Networking

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been spending some time using Netgear’s Insight network management platform along with some Wi-Fi 6 hardware. It’s been interesting moving from an unmanaged (but still quite complex) network to one that gives me the tooling necessary to apply significantly more discipline. 

Insight is perhaps best thought of as Netgear’s competitor to the popular Ubiquiti platform, providing tools for web- and app-based management of Insight-ready hardware. Like Ubiquiti it means investing in an ecosystem, as you’ll need the right mix of switches and wireless access points to make the most of the platform. You’ll need to pay an annual subscription fee per device, with most Insight-ready hardware coming with a free year of access to the service.SEE: The IoT is getting a lot bigger, but security is still getting left behindThe Insight platform gives you a lot of information about your network in one place. You can see what’s connected to an access point, with graphs showing changes over time, as well as watching overall network health. Network topology tools show what devices are connected to which switch or access point, giving you a quick overview of the complexity of your network. Support for a SSID filter view makes it easy to segregate wired from wireless devices, helping determine what’s connected to what and where. Other tools show detailed information about wired and wireless devices in your network, showing device diagnostics as well as network traffic graphs. Wired devices can be checked for PoE usage. While I’m only using Insight to manage network devices, there’s also support for Netgear’s storage hardware, with tools to manage NAS.Using Insight to monitor the devices connected to Wi-Fi SSIDs.
Image: Simon Bisson
Other tools in the Insight platform support remote device management for network hardware. You can trigger firmware updates from your browser. As well as manual updates, you can define an update window outside of normal working hours. This allows the platform to automatically update devices, starting at the edge with access points, then moving into switches and routers. This keeps the risk of downtime to a minimum, ensuring that devices have access to the firmware updates they need. Having a single pane of glass for management makes a lot of sense, for a SOHO set up like mine all the way up to a medium-sized enterprise with multiple switches and hundreds of wireless access points. There’s a lot to like about Insight as a platform, but it’s at its best when taking the load out of the hands of over-worked (and often multi-tasked) IT teams. Small businesses often only have one admin (or even fewer, if IT tasks have been passed out to other staff members).

