Gizmodo: wlan

Proxim Orinoco AP-8000 Doubles Wi-Fi Throughput With Two 802.11n Radios

John Mahoney — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST

This one's more for the IT dudes, but is interesting as an indication of how we may see more speed squeezed out of the 802.11n wi-fi spec: a new enterprise access point from Proxim uses two 802.11n radios simultaneously, effectively doubling throughput to 320 Mbps (a single wireless N radio maxes out at around 170 Mbps). But it can't just be that simple, right?

No. The bottleneck in a setup like this is the centralized wireless controller chipset architecture that routes all of the data coming in and out. Proxim's solution, instead, uses a new distributed wireless architecture for which enables it to smartly share the burden over the two radios. It uses two standard Atheros 802.11n radio chips and a controller processor from Freescale. This is also different from the many dual-band routers out there that use two radios, but only for each band individually—not combined into a single bandwidth pipe.

Of course, your computer only has one radio, so you won't see double the speeds on your local machine. This just helps cram more data onto a huge enterprise network without bringing it down, but an interesting strategy that could, theoretically, find its way into more consumer-type gear. The dual-radio AP-8000 costs $1,099, and also looks like a Dungeness crab after I've eaten four delicious legs already. Sold! [Product Page via GigaOM]

A Look Inside Defcon's Network Ops Room, The Most Secure Conference Wi-Fi You'll Ever See

John Mahoney — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Network access at conferences sucks, pretty much without exception. That is, unless it's built by the badge-wearing network ops volunteers of the Defcon hacker convention, who are affectionately referred to as the "Goons" (read: IT badasses). Wired's Threat Level got a chance to look behind the scenes and snap some great photos of the network gear (and chain link fences, and padlocks, and German Shepherds) that make the Defcon network the fortress that it needs to be to keep a network full of hackers from tearing each other apart.

A Cisco fiber switch (top) handles all of the traffic on the 20 megabit internet link, and the whole thing runs behind an OpenBSD firewall. Around 40 Aruba AP-70 access points distribute the network, which are basically only radios hooked to AC power; they receive all configuration info from the main network system to prevent WAP takeovers:

The whole thing sits behind this padlocked chain fence, which is manned by a 24/7 armed security guard.

Hit up Threat Level for the full set, including a portrait of Tomoe the German Shepherd, the Goons' last line of defense. [Threat Level photos by Dave Bullock via /.]

Panasonic Toughbook T5 Has an Armstrap

Brian Lam — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 02:03:32 EDT

Alright, laptops are laptops. But this ruggedized Toughbook has of all things, an arm band. To keep your rugged notebook attached to your arm while you AIM and run from pumas? Yes. It also has a 12-inch touchscreen, and WLAN cellular data jammed inside of its magnesium-alloy shell.

To stretch battery life to 15 hours, the machine does the best it can with a Core Solo U1300 processor.

–Brian Lam

Panasonic Toughbook T5 [Crunchgear and What Laptop]