Clear To Send: Wireless Network Engineering

In this episode, we are talking about Wi-Fi in the Industrial environment with Scott McNeil. Scott has great experience designing, deploying and troubleshooting Wi-Fi and these environments and share his experiences with us! We are also talking about how the Industrial 4.0 revolution will impact how we will be using Wi-Fi in an industrial environment. Enjoy! You can go follow Scott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/americanmcneil Agenda * Industrial Wi-Fi vs. Enterprise Wi-Fi* Wireless becoming critical (Industrial 4.0)* What is similar* The need for wireless connectivity* Standards based wireless protocols (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Cellular)* Physics of wireless* What is different* Environmental aspect (temperatures, humidity, dust…)* Equipment (IP66, IP67)* Rules of engagements* Interferences* Important metrics* Retry rate* Packet loss* Latency* Roaming delay* Wi-Fi 6 test in an industrial environment conducted by the WBA* Site Surveys in an industrial environment* When to perform them* What type of site surveys to perform* Finding unknown devices* Innocent items like printers and cellular hotspots* Intentional devices installed by vendors* Identifying other sources of inferences* Spectrum Analysis* You never know what you might find in these environment* Industrial microwave dryer* Infrared adhesive curing equipment* Strong electromagnetic energy generated by machines Example of interference measured by Scott in the field: Example of interference: infrared curing machine Example of interference: microwave dryer Links & Resources * Scott’s Blog on Industrial Wi-Fi: https://industrialwifishop.wordpress.com/* Scott’s article on spectrum analysis: https://industrialwifishop.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/industrial-airspace-101/* Scott’s article on Industrial 4.0: https://industrialwifishop.wordpress.com/2020/05/20/wireless-industry-4-0-now-with-the-minty-flavor-of-wifi-6/* WBA Industrial 4.0 Wi-Fi 6 Test: https://metrology.news/wifi-6-successfully-completes-first-phase-industry-4-0-trials/

What tools come to mind when you’re doing remote troubleshooting? Have you ever used a WLAN Pi? In this episode, François and I did a live stream on the CTS YouTube channel, highlighting the capabilities of the WLAN Pi. Some tools are just out of reach in terms of cost. The WLAN Pi is affordable and packs a lot of tools. The reason for the live stream was to show how I was able to use the WLAN Pi, which was hosted at François’ house, to get a remote view of the Wi-Fi networks around him. Even better, I was able to load the information in WiFi Explorer as a remote sensor, giving us that visual look of the environment. Near the end of our live stream, François shares his Python scripts used with Mist to configure an access point for APoS operations. It’s worth checking out the live stream if you want to see it in action.

In this episode we wanted to introduce the Wireless Broadband Alliance to you guys. In order to do so, we invited 2 special guests: Tiago Rodrigues CEO at Wireless Broadband Alliance Gabriel Desjardins Director of Product Marketing, Broadcom Wireless Connectivity division and Board Member at WBA Topics In this episodes, we are talking about the following topics: * Presentation of the WBA* What is the WBA?* Non profit – Membership driven organization (how do you attract the members?)* Improving the experience over a Wi-Fi connection* What you do* Develop project to solve a specific problem* Best practices* Deployment guidelines* Field trial* What are your objectives* Members decides what they would work on* Speedup the test* What are the outcomes* How can it be useful for WLAN Engineers* Documents published by the WBA* How do you create them?* Who writes them?* What is your target audience?* Wi-Fi 6 & Wi-Fi 6e* Talk about the Wi-Fi 6 group* Talk about the Wi-Fi 6 documents published* Talk about Wi-Fi 6e* Trial cases* How will it work in the field* OpenRoaming* WBA taking it over* The future of OpenRoaming Wi-Fi 6 Deployment Guidelines and Scenarios Wi-Fi-6-Deployment-Guidelines-and-Scenarios-V1.0-1Download Links & Resources * Link to the WBA website: https://wballiance.com/* Wi-Fi 6 Trials: https://wballiance.com/wi-fi-6-trials/* Wi-Fi 6 working group: https://wballiance.com/wi-fi-6-802-11ax/* Wi-Fi 6 Deployment Guidelines: https://wballiance.com/wi-fi-6-deployment-guidelines-scenarios/* 802.11ax Decoded: https://wballiance.com/enhanced-wi-fi-6-802-11ax-decoded/* Wi-Fi 6e: ttps://wballiance.com/resource/understanding-the-global-implications-of-wi-fi-6-6ghz/* Wi-Fi Deployment Guidelines: https://wballiance.com/wifi-deployment-guidelines/ & https://wballiance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Wi-Fi-Deployment-Guidelines-Compliance-Checklist-Public-v1.0.pdf* 802.11ax Decoded -Infographic: https://wballiance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Infographic-Wide-Version.pdf* WBA Resource Centre: https://wballiance.com/resource/* Wi-Fi in the 5G era: https://wballiance.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Desjardins_WBA_Oct_2019_Wi-Fi-in-the-5G-Era.pdf