Tools like Insight are going to become more important the more we work from home. The devices we use for remote work should be kept separate from our personal devices and our growing armada of IoT devices. We need to be able to isolate hardware in trusted and untrusted networks, to keep IoT devices segregated on 2.4GHz wireless, and to monitor that everything is doing what we need.That is going to require the right hardware. My existing Orbi mesh network wasn’t suitable for this new world, offering a basic access point option or a wireless router. I’d opted to use it as a pair of access points, as my routing needs were handled by the house’s broadband connections. Switching on additional W-iFi 6 hardware wasn’t a problem, and the Netgear WAX610 access points worked well alongside the older hardware.As the WAX610 was part of an Insight-managed network, I had a lot more control over it, and could add segmented wireless VLANs. I kept one segment on both 2.4 and 5GHZ bands for general use, with a second limited to 2.4GHz purely for IoT hardware. There was no point keeping lightbulbs, plugs, and thermostats on the same network as the rest of the house. Limiting the IoT VLAN to 2.4GHz also meant it was easier to configure hardware built around lower cost wireless chipsets.SEE: Gartner releases its 2021 emerging tech hype cycle: Here’s what’s in and headed outTwo devices, one in the front of the house and one at the back, provided full coverage for a three-floor Victorian brick terrace in a London suburb and were able to cope well with a crowded spectrum in a high-density population area. The WAX610 and the outdoor-rated WAX610Y were on the same SSIDs, which did make handover a little tricky on some devices where AP affinity was higher than on others. However, manually turning on and off Wi-Fi quickly associated devices with the nearest AP.Both were Power over Ethernet (PoE) hardware. I’d not used PoE in my network before, but luckily I’d used CAT5e and CAT6 cabling which meant I could use a pair of PoE switches to drive the APs. Swapping out an ageing D-Link switch for a gigabit Netgear GS110TUP added PoE support at the heart of my network, using the Insight cloud portal to manage the various ports. With nine available ports, I did have to spend some time consolidating my network cabling, dropping in a secondary switch under my desk to handle local hardware.Configuring POE ports on a managed GS110TUP switch.
Image: Simon Bisson
The GS110TUP is a good, high-performing device. It works well with a heterogenous mix of Windows, macOS, and Linux hardware, as well as providing a hub for the house’s wireless network. Perhaps the biggest change in jumping more than a decade’s worth of networking hardware was how much quieter it was than the retired switch, opting for a fanless design while still supporting PoE delivery across a significant length of ethernet.As part of the network upgrade, I have swapped out first-generation Orbi mesh wireless hardware for the latest Orbi Pro 6 Mini hardware. The new SXR30 devices are a lot smaller than the original routers but work exactly the same way as the familiar consumer hardware. Support for the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard helps them offer better bandwidth for devices in a crowded wireless environment, something that’s very useful in London’s high-density inner suburbs.The unobtrusive Orbi Pro 6 Mini access points.
Image: Simon Bisson
If you’ve used Orbi in the past, then you know what you’re getting. There’s little difference between the Pro experience and the consumer devices. Initial set up is through the web. I then chose to connect to Insight, allowing the Insight service to back up and store configurations, as well as managing the device updates.Managing an Orbi wireless mesh from Insight.
Image: Simon Bisson
There are some differences between the Orbi Pro and other Insight APs I’ve tested. Where you still can set up and configure separate VLANs for different operations, you can’t lock them down to specific frequency bands. Despite that, the ability to set up, manage and run different wireless VLANs in a mesh is very useful, allowing you to improve the security of your network, for example isolating VLANs from each other and even isolating client devices from each other. That last option is especially useful if you’re using Insight and Orbi to run a guest network.Insight is a plug-and-play network management environment. You can add new client licenses and then search for devices on your network, quickly bringing them into a single plane-of-glass management environment. You don’t need to use the web tooling, either, as there are mobile apps that allow you to work with your network anywhere at any time.Having everything in one place makes it easy to check what’s happening and to see what needs to be fixed when. With Insight, a quick tune-up no longer means switching from device UI to device UI. Instead, everything you want is in one browser view, and only a couple of clicks away. Insight, and Insight-aware hardware, is definitely one of those tools that takes away the mundane, giving you time to get on with the work that really matters. 

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Image: Getty Images
The Australian government is currently in the midst of reviewing telecommunications issues experienced by people based in regional, rural, and remote areas across the country. The review, which occurs every three years, has received submissions from Australia’s major telcos about the issues it should look into. Of particular note is Telstra’s submission, which has asked for government to consider making it mandatory for fixed network operators in regional Australia to provide transparent reporting on fault identification and rectification. “Greater transparency of the capabilities and performance of fixed network services would benefit customers as they make choices about the best mix of services and service providers to suit their needs,” Telstra wrote in its submission [PDF]. It also recommended that funds be directly allocated to local governments to assist in raising understanding of connectivity solutions and technologies that are most appropriate, while asking for the federal government to consider a scenario where passive infrastructure sharing between telcos become a thing despite opposing mandated roaming. Another recommendation made by Australia’s incumbent telco was for reforms to be made to the country’s universal service obligation (USO). The USO is a consumer protection aimed at ensuring everyone has access to landline telephones and payphones. Telstra is currently the only provider of USO. It said the focus behind the USO should be on the outcomes delivered to customers rather than the technology used to deliver those outcomes. “The USO could be reformed to ensure that the entity responsible for the USO be required to provide at least the same level of coverage, resilience and quality using technology that best delivers and enhances these outcomes over time,” Telstra said.

