We are always looking for feedback on how to improve Netequalizer products. What features do you want to see in 2008? Some ideas we have in the works are:
This is your chance to tell us what you’d like to see in the Netequalizer for 2008!
Please send all ideas to admin@apconnections.net or give us a call at 303-997-1300, extension 102.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Santa would bring us a promise of no manufacturing or logistic cost increases for the new year?
Santa is magical but not quite that magical!
Our Finance guys are crunching the numbers now and will have our new 2008 Product Pricing List available the first week of January. You still have plenty of time, however, to get your order in before those new prices go into effect.
Don’t Delay – Check out our current Netequalizer Price List and get your order in today!
Although best known for solving corporate and institutional bandwidth issues in the United States, APconnections’ NetEqualizer technology is now playing a major part in the developing Internet industries in Iraq an Afghanistan.
The NetEqualizer is the bandwidth optimization technology of choice for Blackwater USA in Iraq and Afghanistan’s Afghan Wireless and Afghan Telecom.
“Internet access has seen tremendous growth in both Afghanistan and Iraq over the past few years,” said Art Reisman, CEO of APconnections. “We’re pleased that the NetEqualizer has been able to help facilitate that growth.”
In 2002, Afghan Wireless became the first provider of public Internet and telecommunication services in Afghanistan. They currently serve more than 95 cities and towns and are one of only a few Afghan companies to operate in more than 20 separate regions.
Afghan Telecom is the official government-run telecommunications provider in Afghanistan, having been incorporated by the Ministry of Communications and Internet Technology in 2005. With their Afghan Telecom Air Cards, users now enjoy wireless Internet access throughout the city of Kabul.
In addition to serving as one of the largest private security contractors in Iraq, Blackwater USA also provides Internet service to both its employees and Iraqi citizens. The company just went live this summer with their NetEqualizer to maximize its bandwidth and prevent network congestion.
From the news release issued today…
UM Study: Password Protecting Your Wireless Network Is Not Enough
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — College students do it. Coffee shop customers do it too. Your neighbor in Apartment 3C is probably doing it right now.
Many computer users search for an available wireless network to tap into — whether at the mall, at school or at home — and whether they have permission to use that network or not. Knowingly or unknowingly, these wireless “parasites” may be doing more than filching a signal. When they connect, they can open up the network — and all the computers on it — to an array of security breaches.
These problems are compounded when someone allowed to use an organization’s wireless network adds an unauthorized wireless signal to increase the main network’s signal strength. These unauthorized access points are especially vulnerable, often unprotected by any security measures that may exist on the main network.
At home, people usually use passwords to protect their wireless network from unauthorized access. But a new study by the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Michel Cukier indicates passwords alone may not provide enough protection for home wireless networks and are particularly inadequate for the wireless networks of larger organizations. Cukier is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and affiliate of the Clark School’s Center for Risk and Reliability and Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland.
At many organizations and locations around the country, thousands of users access widespread wireless network legitimately at any given time. But in turn, some of these users set up their own wireless networks, linked to the official network, to increase the signal in their office or home — what computer experts call an unmanaged wireless access point.
“If these secondary connections are not secure, they open up the entire network to trouble,” Cukier said. “Unsecured wireless access points pose problems for businesses, cities and other organizations that make wireless access available to customers, employees, and residents. Unsecured connections are an open invitation to hackers seeking access to vulnerable computers.”
Cukier recommends that wireless network owners and administrators take the following precautions to better secure wireless networks from “parasites” trolling for access and unsecured connections set up by legitimate users:
Limited signal coverage
Limit the strength of your wireless network so it cannot be detected outside the bounds of your home or office.
Turn off SSID broadcasting
A Service Set IDentifier (SSID) is a code attached to packets (bits of information) on a wireless network that is used to identify each packet as part of that network. When SSID broadcasting is enabled on a wireless network, this network can be identified by all wireless clients within range. Conversely when SSID broadcasting is disabled, the wireless network is not visible (to casual users) unless this code is entered in advance into the client’s network setting.
