Wireless encryption uses two keys to protect the communications, firstly a Pairwise Transient Key (PTK), unique to each client, and used to protect traffic between that client and the access point, and secondly, a Group Temporal Key (GTK) that is known to all clients on the network, and used to encrypt broadcast traffic (traffic sent to all clients connected to the network).

The attack does not rely on brute-forcing, or breaking of the AES encryption used to protect the communications. The vulnerability arises when a malicious client uses the GTK to send spoofed packets to another user on the network. GTKs do not have the ability to detect spoofed packets, an ability which does exist in PTKs.

Full Story: Neowin

Though 4G LTE (long term evolution) looks like the future for mobile broadband, the rival WiMax technology got a small boost yesterday with the launch of laptops in Malaysia that come with the wireless technology built in.

The likes of Acer, Dell and MSI launched a number of netbooks and notebooks that will let users log on, out of the box, to the wireless broadband service run by the country’s WiMax operator, PacketOne.

Promising speeds of up to 10Mbps on the go, the Wimax-inside service costs RM89 (S$38) for 15GB of data. Users no longer have to buy a separate USB dongle, which is what P1 has been selling since launching its Wimax service in August 2008.

During a road test in Kuala Lumpur, where journalists and bloggers got to try out the service on a moving bus, I got pretty smooth YouTube videos running at 360p resolution (the sharper but more bandwidth-demanding 720p was too jerky).

Full Story: techgoondu

Starbucks said the free Wi-Fi service would be available from July 1 through US telecom giant AT&T. Starbucks currently offers two hours of free Wi-Fi to customers who have a Starbucks card.

The coffee chain said it also plans to offer free digital content to customers, including free access to websites such as that of The Wall Street Journal, which currently charges online readers for full access to WSJ.com.

Full Story: AFP/Yahoo News

It’s almost over, but like usual, there just “one more thing” and while we all knew it was coming, it’s the first time it’s been directly confirmed: a front-mounted camera on iPhone 4 that allows for user-to-user video chat.

Calling Jonathan Ive on his iPhone 4 to demo the new iPhone’s video chat capability (after first having issues with a connection and yelling at the audience to turn off their WiFi), Jobs reminisced about growing up with the Jetsons and Star Trek, “dreaming about communicators and video calling. Now it’s real!”

Apple’s calling their user-to-user video calling solution FaceTime.

In addition to utilizing the front-mounted cam, FaceTime allows you to switch to the rear camera so the other person can see what you’re seeing. You can use FaceTime in either portrait or lansdcape.

Full Story: Cult of Mac

Instructable author NostalgicStone offers plenty of warnings before jumping into the details of his hack, and for good reason: it’s not the safest way to run a Wi-Fi router. It’s also not a pretty sight to have a PC fan running on top of a router, if you have to keep it in plain view. With all that said, this total upgrade is really appealing to those of us who lack Wi-Fi in particular corners of the house, don’t have to worry about how pretty the router looks, and don’t mind tearing open electronics to do things like install heatsinks.

Full Story: Life Hacker

WiGig and the Wi-Fi Alliance will attempt to persuade networking hardware manufacturers like Linksys and D-Link to include the new format in their upcoming products. WiGig is said to be up to 10 times faster than the current 802.11N speeds, allowing the wireless transfer of high-definition video and potentially replacing wired connections such as HDMI.

Ali Sadri, chairman and president of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance Alliance, suggested to the Los Angeles Times that Apple could adopt the new standard, but did not clarify whether he was sharing known details, or merely hoping that the Mac maker would support the new high-speed technology.

Full Story: Apple Insider

Sometimes, the wireless router you wind up with is just the one that was most affordable at the time. The better routers are going to cost you a little over a hundred bucks, but if you need it right away, you don’t always have a hundred bucks just laying around. So here, we hope to list the most well reviewed wireless routers around, as well as the most well reviewed wireless routers that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

• The ubiquitous WRT54G has done me well for many years, until they lowered the HW’s CPU, RAM and Flash and added VxWorks for the firmware over Linux. They latter added the Linux version for a higher price, despite keeping the same high pricepoint for so many years while actually lowering the HW specs. I didn’t have any love for Linksys for doing that. Full disclouse: My bricking the first WRT54G I tried to switch to DD-WRT has nothing to do with my current feelings of Linksys not lowering costs or upping the specs of this popular 802.11g router with 4-port switch.

