CCNA Wireless – CCNA Wireless Notes Chapter 1

I’ve started studying for the CCNA wireless exam and thought I would put my notes online. I always learn better when writing and hopefully my notes can be of assistance to someone else. These notes are based on reading the official certification guide “CCNA Wireless 200-355 Official Cert Guide“.

Basic wireless theory

Wireless LANs are based on the 802.11 standard.

Wireless LANs is a lot about Radio Frequency (RF) and planning of the RF environment.

When alternating current is sent through the antenna electric and magnetic fields propagate out and away as traveling waves. They travel along each other and are at right angles to each other.

Electromagnetic waves do not travel in a straight line. They travel by expanding in all directions away from the antenna.

When the electromagnetic waves reach the receiver’s antenna, they induce an electrical signal.

Frequency

Frequency – The number of times a signal makes one complete up and down cycle in one second. Measured in Hertz (Hz)

The frequency range from 3 kHz to 300 GHz is commonly called RF. Types of devices in this frequency range is radar, radio, shortwave radio, television, FM radio, microwave etc. The main two frequency Continue reading

WiFi’s evolving role in IoT

WiFi’s evolving role in IoT

WiFi’s evolving role in IoT

WiFi’s evolving role in IoT

This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.Internet of Things applications have diverse connectivity requirements in terms of range, data throughput, energy efficiency and device cost. WiFi is often an obvious choice because in-building WiFi coverage is almost ubiquitous, but it is not always the appropriate choice.  This article examines the role WiFi can play and two emerging IEEE standards, 802.11ah and 802.11ax.Data transfer requirements for IoT vary from small, intermittent payloads like utility meters to large amounts of continuous data such as real-time video surveillance. Range requirements can span from very short distances for wearables to several kilometers for weather and agriculture applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

WiFi’s evolving role in IoT

This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.Internet of Things applications have diverse connectivity requirements in terms of range, data throughput, energy efficiency and device cost. WiFi is often an obvious choice because in-building WiFi coverage is almost ubiquitous, but it is not always the appropriate choice.  This article examines the role WiFi can play and two emerging IEEE standards, 802.11ah and 802.11ax.Data transfer requirements for IoT vary from small, intermittent payloads like utility meters to large amounts of continuous data such as real-time video surveillance. Range requirements can span from very short distances for wearables to several kilometers for weather and agriculture applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Standing Up to a Dangerous New Breed of Patent Troll

On March 20th, Cloudflare received our first patent infringement claim: Blackbird Tech LLC v. Cloudflare, Inc. Today we’re filing our Answer to that claim in a federal court in Delaware. We have very strong arguments we will present in the litigation, mostly because the patent asserted against us does not have anything to do with our technology.

• The infringement claim is not a close one. The asserted patent, US 6453335 (‘335 patent) was filed in 1998, and describes a system for monitoring an existing data channel and inserting error pages when transmission rates fall below a certain level. Nothing from 1998—including the ’335 patent—comes close to describing our state-of-the-art product that is provisioned via DNS, speeds up internet content delivery, and protects against malicious attackers. Our technology is innovative and different, and Cloudflare’s technology has about 150 patents issued or in process.

• We also expect to show that the patent itself is invalid. For example, if the ’335 patent is read broadly enough to cover our system (which shouldn’t happen), it would also cover any system where electronic communications are examined and redacted or modified. But this is not new. Filtering products performing similar functions were around long before Continue reading

Project Jengo: Cloudflare’s Prior Art Search Bounty

Jengo Fett by Brickset (Flickr)

As readers of this blog likely know, especially if you read this post, Cloudflare has been sued by a dangerous new breed of patent troll, Blackbird Technologies, asserting a very old and very vague patent. And we know we are not alone in being frustrated about the way that such patent trolls inhibit the growth of innovative companies. Cloudflare is asking for your help in this effort, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is.

Patent trolls take advantage of a system they assume is tilted in their favor, where they can take vague technology patents issued years ago and apply them as broadly as imaginable to the latest technology. And they do this without the limitations of having to show the original patent holder would have actually exercised the patent, because most of them don’t, at all. Patent trolls think they can sit back and pick off settlements from companies because their lawsuits are a nuisance and the costs of defending those suits are considerable.

Changing this dynamic and leveling the playing field is going to require an entirely new approach. Fighting such strong, though perverse, economic incentives is going Continue reading

Up to 60% Savings on Steam Gaming Gear With These Active Discounts – Deal Alert

Save 60% on Steam Link The Steam Link allows existing Steam gamers to expand the range of their current gaming set up via their home network. Just connect your Steam PC or Steam Machine to your home network, plug into a TV, and stream your games to the Link at 1080p. It's a #1 best seller on Amazon where it averages 4 out of 5 stars from 800 people, and its typical list price of $50 has been discounted to $20.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT work gets The Onion treatment

Is it possible that a writer at The Onion has previously toiled as a network engineer … or systems administrator? He or she at least did their homework to produce a “story” headlined: “Network Engineer Would Be Systems Manager If He Could Do It All Over Again.”From the “story.” Reflecting wistfully on what he might have made of himself had he chosen a different profession, Dynatrend Solutions network engineer Alan Miller said Wednesday that he would be a systems manager if he had the chance to go back and do it all over again.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT work gets The Onion treatment

