Peter Thornycroft
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Peter Thornycroft
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IDG Contributor Network: Using Passpoint for private Wi-Fi networks
We normally think of Passpoint, the Wi-Fi Alliance certification, as a feature for Wi-Fi hotspots owned and operated by service providers. Passpoint enables comprehensive inter-carrier roaming, with discovery, authentication and accounting.But, as with any good protocol, the possible applications greatly outstrip the scenarios originally considered. Enterprise access points already support Passpoint. And as implementation in phones moves forward, slowly but surely non-carriers are finding interesting new applications.9 tips for speeding up your business Wi-Fi Passpoint’s big innovation is decoupling service advertising from the Service Set Identifier (SSID). An access point can advertise, in addition to its SSID, a number of service providers that provide roaming possibilities. When a device starts authentication, the access point relays to the respective service provider’s authentication server, then provides an internet connection.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Machine learning solutions put a twist on enterprise network architecture
Machine learning is a modern wonder, but as with any new technology, opinions differ as to what the future holds. Some label it a fad, while others see limitless applications.We are firmly in the optimistic camp. Machine learning, even as it continues to develop, is already widely understood, and open-source libraries and cloud computing engines make the technology accessible to every software engineer. Most important, machine learning solutions are finding their way into enterprise networks. We already see machine learning applied to problems such as network management, enterprise security and IoT.As various enterprise networking vendors and startups incorporate machine learning, they are adopting very similar architectures, reinforcing a change in the way we view the network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Machine learning solutions put a twist on enterprise network architecture
Machine learning is a modern wonder, but as with any new technology, opinions differ as to what the future holds. Some label it a fad, while others see limitless applications.We are firmly in the optimistic camp. Machine learning, even as it continues to develop, is already widely understood, and open-source libraries and cloud computing engines make the technology accessible to every software engineer. Most important, machine learning solutions are finding their way into enterprise networks. We already see machine learning applied to problems such as network management, enterprise security and IoT.As various enterprise networking vendors and startups incorporate machine learning, they are adopting very similar architectures, reinforcing a change in the way we view the network.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Current developments in Wi-Fi spectrum
The allocation of radio spectrum is a fiercely contested matter. Government regulators—the FCC in the U.S., OFCOM in the U.K., and others—manage spectrum as a national resource. They seek to balance the needs of various groups, including cellular operators, government users, scientific and amateur radio groups. And, of course, they represent the public both directly and via their political masters.Industries that depend on access to spectrum must work hard to ensure continuing access, and they must head off proposals for new services that might cause interference. As established users of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, here are some of the areas where the Wi-Fi industry is active today, working with regulators.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: The beginning of the end for enterprise network VLANs
Many of us cordially detest virtual LANs (VLANs). They require complicated configuration, and consequently they are error-prone. They do not offer fully satisfactory solutions for the problems they are employed to solve, primarily limiting broadcast traffic and segregating devices and their traffic for security purposes. But as the least-worst alternative, they are a fact of life in many networks.Recent developments in WLAN and data center networking offer opportunities to escape VLANs.In the enterprise Wi-Fi world, it has long been important to reduce broadcast traffic over the air, and WLAN vendors have been developing techniques along these lines for years. An early feature allowed an access point to act as an ARP proxy for its client devices, answering on their behalf. The success of proxy-ARP functions engendered intervention in other broadcast/multicast protocols to reduce unnecessary traffic and improve performance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: The beginning of the end for enterprise network VLANs
Many of us cordially detest virtual LANs (VLANs). They require complicated configuration, and consequently they are error-prone. They do not offer fully satisfactory solutions for the problems they are employed to solve, primarily limiting broadcast traffic and segregating devices and their traffic for security purposes. But as the least-worst alternative, they are a fact of life in many networks.Recent developments in WLAN and data center networking offer opportunities to escape VLANs.In the enterprise Wi-Fi world, it has long been important to reduce broadcast traffic over the air, and WLAN vendors have been developing techniques along these lines for years. An early feature allowed an access point to act as an ARP proxy for its client devices, answering on their behalf. The success of proxy-ARP functions engendered intervention in other broadcast/multicast protocols to reduce unnecessary traffic and improve performance.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Shining a light on LiFi in the enterprise