In this episode, we have Chuck Lukaszewski, VP of Wireless Strategy & Standards for HPE, to talk about two technical aspects of 6GHz: * Power Spectral Density (PSD)* Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) On top of explaining these technical concepts, Chuck gives tones of useful information on 6GHz regulations for both the US and Europe. Podcast Content 6GHz Status * Quick recap of the status* Draft and Order outcome Power Spectral Density (PSD * Power Spectral Density* What is PSD: It tells us how the power is distributed in frequency (dbm/MHz)* Why did we decided to change the way we regulate transmission power in 6Ghz (EIRP vs PSD)* Be able to use wider channel without lowering the SNR* How does it work in practise – The math behind it* Europe will not use PSD (23 or 24dBm EIRP for LPI)* SNR issue for larger channels* Also less channels* Allow the portable devices at 14dBm EIRP from the very beginning Automated Frequency Coordination * Automated Frequency Coordination* What is AFC: * Use of a spectrum database (ULS)* Incumbent locations (big dishes)* Figure the pattern of that transmitter* Where it is in space* Frequencies available at this locations* AFC Operators will manage the spectrum database* Why do we need it for some communications on 6GHz* Used for outdoor communications or indoor high power communications* Explain how it is different from DFS* AFC is a preemptive protocol* Every 24h it has to check* How does it work?* AFC returns the list of available frequencies and the max power to use* APs will have GPS inside to report location* AP manager needs to know where the APs are* Campus AP* You are already connected to internet* Securely via secured protocols* Point-to-Point* Initial operations in 5GHz to contact the database* AFC equipment will not be available at day 1* The process is not defined yet for the incumbents* Some more testings have to be done* AFC is only enable in 2 UNII bands* UNII-5 & UNII-7* No outdoor operations on 6GHz in Europe* Most European countries do not publish their licence use.* No data base in European so no AFC possible in Europe* Maybe: Light licensing type of model will be used* AFC to comply with international rules for Canada and Mexico* Probably follow the FCC after April 23rd Links & Resources * FCC Document: 6GHz Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking* All FCC documents related to 6GHz: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=18-295&sort=date_disseminated,DESC* Chuck’s Aruba Blog Articles on 6GHz:* https://blogs.arubanetworks.com/spectrum/fccs-6-ghz-move-will-push-usa-ahead-of-the-world-in-wireless/* https://blogs.arubanetworks.com/spectrum/the-6-ghz-band-say-goodbye-to-the-stone-age-of-wi-fi/* HPE 6GHz Roundtable with Chuck Lukaszewski and other influencers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/45w0gklv58ic7vi/6GHzRoundtable1_edited_14202004.mp4?dl=0* WirelessLAN Pros Podcast Episode 194: Who’s Ready for 6GHz?

