Tag: Best Practices

10 Best Wireless Online Resources in 2018

These days wireless technology is evolving at an exponential rate. New tech trends and gadgets enter the wireless market all the time. So, if you are an industry professional, in today’s dynamic tech environment simply getting a certification and staying put is not enough. To succeed you need to stay informed about the latest and greatest in the wireless world and invest in constant professional growth. 

A nice way to stay on top of all the cool happenings in the wireless world is to follow leading industry professionals online, learn from their experiences and engage in discussions.
Luckily wireless industry is blessed with a vibrant and savvy community of professionals who share their wisdom online on a regular basis. They ask questions, exchange opinions, share examples and make wireless jokes. You can easily improve your knowledge, participate in discussions and make new connections in the community. All you need to do is go online! 

While it is not possible to mention all the great online materials on wireless in one blog, here are 10 wireless resources that we think you should follow in 2018. We tried to give you a healthy mix of everything from Wi-Fi comics and Twitter discussions to enterprise level blogs and in-depth podcasts. So here you go, we hope you find it useful!

10 Best Online Resources for a Wireless Engineer in 2018

1. Daily #WIFIQ on Twitter

Online active Wi-Fi community is very keen on Twitter. Endless hashtagged topics and comment threads are an excellent source of ideas and inspiration. One of our absolute favorites is the daily Wi-Fi question from Lee Badman (@wirednot). Search for the hashtag #WIFIQ on Twitter, and you’ll see the discussion among WLAN professionals.

2. Clear to Send Podcast

Clear To Send (@cleartosend) is a weekly podcast about wireless engineering made by Rowell Dionicio (@rowelldionicio) and François Vergès (@VergesFrancois). It covers a bunch of Wi-Fi topics, from stadium wireless implementation and general best practices to industry news and expert interviews. Need some tips on designing and troubleshooting wireless networks, and the latest products on the market? Check out Clear to Send.

3. WLANPros Blog & Podcast

Funded by Keith Parsons (@KeithRParsons), WLANPros is the largest community of wireless professionals out there. They hang out together, they exchange opinions, learn from and inspire each other. And you can read about all these amazing people and their adventures, stay engaged and even become one of them. Check out the WLAN Pros blog for that!

4. Sniff Wi-Fi Blog

Ben Miller (@Ben_SniffWiFi), is a skilled trainer and Wi-Fi specialist with more than 13 years of experience. Do you want to whiff of his expert-level, vendor neutral knowledge? Then read his blog on everything to do with Wi-Fi capturing, like surveys, analysis, security and even guides on topics like “Surveying Without Site Survey Software”.

5. @BadFiShow on Twitter

Learning from mistakes is one of the most powerful educational tools in the world. Unfortunately, missteps, mess-ups, and failures hurt. So how to get wise and experienced without creating a mess? Learn from mistakes of others!
#BadFi / @BadFiShow is a hashtag, a twitter handle and a blog that was started by Eddie Forero (@HeyEddie). Essentially, it’s a collection of Wi-Fi failures and examples of what not to do when doing wireless designs. You will see a lot of weird AP set-ups out there!

Nowadays online Wi-Fi community is actively participating in filling in the picture collection. Wireless engineers from all over the world post photos of miraculous installations which are then reposted by Eddie. BadFi blog also covers other useful topics and has a freshly updated Wireless Blog Roll, Podcast List and a List of Useful Tools.

6. Oh Mystical Fi

Why so serious? One does not simply design great wireless without being able to crack a joke or two. So prepare to beef up your wireless knowledge with some top-notch Wi-Fi humor.

Yes, Lee Badman aka @wirednot aka Beef Wellington is in this list again!

Lee is a man of many names and talents. He is an exceptional WLAN professional, blog writer, sometimes a poet and a drawer among other things. Oh Mystical Fi is a comics series made by Lee and is only a section in his blog, yet we believe it is so good it deserves to be on the list of resources all by itself. If you don’t currently follow @wirednot on Twitter or read WiredNot Blog, you should start.

7. CWNP Blog

A blog by Certified Wireless Network Professionals, a recognized industry standard for enterprise Wi-Fi certification founded all the way back in 1999 when the trees were tall and 802.11was young and raw.

8. WifiNigel Blog

WifiNigel blog by Nigel Bowden (@wifinigel) is a comprehensive blog covering many wireless topics, but we like it especially for its podcast series – Wi-Fi for Beginners. Cutting-edge technologies and market novelties are great, but it’s important to know your basics!

