Operation Gadget

Category: Wireless Networking

  • Most Public Access Points Not Listed in NodeDB.com

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteIn researching the Philadelphia outdoor hotzone article, I looked at NYCwireless and subsequently found The Wireless Node Database Project called NodeDB.com. This site began as an attempt to document public access WiFi in Sydney, Australia, but was expanded to attempt to cover the world. NYCwireless has their nodes listed on NodeDB,…

  • T-Mobile and Comcast Announce Outdoor Hotzone on South Street in Philadelphia

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteYesterday Comcast and T-Mobile announced a WiFi hotzone in Philadelphia that will be located at Headhouse Square Plaza that’s the intersetion of Second and South Streets. This is the site of a historic marketplace along Philadelphia’s hippest street and is one of that city’s major landmarks. I agree with Glenn Fleishman…

  • Cometa Shutting Down its WiFi Network

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteWi-Fi Networking News reported that Cometa will wind down its WiFi network which had an estimated 250 locations here in the New York Metropolitan Area and Seattle. The model that they were using was to be a “wholesale” public WiFi operator, meaning that they would build and operate public WiFi networks…

  • WiFi Clear Channel Assessment Flaw Shows the Technology’s Limitations

    Reading Time: 2 minutesI haven’t had time to discuss the WiFi Clear Channel Assessment vulnerability that has been identified by researchers at Queensland University of Technology. When I first heard about this, I immediately thought that the most likely exploit of this vulnerability would be at a technology conference or a trade show. Late last…

  • Connecting the Nokia 6600 to a Late Model PC Using Bluetooth

    Reading Time: 2 minutesRegular Operation Gadget readers know that I recently picked up a Nokia 6600 to do a long term evaluation. One of the things I discovered after receiving the 6600 is that it syncs to a PC like other smartphones, but it does it without wires. You need to use infa-red or Bluetooth…

  • “Captive SMTP” Hamstrings Some T-Mobile Hotspot Users

    Reading Time: 2 minutesMobileWhack reports on a problem with email use at sites that are part of T-Mobile’s HotSpot network. James Duncan Davidson reports that T-Mobile’s SMTP server, the only one that is reachable via the normal TCP port from one of their hotspots, gets confused by SMTP-AUTH information that is intended for a user’s…

  • Atheros Single-Chip 802.11g Now in Production

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteWi-Fi Networking News reports that Atheros is shipping a one chip 802.11g implementation that is expected to be incorporated in forthcoming network equipment manufactured by D-Link and possibly other companies as well. You may remember that I installed an 802.11g-based network in my home office earlier this month. The equipment I…

  • Mobile Phone Carrier Data Plan Price Drops Confirmed by Wi-Fi Networking News

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteWi-Fi Networking News reports that Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular are lowering wireless data prices to compete with Sprint PCS and T-Mobile, who have staked out the value-oriented end of the market. This is a quiet revolution, none of the price cutters are advertising their changes on TV or radio.…

  • “Linux Unwired” Finally Ships from O’Reilly

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteBack in January, I mentioned that Linux Unwired was just about ready to ship from O’Reilly and Associates. It turned out that Amazon.com‘s product availability information was wrong, and this book just came out. You can get it now through Amazon and many other booksellers. If you followed the progress of…