Man down detection in extreme environments using IOT technology

We were recently approached by a client who wanted to be able to track the location of workers to within a couple of metres within an underground mining environment for safety reasons. The environment is extremely harsh with very limited network infrastructure in place. Due to the safety requirements, the reliance on any form of …

CCNP Wireless – WIDEPLOY (300-365) and WISECURE (300-375) exam review

It has been quite a while since my last blog post so I thought it was about time to write a review of two exams I recently have taken and passed successfully – WIDEPLOY (300-365) and WISECURE (300-375). Initially I will discuss the WISECURE as this is the first of the two that I took …

Cisco Access Points Causing Bad Addresses within Windows DHCP Servers

During a recent deployment for a customer our support desk took a call from site reporting a site down issue. Upon looking at the issue it was noted that the entire client data VLAN DHCP pool within the office building had become exhausted with a “BAD_ADDRESS” line for all the addresses in that pool that …

DHCP Proxy mode Enabled – Cisco WLC 2504 / 5508 / 5520 behaviour

DHCP Proxy mode Enabled - Cisco WLC 2504 / 5508 / 5520 behaviour The default configuration of an Aire OS based WLC is for global proxy mode to be enabled out of the box. This is fine for the majority of deployments and I would class it as a best practice. However, in some situations …

Cisco 300-360 WIDESIGN CCNP Wireless Exam

Cisco 300-360 Wi-Design CCNP Wireless Exam Generally, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the Cisco certifications in that I love to have them but sometimes hate the exams themselves. My main reason for hating the exams is that it can feel as though you spend weeks on the build up to …

Disabling the wireless features on Cisco Catalyst 3650 / 3850 Converged Access switches

Disabling the wireless features on Cisco Catalyst 3650 / 3850 Switches I recently came across a scenario whereby I was involved in a wireless refresh within a large warehouse that was utilizing 3650 switches as access switches within various cabinets located around the building. These switches were not only providing LAN access for wired clients …

First blog post – 802.11 Wireless Survey Kit Mk 1

As a first post I decided to detail the staple of all wireless engineers kit list– the portable survey setup. A few months back the Terrawave site survey pack that we had been using decided to give up the game and would not power up. The cost of replacing these seems a little insane for …