Even as we increase data rates and network capacity in Wi-Fi with 802.11ac, 11ad and then 11ax, it’s worth keeping an eye on other communication technologies that may become useful in the enterprise. Visible light communication (VLC) is making progress in the background, and while it is barely out of the lab, it may take off in a few years. The startups working with enterprise VLC are adopting the term “LiFi” (although it has—today—no connection with Wi-Fi). Like all new technologies, there are many possibilities—and the number of potential uses is impressive. Applications include vehicle-to-vehicle, underwater communications, streetlamps, aircraft cabins, and industrial uses where Wi-Fi cannot be used due to RF interference.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Shining a light on LiFi in the enterprise
Even as we increase data rates and network capacity in Wi-Fi with 802.11ac, 11ad and then 11ax, it’s worth keeping an eye on other communication technologies that may become useful in the enterprise. Visible light communication (VLC) is making progress in the background, and while it is barely out of the lab, it may take off in a few years. The startups working with enterprise VLC are adopting the term “LiFi” (although it has—today—no connection with Wi-Fi). Like all new technologies, there are many possibilities—and the number of potential uses is impressive. Applications include vehicle-to-vehicle, underwater communications, streetlamps, aircraft cabins, and industrial uses where Wi-Fi cannot be used due to RF interference.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Bluetooth rising
We are used to external developments driving progress in enterprise networking. An obvious example is the modern smartphone, born in the consumer market but now the primary client for enterprise WLANs.Another is the move towards white-box networking, an extraordinary change in the way enterprises build data centers that would not have happened but for the activities of the big consumer internet companies.So, it is natural to look to other markets for technologies that may become important in the enterprise over the next few years. In wireless, Bluetooth is the one to watch.Bluetooth Low Energy: wireless technology of choice Bluetooth has enjoyed an extraordinary rise since re-inventing itself with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy, also called Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth 4.0) in 2010. Its main benefits are very low-cost chips and very low power, enabling inexpensive battery-powered devices that run for years.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Service providers see opportunity in enterprise WLANs
Somewhere there’s an alternate universe where service providers are so effective that they dominate the enterprise communications market.In that world: What cannot be delivered remotely over fiber, wires or wireless—a pervasive, shared communications grid—is installed on site and managed remotely by service provider engineers. Small businesses and large enterprises requiring wired or wireless communications look to these large service providers because they deliver all required services at the lowest cost, with high reliability and national reach. At the end of the month, a single bill covers all services consumed.+ Also on Network World: IoT-dedicated networks beginning to rollout +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint zig-zags towards success
How far should a leader seek to change public opinion, to get out in front rather than follow? Lincoln famously said, “Public sentiment is everything,” but the quote concludes with, “He who moulds public sentiment… makes decisions possible.” It’s an enduring debate in the hinterland of academia where engineers seldom tread.But standards can be like that. They often package basic, universal features with more decorative additions that offer transformational improvements but are of minority interest. There’s a risk that the burden of implementing these additional features will deter some vendors, and they may shun the standard altogether. If too many follow this course, the standard will fail in the market. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: The Wi-Fi network edge leads in an SDN world
Two decades ago, the core was the place to be in campus networking. The networking battles of the 1990s concluded with the edge specialists humbled and assimilated by core product lines. Control the core, we declared, and the edge will fall into place.But now the edge is fruitful, and the core is sterile—and for two reasons. First, the wireless interface adds mobility and complexity to the edge. Second, the new architectures of software-defined networking (SDN) and IoT are based on centralized models that take sensed information, manipulate a software representation of the network, then send control signals back to network nodes. Nodes are peers under the controller. Their importance is based on the quantity and quality of the information they can report, as well as the sophistication of the control they can apply.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: The Wi-Fi network edge leads in an SDN world
