RacoWireless, B+B SmartWorx Team Up to Offer Pre-packaged Connectivity Ready Rugged Cellular Router & Wireless Data Plan

All-in-one Spectre cellular router starter kit includes free, prepaid, 60-day 100MB RacoWireless 3G data plan as a way to jump-start industrial M2M network designs Ottawa, IL – January 14, 2014 – B+B SmartWorx, a developer of mission-critical network connectivity solutions, and RacoWireless, a machine-to-machine (M2M) data solutions provider, today announced that they have teamed up to offer a Spectre cellular router packaged with a prepaid wireless data plan as a starter kit for customers who are developing industrial M2M monitoring and control applications. Included with B+B SmartWorx’s rugged Spectre 3G cellular router is a......

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Furnace

I finally understand how the characters in the Stephen King novels must feel when they find themselves being attacked by unusual things like automobiles and hotels.  Just last Monday my own furnace tried to kill me. Call it anthropomorphism if you like, but somehow the furnace knew that temperatures in Illinois were going to top off at minus 15 on the Fahrenheit scale – that’s minus 26.1 Celsius for our friends in Europe – and that it would be the coldest day Illinois had seen for decades. Outside, winds were reaching 45......

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Cabling Anatomy

DOES COLD WEATHER IMPACT FIBER OPTICS CABLING AND CONNECTORS? This first week of January, 2014 has shown how record-breaking cold temperatures affect people, equipment, schedules and life in general. The fans at the Green Bay NFL game defied odds by sitting through 4 quarters of exceptional cold temperatures. Air travel was delayed or suspended; numerous areas were without power or heat. I’m sure the folks in Canada are mystified as to why we are upset with the artic weather. So the whole condition brought to mind a recent inquiry about fiber optic......

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OSI Layer Model

WHY LAYERS 1& 2 ARE IMPORTANT TO A NETWORK In the world of networking, the OSI layers are the foundation on which the networks are built. But what exactly are the OSI layers? And how do they impact the devices that interconnect to make a network happen? The OSI, Open Systems Interconnect, consists of 7 layers. Each layer is dependent on the next to get your data from point A to point B.  The OSI Layers are as follows, starting with Layer 1: Physical, Data, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, and Application.  That’s......

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Drone

Its 5:30 in the morning here at Chicago’s Midway airport, it’s still dark outside, and I’m not at my best. I had to get up early enough to make time for a 90 minute drive from my home base, plus showering, shaving and grumbling my way through all that Homeland Security rigamarole. An hour ago I was wondering if it was worth having gone to bed at all. But the coffee has kicked in, my plane is on time and the weatherman says my world will be 60 degrees warmer when I......

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Internet Of Things

As I write this I’m cruising at 32,000 feet and sharing a Wi-Fi Internet connection with 168 other passengers. I don’t know how many handheld wireless devices we’ve got between us but, the Candy Crush addict sitting next to me has already switched between a laptop, a Nexus 7 and a smartphone. A while ago he was kind enough to inform me that he gets five new lives each time he changes devices, which means that he doesn’t have to wait 30 minutes, beg friends for lives on Facebook or pay for......

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The Importance of Updating Software and Firmware for Managed Network Equipment

WHEN NETWORK EQUIPMENT FAILS TO WORK AND BEST PRACTICES Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a beautiful thing…..when it functions properly. An SNMP application can be supported by a Graphical User Interface (GUI), and displayed via a desktop, web browser-based or web server-based software. The software is often fee-based, and provides critical information to the network administrator. Critical information such as whether a linked interface is active or dead, if one of two power supplies has died, whether the speed has dropped from gigabit to 100Mbps, for example. All these conditions cause......

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NEBS

Understanding NEBS vs UL/FCC standards The convergence of equipment installed in Ethernet networks and Telecoms has often presented expectations and subsequent issues regarding the standards and certifications the equipment meets. For years, Ethernet equipment was, and continues to be, designed to meet standards based on certifications of UL (Underwriters Labs) and FCC Federal Communications Commission). On the other hand, the Telecom industry expects product designs based on the NEBS standard (Network Equipment-Building System). The FCC is a regulatory body for “promoting the safety of life and property through the use of wire......

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Making Sense of Standards – IP, NEMA, Ruggedized devices, Industrial Ethernet (IE) and Network Equipment

Some network equipment must be installed in harsh environments, such as oil and gas, hazardous environments, military applications or extreme temperatures. Standard network equipment falls into the 0-50°C standard temperature range and is typically installed in controlled environments. If the equipment is going to be installed in harsh environs, there are a number of choices: find products which are ruggedized, meet IE ( the Industrial Ethernet category), find products that meet IP ratings, or use standard equipment and install it into NEMAs. The type of environment will dictate what the choice of......

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