Is it possible that a writer at The Onion has previously toiled as a network engineer … or systems administrator? He or she at least did their homework to produce a “story” headlined: “Network Engineer Would Be Systems Manager If He Could Do It All Over Again.”From the “story.” Reflecting wistfully on what he might have made of himself had he chosen a different profession, Dynatrend Solutions network engineer Alan Miller said Wednesday that he would be a systems manager if he had the chance to go back and do it all over again.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IT work gets The Onion treatment

Is it possible that a writer at The Onion has previously toiled as a network engineer … or systems administrator? He or she at least did their homework to produce a “story” headlined: “Network Engineer Would Be Systems Manager If He Could Do It All Over Again.”From the “story.” Reflecting wistfully on what he might have made of himself had he chosen a different profession, Dynatrend Solutions network engineer Alan Miller said Wednesday that he would be a systems manager if he had the chance to go back and do it all over again.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SIEM remains an enterprise security architecture requirement

Enterprises are changing their cybersecurity technology procurement habits and consolidating the number of cybersecurity vendors they do business with and purchasing security products designed for integration, according to ESG research. Eventually, CISOs will buy more products from fewer vendors, leading to the rise of a few enterprise-class cybersecurity technology vendors that dominate the space.  These vendors will offer tightly integrated cybersecurity technology architectures that span across applications, host systems, networks and cloud-based assets, offering capabilities for threat analysis/investigations, as well as prevention, detection and response.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SIEM remains an enterprise security architecture requirement

Enterprises are changing their cybersecurity technology procurement habits and consolidating the number of cybersecurity vendors they do business with and purchasing security products designed for integration, according to ESG research. Eventually, CISOs will buy more products from fewer vendors, leading to the rise of a few enterprise-class cybersecurity technology vendors that dominate the space.  These vendors will offer tightly integrated cybersecurity technology architectures that span across applications, host systems, networks and cloud-based assets, offering capabilities for threat analysis/investigations, as well as prevention, detection and response.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SIEM: Remains an Enterprise Security Architecture Requirement

Earlier this week, I posted a blog about changes cybersecurity technology procurement changes at enterprise organizations.   According to ESG research, enterprises are consolidating the number of cybersecurity vendors they do business with and purchasing security products designed for integration (note: I am an ESG employee). Eventually, CISOs will buy more products from fewer vendors, leading to the rise of a few enterprise-class cybersecurity technology vendors that dominate the space.  These vendors will offer tightly integrated cybersecurity technology architectures that span across applications, host systems, networks, and cloud-based assets, offering capabilities for threat analysis/investigations as well as prevention, detection, and response.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco taps into AI, collaboration with $125M MindMeld buy

Cisco said it would target collaboration applications first with artificial intelligence technology it will get from buying MindMeld for $125 million.The deal, announced today, is Cisco’s third in two weeks and nets the company MindMeld’s AI platform which lets customers to build intelligent, conversational interfaces for any application or device with its proprietary machine learning (ML) technology. Specifically, MindMeld develops what it calls Deep-Domain Conversational AI which essentially allows customers to embed voice commands in any applications and services.+More Cisco news On Network World: Cisco patches critical IOS security fault found after CIA WikiLeaks dump+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel’s Itanium, once destined to replace x86 in PCs, hits end of line

It's the end of the line for Intel's Itanium chip, a troubled processor family that spawned many product delays and bad blood between HP and Oracle.Intel on Thursday started shipping its latest Itanium 9700 chip, code-named Kittson, in volume. It's the last of the Itanium chips, which first appeared in early 2001.Beyond Kittson, there will be no more chips coming from the Itanium family, an Intel spokesman said in an email. That ends a tumultuous, 16-year journey for Itanium, which Intel once envisioned as a replacement for x86 chips in 64-bit PCs and servers.Support for Itanium has dwindled over the past decade, which has led to its gradual death. Server makers stopped offering hardware, software development stalled, and Intel has been openly asking customers to switch to x86-based Xeon chips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel’s Itanium, once destined to replace x86 in PCs, hits end of line

It's the end of the line for Intel's Itanium chip, a troubled processor family that spawned many product delays and bad blood between HP and Oracle.Intel on Thursday started shipping its latest Itanium 9700 chip, code-named Kittson, in volume. It's the last of the Itanium chips, which first appeared in early 2001.Beyond Kittson, there will be no more chips coming from the Itanium family, an Intel spokesman said in an email. That ends a tumultuous, 16-year journey for Itanium, which Intel once envisioned as a replacement for x86 chips in 64-bit PCs and servers.Support for Itanium has dwindled over the past decade, which has led to its gradual death. Server makers stopped offering hardware, software development stalled, and Intel has been openly asking customers to switch to x86-based Xeon chips.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Conservative group takes credit for anti-net neutrality comments

A conservative group took credit for a barrage of anti-net neutrality comments posted on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's website this week, but it denied generating fake activism.The Center for Individual Freedom said it did not use a bot to generate comments after news reports raised questions about the legitimacy of the posts. Between Monday and early Wednesday afternoon, the FCC had received more than 128,000 comments duplicating the language provided by CFIF.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Conservative group takes credit for anti-net neutrality comments

A conservative group took credit for a barrage of anti-net neutrality comments posted on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's website this week, but it denied generating fake activism.The Center for Individual Freedom said it did not use a bot to generate comments after news reports raised questions about the legitimacy of the posts. Between Monday and early Wednesday afternoon, the FCC had received more than 128,000 comments duplicating the language provided by CFIF.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here