Chris Szymanski, director of product marketing and government affairs for Broadcom, joins us on the show to talk about the process of getting the 6GHz band available for unlicensed use. Chris has been involved in the process for more than 4 years and shares some of his insights on the whole process. Episode Agenda * FCC Process to enable the 6GHz frequency band for unlicensed use in the USA* FCC is still in the process of enabling the 6GHz band.* An important vote will take place on April 23rd to enable Low Power Indoor (LPI) use over 1200MHz of new spectrum.* The process is complexed as a lot of different parties are involved.* FCC released a draft order Report and Order document on April 2nd 2020.* Status in other parts of the world* Europe: Chris explains how the process works in Europe.* Wi-Fi 6e* 802.11ax on the 6GHz frequency band* Certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance* 6GHz compatible devices* Broadcom has 8 AP related products 6GHz capable* Broadcom has an Euro class smartphone device 6GHz capable* New use cases* Additional spectrum will allow us to use wide channels and higher data rates allowing new type of applications* AR/VR* Critical low latency applications Links & Resources * FCC Document: 6GHz Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking* All FCC documents related to 6GHz: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=18-295&sort=date_disseminated,DESC* Broadcom Wi-Fi 6E website* Latest blog on the 6 GHz decision* European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) Website: https://cept.org/

It’s another week in quarantine but that’s not stopping the wireless news. In this episode, we recorded a video for the YouTube channel to provide another form of medium if video is your thing. Cisco taking some of their exams online In a new turn of events, Cisco has made nearly all their certification exams online. With the quarantine and work-from-home in effect, the certification studying can continue. Susie Wee announces the news in a blog with a link to a Cisco page containing all the details. New Channel Chart by Keith Parsons 6 GHz is nearly here. The vote is set to happen in a few days. Keith R. Parsons created a graphic which displays the possible channels Wi-Fi can use. Just look at that large 1200 MHz worth of frequency and the number of channels available. I thought it appropriate to see a visual image of how much more spectrum 6GHz will bring to Wi-Fi.2.4 GHz3 – 20MHz Channels5 GHz25 – 20 MHz Channels6GHz59 – 20 MHz ChannelsThe new ‘norm’ for Enterprise deployments will be 80 MHz channels!One more week till FCC vote! pic.twitter.com/2cIS2f1p4n— Keith R. Parsons (@KeithRParsons) April 15, 2020 New iPhone SE Apple quietly releases a new iPhone with Wi-Fi 6 and CBRS capabilities. We will continue to see the adoption of these new technologies rise as people upgrade their mobile devices every year. And this is at a good price point of $399. Got more information on the AirMagnet come back: Have you heard? There’s something new coming to AirMagnet. We sure hope it includes Link-Live functionality and the use of their handheld tools with the survey software. They are hosting a webinar this week. Did we mention 6GHz? There’s plenty of documents on the FCC website if you dare to take a look. Tx power in Ekahau Cisco added back the Aironet IE information when analyzing Wi-Fi networks. You can see it visibly in Ekahau, as Sam Clements points out. Have you seen the radio TX power in @ekahau? @Cisco_Mobility brought this back to new APs in 8.10MR2 and 17.2 – let's thank them for this fantastic insight! pic.twitter.com/7GsrlnhHQ2— Sam Clements (@samuel_clements) April 17, 2020 Complexities of Wi-Fi in Higher Education Rowell Dionicio participated in an Ekahau webinar to discuss the complexities of Wi-Fi in Higher Education. It was an insightful and fun discussion with an engaging audience.

