Mi-Fi Not Kind to Wi-Fi

Are you "that guy"? Do you take your Mi-Fi hotspot with you everywhere you go and light it up as if it were your constitutional right, regardless of your location? Do you treat your hotspot like an extension of your very being?


If so, I say to you.... "Grrrrrr."


We live in an exciting New Age of Connectivity. The Internet- nay, entire worlds- are at our command from the palms of our hands. We are sailing the Good Ship Mobility on The BYOD Sea, and we have friendly wind. For those who need connectivity for work or play, life is good.

But isn't everything in IT a study in paradox? Is there ever a free lunch?

BYOD and the consumerization of IT is not without collateral damage. One of the most irritating aspects of affordable, high-bandwidth portable devices is the wonderful, maddening Mi-Fi Hotspot. To rip off Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love:

It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough
User meets Mi-Fi and they fall in love
But the spectrum's haunted and the ride gets rough
And you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above

The problem is that Mi-Fi devices are an addiction. Where we have no easy access to our own or decent public Wi-Fi, they are great. But users can't keep 'em put away when they visit places where the Mi-Fi is not welcome. Worse, they leave them on (especially when your smartphone is the hotspot) and never disable them. And yes- they are rogue access points that violate most corporate wireless and network policies.

One popular Mi-Fi Hotpsot is the Novatel 2200. With a stated range of 30 feet, this little darling has the potential to be felt in multiple cells in a dense WLAN environment. As an added bonus, I frequently see Hotspot devices come up on channel 2 in the 2.4 GHz spectrum- which means your own channel 1 is toast, and your channel 6 is degraded if the environment is open enough to allow the Hotspot to share physical space with the business wireless network (you know, the same that is already fighting off the effects of microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, poorly-chosen cordless phones, wireless cameras,and a range of other devices).

Here's a great review on another Hotspot, where the author found the range and wall-penetrating abilities of the Novatel 4510L to be surprisingly beefy. Again, great when you have no other network nearby, bad news for your wireless neighbors when you fire it up in the conference room of the company that you're visiting rather than use their guest wireless service.

After watching the impact of these devices when a couple dozen of them pop up in a stadium packed with fans trying to use my state-of-the-art wireless system, I understand why the London Olympics tried (and why other venues continue to try) to police the use of personal Hotspots. Where a significant investment has been made to provide a carefully engineered WLAN for thousands of fans, a few personal hotspots can ruin wireless life for hundreds of fans and for venue operations that require wireless.

These popular devices certainly aren't going away, but it would be wonderful if there were some etiquette training provided with their purchase.

And for Corn's sake, why channel 2?

Again, grrrrr.

 

3 Things I Would Like From WLAN Makers

Wireless networking is amazing stuff. When you first learn the nitty-gritty of how clients access the medium and the orchestrated nuances of timing, modulation, and propagation, it can make your head spin. Add to it a rapid evolution where each improvement on the original 802.11 standard brings an order of magnitude more benefit (and complexity) and you really have to appreciate the incredible engineering minds that come up with this stuff.

Sure, it's easy for the rest of us to "arm-chair quarterback" all of the things that we think our wireless networks should do. And that brings us to here and now. I would love to see the WLAN industry embrace the following three suggestions (and will even waive my name being in the credits at the end of the movie if wireless makers follow through and give me what I want):

1. Every WLAN maker should provide a single-gang, flush-mount AP so we can leverage the huge and frequently unused already-installed premise wiring infrastructure. I understand lofty topics like heat generation, space constraints on high-performance dual-band 11n radio assemblies and all that. But I'd even be happy with single-band, low power "micro cell" kinda things that, in the right situation, negated the need to run new wiring and allowed me to make use of some the thousands of unused UTP runs I have installed as ever more users ditch the Ethernet cable and go with wireless. Such an access point would open up huge possibilities. (A couple of vendors already do this, but I want ALL WLAN makers to do it, as there is no interoperability between vendors.)

2. Give us a "virtual client" troubleshooting utility. I want to be able to turn an in-place AP into a client device, and remotely use it to exercise every SSID, DHCP pool, RADIUS server, and path from the wireless environment to the rest of the network whenever I feel like it. This would let me "be" anywhere I want to test critical network functions without leaving the comfort of my office. As a bonus, I would be able to schedule the functionality. The key here is that I don't want to pay for a pricey overlay to get the described functionality- I want it from my already-purchased pricey WLAN.