9. Cisco Blogs

A series of blogs by various Cisco authors and featured guest bloggers covering different wireless and not only topics. This is a world of everything Cisco! There are sections, for instance, including technologies, industries, Cisco partners and materials for tech experts. Mobility is the section that would be particularly interesting for a wireless engineer.

10. Whiskey and Wireless

Do you like wireless? Do you like whiskey? Bingo! This podcast by Sam Clements (@samuel_clements) and Ryan M. Adzima (@radzima) is for you. RF news in a familiar atmosphere. As Sam and Ryan put it themselves: “The whiskey and wireless show – technology that goes down smooth.” Check this podcast out and see for yourself what happens when you mix high-performance technology-oriented brains and booze.

Check out also our iBwave Wireless Reference Poster Series, that aim to help you to navigate easily in all those wireless standards, types, and classes one has to remember when designing great Wi-Fi! Browse through Power over Ethernet, 5GHz, 802.11, MIMO in Wi-Fi and other wireless standards combined into easy-to-use charts.

That’s all for now! Hope you will find this list helpful. And please let us know if you know any other resources that will be worth mentioning here. What are your favorite wireless blogs, podcasts or other resources?

Share with us in the comments!

Webinar Recap: Do’s and Don’ts of Stellar Wi-Fi

Webinar Recap: The Do’s and Don’ts of Stellar Wi-Fi

On January 30th, well-known Wi-Fi experts David Coleman (CWNE #4) and Gregor Vucajnk (CWNE #96) of Aerohive Networks joined us to kick off an exciting webinar series on deploying high-performance Wi-Fi in the Enterprise.

In this first webinar, Dave and Gregor covered off the basics of deploying a Wi-Fi network that will work correctly the first time – using a 3D modeled interpretation of the USS Enterprise’s captains deck.

The 3D model was completed in iBwave Wi-Fi our powerful 3D Wi-Fi Planning and Design solution (a big thank you Chiyo, our super 3D modeling master!)

Here’s an overall view of the model with a few of the key areas highlighted:

Read: “Why 3D Modeling is More Than Just Cool”

What Topics Were Discussed?

While the full webinar is available to anyone to view here, here is a quick recap of some of the webinar highlights.

WATCH WEBINAR

Antenna Patterns

In this part of the webinar Dave and Gregor discussed external vs. internal antennas and how the RF coverage are so different for both with external antennas having a more typical dipole omni coverage (think doughnut-shaped) while internal antennas have more of a cardiod shape (think heart-shaped).

Here are some iBwave Wi-Fi 3D antenna patterns that were shown in the webinar to illustrate the differences in vertical and horizontal coverage.

Where and How Not to Place APs

Using examples of ‘Bad-Fi’ taken from the infamous ‘Bad-Fi’ website run by Wi-Fi expert Eddie Ferrero (if you have not seen it be sure to check it out!)

Here are a couple examples of Bad-Fi that were highlighted:

 2 APs are better than one?

 Heavy metal?

Beyond looking at examples of poor AP placement, Dave and Gregor went through some more examples of where APs should not be placed, but also how they should be placed in specific types of environments.

They discussed in-depth, topics such as:

  • Where Not to Place APs (for example: reflective surfaces, too close to the wall in certain circumstances)
  • How to place APs in high-density environments
  • How to place APs on a ceiling
  • How to position antennas on walls
  • How to place APs between multiple floors
  • How to avoid interference
  • Channel Bonding

Here are a couple of pictures illustrating the topics:

And much more in between.

How was the webinar received?

With such knowledgeable hosts, I wasn’t surprised the webinar was very well received by those who attended.

“Great Presentation!”

“I cannot wait to see the future webinars in this series!”

“Looking forward to the next webinar with these guys!”

Thanks Dave, Gregor and Aerohive Networks for joining us!

Speaking of Aerohive, did you hear their exciting news?

Just a couple of weeks ago Aerohive announced news they would be releasing three 802.11ax access points later this year. To learn more about the access points, be sure to check out Aerohive’s blog that talks about the announcement and goes into more detail about the APs themselves.

What’s Next?

Stay tuned for the announcement soon of our second webinar in this series where Gregor and Dave will discuss Wi-Fi design best practices for hospitality venues. 

You can also give a try to our eBook about Wi-Fi Challenges and Best Practices in Hospitality written with the help of the industry expert Ronald van Kleunen. We’ve included a detachable customer requirements checklist in the book, take it with you to the field and keep it handy!

Wirelessly yours,

Kelly

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