WPA/WEP encryption
Encrypted communication will protect confidential information from being disclosed. If the traffic over the wireless network is encrypted, an attacker must decrypt the password before retrieving information transmitted over the network. There are two encryption schemes available: Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). In practice, only one of them can be used at a time. Regular changing of the encryption key may also help to protect the network. Whenever possible, WPA should be used as WEP can be decrypted by hackers equipped with special software.
Key management
Even if encryption is used, if the key to this encryption (generated by the network) is not changed often, a hacker might crack the key and decrypt the communication. Therefore, the key must be regularly changed.
MAC address
If a wireless access point only accepts connections from known MAC addresses (essentially a serial number unique to each manufactured network adaptor), a potential attacker will need to learn the addresses of legitimate computers in order to access the wireless network.
The Ziff Davis publication, ExtremeTech.com, recently published an article that Art put together on the problem with hidden nodes. Similar to the official white paper, the article dissects the hidden node issue and explains the potential for “equalizing” to solve the problem. Click here to read the full article.
APconnections, maker of the popular bandwidth control solution NetEqualizer, today announced the publication of a detailed white paper describing how their new access point technology, AirEqualizer, solves the hidden node problem widely found in wireless networks.
“The AirEqualizer has proven itself to be a rock solid access point which completely eliminates congestion and slowness associated with hidden nodes,” said Art Reisman, CEO of APconnections.
Entitled, “AirEqualizer and Hidden Nodes: A Real Solution to a Virtual Problem,” the white paper breaks down the hidden node issue and the complications it can cause for wireless networks. The paper goes on to document the technology behind the AirEqualizer solution, which uses latency to prevent more dominant nodes from blocking out those with weaker signals.
The white paper in its entirety can be found at http://www.netequalizer.com/Hidden_Node_White_Paper.php.
The AirEqualizer technology was first developed out of open source projects that APconnections started in 2004. Like the company’s NetEqualizer line, the AirEqualizer is designed to fit easily into any network with minimal setup time. In addition, the technology doesn’t require users to purchase products from any single equipment supplier, like many other hidden nodes solutions.
When asked why APconnections openly explains and details their technology in a white paper, Reisman responded: “We found that customers don’t like getting locked into proprietary solutions where they’re forced to buy certain types of equipment, and we use that to our advantage. Anybody already using 802.11 technology can retrofit our AP’s right in without any re-design. We offer a value add by supporting and bundling the technology in an AP.”
Also announced today is the availability of the AirEqualizer in Western Europe exclusively through APconnections’ distribution partner Ai Bridges (http://www.Aibridges.ie).
Below is an article written by Alex Goldman, managing editor of ISP-Planet.com, which highlights the NetEqualizer technology.
By: Alex Goldman
Lafayette, Colorado-based NetEqualizer has one product on the market right now, a bandwidth manager called the NE 200 (for NetEqualizer 200).
“Our primary mission is to make ISPs more efficient,” says Art Reisman, CEO and co-founder of NetEqualizer.
He and his colleagues tried to build a local WISP in 2002. In a wealthy, tech savvy suburb of Boulder, they thought they had the ideal market. He thinks it’s tougher to be a WISP than it is to do what he’s doing now. “It took us two years to get NetEqualizer to [profitability],” he says. “We don’t sell through channels. It’s all organic growth. We didn’t need a huge amount of money fast.”
In contrast, an ISP needs to keep growing. “We pulled in a T-1 and ran an AP on the roof. Then DSL came along and killed our WISP. We talk to five or six WISPs every day, of all sizes, from 20 customers to 10,000. ISPs can put out flyers and get to 100 customers, but it’s very tough to go from there. We noticed that our talents were engineering, not RF.”
Sharing is not a contest
So the company built a box that helps dole out bandwidth on contested networks. It monitors each stream, and throttles streams that are bandwidth-intensive when there’s a conflict. “We can go after a user’s big download and leave their IM stream up,” explains Reisman. He says that allowing low-bandwidth transactions like e-mail, IM, and VoIP to go through while throttling the high cost streams—such as streaming video, file downloads, and P2P—will result in fewer angry calls to the ISP.
CALEA
Since the box already examines each stream, it’s easy to make this into a CALEA probe. Reisman admits that his box is not certified “CALEA-compliant” but says that since the law doesn’t say what is and what is not compliant, no other vendor can say they are either.
