WildPackets Academy to Offer Wireless Certification

Wireless LAN packet analysis company WildPackets of Walnut Creek, CA, the makers
of the AiroPeek packet analyzer, will begin to offer wireless training and certification
courses for WLAN administrators developed by Planet3
Wireless
of Atlanta, GA, as part of their WildPackets
Academy
. AiroPeek is used by Planet3 as a tool in many of its courses.

WildPackets Academy will teach all four levels of Planet3’s vendor-neutral
Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) program, from the basic Certified
Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) to up to what Kevin Sandlin, CEO at Planet3
Wireless, calls the "brass ring" for wireless certification, the Certified
Wireless Networking Expert (CWNE).

"[WildPackets Academy] currently offer a course called ‘WP-106 802.11
Wireless Network Analysis Using AiroPeek,’ says Sandlin. "We had that planned
for our CWNE course. We evaluated their course, and said, ‘why not acquire that?’
We did, and changed it and called it CWNE. The Academy then becomes a Certified
Wireless Education Center (CWEC)," which is what all instructor-led training
partners of Planet3 Wireless are called.

WildPackets Academy will start to offer the CWNA in the beginning of 2003 (it’s
available through other Planet3 Wireless partners now). In January of 2003,
Planet3 will also start to offer a Certified Wireless Security Professional
(CWSP) that will be hands-on training in WLAN security using OSI Model Layer
2 and 3 solutions, both software and hardware. Planet3 recommends students have
other network certifications, such as Network+
or Cisco
Certified Network Associate
, before they take the CWNA or CWSP.

The CWNE course will not be ready until June of 2003. After that, Sandlin says
they will create another course, Certified Wireless Network Integrator, which
is actually one step below the CWNE.

CWNE will consist of the modified WP-106 class, which will prepare students
for the written exam, which will be followed by a hands-on lab exam. "You’ll
register for the exam, come to one of our testing centers, we’ll give you certain
stop points in the day, but you have one to eight hours to complete it,"
says Sandlin.

WildPackets Academy does on-site training in major cities all over the United
States (and into Toronto, Ontario), as well as some Web-based training. The
current WP-106 course is scheduled for a session in Washington, CD from November
4 to 8. The Five day course is taught only in a classroom and currently costs
$3250 to attend. The Academy Web site currently shows other courses scheduled
from now through June of 2003.

Eric Griffith is the managing editor of 802.11 Planet.

802.11 Planet Conference

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