Clear To Send: Wireless Network Engineering

Cisco Live We have an episode full of Cisco goodness. Recently, Cisco released the data sheets to two 802.11ax access points. We have the details on these two APs, their capabilities, and some of our opinions. And speaking of Cisco, right around the corner is Cisco Live. We have our tips and the sessions we're […] The post CTS 163: Cisco 802.11ax APs & Cisco Live appeared first on Clear To Send .

With OFDMA in 802.11ax, the size of the subcarriers has been divided by 4. Going from 312.5KHz wide with OFDM to 78.125KHz wide. The symbol duration has been increased by 4 times in the meantime. Going from 3.2 microseconds with OFDM to 12.8 microseconds. View the full image here Advantages of having more subcarriers Allow […] The post CTS 162: 802.11ax OFDMA Subcarriers appeared first on Clear To...

Why is there a need for BSS Coloring? To help a receiving device identify the BSS from which a receiving PPDU originates from so that there's a reduction in BSS collision reporting a busy medium. 802.11ax allows the medium to be reused more often between OBSSs by identifying those overlapping BSSs. The primary purpose is […] The post CTS 161: 802.11ax BSS Coloring appeared first on Clear To Send .

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) brings OFDMA to wireless. It’s an enhancement over OFDM which was a single-user transmission.  When a signal is sent or received it is done with one device. In OFDMA, it allows multiple access which means simultaneous transmissions to/from multiple devices. There is a downlink multi-user operation and an uplink multi-user operation. In […] The post CTS 160: 802.11ax OFDMA Resour...

I decided to finally get myself a little familiar with 802.11ax. I'm not sure why but I've pretty much ignored it until now. In this episode, I'm going to provide my overview of 802.11ax, or Wi-Fi 6. This episode will be the start of a mini series diving into detail of the components of 802.11ax. […] The post CTS 159: Wi-fi 6 (802.11ax) Overview appeared first on Clear To Send .

802.11w applies to robust management frames protected by Protected Management Frame (PMF). Wireless environment includes: Rogues Susceptible to eavesdropping Data traffic is usually encrypted Management frame is usually unencrypted Goal of 802.11w is to protect management frames from forgery or spoofing. I see it all the time in San Francisco. Deauthentication attacks coming left, right, […] The p...

Welcome to a new episode where we speak with Troy Martin. We're following his presentation at WLPC Prague, Effects of Rate Limiting on Wi-Fi Flow. We ask Troy to go into more detail about rate limiting and the effect it has on Wi-Fi. Effect Of Rate Limiting on Wi-Fi Users often goes around obstacles. What […] The post CTS 157: The effect of rate limiting on Wi-Fi appeared first on Clear To Send .

802.11 has different topologies to be aware of.  They describe how 802.11 radios may be used to communicate with each other. Many are familiar with the most common ones such as BSS and ESS. But additionally, a client can operate in an IBSS, PBSS, and MBSS. IBSS: Independent Service Set BSS: Basic Service Set ESS: […] The post CTS 156: 802.11 Service Sets appeared first on Clear To Send .

Security is much more than protecting the wireless frames over the air. We must also protect the infrastructure side, have proper segmentation, and ensure the right role based access. In this episode we speak with Chris Hinsz about security beyond Wi-Fi. Securing wireless is much more than encryption. We have WPA2, upcoming WPA3 and OWE. […] The post CTS 155: Security beyond the fi appeared first...

This week, Scott Lester, CWNE #253, joins us on the show to talk about Stadium Wi-Fi. The post CTS 154: Stadium Wi-Fi with Scott Lester appeared first on Clear To Send .

We made it to the end of 2018! In our final episode of the year, we wanted to recap the show and its top episodes. There are some good episodes to listen to or if you already have, listen to them again! Additionally, we wanted to share some brief stats about the show and how […] The post CTS 153: Recap of 2018 & Starting 2019 appeared first on Clear To Send .

Does your Wi-Fi network make the Naughty or Nice list this December? Go through our top 5 bad and good checklist. The post CTS 152: Naughty or Nice Wi-Fi appeared first on Clear To Send .

In a previous episode, François discussed what it meant to be an engineer. We thought it would only be fitting to do an episode on what it meant to be a CWNE. They are two very different things. An engineer can be a CWNE but we feel that to be a CWNE can mean something […] The post CTS 151: What It Means To Be a CWNE appeared first on Clear To Send .

