Wi-Fi & Networks
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Stock-market jitters have rocked network spending, Cisco says
The world's financial markets got off to such a rough start this year that some enterprises froze plans to upgrade their campus networks, according to Cisco.News
5G might be your next home broadband service
An AT&T regulatory filing last week shed light on a lesser-known aspect of the emerging 5G wireless standard that could be a boon to some consumers: Home broadband.
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Serious flaws found in Netgear’s NMS300 network management system
Serious vulnerabilities in the Netgear NMS300 ProSafe network management system, an application used to discover, monitor and configure a wide range of network devices, can allow hackers to take control of the servers it's running on.News
Cisco will get stronger in IoT by buying Jasper for $1.4 billion
Cisco Systems plans to acquire Internet of Things platform company Jasper Technologies for more than US$1.4 billion, giving the networking giant an even larger role in enterprises' growing use of IoT.News
The specter of Comcast as a wireless carrier is more than a little frightening
Comcast says it has registered to bid in the upcoming government wireless auction, suggesting that it is indeed considering offering wireless service.News
As 5G approaches, 3G and 4G are still getting faster
Most of the excitement at Mobile World Congress this month will be about 5G, which won't officially exist until 2020. But vendors will also be showing off new ways to speed up the 3G and 4G networks most people are using today.News
Arista just lost a patent round against Cisco and could face an import ban
Cisco Systems has won the latest round against rival networking vendor Arista Networks at a U.S. trade agency that could block importation of Arista products.
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T-Mobile ties Verizon for LTE speed supremacy in latest OpenSignal report
T-Mobile may be having fun with the competition in public, but the company is deadly serious about improving its infrastructure–and it's paying off.News
Irate Comcast subscriber turns Raspberry Pi into a watchdog for slow Internet speeds
One Comcast customer has a Raspberry Pi complain to the company every time his fast connection becomes too slow.
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Forget about LTE hurting Wi-Fi and think about using it in your business
Controversial technology that lets LTE networks use unlicensed spectrum could become a trusted part of the enterprise IT toolkit in a few years.News
Cisco patches authentication, denial-of-service, NTP flaws in many products
Cisco Systems has released security patches for flaws affecting a wide range of products, including for a critical vulnerability in its RV220W wireless network security firewalls.News
Inside Verizon’s Super Bowl Control Center
This is Verizon's Super Bowl command room — a temporary, purpose-built nerve center in the shadow of Levi's Stadium that pulls in data from permanent and temporary base stations to ensure the network keeps running.News
Look out, Cisco: Major telcos join Facebook’s open hardware push
Big telcos including Verizon and AT&T have joined a Facebook-led project to build low-cost computing hardware, posing a fresh challenge for network vendors like Cisco and Juniper.News
U.S. Congress to federal agencies: You have two weeks to tally your backdoored Juniper kit
Around two dozen U.S. government departments and federal agencies are being questioned by the U.S. Congress on whether they were using backdoored Juniper network security appliances.News
Europe’s space laser communications system will launch this week
A "space data highway" that links satellites using high-speed laser transmissions should take a big step forward this week with the launch of the Eutelsat 9B satellite.News
FortiGuard SSH backdoor found in more Fortinet security appliances
Network security vendor Fortinet has identified an authentication issue that could give remote attackers administrative control over FortiSwitch, FortiAnalyzer and FortiCache devices.News
Verizon vows to build the first 5G network in the U.S.
Verizon says it will have the first 5G network in the U.S., a promise it probably can't fulfill until 2020 but will start working at this year.News
Cisco fixes critical flaws in digital encoder, unified computing manager and security appliance
Cisco released security updates to fix a hard-coded root password in its Modular Encoding Platform D9036 and a vulnerable CGI script in the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Manager and the Cisco Firepower 9000 Series appliances.News
Dell’s OS10 aims to open up networks, then whole data centers
Dell is opening up its network operating system, one step toward a data-center OS that could help enterprises emulate cloud companies like Google and Facebook.News
Verizon’s FreeBee Data 360 program lets companies pay for your mobile Internet usage
There were rumblings about it in late 2015 and now it's here. Verizon wants Internet companies to pay for some of your mobile data usage.News
Advantech industrial serial-to-Internet gateways wide open to unauthorized access
Specialized gateway devices made by Advantech that are used around the world in industrial environments to connect legacy serial equipment to TCP/IP and cellular networks can be accessed with any password.News
Comcast bugs BYO modem user with browser pop-ups suggesting an upgrade
Comcast is messing with your web browsing again with pop-up warnings you'd never see on a non-Comcast connection.News
T-Mobile admits Binge On throttles all video, blames everyone else for confusion
T-Mobile's John Legere decides to "help clarify" how Binge On throttling works after weeks of dodging questions.News
AT&T brings back unlimited wireless data plans, but only for TV subscribers
If you use DirecTV or U-Verse, you can get unlimited data for the smartphones and tablets in your house.News
Asus Router app lets you manage your network from your pocket
Asus's Router app for Android and iOS is one network management utility you can actually get excited about.News
ZigBee and Thread act to make their IoT smarts stack up
Two pieces in the complicated puzzle of smart-home options will snap together later this year when the ZigBee Alliance starts certifying devices that use the Thread protocol for networking.News
What you need to know about home IoT standards at CES
Don't get too excited about all your devices getting along—yet.