3. Finally, with every major code upgrade, I don't just want release notes in a cold PDF that I have to wade through to glean what I'm getting into. I'd love an accompanying podcast or video in plain English that gets to the meat of what's important. Something like Blake Krone and Andrew vonNagy interviewing Cisco For "No Strings Attached"  when the 3600 AP was released would be the proverbial cat's ass. Having the truly important parts of the new feature set introduced along with the potential gotchas in podcast or video form and without the taint of marketingspeak before the upgrade would rock.

And there you have my wish list for today.

If the WLAN industry gets ambitious and meets my demands quickly and then wants something else to do, please get with the printer industry and teach them what it takes to make wireless printers actually function on secure business WLANs.

Twitter is Killing The Helpdesk

OK- so it's not just Twitter, and the Helpdesk isn't quite dead. But you fell for the hook, so keep reading as social media is definitely reshaping the network support environment.

In a perfect world, a wireless network trouble ticket would minimally include:

- Client device MAC address
- User name, if an authenticated network is in play
- Where the trouble happened (room number, space description)
- When problem happened
- Details on what the issue "felt" like
- Whether trouble moves as the user device does
- Information on whether other users are feeling similar pain
- Device type
- Operating system and version

Obviously, in some environments this may be hard to gather. But you gotta have some meaningful data point to begin with for solving network issues. Depending on the answers to the above, many problems can be dealt with over the phone, without dispatching. Given that on a healthy network, the overwhelming percentage of issues are single-client problems, getting client information is important, as is making sure clients understand hours and methods of formal support.

We usually do well knowing that our important building blocks are down, if we have set up system management and monitoring properly. Most (but certainly not all) system issues that will impact multiple users should be identified through alarms. The individual cries for help are the ones we're talking about here.

Enter Social Media.

What's easier- filling out a form with all of the above information and then dealing with follow-up calls/email until someone can finally identify why your device is wierding out, or simply Tweeting that "the network sucks!"?

Tweeting (or grousing on Facebook) provides instant gratification. I complained! I stuck it to the man! I said nasty things about this crappy network! Woo Woo! And all behind a fake name!

But what was accomplished? And what is the expected response?

It's a fact of life that "living room" wireless networks are exponentially more simple than business wireless networks. Where a single access point is in use, just a few client devices are on, and there is no enterprise-grade security in play things like client stickyness and driver issues are a lot less likely manifest themselves in ways that feel like problems. But in this BYOD world, those same devices that seemed just peachy at home can be problematic when taken to a dense multi-cell wireless network environment that services hundreds or thousands of clients and uses complex security protocols.

When trouble hits, most people in the WLAN support game WANT to help. We take pride in our networks, and know how important they are because we use them too. But we need more than "C'mon network, get your shit together. I hate you" from a funny Twitter handle at 3:17 AM when you are somewhere in a sea of buildings and amongst dozens, hundreds, or thousands of access points.

Please, wireless clients, pause for a minute before jumping right into Complain Gear. No client network device is perfect or flawless, and they all act up sooner or later. Think of any connection problem you've ever had, and Google it- you'll find your are in good company with others that have also experienced the same, on networks small and big, all around the world.

Sometimes a driver update is needed. Or a setting like IPv6 needs to be tweaked. Or the software update you just got from the mothership hosed something in the wireless network settings.

And sometimes, it might actually be a network issue.

The unwritten Social Contract of Networking between clients and those who provide them with services says "bring me a problem, and I'll solve it". But solving your problem requires providing good helpdesk-level details- not just a rant on Twitter.

PS- yes I know, Social Media is becoming integrated with helpdesk functions in many environments. It's a natural evolution. But if anyone thinks a short wise-ass comment via social media takes the place of giving real information, you're just ripping yourself off.

Location Services Are Heating Up

It seems like you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting an announcement about some new location service or analytics application. This is a growth space, that is obvious. Whether locating wireless client devices on a WLAN with greater accuracy as an end to the means, or taking it up a notch and building a full-blown suite of location-based services, a lot of names are in the game. Let's take a sniff at a handful of examples in a space I have been watching for years.

Nearbuy Systems promises "A Practical Way to Deliver on the Omnichannel Shopping Experience Today". Headed up by CEO Bryan Wargo (a long-time professional acquaintance of mine, and sweetheart of a guy), Nearbuy has made it into my Network Computing Blog a few times since their formation. Nearbuy leverages your wireless network to work it's magic.