Like Telstra, Optus [PDF] and TPG Telecom [PDF] have also asked for government to consider reforms regarding the USO in their respective submissions. “The universal service arrangements are a mess of outdated, poorly managed, and costly arrangements that do not meet value for money principles and do not ensure delivery of the services needed in regional areas,” Optus wrote in its submission. Optus said that current USO rules have caused it to pay AU$1.2 billion to Telstra since 1992, with the Singapore-owned telco saying that money could have been used to expand its own coverage in regional areas instead. TPG Telecom, meanwhile, has called for the USO to be replaced altogether. The remaining recommendations from all three major telco companies were for there to be better coordination between government and industry, as well as calls for more work on regional connectivity and education programs.  The committee tasked with conducting the review will deliver its findings to the federal government before the end of the year.  Related Coverage More

An NBN FttN node getting a Nokia line card installed
Image: Corinne Reichert/ZDNet
The company responsible for the National Broadband Network has said it is expecting users to be able to place orders with retailers in March 2022. Until then, NBN is asking people to register their interest.At the same time, NBN announced the next 200,000 that will be able to upgrade from fibre to the node (FttN) to fibre to the premises (FttP). This latest announcement now leaves only 400,000 premises remaining to be announced to complete the company’s two million premises able to upgrade target. NBN added it was also expecting the first invitations for customers to upgrade fibre to the curb (FttC) connections to be sent in 2022. In May, the company revealed it had replaced approximately 47,700 NBN Co Connection Devices used on FttC connections. Earlier in March, the company said it was looking for a long-term solution to lightning frying FttC equipment, which was highlighted in the Blue Mountains area of NSW. While FttN users need to order a plan faster than 100Mbps to receive an upgrade, FttC users need to place an order for a plan over 250Mbps to get a full fibre connection. “We are on track to achieve our goal of enabling around 8 million premises or up to 75 per cent of homes and businesses on the fixed line network to access NBN’s highest wholesale speed tiers, on demand, by the end of 2023,” NBN COO Kathrine Dyer said. Further, the company reported its first-quarter results on Monday, with revenue up 17% to AU$1.25 billion, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumping from AU$102 million last year to AU$714 million. Payments to Telstra and Optus fell from AU$469 million in the first quarter last year to AU$86 million.

At the end of last week, TPG Telecom announced it had extended its fibre network in regional areas and was able to offer businesses connectivity at speeds greater than 250Mbps. Beginning at AU$384 a month including GST for the 250Mbps plan, the telco is also offering 400Mbps for AU$440 a month, and 1Gbps for AU$880 a month. The regional towns, as labelled by TPG, are: Dubbo, Maitland, Bathurst, Nowra, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Griffith, Goulburn, Port Macquarie, Bendigo, Ballarat, Morwell, Shepparton, Horsham, Maroochydore, Cairns, Toowoomba, Mackay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Townsville, Hobart, Launceston, Bunbury, Rockingham, Darwin. The towns placed on NBN upgrade map are listed below, broken down by state. An asterisk means NBN is further extending upgrade coverage in that locality. New South Wales Anna Bay, Bonnells Bay, Buff Point, Caves Beach, Dubbo*, Forresters Beach, Inverell, Merewether, Mudgee, Muswellbrook, Narromine, Orange*, Parkes, Port Macquarie, San Remo, Thurgoona, Wamberal, Wellington, Windradyne, Wyoming, Wyong. Victoria Bell Park, Cape Paterson, Diamond Creek, Doreen, Drysdale, Echuca*, Greenvale, Hamlyn Heights, Jan Juc, Lara, McCrae, Mildura, Norlane, Rosebud, Sale, Taylors Lakes, Torquay, Whittlesea, Wonthaggi, Yarra Glen. Queensland Avoca, Biloela, Caboolture*, Coolum Beach*, Deception Bay, Frenchville, Goondiwindi, Lammermoor, Mango Hill, Narangba, Taranganba. South Australia Davoren Park, Greenwith, Smithfield. Western Australia Dianella, Edgewater, Ferndale, Gosnells, Hamilton Hill, High Wycombe, Hillarys, Lynwood, Morley*, Noranda, Padbury, Port Kennedy*, Spearwood, Stratton, Swan View, Wanneroo, Willetton. Related Coverage More

A new subsea cable network spanning some 22,000 kilometres will soon begin construction linking Southeast Asia, Australasia, and North America. To be built by Hawaiki Submarine Cable, the submarine system is touted to have a design capacity of 240Tbps and provide connectivity between main hubs in Singapore, Sydney, and Los Angeles. Called Hawaiki Nui, the network system will begin construction next year and is expected to be ready for service in 2025, according to Hawaiki. The Auckland-based cable network operator said in a statement Friday it had roped in telco Mora Telematika Indonesia (Moratelindo) as a partner for the deployment. Describing Hawaiki Nui as the first and largest space division multiplexing (SDM) cable to link the three regions, Hawaiki said landings also were planned for Jakarta and Batam, giving Indonesia links to Singapore, Australia, and the US. SDM uses multiple spatial channels to deliver greater capacity and speed.