Some vendors comply specifically with the ATIS specification, but not all Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) comply with it (though the biggest, the FBI, does).
ISPCON attendees learned all about this when Maura Quinn, head of the FBI’s Electronic Surveillance Technology Section (Operational Technology Division) based in Quantico, Va., said, “the FBI cannot endorse specific equipment. TTPs and equipment makers can advise you as to what’s CALEA compliant. The FBI does not have a list. Service providers can obtain detailed documentation by contacting the FBI.”
Reisman says he was reluctant to make the device a probe, but customers demanded it. “It’s not our goal to make money from fear or from government requirements,” he says.
He says that the box has been criticized by his competitors because it lacks features. “People tell us we have to do it this way, but for our customers, the alternative is to do nothing or go bankrupt [buying expensive equipment]. Our device is just the first step to compliance. There’s no standards body that certifies that devices are CALEA compliant.”
He understands that many ISPs will buy the more expensive equipment that’s out there (or go with a TTP). “I don’t want to embarrass anyone who bought the more expensive stuff,” he says. “This is a service to our existing customers.”
Pricing and availability
All boxes are able to handle up to 150 Mbps of throughput, but NetEqualizer sells products at different prices depending on the throughput needed. More throughput can be unlocked with a more expensive software key. Pricing is published online and starts at $2,050 with warranty and software upgrades for a 2 Mbps box, running to $6,750 for the top of the line box with warranty and upgrades.
Reisman says he had a cheaper box for the low end of the market but could not guarantee manufacturing quality, and now ships only one model.
LAFAYETTE, Colo., July 9, 2007 /PRNewswire/ — APconnections, a leading supplier of plug-and-play bandwidth shaping products, today announced that the capabilities of its AirEqualizer power-over-Ethernet wireless access point (AP) are expanding. The AirEqualizer now not only effectively controls network congestion and eliminates AP brownouts and lockups, but also serves as a proven 802.11 network hidden node solution.
With the advent of this technology, AirEqualizer users worldwide have seen the near instantaneous drop in problems associated with hidden nodes, leading to significant improvements in QoS and customer satisfaction.
“As we began to grow our client base, we discovered hidden node collisions were causing customer slowdowns. The more customers we put on, the more complaints we received,” said Chris McKay, director of British Columbia’s Airspeed Wireless. “Once the AirEqualizer was setup and configured to run optimally on our busiest site, the complaints immediately dropped off. We now have over 20 AirEqualizers in place at all of our WIPOP’s and very rarely get calls from upset customers. We give the AirEqualizer three thumbs up. It has saved our business and our sanity!”
Through the equalizing technology found in APconnections’ NetEqualizer bandwidth shaping products, AirEqualizer allows organizations to control network congestion at the AP. This ensures high-quality connectivity for voice over IP (VoIP) and other priority users, thereby dramatically reducing help desk and service calls, without the need for any manual tuning.
“We run a VoIP service over our wireless data network in Gunnison, Colorado and can’t afford to have customers with lower powered radio signals get crowded out of the RF spectrum,” said Jason Swenson, president of Internet Colorado. “With the unique QoS provided by the AirEqualizer, we have been blessed with the ability to run our network using less expensive 802.11-based equipment while maintaining first rate QoS.”
In addition to the equalizing technology, AirEqualizer comes with standard commercial AP features, including authentication, billing, re-direction, routing, and firewall protection.
APconnections partners with Aibridges.ie and the University of Limerick Ireland on a European version of the AirEqualizer.
LAFAYETTE, Colo., June 11, 2007 — APconnections, a leading supplier of plug-and-play bandwidth shaping products, today announced that over 1 million Internet users have been served by companies implementing its NetEqualizer technology.
The NetEqualizer is a plug-and-play bandwidth control and WAN/Internet optimization appliance that is flexible and scalable. When the network is congested, NetEqualizer’s unique “behavior shaping” technology gives priority to latency sensitive applications, such as VoIP and email. It does it all dynamically and automatically, improving on other bandwidth shaping technology available. It controls network flow for the best WAN optimization.
Since being introduced in 2003, the NetEqualizer has been successfully installed in businesses, libraries, universities, ISPs, and office parks around the world. Administrators have found the technology to be extremely effective in networks both large and small.
