Aaron Weiss

If there is any theme to this month’s episode of Ask the Wi-Fi Guru—and I’m not saying there is—it is that the era of the two-router household is almost certainly upon us. Years ago—before you were born, if you’re lucky—people used to own only one TV. And by people, I mean, whole families. One TV. You […]

In the July edition of our monthly Q&A with Wi-Fi Guru, Aaron Weiss, readers wrote in to ask about networking Xboxes, the dangers of RF signals, broadcasting SSIDs, and mysterious connectivity issues. In the wake of the recent Mike Myers movie, “The Love Guru,” you might naturally wonder whether he is in any way related […]

When you read about the DD-WRT firmware, you usually also hear about the Linksys WRT54G mentioned in the same sentence, and vice versa. The combo is like an old married couple, seemingly together everywhere they go. Indeed, we’ve talked about the two often right here. But the truth is, DD-WRT has had a little something […]

In the May installment of our monthly column, Aaron Weiss, our resident Wi-Fi Guru, answers your burning questions about small-scale Wi-Fi deployments. In this edition, he covers indoor/outdoor solutions, Vista networking issues, and some WPA/WPA2 security basics. If one theme has become clear reading everyone’s excellent questions to the Wi-Fi Guru, it is that technology […]

In Episode II of this new monthly column, Aaron Weiss, our resident Wi-Fi Guru, will answer your burning questions about small-scale Wi-Fi deployments. In this special, themed episode, he covers a variety of ways to extend your range. The Wi-Fi Guru is once again on hand to help sort out your wireless networking questions, quandaries, and calamities. […]

There are many writers you can turn to for advice. Want to know how to confront your mother-in-law about that single-slice toaster she gave on your birthday? Write to Dear Abby. Want to know whether you owe fifty bucks to replace your friends’ tire after he drove over a nail in your driveway? Write to […]

From the department of “everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten,” it is good to share. It can even be good for business. But sharing your wireless Internet access out-of-the-box can leave your network vulnerable and without any controls over user activity. Whether you want to share with family, neighbors, co-workers, or customers, a wireless […]

If any wireless router could be described as famous it would be the Linksys/Cisco WRT54G. Should you rummage through the search logs at Google, its quite possible that somewhere just behind “nude” and “Paris Hilton” you would find “wrt54g,” possibly all from the same IP addresses. But, the WRT54G is famous not so much for […]

A word problem: suppose you are riding in a car going 70 mph and your destination is 300 miles away – how fast can you download a 1 megabyte file? Chances are, you can’t, unless you subscribe to a mobile data service. It has long been possible to dribble sluggish bits of data by tethering […]

Model: SMCWBR14-NPrice: $100 Technological progress continues its relentless march forward, seemingly blessing every new generation of hardware with faster speeds and lower costs. The next “big thing” in wireless networking is the upcoming 802.11n standard, expected to be ratified in 2008 and published in 2009. Considering that it’s 2007, it would be natural to wonder […]

In the old days, when you wanted to extend the range of a wireless access point, you had to set up a WDS, or wireless distribution system, coordinating two or more WDS-capable routers. But those days are gone – and by “those days,” I mean 2006. Setting up a WDS is a perfectly respectable thing […]

Parents aren’t supposed to have a favorite child, but if you grew up with any brothers or sisters, you know that usually isn’t true. (Yes, their favorite was you. Of course it was.) While it might be unfair to give one kid preferential treatment over another, it’s completely legit in the world of networking. (Also […]