Farming is difficult. Farming outside the power grid is close to impossible.For many electric utilities, it’s hard to justify the investment needed to extend the power grid to remote farms. Cellular providers also prefer to build cell towers where there are many customers. On top of that, farmers have little purchasing power individually, making it hard for them to negotiate power and coverage from large utilities and cellular providers.The power of cooperatives
Farmers strengthen their bargaining power by forming cooperatives. This enables them to negotiate for more services and better prices. Cooperatives are businesses-owned and controlled by the people who use them—not shareholders. There are nearly 3,000 farmer cooperatives in the U.S. owned by a million farmers and ranchers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Businesses needing broadband connectivity while rapidly expanding are finding an alternative to traditional wide area network infrastructure. Service King Collision Repair Centers, for example, is using software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) to support new auto repair centers, a move that has helped reduce the company's operational costs even as it grows its footprint across 23 states.
Service King's CIO Derek Kramer.
Service King's store locations have grown to more than 300 todayfrom 100 in 2012, necessitating rapid adoption of new network connectivity, says CIO Derek Kramer. Service King had relied on MPLS for several years but this no longer proving efficient as the chain expanded. "MPLS [Multiprotocol Label Switching] has done well, but can it grow as quickly as we're growing?" Kramer says. "We found more times than not that was a challenge."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The first quarter of 2016 has seen a 20% increase in wireless LAN equipment sales compared to the same period a year ago, according to a study released by IHS Technology, which credited the proliferation of 802.11ac wireless gear for the uptick.While the $1.2 billion in total sales represents a quarter-on-quarter downturn of 14%, that’s merely a seasonal demand issue, said IHS. Yet the year-on-year sales increase has been accomplished with equipment prices remaining relatively flat.+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Top 5 storage vendors shows massive shift to the cloud + Resold hard drives on eBay, Craigslist are often still ripe with leftover dataTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
As the Wi-Fi Alliance starts certifying the latest gigabit-speed products to work together, users may not get as excited as they did for some earlier standards.On Wednesday, the industry group launched its certification program for IEEE 802.11ac Wave 2, a technology that’s been on the market for more than a year.Wave 2 can deliver up to 6.8Gbps (bits per second) and lets an access point talk to more than one device at a time. But due to issues like timing and wired backhaul, Wave 2 adoption has been relatively slow.The new technology builds on the first wave of 802.11ac, which started to emerge in 2013 and now makes up nearly three-quarters of the Wi-Fi market in terms of revenue. The new wave adds a few features with real advantages, at least for some users.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The 2016 Olympics Games are already off to a rough start -- and we haven’t even seen opening ceremonies yet. Worries about the Zika virus, polluted competition waters, doping scandals and Rio’s precarious finances could mean a complicated time in August for the Summer Games.[ Related: Jumping hurdles on the road to Rio 2016: AOC's head of IT Anthony Soulsby ]One thing thing poised to go well: communication at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Brazil’s biggest airport and how most people will get into the country for the games.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The numerous struggles businesses must go through to address the network needs of a branch have been well documented on this site and many others. The importance of the branch can’t be understated either. The branch is where the majority of workers reside today—81 percent of employees, according to a recent ZK Research survey. For many businesses, such as retailers and banks, the branch is the business, so curing branch woes needs to be a top priority for business and IT leaders.+ Also on Network World: Annual State of the Network survey results +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Attackers have compromised more than 25,000 digital video recorders and CCTV cameras and are using them to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against websites.One such attack, recently observed by researchers from Web security firm Sucuri, targeted the website of one of the company's customers: a small bricks-and-mortar jewelry shop.The attack flooded the website with about 50,000 HTTP requests per second at its peak, targeting what specialists call the application layer, or layer 7. These attacks can easily cripple a small website because the infrastructure typically provisioned for such websites can handle only a few hundred or thousand connections at the same time.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The fight over LTE networks sharing channels with Wi-Fi appears to be heating up.The Wi-Fi Alliance says that by September there will be a way to test whether an LTE device can get along with Wi-Fi. But Qualcomm, one of the biggest backers of LTE-U (LTE-Unlicensed), is demanding those tests immediately.The latest disagreement arose after a workshop held last Wednesday, the latest in a series aimed at crafting a test plan for coexistence between the two technologies. That test plan, which is designed for new products that use LTE in unlicensed bands, will be finished and verified by late September, WFA said.That's at least a month later than some earlier forecasts. Test development has taken a long time because it's an unprecedented project and the tests still need to be validated, WFA marketing vice president Kevin Robinson said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Arista’s President & CEO Jayshree Ullal issued a letter to customers who may have been worried over the impact of last week’s US International Trade Commission ruling that the company had infringed on three Cisco patents.The ITC on June 23rd issued a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order that will forbid Arista from importing products (with these specific infringed features) into the U.S., Ullal wrote.“We recently released a new version of EOS (4.16.6M) that we believe addresses the ITC’s infringement findings in this case. This new version of EOS is now available for download and will be shipped as the default image on all of new products in the near future. Consistent with the standard practice in the ITC, we plan to request regulatory approvals of our new software to clarify that our products fully comply with the ITC’s orders,” Ullal wroteTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.eSentire Training DayKey features: The security awareness training solution combines microlearning and gamification to arm your employees against the latest social engineering, spear phishing attacks, and more. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This bias lighting strip, currently discounted by 54% on Amazon from $49.99 down to just $22.99, reduces eye-strain caused by differences in picture brightness from scene to scene in movies, shows and games, by adding a subtle backlight to your monitor or TV. The LED lights can be changed with up to 20 color selections customizing and setting the mood of your workspace. The strip is easy to install and can be cut to size and plugs directly in the USB port of the TV or monitor. Just Plug-and-play!To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Traditional fiber-optic communication sends data using just one light pattern. That’s fine, but it means the amount of bandwidth that a fiber strand can deliver is limited. If you could add more light patterns alongside the initial one, you could increase the bit rate, some scientists say.By bundling more information-containing light arrangements into a fiber, you could theoretically increase bandwidth.And scientists think they might have figured out how to do it. They say they are ready to crack what they call a “bandwidth ceiling.”+ Also on Network World: First light-based chip could signal revolution for fiber networks +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
