802.11ac: Gigabit Wi-Fi

I just read a cool article at Networkworld.com about the new 802.11ac standard.  Here's the link:

http://www.networkworld.com/news/tech/2012/012712-80211ac-primer-255416.html

I don't keep up much with Wi-Fi, although perhaps I should be.  Forgive me if this next thought seems a little so-seven-years-ago, but it seems like everything is wireless now.  Now that the new Gigabit Wi-Fi will be released in the near future, I can only imagine the what we'll be able to do within our homes.  I mean, I already watch full-length movies in high-definition on my laptop!  This was absolutely out of the question a mere 10 years ago.

From what I understand, there are still some kinks that need to be worked out at the enterprise level; channel sharing being chief among them.  However, the at-home functionality should be a rather nice upgrade pending you have the requisite hardware in place.

Not only that, but some of the channel overlap that's currently apart of the 802.11n standard should be mitigated somewhat in the new standard.  Essentially, we should have more channels to choose from than the sometimes painful 1, 6, and 11 options currently available in most Wi-Fi implementations.  This feature alone will make the new standard a worthwhile purchase for me.  I absolutely, positively cannot stand when my Netflix videos begin to delay, only to find that my neighbor is on my same Wi-Fi channel, but I digress.

I liken the above-mentioned 3 channel option available in the current 802.11 standard to the 3 TV channels my parents had when they were growing up.  At some point technology advanced, and now having a limit of 3 television channels seems almost cruel and inhumane.  I suspect that our children will say the same thing about our current selection of Wi-Fi options.

VoIP - Backdoor to Your Network?

For my latest article on VoIP and some of the common security issues associated with it, visit the link to my latest article:

VoIP - Backdoor to Your Network?

Brad

BackTrack Linux

Anyone within the industry that knows me, knows that I'm a strong proponent of BackTrack.  Some within my shop are quick to point out the virtues of BackBox (http://www.backbox.org/blog/backbox-linux-201-released) or Pentoo, but I find that they all eventually come back to BackTrack.  There's always some feature that Pentoo doesn't have, or some tool that BackBox didn't see as important enough to include.  Do I get smug when I see the BackTrack detractors grudgingly come back to the home that is BackTrack Linux?  Of course!

Why am I in the tank for BackTrack?  Well, the primary reason is that I work in an isolated lab without an Internet connection.  If any of you have ever tried installing an application on a Linux machine without a connection to the vast array of Linux repositories on the Internet, then you're intimately familiar with many of my past headaches.  There's always some .tar or .bz2 or .abc123 file that needs to be downloaded to satisfy yet another dependency.

So, I was quite pleased when BackTrack 3 was released some years ago, and I have been tickled pink with every  distribution that has followed.  I mean, the Metasploit feature alone makes it all worth while.

In the end, I suppose one's flavor of Linux is a matter of taste, but if you ever find yourself in a lab without a connection to the outside world, you might find an .ISO image of BackTrack 5 to be quite useful.
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/blog/

Linux 2012

Just finished reading a cool article on Linux.  Here's the link:
http://www.cio.com/article/697889/What_to_Expect_From_Linux_This_Year?page=3&taxonomyId=3081

I love how most Linux distros will finally start incorporating some Snapshot functionality, and for as much as I use OpenSUSE, I had no idea that they had a licensing partnership with Microsoft.  Wow!  Talk about existing in my own tiny bubble for the past several years.

One Stop Tech Docs: Trouble Shooting with Wireshark

One Stop Tech Docs: Trouble Shooting with Wireshark: The value of Wireshark. I'm not sure I can overstate the importance of starting your network troubleshooting with Wireshark. On many occasi...

Trouble Shooting with Wireshark

The value of Wireshark.  I'm not sure I can overstate the importance of starting your network troubleshooting with Wireshark. On many occasions I have been witness to troubleshooters, who for all intents and purposes are experts in their respective fields, rack their brains over connectivity issues when a simple Wireshark capture would have cut to the heart of the issue.

I know there are some hard core, command line elitists out there that swear by tcpdump or tshark, but my response to them is a resounding, "PLEASE!"  When I'm busting the proverbial brain cell over my connectivity issues, I just don't have the time to parse through the many intricacies of command line output.

Anyway, I open this up to the community.  Your thoughts on Wireshark and the incalculable value it adds to a Local Area Network.