Heavy Wireless

Two Wi-Fi engineers share their experiences automating wireless workflows, including the role of Python & tools like Postman.

On today's Heavy Wireless episode, Keith Parsons speaks with UMass Amherst CTO Jim Mileski on the history of Wi-Fi at the school. They discuss initial challenges of rolling out wireless, strategic placements of access points, ensuring a good student experience across a myriad of devices, and more. They also discuss how Jim and his team tested their incumbent vendor against a possible replacement, how the replacement won out, and how the transition is going.

LoRaWAN is a wireless protocol that's well suited for use cases that require long-range, low-power operations such as sensors, asset and livestock tracking, municipal "smart city" initiatives, and more. On today's Heavy Wireless, Keith Parsons welcomes Raymond Hendrix and Troy Martin to discuss the architecture of a LoRaWAN solution, its applications, and its pros and cons. They also share resources for further learning, including the Things Network and the LoRa Alliance.

The Wi-Fi Awards is an industry effort to recognize excellence and achievements in the wireless community. There are award categories for companies, products, and individuals. Award recipients are determined by a committee and by community votes. Today's Heavy Wireless explores the origins of the Wi-Fi Awards, discusses different award categories and the importance of recognizing individuals. We also discuss the nomination and selection process, and how listeners can nominate candidates.

Drones can be a useful tool for outdoor wireless surveys. Drones can help an engineer figure out the best place to mount a radio, get line of sight between points, confirm antenna orientation, and save a lot of climbing up and down ladders. On today's Heavy Wireless, Keith Parsons speaks with Mike Wade, a wireless design engineer who uses drones in his survey work, about the certifications and requirements necessary to add a drone to your toolkit.

In this podcast episode, Keith Parsons, Glenn Kate, and Lee Badman discuss the intersection of ham radio and Wi-Fi. Glenn and Lee share their personal experiences and involvement in both fields. They talk about how they got started in ham radio and Wi-Fi, the importance of joining amateur radio clubs, and the various activities and... Read more »

3D printing is a popular activity among wireless network engineers. Given that they deal with invisible, intangible radio waves all day, maybe it's no surprise they'd enjoy making things they can touch and feel. On today's Heavy Wireless we talk about why the wireless community enjoys 3D printing, and how engineers can make and use printed objects on the job--and at home.

Wireless pros sit at the intersection of networking and security. On today's Heavy Wireless, sponsored by Fortinet, Keith Parsons and guest Ben Wilson discuss this convergence, why visibility into the WLAN and device identity are essential, how Fortinet integrates its Fortigate firewalls with wired and wireless neteworks for unified management and policy enforcement, and more.

Today's Heavy Wireless episode explores building sustainable and efficient backhaul networks with sponsor Ceragon Networks. We discuss the challenges of backhaul, the complementarity of wireless and fiber solutions, the frequencies and protocols used in wireless backhaul, and the concept of disaggregated routing.

Have you ever wanted to build a community of professionals in your field, but didn't know where to start? In this episode of the Heavy Wireless podcast, Keith Parsons interviews Ferney Munoz, founder of the Tes@s en Wi-Fi community in Latin America, to learn how he built a successful community of Wi-Fi professionals.