Wi-Fi Detecting Bumper Sticker Helps Out the Wardriver Behind You

From Gizmodo -

Instructables has instructions on how to modify a Wi-Fi-detecting t-shirt into a Wi-Fi-detecting window decal.

Wi-Fi to top 1Gbps by 2012

From Electronista -

The IEEE has taken the first steps of voting on a major improvement to Wi-Fi due in two years. The 802.11ac standard should upgrade 802.11a to use 80MHz or even 160MHz channels that provide much more bandwidth. Cooupled with about a 10% increase in efficiency for modulating the actual frequencies, the speedup should improve the theoretical transfer speeds to as much as 1Gbps, or more than three times that of 802.11n. As the technology is still in the debate phase, its specifications are likely to change. However, it should become usable as a draft standard by late 2011 and completely approved by December 2012.

Japanese break wi-fi security in 60 seconds

From TG Daily -

Two scientists took just sixty seconds to break the WPA (Wifi Protected Access) encryption used in wireless routers - a time considerable less than the previous record of 15 minutes. The two - Toshihiro Ohigashi of Hiroshima University and Masakatu Morii of Kobe University will discuss their findings in a Sept 25 conference in Hiroshima.

Their hack does not give total control but enables reading and spoofing data packets. More importantly the ease with which the WPA Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption was broken suggests serious security problems. Anyone concerned with security should therefore consider the newer and more secure WPA2 with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption which remains safe from attack - at least for now.

802.11n Should Be Finalized By September

Hmmm. Per a PC Mag report, it turns out all those 802.11n routers that have been available for quite some time now (actually years) are not official.

Bob Heile, IEEE 802.15 working group on Personal Area Networks chair, just sent an email last Friday confirming the IEEE 802.11n draft standard had been sent on to the Standards Review Committee (RevCom). RevCom is the body that formally recommends standards for approval. It is scheduled to meet in Piscataway, NJ, Sept 9 - 11. Since RevCom meets quarterly, that means if the standard is not approved during this meeting, it will have to wait another 3 months.

Well, what is another three months when the it has been five years since the process started. :)

GPS and Wi-Fi Positioning Coming to the Mini 10

From Direct2Dell -

Starting next week Dell U.S. will be offering the Dell Wireless 700 location solution for its Mini 10. The solution will have an internal GPS card with built-in Wi-Fi locationing, allowing it to work both indoors and out. The Dell Wireless 700 is powered by Broadcom's A-GPS and Skyhook Wireless' Wi-Fi position solutions.

Broadcom InConcert module brings Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi to smaller devices

From Engadget -

Broadcom has announced three new Bluetooth 3.0 + WiFi modules designed to bring both connectivity options to netbooks and UMPCs. The cards are in half mini-card form, allowing them to fit into places where only one or the other used to fit. Volume production is expected to begin in Q3 this year.

How to Increase Your Wi-Fi Signal

Uploaded by infinitesolutions

"Do you need a stronger wireless signal or greater network access? I'm Mark Erickson, and this is Infinite Solutions. In this episode, I'll show you a simple hack to extend the range of your wireless card."

Public Wi-Fi: Be Very Paranoid

Here are some tips from an old but very informative Businessweek article on protecting yourself when using public WiFi -

Use a virtual private network (VPN). If you don't have a VPN option, seek out secure Web sites that encrypt all traffic. You can tell a secure site by an address that begins "https:". If you use Firefox, a secure connection will turn the address bar gold. You can generally use these sites with confidence even on an open network.

But if you are visiting an insecure site, and that includes popular mail services like Gmail and Yahoo!, an eavesdropper will have no trouble reading your messages. If the login page isn't secured, your password will also be exposed. So don't use a password for a Web mail account that you also use for online banking or anything else where privacy matters.

Don't use an open connection, either. If the network is legit, connecting sans permission may be regarded as theft. Worse is if you end-up connecting to a rogue network that steals your data and infects your computer. Be leery of "ad hoc" networks as these are highly likely to be rogue or infected systems that will damage your system without ever actually connecting you to the Net.

While public wireless networks are immensely useful but the dangers are real, and simply understanding them will go a long way toward keeping you safe.

Source article here.

Auto-starting Your WiFi Connection in Easy Mode

By default, the Asus Eee PC does not connect to an available WiFi connection automatically. You will have to connect it manually every time you turn it on. That is, unless you set it up to do so. The following tutorial teaches you just how to do that from the Easy Mode Menu.

From the Internet tab, select the Network icon and click it:



A list of Network Connections will appear. Select the Connection that you want to auto-start and click it:



Its Properties window will appear. Note near the lower left corner, there is a field labeled Start Mode. By default it is set to Manual.



Click on the down arrow beside the Manual setting to change it to On Boot. Then click OK.



The Properties window will disappear and the Network Connections window will re-appear. Click OK.



That's it. The next time you start your Asus Eee PC, it should automatically connect to the WiFi connection that you have just set, assuming there is available signal.

WiFi Modification

TexasGuy of the Eeeuser forum has posted a step-by-step tutorial on replacing original AzureWave 802.11b/g with a Gigabyte a/b/g/n mini pci-e card.

The old AzureWave card.




The new Gigabyte card.




Step-by-step tutorial including photos can be read here.