In a move that could lead to a ban on selling its products in the United States, the US International Trade Commission has ruled that Arista does in fact infringe on a number of Cisco’s technology patents.Arista now must decide if it wants to ask the US government to overturn a so-called “import ban” or ask that an appeals court toss the decision, observers say. It could also decide to build products in the US – a move that Cisco says would “not only would violate the ITC orders, but the federal court has the authority to enjoin local manufacturing of infringing products.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Let’s Encrypt, a free certificate authority launched by the Internet Security Research Group in November 2014 and backed by some of the biggest names in the industry, today revealed that rival CA Comodo is attempting to “improperly” trademark the Let’s Encrypt brand.And it’s difficult to see how that isn’t the case.From a blog post by ISRG executive director Josh Aas:
Some months ago, it came to our attention that Comodo Group, Inc., is attempting to register at least three trademarks for the term “Let’s Encrypt,” for a variety of CA-related services. These trademark applications were filed long after the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) started using the name Let’s Encrypt publicly in November of 2014, and despite the fact Comodo’s “intent to use” trademark filings acknowledge that it has never used “Let’s Encrypt” as a brand.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google Fiber is acquiring Internet service provider Webpass to be able to increase its urban coverage quickly and offer customers a combination of fiber and wireless delivery of high-speed Internet.
For Google Fiber, which has typically worked with cities in planning and building a fiber network from scratch, the acquisition will give the Alphabet business a headstart in many markets, particularly in dense urban areas.
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Google did not immediately comment on the acquisition.
Webpass in San Francisco owns and operates its Ethernet network, thus removing its dependence on phone and cable companies. It has operations in San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, San Diego, Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Chicago and Boston. The company offers business connections from 10 to 1,000 Mbps and to residential customers service from 100 Mbps to 1Gbps.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
One of the main goals of SDN (software-defined networking) is to make networks more agile to meet the changing demands of applications. A new Silicon Valley startup, Apstra, says it has an easier way to do the same thing.
Rather than control the guts of individual network devices through software that makes them more programmable, Apstra says it can deal with those devices as they are and shape the network from a higher level.
The result is a new approach that might let IT departments bypass some of the complex technologies and politics of SDN and still make their networks more responsive to users’ needs. It's due to go on sale by August.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Rights activists led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Tor Project are rallying similar organizations and their constituents to step up opposition to a rules change backed by the U.S. Justice Department that would grant law enforcement vast new surveillance authorities and undermine anonymity online.Website operators are being asked to join the effort today by posting banners on their sites.From an EFF press release:
EFF and over 40 partner organizations are holding a day of action for a new campaign—noglobalwarrants.org—to engage citizens about the dangers of Rule 41 and push U.S. lawmakers to oppose it. The process for updating these rules—which govern federal criminal court processes—was intended to deal exclusively with procedural issues. But this year a U.S. judicial committee approved changes in the rule that will expand judicial authority to grant warrants for government hacking. …To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple has released firmware updates for its AirPort wireless base stations in order to fix a vulnerability that could put the devices at risk of hacking.According to Apple security, the flaw is a memory corruption issue stemming from DNS (Domain Name System) data parsing that could lead to arbitrary code execution.The company released firmware updates 7.6.7 and 7.7.7 for AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11n Wi-Fi, as well as AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac Wi-Fi.The AirPort Utility 6.3.1 or later on OS X or AirPort Utility 1.3.1 or later on iOS can be used to install the new firmware versions on AirPort devices, the company said in an advisory.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Globalstar’s plan to open a new Wi-Fi channel under its control is nearing the moment of truth after years of regulatory wrangling.The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is considering Globalstar’s plan, and a vote could come at any time. News reports suggest it might be close.If Globalstar gets its way, Wi-Fi users in the U.S. will have one more channel, which could reduce congestion and improve performance. But both their mobile devices and the hotspots they use would need firmware upgrades to take advantage of the new frequency, and the channel wouldn’t necessarily be open to everyone.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
You may find many uses for this versatile and powerful file hub from RAVPower, currently discounted 58% on Amazon from $75.99 down to just $31.99. Let's run down the features:
Let up to 5 devices wirelessly connect to the FileHub wireless network, to access its SD card and/or USB storage to share files
Media server capabilities, allowing wirelessly connected devices to stream audio and video from any attached storage device
Move files freely between all connected methods of storage and devices, including tablets and phones
Bridge an existing wireless network, create a new secure network and share with family or friends, or bridge to connect to devices such as Chromecast in hotels
Built-in power bank charges your device when you can't access a power source
RAVPower's FileHub currently averages 4 out of 5 stars from over 1,700 customers (read reviews). For more information or to explore buying options, see the discounted FileHub now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here