In this episode we’re going to run through our experience using UniFi and how it can benefit the SMB. This is a series of episodes we’re recording to address SMB Wi-Fi requirements, pricing, features, and more. With the current offerings from Ubiquiti UniFi, there’s just the one-time cost to keep things simple. Paying for the hardware will include some advanced features, analytics, and monitoring tools often excluded from other SMB Wi-Fi solutions. To make UniFi shine in the SMB a cloud key is really needed which could be an appliance or a VM installed on a computer. The cost can vary depending on the access point and other hardware you need but still highly affordable. UniFi solution scales very well, up to 50 UniFi devices with the Cloud Key and you can add sites, if required. While the access point costs are low, costs can increase as you add more hardware such as a security gateway, switches, and a cloud key. You can expand to cameras as well. It’s important to note that a Cloud Key does not fully make management of the network in the cloud. It simply enables hybrid cloud management. With a UniFi account, the Cloud Key enables cloud management access to a local controller via WebRTC, hostname, or IP address. Support from Ubiquiti appears to be lacking with the only option being community support. The tips offered by other community members can be incorrect and often a response takes time. Ubiquiti makes the installation as simple as possible through the use of mobile apps although configuration can be done through command-line or the web GUI. Having options can be beneficial. We ran into some issues during installation that required us to either reset an access point, use the command-line to configure an inform message, or manually upgrade the firmware of an access point. Monitoring and analytics is impressive from the UniFi dashboard. For an SMB solution, there are multiple dashboards that can be used to monitor the health of the overall network. There is a Wi-Fi specific dashboard to have views into metrics such as retry rates – a really nice metric to have. With the combination of a User Experience metric plus the retry rate metric troubleshooting becomes a little easier. Being able to monitor where devices are connected, seeing bandwidth utilization per device, and having deep packet inspection really gives you good insight. Unfortunately, Ubiquiti does not have any 802.11ax access points yet. They may be waiting for ratification which is smart. Roaming, 802.11r, is still in beta which we thought was interesting. With 802.11r being part of the 802.11 Standard for over 10 years now we would have expected Fast BSS Transition to be out of beta. There were no options for selecting OWE or WPA3 for increased wireless security but from what we’ve seen, Ubiquiti has not been in the forefront of implementing newer wireless technologies. Pricing * nanoHD 11ac – $158 * Dream Machine – $325 * Cloud Key Gen2 – $188 * Mesh access point – $88 *

SMB Wi-Fi Here are the important criteria to consider when choosing an SMB Wi-Fi solution: * Price* Ease of configuration* Reliability* Feature Set* Security Listen to this episode in order to know how the EnGenius Cloud solution is doing on each of these criteria. EnGenius Wi-Fi Offering Price Cloud Managed APs: * ECW115 2×2 WiFi 5 Wall-Plate: $135 (link)* ECW120 2×2 Wi-Fi 5 AP: $159 (link) * ECW220 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 AP: $299 (link) * ECW230 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 AP: $499 (link) For prices of the Cloud Managed APs, please contact EnGenius distributors (EnGenius Wireless for Canada, Keenan System for the US) Managed APs: * EWS357 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 AP: $184 (https://amzn.to/2JvSTwu)* EWS360 Wi-Fi 5 AP: $169 (https://amzn.to/2R1KpkG)* EWS355 Wi-Fi 5 AP: $122 (https://amzn.to/346bdFR)* EAP1300 Wi-Fi 5 AP: $94 (https://amzn.to/34876cr) Very easy to purchase EnGenius access points: * Can be purchased directly from Amazon* No need to wait for quotes* No crazy difference between MSRP and purchased price* No licenses!!! Ease of Configuration Cloud Solution: * Super easy to set up (see video below)* Onboard the devices from the mobile application* Configure everything from the cloud* Can be up and running in 10mins* BIG advantage: no need for local controllers (SkyKey). Connect the AP to internet and it works Traditional Solution: * Installation of EzMaster to manage the equipment* Can be installed on a physical small appliance called the SkyKey* Can be installed on Amazon AWS (https://www.engeniustech.com/ezmaster-aws-setup.html)* Adding device using the MAC address and a check code Reliability * The solution was pretty reliable when using stable code Features The set of features available will be enough for most SMB (even enough for some enterprises). They have all the basics plus: * WPA3-PSK (SAE)* WPA3-Enterprise* 802.11r* 802.11w* Change of tx power in dBm* Change of min data rate* Enable or disable Mesh* Cloud Radius built in (Amazing)* They even have an API for EnGenius Cloud! (Only seen on the website)