Two decades ago, the core was the place to be in campus networking. The networking battles of the 1990s concluded with the edge specialists humbled and assimilated by core product lines. Control the core, we declared, and the edge will fall into place.But now the edge is fruitful, and the core is sterile—and for two reasons. First, the wireless interface adds mobility and complexity to the edge. Second, the new architectures of software-defined networking (SDN) and IoT are based on centralized models that take sensed information, manipulate a software representation of the network, then send control signals back to network nodes. Nodes are peers under the controller. Their importance is based on the quantity and quality of the information they can report, as well as the sophistication of the control they can apply.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: New life for residential Wi-Fi
The recent launch of two residential Wi-Fi products—from eero and Luma—is very welcome. They highlight just how stale the traditional offerings had become. But their central technical improvement should be unnecessary.The new devices apply the Nest treatment to Wi-Fi routers rather than thermostats. As with most brilliant ideas, one’s first reaction is why didn’t someone do this before, it’s so obvious?+ Also on Network World: Riding the new Wi-Fi wave (part 1) +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: The IoT market is unlikely to create a gorilla
In his book The Gorilla Game, management consultant Geoffrey Moore identifies a tendency for some technology sectors to develop winner-take-all outcomes. The Internet of Things (IoT) market looks like a textbook example, as many industrial customers (original equipment manufacturers) are looking to consolidate around a single platform, a slice of enabling technology. It is surprising, therefore, that no IoT gorilla has yet emerged from the mist.+ More on Network World: Most powerful Internet of Things companies +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: How to control the stealth IoT invasion
IoT devices are invading the enterprise, often by stealth. Groups and departments are selecting devices such as door locks, air quality monitors, security and control systems which require connection to the enterprise WLAN and the Internet, but with no IT input into the purchase decision. This creates headaches for the network engineer, but they are manageable: a basic enterprise IoT management solution requires just a handful of functions. IoT is one of the first systems built in the cloud era, and many – if not most – IoT devices are designed to work with Internet-based cloud services (the remainder will need network-specific configuration to connect to inside-the-firewall services).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: Emergency call location for mobile UC: slow progress on E911 improvements
Making enterprise voice-over-Wi-Fi systems comply with emergency call regulations requires shoehorning new techniques into a very old architecture. It also exposes some unfinished technology and fragmented implementation models. We can do it, but no one is happy with the contortions.There’s a large population of enterprise unified communications (UC) systems from Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, Shoretel and others using Wi-Fi endpoints, whether dedicated Wi-Fi phones or client apps on smartphones. When it comes to emergency call functionality, we should expect these to work at least as well as landlines, PBX extensions and cell phones.One of the most important emergency call (E911) functions is locating the caller. To make emergency call location work, we first need to find the location, then send the call, with caller location attached, to the correct emergency answering center in a form it can understand. Both of those steps present problems.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: WiGig reaches for 60GHz
The entrepreneur and financier Peter Thiel likes to ask, “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” Many significant breakthroughs in technology are driven by the hope and optimism of a few in the face of mass indifference and disbelief. Only after success has been achieved can the rest of us recognize the brilliance of the original vision.Which brings us to the Wi-Fi Alliance and its foray into the 60GHz band with 802.11ad, known as WiGig. Years in the making, the WiGig certification should be launched by the end of 2016, and indeed some products are already available. As one might expect, there is a body of true believers who are certain that WiGig will transform communications, and there's a mass of skeptics doubting it will ever catch on. We should be able to see who is right by the end of 2017. In the meantime, it’s worth keeping an eye on WiGig.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IDG Contributor Network: What is the future of mobile communications app security
We are well on our way to a world where communications traffic between mobile apps will be completely secure. Whether voice or text, monitored traffic will be encrypted and uncrackable, even with the cooperation of the app or device developers.A recent example, Facebook’s WhatsApp is reportedy causing law enforcement concern, as it appears to be impervious to decryption efforts. Government legislation forcing vendors to incorporate some type of backdoor password seems to be the only alternative to living with this new reality, but legislation may be unenforceable in the international context of app development and distribution.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here