| Network World on Twitter Get our tweets and stay plugged in to networking news. Beating WLANs into submission, Part 1: Airtime management The IEEE ratified the barebones Wi-Fi standard in 1997. Since then, equipment vendors and various 802.11 working groups have been beating it into submission with formal extensions and proprietary capabilities to render it a business-grade network. Much of the ongoing work relates to controlling the shared airwaves in ways that prevent big transmissions from any one client from squeezing out other clients' traffic. Beating WLANs into submission, Part 2: Beamforming You've probably heard mentions of a nascent RF capability called transmit beamforming. A couple things to keep in mind: 1) There are various types and implementations of beamforming, so not all beamforming is created equal (or standard); and 2) in large, all-wireless environments, some flavor of beamforming will eventually be needed to allow all types of client devices to run at an optimal, predictable rate and to alleviate unnecessary and troublesome interference. Cisco overcomes 11n AP power, form-factor issues Cisco has tackled the power-consumption and form-factor criticisms of its hefty Aironet 1250 Series Access Point in a new pre-standard 802.11n AP platform, officially announced this week. The new Draft N Aironet 1140 Series Access Point, shipping since last month, functions within the standard 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) budget while offering a lighter, more aesthetic design for indoor installation. The unit is also slated to gain a proprietary beam-forming capability in April called ClientLink, which Cisco says improves performance of legacy 802.11a/g client devices operating in an 802.11n infrastructure environment. Meru, Aruba top researcher's 802.11n rankings A recent, multidimensional evaluation of 802.11n wireless LAN vendors compiled by ABI Research reflects the complexity facing IT departments as they conduct their own assessments of enterprise-class 802.11n prospects. In what was more or less a photo finish, Meru Networks edged out its fierce rival, Aruba Networks, as the leading vendor in ABI's latest Vendor Matrix, released last week. Motorola took the No. 3 spot. Aerohive: Fast, but a little rough around the edges Like many relatively new products, Aerohive's HiveAP 340 showed both extreme promise and a few rough edges. Study: Femtocells set to revolutionise Malaysian 3G Femtocells are set to revolutionise 3G services in Malaysia, according to a new study by analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. CCNA Wireless technical presentation video Go on, self study for the CCNA wireless. Cisco Subnet blogger Brandon Carroll has a video to get you started. February giveaways from Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet
Up for grabs: One American Express gift card worth $250 from Global Knowledge; One Microsoft training course worth $2,995 from Global Knowledge; 15 copies each of the hot book titles Voice over IP Security, and CCNA Wireless Official Exam Certification Guide and 15 copies of Exchange Server 2007 How-To: Real Solutions for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Administrators. Get all the entry details here. | 
Out of the more than 150 products tested, a baker's dozen rise to the top of the list.
Six readers dish on their must-have network products, from desktop systems to wireless access points.
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