In this episode we wanted to take some time to talk about the practical aspects of a validation survey. We are answering the following questions: * Which steps do you need to take in order to make sure that the task runs smoothly? * What are the relevant questions to ask your customer before going on site?* Which pieces of equipment do you need to take with you on site? What to do Prior Going on Site Gather important information from the customer: * Quality updated floor plans* What to do if there are no floor plans* Which areas need to be surveys* Out of these areas, which ones are critical for the business* Access point locations (if possible)* If the customer can provide the original design, it is even better* Controller configurations* Access Points radio configurations* 2.4Ghz radios settings (Tx power and channel)* 5Ghz radio settings (Tx power, channel width and channel)* SSID profiles* Radio profiles* AP groups Questions to ask: * Ask questions to understand the initial requirements* What was the Wi-Fi network designed for?* Critical equipment?* Critical applications?* Ask questions to understand the current status of the Wi-Fi network* Any known problems?* On which apps* On which devices* Did the initial requirement change? New applications introduced, new devices introduced?* Request to have the AP broadcasting their name for the time of the survey* Cisco: Enable Aironet IE under the SSID profile advanced tab* Aruba: enable the Advertise AP Name option under the SSID profile* Access to Wi-Fi * Practical questions* Will I have access to all the areas? If not, will I have an escort with me?* Make sure that the customer has your access ready the day you start* Are there any restrictions on schedule? This can depend on the environment?* Are there any restrictions regarding the personal protective equipment?* Will I have to go through a specific security training?* Where can I park? Will I have a parking spot reserved? Will I have to pay for parking?* Will I be allowed to take pictures? It is usually allowed after signing an NDA. Here is some information that the customer can use to communicate with their teams and employee so they will be expecting you: * It is critical for them to send a communication to their security team so they can be expecting you. Surveys can start at odd hours and your first point of contact might be the security agent.* It is a good idea for them to send an internal communication to specify that someone will be performing a Wi-Fi validation survey.* Specify that this individual will need to measure the Wi-Fi signal everywhere and that she or he might enter offices while empty.* If they can communicate your name, it is even better as they will know when you present yourself. Pro Tip: If you are not too sure about which information gathering from your customer, think about what your workflow will be when you arrive onsite. This should help you define what you need. Prepare Your Equipment * Laptop* Tablet with pencil (iPad if you use the Ekahau Connect iPad application)* Sidekick & its charger* External battery pack (the bigger the better). You can use it to charge your laptop (via USB-C) or ipad while you do your survey.* Laser measurement device* Personal Protective Equipment (for some environments)* Steel Toe shoes or boots* Hard hat* Yellow or Orange vest* Hearing protection* Safety glasses* Harness?* Identification: the easiest is to use a name tag or a badge that you carry around your neck. You can re-use some of the ones you get at conferences* Chargers, adapters and cables (you can never have enough, bring backups)* USB to Lightning adapter if you need to connect the Sidekick...