Aerohive Networks recently formed a partnership with Euclid Analytics to leverage both companies' retail customer bases. Again, the partnership was announced in my Network Computing Magazine blog column.

Canadian startup Wifarer  looks to make it big as a provider of indoor positioning services. Using a customer's own WLAN, Wifarer maps customer venues and provides a range of services (handicap routes through a venue, for example), and content-enabled benefits via their app. Pass a coffee shop, get offered a coupon- that sort of thing. Their demos are worth watching to get a flavor for their offerings, and here's Wifarer's mention in Network Computing.

Aruba Networks doesn't really tout their location tools, but Aruba's AirWave management tool has always competed well with Cisco's graphical client tracking services, and it wouldn't surprise me to hear more from the #2 WLAN company in the market on location services in the near future.

Even Google is in on it, with their no-cost-to-you Indoor Mapping Service.

I'll finish this one with Cisco Network's recent announcement regarding their Mobility Services Engine (MSE) new 7.4 code. Cisco announced details here, and at the recent Wireless Field Day 4 event. As an MSE owner (I have three in use on a very large WLAN) I have a lot to digest on this. From what I heard first-hand at Wireless Field Day, it seems that MSE 7.4 comes pretty close to doing what Wifarer promises- and Cisco claims better analytics than Euclid with MSE 7.4.Update- though I have yet to get to 7.4, I have learned that the new magic in CIsco MSE 7.4 comes from a partnership with Meridian.

There's obviously a lot to follow here- stay tuned for more, and let me know what you are digging in the WLAN location services space.

When Good Wireless Feels Bad

If my client device doesn't connect to your WLAN, your network must have a problem.

My iPad keeps getting dropped by your network.

I keep losing my Internet, your network sucks.

Ever hear anything along these lines? Sure, sometimes wireless networks do have problems. Access points crap out. Controllers fail. A switch glitches, and PoE isn't sent to an AP. But on enterprise-grade hardware running proper code, these sorts of issues should be the exception. At the same time, even when "the problem" lives on the client device itself, it still feels like a network issue to the user.


With a daily load on my own WLAN that peaks around 16K, I see every kind of client device under the sun. Thankfully, we have a generally very healthy environment despite the relative complexity that comes with supporting any and every device type in a multi-SSID/security type environment. But trouble does hit the individual user on occasion; hence the purpose of this blog.

Even when the WLAN is running perfectly at each cell and all the way through the network's important parts (DHCP, DNS, RADIUS, credential store, routing, etc), these are among the many factors can still make the wireless network "feel" crappy to individual clients:

• OS upgrade causes trouble in wireless adapter


• Wireless driver dated, needs update


• Windows wireless driver not best fit for client, need Intel/Broadcom latest version


• IPv6 getting in the way of IPv4


• Client "sticks" to APs that common sense says it shouldn't


• On dual-mode devices (cellular data and Wi-Fi), each side of device occasionally causes trouble for the other


• Client device requires legacy data rates not supported by WLAN


• Client supplicant for 802.1x network gets corrupted, mis-configured


• Local interference (usually in 2.4 GHz) causes issues


• Client device clings to weak/poor 5 GHz connection when solid 2.4 GHz available


• Client device has static IP address set from previous network use


• User changes network password but doesn't update supplicant config


• Too small of an Internet pipe for user load


• Trouble on the Internet, out in ISP land, impacting specific destinations


• Client device is laden with malware that gets in the way of Internet access

You get the picture... there are many conditions that can impact the individual client, or a specific group of like client devices, and what worked yesterday may have been changed today by an OS update or patch.

Thankfully, when critical network building blocks do fail, we can either rely on our good instrumentation (you have that, right?) to tell us we lost a switch, or controller, or AP, etc. Or we can correlate based on good trouble report gathering (always happens, yes?) that there is something similar among users having issues- maybe a common AD grouping that RADIUS services are  borking on or the like. Good logs help, too.

Regardless of what is causing the pain, many clients instantly blame the network. Some can't fathom that their shiny, expensive device could be imperfect in any way or that the mothership would ever send them a patch that wasn't properly QA'd. It can be frustrating, but is also just part of the wireless support experience.

Things get easier if you have the rare environment where client types are tightly controlled and the BYOD water has yet to spill over the dam. For the rest of us, being aware of not only the health of the network but also of the various ills that can hit the client end of wireless (and what to do and how to communicate about them) is an absolute must. 