In addition, the subsea network would further support local connectivity within Australia, with links to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Darwin, as well as provide direct international access to Singapore and Los Angeles. Hawaiki Nui also would be the first international cable to be rolled out in New Zealand’s southern region, linking Christchurch, DunedIn, and Invercargill directly with Australia. Two additional branches would be erected to connect Oahu and Big Island in Hawaii.Hawaiki currently operates a cable network, launched in 2018, that links Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Hawaii, and the west coast of the US.Its founder and executive chairman Remi Galasso said the new subsea system would bolster connectivity and redundancy for customers operating in Asia-Pacific. “An all-in-one submarine cable infrastructure with multiple international and domestic routes embedded in the same system, Hawaiki Nui has been designed to deliver direct connectivity through new subsea paths and provide optimal diversity,” Galasso noted.

He added that Indonesia was a strategic market in Southeast Asia for the company and lauded the partnership with Moratelindo. Under the agreement, the Indonesian telco will assume the role of landing party for the country and acquire the necessary local permits and approvals for the project. Moratelindo also will be involve in the system design and deployment of Hawaiki Nui, including determining the optimal subsea route and landings in Indonesia. Moratelindo’s president director said: “This new submarine cable system will provide an alternative low latency route for international connectivity to and from Indonesia, and reduce the country’s dependence on existing connections going through Singapore.”Hawaiki in July was acquired by BW Digital, which is an affiliate of Singapore-based maritime conglomerate BW Group. Subject to the usual regulatory filings and approvals, the deal is expected to be completed by early next year. RELATED COVERAGE More

It seems that to quite a few of you, the idea of dumping Google Chrome for a browser — even if that browser is better — is like pulling wisdom teeth. Despite the fact that it’s a bottomless pit when it comes to eating system resources and has become the bloated browser it was initially meant to replace, people love it.

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Yes, you can make it a little less awful. But I’ve been beating this drum for years, only to realize that it was a battle I was losing. This was bought home to me when I loaded Google Chrome onto my M1 Pro-based MacBook Pro — a machine that’s an absolute beast when it comes to making things run fast. The experience showed me once again how kludgy Google Chrome is.The best way to improve your browsing experience is to dump Google Chrome and switch to a better browser. After all, there are plenty of options.See also: Ditching Google Chrome was the best thing I did this year (and you should too)What I do is use more than one browser; I don’t mind having two or three browsers running at once. Safari is nice on the Mac — and nothing can beat it when it comes to performance and power management — but it’s missing a lot of features that I liked about Google Chrome. Specifically, the Chrome ecosystem has far better support for extensions.

On Windows, Edge is great. It’s fast and lightweight, but there are question marks over privacy.I find Firefox and Opera to be great, too.But a lot of readers got in touch to ask me what my single favorite browser is. It seems that running multiple browsers isn’t for everyone.So, what’s my favorite browser?It’s Brave.There’s a lot to like about Brave. It’s fast and has an easy system of resources. It’s got a good track record in terms of privacy, and it runs all the Google Chrome extensions I need it to run. (You go to the Google Chrome web store, find the extension, and download it.)  Now, some readers are surprised by the fact that I hate Google Chrome but love Brave. After all, Brave is built on the Chromium engine that powers Google Chrome, as are Microsoft Edge and Opera.Yeah, that’s odd, right? But it’s clearly not the Chromium engine that’s the problem with Google Chrome — it’s everything else that Google has plastered on top.
It’s weird how browsing with Brave feels like browsing with Google Chrome, except I get far better performance (the speed with which pages load up has to be seen to be believed), better battery life (more than an extra hour on my laptop compared to running Google Chrome), and far better privacy protection.