An APoS site survey is usually performed after a predictive model and is part of the design phase of a Wi-Fi project. It is used to study the propagation of a specific AP or antenna in order to adjust and refine the predictive model. This type of survey requires time and a lot of equipment. It also requires some planning. Enjoy the podcast? Support the show by buying us coffee! What to do prior going onsite Obviously, work on the predictive model (Design). From the design. Define which access point locations you would want or need to validate. Document that information. In ekahau you could export an image outlying the AP to test by selecting the APs to test as “My APs”. Create a brand new Ekahau project file dedicated to doing the APoS survey and upload it to the Connect account (if you have a Connect account) Here is the information to gather before going onsite: * Know the height of the ceilings. This will impact the equipment required to temporarily mount an AP* Cheaper tripods usually go up to 8-9ft (Example: https://amzn.to/2TTUzFW or https://amzn.to/38Sizxv)* Some tripods go up to 24ft (Example: https://amzn.to/2QjcELG)* Wheels* Add photos* If the ceiling is higher, you might need a skyjack. Do you rent one? Do you ask the customer for one? What about safety? Training or certification might be required.* Safety & Security* Is a safety training required to be performing work within the facility?* Request access to the areas you need to study* See if access can be granted, if not, will they have an escort available for you?* Scheduling* Does the customer have any scheduling restrictions? Perform the work off hours or when the facility is not in use.* How will this impact your work and how long it takes to make it work. Prepare Your Equipment The type of equipment used during an APoS should be identified prior to going on-site. Create a checklist for what you need to bring with you. Below are some of the items we have for APoS surveys. * Access Points to be mounted temporarily* Use the exact same APs as the ones that will be deployed* You might need a model with internal antennas and a model that supports connecting external antennas* Antennas that you want to try out* Don’t forget to bring a way to mount them temporarily. Bracket.* Pole* Tripod* Painter pole* A way to mount the AP onto the pole* Wi-Fi Stand: https://wifistand.com/ (Brackets: https://wifistand.com/collections/brackets)* Don’t forget about the external antennas* A way to power the access point* Portable PoE+ battery (VenVolt or Accelerator)* Alternatives:* PoE injector powered by a portable battery (AC)* PoE injector with a long extension power cord* Ethernet cables (plan for a long one if you need to mount the AP very high)* Zip ties and Gaffle Tape (You never know) + a way to cut the zip tire* A WLANPi (https://www.wlanpi.com/)* Typically if you need a DHCP server* Or if you want to do some sort of throughput tests * Laptop* Tablet with pencil (iPad if you use the Ekahau Connect iPad application)* Sidekick & its charger* External battery pack (the bigger t...

News * The spread of COVID-19 is getting serious. We talked about its effects on Wi-Fi and on our jobs* 2020 WLPC videos are available* There will be a WLPC 2020 in Mexico in Spanish* Wireless Update #2 is out on The Wi-Fi YouTube Channel* Aruba announced a new technology called Aruba Air Pass designed to ease roaming between Wi-Fi and cellular connections 802.11v From the standards: Defines mechanisms and services for Wireless Network Management of STAs that include BSS transition management, channel usage and coexistence, collocated interference reporting, diagnostic, multicast diagnostic and event reporting, flexible multicast, efficient beacon mechanisms, proxy ARP advertisement, location, timing measurement, directed multicast, extended sleep modes, traffic filtering, and management notification.  IEEE 802.11v or BSS Transition is an amendment that was published in 2011 and added to the IEEE 802.11-2012 standards. The objective of this amendment was to develop extensions to the 802.11 MAC/PHY to provide network management for STAs including: * L2 management of attached stations* Monitoring the attached stations* Configuring the attached stations* Updating the attached stations Most of the time in the enterprise place, we use it to enhance roaming (BSS Transition). While the IEEE 802.11k amendment defined messages to retrieve information from the station, the ability to configure the station was not in its scope. So the 802.11v amendment is complementary to the 802.11k amendment. For example, with 802.11v, the AP can request a client to roam to a specific AP. You can read it in full within the 802.11-2016 standard in section 11.24. The Action frame details are in section 9.6.14.1. Procedures within 802.11v * Event request and report* Enables the network to perform real-time diagnostics. * Event field will be set to 1* Can keep track of transition events* RSNA events* Peer-to-peer link events* WNM log events* Diagnostic request and report* Provides diagnostic and debugging of network issues* Diagnostics field set to 1* The report can contain an overall result of the transaction* Can include manufacturer information specific about an associated station* Can include association diagnostics, tests can be completed to a specific AP* Can include 802.1X authentication diagnostics to determine if station is able to complete 802.1X authentication with a designated BSS* Location tracking * Method to allow tracking of other station’s location using Location Indication Channels, Location Indication Interval and Location Indication Broadcast Data Rate sub-elements* Motion detection and Time of Departure reporting is optional* Timing measurement* Fine timing measurement* Allowing a station to determine its distance from another station.* BSS Transition management for load balancing* Most common* Goal is for improved throughput, effective data rate and QoS for aggregate of stations in a network by transitioning individual station traffi...

