training that needs to be done to bring everyone up to speed.

For example:

• Why in the U.S. do we typically only use channels 1,6, and 11?
• Should all of my APs at a single site have the same SSID’s?
• What does RSSI and dbm mean when talking about wireless signals?

These are basic questions that all wireless administrators should understand.

There are several courses out in the market place today that try to address the basics of wireless networking. I would recommend some of the CWNP classes (www.cwnp.com). These courses are great for people who already understand some of the basic network concepts, but want to elevate their wireless knowledge level and increase their marketability to employers.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Managing anything in a K-12 environment can be a very strenuous activity. Imagine all those different school buildings, thousands of students, parents, and teachers and then multiply that by government regulation and bureaucracy. In this episode of AirWaves we speak with Michael Cooper of Oak Hills Local School District who has been managing a Cisco autonomous AP based network for several years. Michael shares his thoughts on WLAN network management and how he transitioned from an, “I’ll just console in,” management style to valuing the benefits of an enterprise grade network management tool. Please take a listen and provide your feedback in our forums.

 

 AirWave Podcast with Denver International Airport: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There has been a lot of press recently around Denver International Airport moving from a “paid” wifi service to a “free” service. I had the opportunity to speak with Mikael Rasmussen who is the WiFi Manager for Qwest Government Services and has the actual responsibility for running and maintaining all of the wireless LAN services at DIA. The free network is getting most of the publicity today but Mikael also has the responsibility for other wireless LAN services that the airlines and the airport use for things like baggage handling and security. Mikael inherited the AirWave Wireless Management Suite when Qwest took over responsibility for the network but has quickly become a convert as he’s had to deal with legacy networks and multiple vendors. Take a listen and feel free to post questions on our forum.

 

 Ivy Plus League WiFi Panel: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week we recorded a podcast with the main wireless LAN guys from MIT, Brown and Princeton…hence the Ivy+ League moniker. Chris, Don, and Daniel offer candid insights into how they are managing their campus wide WLAN deployments, where their networks are headed and how they are dealing with new technologies like 802.11 and the iPhone. These guys have been cumulatively running wireless networks for over 10 years and they have all seen the impact of different radio technologies, wireless LAN architectures, and physical deployment scenarios. If you are managing your own wireless LAN or would like to learn from people who are managing hundreds of wireless nodes and supporting thousands of wireless clients, please take a listen.

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.

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

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.