“We switched to a NetEqualizer in 2006 after previously using a high-end solution and have been very pleased with the results ever since. It’s been exactly what we were looking for and has worked just as advertised,” said Derrick D’Gama, director of Information Services at Lewis University. “We provide Internet service to over 5,000 students and have now effectively minimized any bandwidth issues. To have such a low-maintenance product work so well has made my job that much easier.”
In order to match its past success, the NetEqualizer is constantly evolving to meet the developing demands of the technology industry. Over the past two months, NetEqualizer has released software capable of name-based shaping and shaping over VLAN. The NetEqualizer is also now able to serve as a CALEA probe, offering ISPs an affordable, yet effective, answer to recently introduced law enforcement regulations.
To better demonstrate the NetEqualizer’s capabilities, APconnecitons offers a free online live demo of the technology at its Web site: http://www.netequalizer.com/livedemo.htm. Visitors who sample the demo will be entered to win two round-trip domestic tickets through Frontier Airlines.
APconnections is proud to announce that we will be opening an AirEqualizer distribution channel with one of our European partners later this year. Stay tuned for more information!
APconnections is pleased to announce the availability of name-based shaping. Now you can set class of service for your users by domain (user) name. And regardless of where or how they login into your network, the NetEqualizer will enforce subscribed service-level service agreements (i.e., 3 meg, 1 meg etc…).
How does this service work?
It is designed to work with your DHCP server. Your DHCP server is the device on your network which hands out an IP address to clients when they login or become active. Since clients can receive a new and different IP address each time they login, it is normally difficult and perhaps impossible to assign a unique SLA for each customer. But, with NetEqualizer name- based shaping, you assign the SLA to the customer domain name (computer name) and the SLA sticks with them wherever and whenever they login.
I use MAC addresses for shaping, why would I use name-based shaping?
MAC address shaping works well with small networks and is sufficient if you plan to remain under about 300 customers. But, once you grow beyond the amount of MAC addresses a network segment can handle, MAC address shaping breaks down and becomes complex to manage. If you are currently using MAC shaping and plan to increase your number of customers, it’s a good time to think about making the architecture change to domain-based shaping or some other alternative.
LAFAYETTE, Colo., May 18, 2007 — APconnections, a leading supplier of plug-and-play bandwidth shaping products and creator of the NetEqualizer, today announced an upgrade that will allow operators to perform the necessary data reporting measures mandated by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA.
“We already had a great bandwidth shaping tool dispersed in networks around the world. It was a natural extension to add CALEA functionality with our equipment already in place,” said Art Reisman, CEO of APconnections. “Rather than watch our customers purchase CALEA specific solutions at what seem to be inflated prices, we have produced a functional CALEA probe that meets the spirit of the law at no extra cost to our existing customers.”
The NetEqualizer CALEA probe will allow an ISP or other system operator to comply with a basic warrant for information about a user on their network by capturing and sending IP communications in real time to a third party. This communication can be captured either by headers alone, or by both headers and content. The NetEqualizer probe will provide basic descriptive tags identifying headers, data, and time stamps, along with HEX or ASCII representation of content data.
Customers with current NetEqualizer Software Subscriptions (NSS) can implement the upgrade at no charge. This will be done with the assurance that the NetEqualizer’s bandwidth-control capabilities will continue to operate effectively and unabated. All future NetEqualizer models will be shipped with the upgrade already installed.
The NetEqualizer is a plug-and-play bandwidth control and WAN/Internet optimization appliance that is flexible and scalable. When the network is congested, NetEqualizer’s unique “behavior shaping” technology gives priority to latency sensitive applications, such as VoIP and email. It does it all dynamically and automatically, improving on other bandwidth shaping technology out there. It controls network flow for the best WAN optimization.
As promised, NetEqualizer is now offering the utilities necessary to meet requirements set forth this month by CALEA, or the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. This law oversees telecommunication security and has now been expanded to Internet security. There are some fairly harsh federal penalties for noncompliance that became effective May 1.