• I’ve had relatively good look with the Netgear’s 802.11g and 802.11n routers. The are nicely designed, though the single antenna of the 802.11g router made it less ideal for some situations, and the firmware did have some initial issues, but it wasn’t a constant issue.

— All the Airport models have been quite good for me—
• Airport Express was great for travel for hotels that ONLY have Ethernet in the rooms. This seems to be more common with higher-end hotels. The cheaper the hotel, the more likely they have faster internet, WiFi, and often free of charge, while fancy hotels charge you in blocks at extortionist prices.

• Airport Extreme Base Station is good for a fast, wide-range 802.11a/b/g/n router. It costs more than other ‘n’ routers, but it does offer some advantages over other, cheaper models. Besides the aesthetics, it offers a built in networked printer option or HDD via the USB connector. This may not seem like much, but getting these added features historically do add a significagant cost. Plus, I think it has a faster CPU and more RAM than the other 802.11n options, as well as 10/100/1000 switch for Ethernet connection machines.

• TIme Capsule is pretty much the same the AEBS, above, but offers an internal HDD. This makes it easy for a centralized Time Machine backup and/or for just basic file storage. You can still use the USB port to add a network printer and/or external HDD. The price might seem high, but when you consider what you get it’s actually very fairly priced, which stats are showing since Apple seems to be dominating in the 802.11n sales.

1. Add a Wireless Repeater/Access Point to extend the range of your wireless network. Of course, extending the wireless network without wires is “desirable” but this effectively cuts your bandwidth in half – whenever possible use a cable, which is dramatically faster and more secure!

NOTE: The Repeater/Access Point should be the same manufacturer as your Router.

2. 802.11b is the most common type of wireless network, but 802.11g is about five times faster. 802.11g is backward-compatible with 802.11b, so you can still use any 802.11b equipment that you have. If you’re using 802.11b and you’re unhappy with the performance, consider replacing your router and network adapters with 802.11g-compatible equipment. If you’re buying new equipment, definitely choose 802.11g.

Wireless networks never reach the theoretical bandwidth limits. 802.11b networks typically get 2-5Mbps. 802.11g is usually in the 13-23Mbps range. Belkin’s Pre-N equipment has been measured at 37-42Mbps.

3. Whenever possible, connect computers using a wired connection! Yes, this is an “Anti-tip” because you’re not even using the wireless network – but a direct connection is dramatically faster and more secure!

4. If possible, place your wireless router (or access point) in a central location. Obviously, the closer you are to the access point; the better. But do not necessarily place the device on your roof (or up too high) – 4 to 6 feet off the ground is perfect.

5. Move the router off the floor and away from walls, TVs, electronic appliances (microwave ovens), and metal objects (file cabinets). These will interfere with your network’s radio signals.

6. Change your wireless channel. In the US and Canada wireless networks use channels 1, 6 (usual default), and 11. Avoid possible interference with neighboring wireless networks, by changing your wireless router’s channel and see if it improves signal strength or overall speed.

NOTE: This doesn’t require any changes to your computer.

7. Update your Router’s firmware. Most routers easily update their firmware directly from their software. Updates usually only add a new feature, or increase stability and security; but sometimes can improve performance.

8. Try moving “around” the router’s antenna. Yes, I know this antenna is “supposed” to be omni-directional (meaning it broadcasts in all directions) – and moving it shouldn’t matter. . .but antennas can have strong and weak spots; wiggling the antenna can make a difference.

9. Upgrade your router’s antenna. The antenna that comes with your device is low powered and omni-directional.  Upgrade to a more powerful (powered) antenna. If your router is near an outside wall, get a high-gain antenna that focuses the wireless signals only one direction.

10. Use netstumbler to check and tell you what other wireless networks exist, how loud they are and what channels they are on. This is very a very useful and free tool.