At the recent Wireless Field Day 4, I discussed this topic with my fellow delegates in a conference room in Building 4 of the Cisco Campus in San Jose.

Here's a bit more on specific frustrations with the WLAN, from factors that are largely out of the admin's hands.

This "Field Day" Thing...

Our Field Day events bring together innovative IT product vendors and independent thought leaders to share information and opinions in a presentation and discussion format. Independent bloggers, freelance writers, and podcasters have a public presence that has immense influence on the ways that products and companies are perceived and by the general public.
                                     -Stephen Foskett (Tech Field Day)
I just wrapped up the better part of a week in the Silicon Valley, and have to say that at times I felt like a little kid. Having never met the Grandmaster of Field Day, Stephen Foskett, I was pretty awed when we finally did shake hands. Stephen is a master of his craft. Bringing together an impressive group of "delegates" from far and wide and getting them into the boardrooms of the biggest names in IT can't be easy, but Stephen makes it seem effortless, and is as genuine a person as I have ever met.

The other first-timers in the mix and I were quickly made to feel welcomed and appreciated by Stephen and the veteran delegates, and driving around with this crew was a blast. If you are a techie-type and have never been to the San Jose area, you can't help but marvel at the names on the very modern-looking buildings as you roll by- Avaya, Broadcom, Citrix, McAfee,Netscout, Ruckus, etc- the list goes on and on. This is a special place, and you can feel the vibe.

Being in the inner sanctums of Aruba Networks, Cisco, Juniper, and Motorola was a thrill. Even if the presentations weren't all that exhilarating at times, simply sitting amongst the best brains in Wireless Networking certainly was. Being both in IT and a faculty member at Syracuse University, it was also nice to see SU grads in the mix as we moved from company to company.

Impressions I took away from the companies' presentations are at my Network Computing, but also wanted to get it out here how very cool Foskett's Field Day is. With separate events for Networking, Wireless, Storage, and Virtualization, Field Day connects a lot of industry analyst talent with top companies in their respective fields in a unique and effective format.

It was an absolute honor to have been invited, and I guarantee that you'll walk away smiling if you ever have the opportunity to meet Stephen.

A Bit About Wireless Bridges

I've installed and consulted on a few dozen wireless bridge links, and find this part of wireless to be tremendously interesting.

I've laid hands on Cisco's 1300 and 1400 models, and had a good run with using 1200 APs in bridge mode (although 2.4 GHz in the Syracuse area for bridging is a losing crapshoot anymore). Dissatisfied with the relatively piddly speeds of .11g and .11a bridges, I found the Exalt r5005 to be a nice, easily-installed performer at 80/80, configurable somewhat if you wanna do the asymmetrical up/down thing. Exalt has a whole line, but the r5005 is one that Cisco sells to customers not digging the older stuff.

A trip to Haiti (long story for another day) got me going on licensed, high-speed bridges. Right now, I have a Bridgewave 80 GHz 100 Mbps link running at about a mile, and a licensed Exalt 18 GHz Gig link at about 1/3 of a mile (I love the Exalt interface and ease of config).

Have also spec'd (and helped the unfortunate tech who had to align it) a Bridgewave 60 GHz unit- such a tight beam that you can screw it up by breathing on it.

I have a Ubiquiti AirFiber sitting in the box, waiting for a place to try it, and so far I hear good and not-so-good about this one. But the price is right... Have also dorked around a bit with EZbridge (the sub-$500 complete kit) built on Ubiquity. Interesting stuff, Ubiquity.

Finally, at the recent Field Day 4 event, my new British pal Mark Julier of Digital Air turned me on to Ligowave which he described as something akin to the Exalt r5005 quality (and it has been fantastic) but at a much more appealing price point. I'll definitely be looking into it.

Update- a reader from Mexico passed along an endorsement for Trango- a company I had not yet heard of. Jesus considers them of better build than Ubiquity's AirFiber at similiar performance and only slightly higher price. I can't speak first-hand about them, but they have a lot of information on their site. -LB

About Wirednot

Lee Badman (that's me) is a long-time wireless and networking professional. I also blog professionally for Network Computing Magazine, for whom I've written hundreds of short and feature-length articles through the years.

Not everything I'm interested in regarding wireless makes it to print in Network Computing, and so the Wirednot Blog provides me an alternative venue to cut loose a bit.

Follow me on Twitter @wirednot, and feel free to comment on anything you feel like here. I do the Linked In thing, but I don't take it real seriously.