In the spirit of protecting our nation, the mission is not to make life miserable and expensive for operators and thwart communications, but rather to give the FBI and homeland security tools to wire tap (if we can borrow the term) Internet conversation on a moment’s notice. We suspect it would be a rare occurrence for a small WISP to receive a warrant to comply, but it would be potentially devastating to security should the means to monitor conversation not be available.
The following updated Q&A will address NetEqualizer’s capabilities in reference to CALEA compliance.
1. Functionally, what does the Netequalizer CALEA release provide?
We provide a network probe with the following capabilities:
2. In what format is the data portion sent to a law enforcement agency?
We will provide basic descriptive tags identifying headers, data, and time stamps, along with HEX or ASCII representation of content data.
3. Do you meet the standards of the receiving law enforcement agency?
The law and specifications on “how” to deliver to a law enforcement agency are somewhat ambiguous. The FBI has created some detailed specifications, but the reality is that there are some 40,000 law enforcement agencies and they are given autonomy on how they receive data. We do provide samples on how to receive NetEqualizer-captured data on a third party server, but are unable to guarantee definite compliance with any specific agency.
4. Does the NetEqualizer do any analysis of the data?
No. We are only providing a probe function.
5. Is the NetEqualizer release fully CALEA compliant?
Although the law (see CALEA sections 103 and 107(a)(2)) is fairly specific on what needs to be done, the how is not addressed to any level of detail to which we can engineer our solution. Many people are following the ATIS specification which was put forth by the FBI, and we have read and attempted to comply with the probe portion of that specification. But, the reality is that there is no one agency given the authority to test a solution and bless it as compliant. So, if faced with a warrant for information, the law enforcement agency in charge may indeed want something in slightly different formats. If this is the case, there may be additional consulting.
As best we can tell at this time, there is no one government agency that can fully declare our technology CALEA compliant. However, we do pledge to work with our customers should they be faced with a warrant for information to adjust and even customize our solution; however additional fees may apply.
For more information on NetEqualizer and CALEA, visit our extended Q&A page at http://www.netequalizer.com/caleafaq.php. Additional information on CALEA itself can be found at http://www.askcalea.org.
Erik Linask, associate editor of Internet Telephony Magazine, discusses NetEqualizer’s VoIP QoS capabilities in this April article. Read it here.
LAFAYETTE, Colo., April 24 /PRNewswire/ — APconnections, a leading supplier of plug-and-play bandwidth shaping products and creator of the NetEqualizer, today announced the release of new technology capable of ensuring VoIP QoS over VLAN.
Although most traditional switch providers have in the past had solid solutions for ensuring VoIP within an enterprise network using TOS bits and class of service available on most commercial routers, all bets have been off as to whether VoIP calls would go through over the public Internet (unless using a solution from an Internet provider).
This was the case until service providers, schools and libraries began using the NetEqualizer to better connect their customers to the Internet. The NetEqualizer can sense congestion on the Internet link and rearrange traffic so that VoIP calls maintain their quality without the need for any additional equipment or use of TOS bits.
“Our customers love it because it handles congestion in both directions, something traditional routers can’t do,” said Art Reisman, CEO and co-founder of APconnections.
With the NetEqualizer, products such as Vonage phones can remain operational even during peak times of bandwidth usage over a VLAN. This new technology will prove especially useful for operators providing Internet service to diverse groups of users such as in office parks and municipalities.
“We have deployed several NetEqualizers in office complexes around the world starting several years ago,” said Kris Lamberth, senior partner of Digital Reach, Inc. “We can’t say enough on how simple the NetEqualizer is to use and how much easier managing bandwidth has been compared to traditional router-based solutions. The VLAN shaping feature will allow us to provide QoS for each VLAN, which will give us a huge competitive advantage over other IT consulting agencies in our industry.”
Digital Reach (http://www.digitalreachinc.com) specializes in delivering cost-effective and cutting-edge IT solutions to small- and medium-sized companies around the world.
The NetEqualizer is a plug-and-play bandwidth control and WAN/Internet optimization appliance that is flexible and scalable. When the network is congested, NetEqualizer’s unique “behavior shaping” technology gives priority to latency sensitive applications, such as VoIP and email. It does it all dynamically and automatically, improving on other bandwidth shaping technology out there. It controls network flow for the best WAN optimization.
NetEqualizer News Blog 