The Digital Experience Podcast

Understanding Wi-Fi Standards and Regulatory Organizations

Understanding how Wi-Fi works will make it easier for you to understand how to find and fix wireless issues. With this knowledge you can get to the root cause of Wi-Fi issues faster and ensure a better end user experience.

Standards we'll discuss:

• IEEE 802.1
• IEEE 802.11
• IETF

Organizations we'll discuss:

• FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)
• Wi-Fi Alliance

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How standards establish how fast the data transmission speed is between the router and devices wirelessly connected to it
• The pertinent standards and regulatory bodies for WLANs
• Types of operations that get standardized

Career Spotlight: The Future of the Wireless Network Engineer 2020

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, there are 9 billion Wi-Fi devices on the market and 3 billion new devices being added each year.  This means new wireless technology is constantly being added to your network - and your boss is expecting it to work flawlessly.  How will you keep up? What does the future hold for the Wireless Engineer?

Topics you'll learn about:

• Industry and salary trends
• New wireless technologies
• Certifications to consider
• Planning for the future
• And more!

Airtime Duration for 802.11ax DL OFDMA Frames Compared to 802.11ac

Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access, or OFDMA, is one of the key improvements to the 802.11ax standard. But what does it mean and how will it change the airtime usage in Wi-Fi when the frames are sent with OFDMA frame format? Our special guest, Gjermund Raaen, will talk about the airtime usage for 802.11ax OFDMA frames and compare it to frames sent with 802.11ac frame format. He will use his Wi-Fi AirTime calculator to show airtime usage for both frame types. 

During this episode, we'll cover:

• The difference between 802.11ax DL OFDMA Frames and 802.11ac frames
• Using the Wi-Fi AirTime calculator to calculate airtime usage
• Real use cases
• And more! 

Wireless LAN Security 101

Everything you wanted to know about Wi-Fi security basics but were too afraid to ask! 

There are existing vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi security protocols and hardware components that are introduced by manufacturers. These include poorly secured administrator access and vulnerable services.  Understanding the basics of wireless LAN security can help keep your wireless network safe and prevent downtime.

Topics we'll discuss:

• Security threat actors
• IEEE 802.11 original standard (WEP)
• IEEE 802.11i, WPA & WPA2
• IEEE 802.11r, IEEE 802.11w, IEEE 802.11s
• WPA3
• Wireless Intrusion Detection System
• VLANs, VPNs

The Cost of Network Downtime

For this episode, we are joined by special guest, Lee Badman! The costs associated with network downtime may be obvious in some regards, but also hidden and hard to quantify. In this session, we’ll talk about the inevitability of downtime and how to be ready to minimize costs when it hits, as well as those costs in their various forms. Whether it’s measured in dollars lost, reputational damage, or by several other metrics, understanding the full impact of network downtime is crucial for anyone in the field of networking.

Some topics we'll cover:

• The different costs of downtime.
• The impact on the digital experience.
• Proactive ways to minimize costs.
• Real use cases.
• And more! 

**Wi Fi Performance Monitoring as a Design Tool

Wi Fi Performance Monitoring as a Design Tool

The Shelf Life of a Wireless Survey

The Wi-Fi site survey is fundamental to understanding any WLAN environment. It also happens to be misunderstood at times - many know what site surveys are, but don't understand how short their shelf life is. Let's dive into some of the key elements of these surveys so we can better comprehend their value and impact. 

In this session, we’ll talk about:

• The shelf-life of a wireless survey
• What a wireless survey provides (and what it doesn’t provide)
• Heatmaps as selling point, support tool, source of frustration
• Why all surveys are not created equal
• And more!

How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi & wireless devices for remote employees

We're doing our part to help combat the Covid-19 crisis by giving organizations the power to find and fix Wi-Fi issues for their remote workforce. This week, we'll teach you how to access and use the industries #1 remote troubleshooting platform.  

The new normal for network engineers and IT professionals is directing attention away from corporate networks and toward home networks where troubleshooting can be much more complex. 

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Get visibility into network performance, no matter where your clients are
• Give end-users actionable advice to improve their home network performance
• Validate end-to-end connectivity to critical application servers
• Validate that home networks meet your application requirement
• Access and use Mobile Eye

Wi-Fi Project and Program Management Basics

Project management is evolving to strategizing rather than straight-forward execution. Understanding the basics of project and program management can help keep your WLAN projects on-time and on-budget.

Topics we'll discuss:

• 4 most common project management styles
• Tips and tricks for keeping your projects on-time and on-budget
• Understanding stakeholder needs
• Goal setting
• Defining deliverables
• Assessing risk
• And more! 

What to Expect from Wi Fi 6E

Wi-Fi 6E is the biggest change to Wi-Fi in a generation. Are you ready for it? Learn from 7SIGNAL’s Jim Vajda about the basics of Wi-Fi 6E, what to expect this year, along with technical differences with Wi-Fi 6 in the legacy bands.

Some topics we'll cover:

• What is Wi-Fi 6E and why is it important?
• What use-cases will drive early adoption?
• Timing for the enterprise
• A technical comparison of 802.11ax in 6 GHz vs. 2.4/5 GHz
• And more!