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Battle over LTE in Wi-Fi bands may soon be resolved
The fight over LTE networks using the same frequencies as Wi-Fi may be headed toward a peaceful resolution at last.News
Juniper updates list of backdoored enterprise firewall OS versions
The administrative access issue only affects ScreenOS 6.3.0r17 through 6.3.0r20, while the VPN decryption issue affects ScreenOS 6.2.0r15 through 6.2.0r18 and 6.3.0r12 through 6.3.0r20.News
Future LTE networks could set up shop in your office
This week, Intel, Ericsson and Nokia joined Qualcomm in forming the MulteFire Alliance, an industry group to develop and promote LTE that runs only on the kind of unlicensed frequencies that companies use for Wi-Fi.News
T-Mobile tempts Verizon users to switch with a free one-year Hulu subscription
T-Mobile is going after Verizon customers in its latest deal with a free, one year subscription to Hulu for customers who switch to the "Un-carrier."News
The latest IoT network builds on a power-grid foundation
New networks being built with far less fanfare than mobile carriers' cell coverage will connect objects that in some cases have never been linked before, like street lights and traffic cameras. The latest, called Starfish, is now debuting in Silicon Valley.News
Verizon to test ‘toll-free’ sponsored data that doesn’t count against caps
Verizon joins AT&T in attacking net neutrality, with "toll-free data" for companies who pay.News
AT&T’s gigabit Internet is rolling out to 38 new markets, but read the fine print
AT&T's GigaPower is getting a big expansion, but be careful to read the fine print if you sign up.News
DDoS attacks increase in number, endanger small organizations
The number of DDoS attacks increased by 180 percent during the third quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2014.News
Video, audio streaming gobble up 70% of peak Internet traffic in North America
Regular internet usage is taking up more bandwidth, but usage caps are staying the same.News
Verizon rolls out Wi-Fi calling this week, but starts slow
Verizon is ready to roll out Wi-Fi calling starting December 8 as a complement to the carrier's wireless service.
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Net neutrality could be on the line in Washington court battle
The FCC's net neutrality rules go on trial Friday as oral arguments begin in 10 lawsuits that could dramatically change the way Internet service providers are regulated.Reviews
ZyXel AV2000 HomePlug AV2 (model PLA5456) powerline adapter review: Speedy hardware; dodgy marketing
Calling it a HomePlug product doesn’t make it a HomePlug product.Updated
The essential guide to powerline ethernet adapters (including 7 hands-on reviews)
Powerline Ethernet adapters that use your home's electrical wiring are great supplements to Wi-Fi networks. We sort through the standards, HomePlug and G.hn, and review 7 new models.News
AT&T’s raising the prices of legacy unlimited data plans
It's not the $20 that Verizon charged, but AT&T will ask you to pay more for your grandfathered unlimited plan starting in 2016.News
HPE’s Synergy is a new type of ‘composable’ infrastructure
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has developed a new type of "composable' hardware that it claims will cut data center costs and slash the time it takes to spin up new applications.News
Light-based ‘Li-Fi’ beams data 100 times faster than Wi-Fi
A so-called Li-Fi network can transmit data 100 times faster than regular Wi-Fi, as long as nothing gets in its way.News
Millions of embedded devices use the same hard-coded SSH and TLS private keys
Thousands of routers, modems, IP cameras, VoIP phones and other embedded devices share the same hard-coded SSH host keys or HTTPS server certificates.News
T-Mobile gives existing customers 3 months of unlimited LTE, with one catch
T-Mobile subscribers are getting three months of unlimited LTE data–with the exception of HD streaming video.
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8 more years of leap-second woes loom as governments punt decision to 2023
Leap seconds like the one that caused more than 2,000 networks to fail at the end of June will be part of the sysadmin's lot until at least 2023, as an intergovernmental conference has put off a decision on abolishing them until at least 2023.News
Facebook building a 100-gigabit switch to keep up with video, VR traffic
Facebook is more than doubling the speed of its Wedge open-source network switch, which is good news both for Facebook users and for anyone who may want to build a 100-gigabit switch.
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Sprint’s compelling new promo: Switch from another carrier, cut your bill in half
Switch to Sprint from another major carrier, and it'll cut your bill in half for two years.News
Microsoft’s Lumia 950 Windows 10 phone gets a Nov. 20 release date on AT&T
AT&T gets the Lumia 950 on November 20, but don't call it exclusive.News