Welcome to another episode of This Week in Wireless (TWiW) where we discuss recent news in the wireless industry. Kr00k Products affected: (Broadcom and Cypress Chips) * Aruba* 200 series* 344 & 345* 504 & 505* 514 & 515* Cisco* C9115* C9120 The vulnerability wouldn’t be too easy to pull off without being in proximity of the attackers target. This could be a client device or access point. The data contained in the buffer of either a client device or access point is vulnerable. Kr00k focuses around the encryption keys zeroing out when disassociated and then the data in buffer is sent out unencrypted, susceptible to sniffing. 802.11w can help in this scenario as it would protect management frames. Some major vendors have published their patches for the bug, including Cisco and Aruba. Cisco AireOS to C9800 CLI Mapping Guide Found this shared on Twitter for those who still rely on the command-line interface (CLI) of a Cisco WLAN controller and are migrating over to the C9800. Cisco has published a CLI mapping guide for your reference! Dennis Klein on YouTube Check out our community member, Dennis Klein and his YouTube channel – The Wi-Fi Channel (Channel). If video is your thing, you’ll want to subscribe to his channel. FCC Proposes Fines for Carriers Selling Location Data… insecurely? We found an interesting article where the FCC is thinking about fining carriers for “selling access to their customers’ location information without taking adequate precautions to prevent unauthorized access to that data”. Quite the interesting take and it’s great that the FCC supports the selling of our location data. No biggie. The fines are enormous but nothing but a drop in the bucket for these companies. Rowell Passes Cisco DevNet Associate If you think we weren’t serious about programmability, Rowell has passed the Cisco DevNet Associate exam and made it to DevNet 500, the first 500 people to pass a DevNet exam. Check out his blog post on this experience studying and taking the exam. François’ CWSA Debrief Additionally, François recently passed the CWNP CWSA exam! It falls along our previous episode with Tom Carpenter of C...

News François wins 2020 Content Contribution of the Year at WLPC from Wi-Fi Awards 2020 Content Contribution of the Year Award…Francois Verges! Congratulations @VergesFrancois! pic.twitter.com/Qd3c4R8dvE— The WiFi Awards (@thewifiawards) February 21, 2020 Other winners: * David Coleman – Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award…David Coleman! Congratulations @mistermultipath! pic.twitter.com/QuMqAAV6iq— The WiFi Awards (@thewifiawards) February 21, 2020 * Lariana Liu – Rookie of the Year 2020 Rookie of the Year Award…Lariana Liu! Congratulations @LarianaLuy! pic.twitter.com/L4KxubVFKp— The WiFi Awards (@thewifiawards) February 21, 2020 * Ekahau – Innovation of the Year Award 2020 Innovation of the Year Award…Ekahau Connect! Congratulations @ekahau! pic.twitter.com/Izhq72Isql— The WiFi Awards (@thewifiawards) February 21, 2020 * Wi-Fi Explorer – Product of the Year Award 2020 Product of the Year Award….Wi-Fi Explorer! Congratulations @adriangranados and @wifiexplorer! pic.twitter.com/vIRPGVpHKS— The WiFi Awards (@thewifiawards) February 21, 2020 * Cisco – Company Leadership of the Year Award 2020 Company Leadership of the Year Award….Cisco! Congratulations @CiscoChampion and @Cisco pic.twitter.com/dfXuyfZwsh— The WiFi Awards (@thewifiawards) February 21, 2020 Meraki Releases New Wi-Fi 6 APs * MR36* MR46* MR56 Broadcom Tests 6 GHz Python and Wi-Fi Last episode we talked about APIs at an introductory level. APIs are great to get information from wifi systems.

