Sniff Wi-Fi

I’ve seen a lot of 802.11 amendments in my day.  From speed (ac) to security (i) to voice (e), a lot of those amendments have done great things.  But 802.11v isn’t going to be one of them.  One look at an iPhone’s (iOS 7 iPhone, that is) 802.11v capabilities shows that the dream of Wireless Network Management delivering client control is still just that: a dream. It has long (well, for a dozen years or so) been a desire of WiFi admins to have more control of client/stations.  Control over which AP the client will connect to.  Control over what signal strength (or signal-to-noise ratio [SNR] or error % or BSS density) will trigger client roaming.  Control over which Final Fantasy character they will assume at that weekend’s LAN party.  (I know virtually nothing about video games, so feel free to make dumb jock jokes at yours truly’s expense.) For about half as long, WiFi admins have had hope for client control on the horizon: 802.11v.  The...

The 802.11v amendment has been voted, stamped and added.  It is part of the 802.11 standard.  We still are unsure if we'll ever see it, but if we do it could ease some concerns about high-density WiFi. Wireless Network Management is its name, and not being adopted is 802.11v's game. Wireless network management (WNM) is an addition to the 802.11 standard that puts more control in the hands of admins.  Today, the client/station controls everything: roaming, load balancing and congestion avoidance included.  WNM is designed to put that stuff in the hands of the infrastructure (APs, controllers and management software). Companies that sell client/stations have (predictably?) declined to adopt WNM thus far.  That means that admins will continue to have to wait for the ultimate careful-what-you-wish for WiFi technology. There is, however, one part of WNM that is separate from the move to infrastructure control: Multiple BSSID Beacons.  APs have supported...