Stephen Cooper flies from Australia to San Jose to record in-person for Clear To Send. But really he was in town for work and made time to meet with me, Rowell, to talk about different topics in wireless. Interview with Stephen Cooper We met at the Westin hotel which happened to be the quietest place […] The post CTS 150: Wi-Fi Design Day, NAC, Troubleshooting, C9800, and More appeared first on Cl...

To deploy a high performing WLAN, in which your workforce heavily relies on, requires more than guess work. 6 Characteristics of High Performing WLANs Wi-Fi networks were originally built with coverage in mind and access points were installed in rooms where it was known to need Wi-Fi. But as businesses began migrating from Ethernet to […] The post CTS 149: 6 Characteristics Of High Performing WLAN...

François goes into what it means to be an engineer. Meet Daniel Cavazos Daniel resides in San Antonio, Texas and is a Wireless Infrastructure Sales Engineer for Ventev. Sorry, Daniel! We thought we had a photo of you but we must have missed it! What Does It Mean To Be An Engineer Definitions of an […] The post CTS 148: What Does It Mean To Be An Engineer appeared first on Clear To Send .

This week in wireless we have a round of news to cover. Below are what we discuss on the show with our opinions. I apologize for the briefness of the show notes. I, Rowell, am traveling this week. Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controllers: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/wireless/catalyst-9800-series-wireless-controllers/index.html Commscope to Acquire ARRIS: https://www.commscope.com/NewsCe...

Gurpreet Singh shares his story of how he got started in Wi-Fi. He also explains how to approach a large Wi-Fi deployment. Deploying Wi-Fi at Scale Gurpreet deployed a new Wi-Fi infrastructure for a large food chain and shared his experience. We talk about what is different when deploying at a bigger scale. Preparation is […] The post CTS 146: Deploying Wi-Fi at Scale with Gurpreet Singh appeared...

François and Rowell discuss tips to creating Ekahau reports. 6 Tips for Creating Ekahau Reports 1 – Use testing files If you have worked on any programming project before, you will easily understand this tip. Working on a report template is kind of working on a programming project. Here is a summary of the work […] The post CTS 145: 6 Tips for Creating Ekahau Reports appeared first on Clear To Sen...

Rowell and François discuss their tips and advice when running a Meraki Wi-Fi network in challenging environments such as warehouse, hospitals, and dense office environments. Meraki Wi-Fi Tips There's a big appeal for organizations to use Meraki. The ease of management is the biggest factor. With the management interface being user friendly and the hardware […] The post CTS 144: Meraki Wi-Fi Tips...

Coming off the end of the CWNP WiFi Trek conference, we go over our tips for becoming a CWNE. Tips on Becoming A CWNE Sometimes, we get sone questions from you guys about what it takes to become CWNE and if we have any tips. After seeing how many people at the CWNP WiFi Trek […] The post CTS 143: Tips On Becoming A CWNE appeared first on Clear To Send .

Ookla, makers behind Speedtest.net, have acquired Ekahau. Ooklahau Announced October 10th, 2018 Ookla has acquired Ekahau. The makers behind Speedtest.net are getting their hands into the Wi-Fi world by acquiring the maker of Wi-Fi validation tools. It's a headscratcher of an acquisition. Speedtest.net is Ookla's flagship product. It's used by many people around the world. […] The post CTS 142: Ju...

Nyansa provides visibility into your Wi-Fi network. What can you do with it? Analytics Data & Wi-Fi Coming off Mobility Field Day 3 (MFD3), Nyansa brings a couple of updates. There's a lot of data collected and presented onto the dashboard. What could be challenging is understanding all the data you're able to see. And […] The post CTS 141: Analytics Data & Wi-Fi appeared first on Clear To Send .

We discuss Mist System's bet on Artificial Intelligence in Wi-Fi Mist Goes All In With AI Mist delivers an update from a year ago when they announced their Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Wi-Fi, Marvis. With a lot more features implemented, it's possible for a user to ask questions in a natural language and instantly get […] The post CTS 140: Mist Goes All In With AI appeared first on Clear To Se...

Understanding OWE operation from the Aruba Networks demo presented at MFD3. Aruba Networks Demos OWE Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) is a security improvement coming to open SSIDs. It's aimed at securing the insecure. We see it everywhere. A Wi-Fi network completely open for clients to join. It's unencrypted traffic between clients and the AP. OWE […] The post CTS 139: Aruba Networks Demos...