Application Programming Interface: communication protocol or interface used to interact between different pieces of software. In networking, you could have an API available to interact between a Wireless Controller and a script coded by the network admin. APIs make it very easy to interact with our networking equipment to configure, operate and monitor them. In the networking world, these API communications are often established over the HTTPS protocol and are categorized as RESTful APIs. It stands for REpresentational State Transfer. It is a very popular API framework for web services built on HTTP. REST is popular because it is fast, simple, scalable and easy to work with. Why use an API? * Custom dashboards* Automation* Installs* Configuration* Testing* Troubleshooting How can I use an API? Vendors usually provide extensive API documentation that will tell you how to use them and which data to expect. Sometimes, you have to enable this access (Meraki). You can then use applications such as Postman that will help you to design your API calls.  Communications are secured and will require some sort of authorization (using a token or API Key). This key will be referenced in every request via a request header. Methods (API Calls) * GET: returns the value of a resource or a list of resources (Ex: get a list of online APs)* PUT: adds a new resource (Ex: create a new site)* POST: updates a resource (EX: updating the name of an AP)* DELETE: remove a resource (Ex: removing a user) Responses – Status and Error Codes You will get a response from your API calls. These responses use the standard HTTP status codes: * 400: Bad Request* 401: Unauthorized* 403: Forbidden* 404: Not found* 429: Too Many Requests* 500: Internal Server Error* 503: Service Unavailable If everything goes well, you should receive a 200 status code as well as the response to your query (if it was a GET query). This response is generally organized with the JSON format. It becomes easier to read and parse it in a script. This format can also be specified in the headers: Content-Type: application/json Important Things to consider * Limitation of number of calls* 5 calls per second for Meraki* 5000 calls per hour for Mist (to validate) Sample Scripts Rowell’s Script import json import requests site_id = '<your-site-id>' url = "https://api.mist.com/api/v1/sites/{}/wlans".format(site_id) headers = { 'Authorization': 'Basic <your-token>' } response = requests.request("GET", url, headers=headers) r = json.loads(response.text) for wlans in r: wlan_name = wlans['ssid'] wlan_enabled = str(wlans['enabled']) wlan_vlan = str(wlans['vlan_id']) print("SSID: " + wlan_name, "\t Enabled: " + wlan_enabled, "\t VLAN: " + wlan_vlan ) Sample Output % python3 get_wlans.py SSID: D-NET Enabled: True VLAN: 2 SSID: CTS Enabled: True VLAN: 2 François’ Script #!/usr/bin/env python3 import time import json import requests def main(): org_id = '<org-id>' site_id = '<site-id>' token = '<your-token>'

Following up CTS 204 (https://www.cleartosend.net/cts-204-cwnp-certifications/) where we talked about the different CWNP certifications, we invited Tom Carpenter (CTO at CWNP) to come and talk about the new CWNP track. The new CWNP Track – The Rest of Wireless (IoT) In this episode Tom presents the new track, explain who is the target audience and share some behind stories on how they decided to create it. Multiple certificates will be part of this new track: * CWSA (to be renamed CWISA): Certified Wireless IoT System Administrator. This is the first level of certification and is already available today.* Certification Page: https://www.cwnp.com/certifications/cwsa* Exam Objectives: https://www.cwnp.com/uploads/cwsa-101-objectives-2019.pdf* Study Guide: https://amzn.to/383FshV * CWICP (Certified Wireless IoT Connectivity Professional): covers the PHY of IoT wireless technologies (lower layers of the OSI models)* CWIIP (Certified Wireless IoT Integration Professional): covers the integration of these IoT systems to the enterprise network (higher layers of the OSI Model)* Design certification (not defined yet maybe CWIDP?): it will covers the design aspects CWICP & CWIIP should be ready for September 2020. A proctored beta class & exam will take place in August to finalized these new certifications. The JTAs (Job Task Analysis) took place last month. Updates on the Wi-Fi Track This year, CWNP will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of CWNA. A new version of the certification will be released later on this year. CWS, CWT, CWDP and CWAP will be refreshed in 2021 and CWSP will be refreshed in 2022. Reminder: the CWNE requirements changed with the introduction of the new track. Instead of needing 2 non-CWNP certifications, you will now need to get CWISA and 1 extra non-CWNP certification. Last Chance * Last chance to participate to our Audience Survey is still running, please take a minute to give us feedback!* https://cleartosend.net/2019-survey* Last chance to participate to the Wi-Fi Training giveaway (CWNA Lab WorkBook):* Go fill out the form here: https://www.cleartosend.net/what-we-learned-after-200-episodes/