Also, switching from Chrome to Brave was a snap. Everything worked, and because the two browsers share the Chromium heritage, everything felt familiar and easy to use.Brave is available for Windows 64-bit, Windows 32-bit, macOS Intel, macOS Apple Silicon, and Linux. It can be downloaded for both iOS and Android from the relevant app stores as well.Still not sold on Brave? In second place would be Firefox. It’s a fast, reliable browser that’s packed with modern features.Related Coverage More

Image: Amazon
Amazon has announced its first Project Kuiper satellite prototypes will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company said on Tuesday it had filed for an experimental licence with the US Federal Communications Commission to launch and operate a pair of satellites dubbed KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2. The prototypes will test the communications and networking that will be used in the final design, and will have Ka-band phased array and parabolic antennas, power and propulsion systems, and custom-designed modems. “We’ve invented lots of new technology to meet our cost and performance targets for Project Kuiper. All of the systems are testing well in simulated and lab settings, and we’ll soon be ready to see how they perform in space,” vice president of technology for Project Kuiper Rajeev Badyal said. “There is no substitute for on-orbit testing, and we expect to learn a lot given the complexity and risk of operating in such a challenging environment. We can’t wait to get started.” Once the prototypes are operational, Amazon will test its customer terminal, which it said in December can deliver up to 400Mbps. Instead of having the receiving and transmission antennas next to each other, Amazon is overlaying the antennas which results in a final diameter of 30 centimetres. Amazon said the prototypes will be actively deorbited once the mission is complete, and it was working with astronomers to reduce the visibility of the satellites that will make up the intended constellation of 3,236 low Earth orbit birds. “One of the two prototype satellites will include a sunshade to help us understand whether it is an effective way to reduce reflectivity and mitigate its impact on ground-based optical telescopes,” the company said.

“We will collect data to compare reflectivity between the two spacecraft, and share any learnings with the astronomy community following the mission.” The satellites will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by ABL Space Systems, and not the Jeff Bezos-led Blue Origin.
Image: Amazon
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Telstra has extended its arrangement with the Department of Defence, gaining a five-year AU$1 billion contract renewal. The telco said the deal was its largest ever for Telstra Enterprise. The contract has options for Defence to extend the contract multiple times for up to three years. The deal includes a Wi-Fi 6 rollout, 5G connectivity, SD-WAN, and other software-defined networking elements. “We are very pleased to extend and deepen our partnership with the Department of Defence and use our unique sovereign capabilities, decades of experience, and cutting-edge technology to co-design solutions for today and into the future,” Telstra CEO Andy Penn said. Telstra added it currently works with over 30 local suppliers to provide around AU$50 million of technology and services each year to Defence. In 2013, Telstra picked up an initial six-year contract with Defence worth AU$1.1 billion to build a new terrestrial communications network for the department. Last week, the telco announced it would acquire Digicel Pacific.

For a total cost of $1.6 billion, Telstra said it would be contributing $270 million, with the Commonwealth to stump up $1.33 billion via “combination of non-recourse debt facilities and equity-like securities”. Telstra said it would have 100% control of the entity and has preferred equity over the government. Telstra said the Commonwealth made the initial approach. Also on Wednesday, Telstra announced a AU$100 million deal with the Victorian government to provide 1,600 public schools with 1Mbps of connectivity per student. This would see the schools receive between 40Mbps and 3Gbps from an aggregated bandwidth pool of 870Gbps.Telstra said it would spend AU$40 million of that amount on capital works to improve connectivity, particularly in regional and remote areas, and has already completed work at 700 schools. “Telstra’s $40 million investment in high-speed broadband connectivity won’t just benefit Victorian schools, but the wider community, by laying the critical groundwork for flow on benefits to 4G and 5G mobile networks,” Telstra Enterprise group executive David Burns said.Updated at 11:44am AEDT, 3 November 2021: Added Victorian schools deal.Related Coverage More

It was about a year ago that I began my transition away from Google Chrome (spoilers, I still need to use it, but I now use it minimally).

I disentangled my data and passwords out of the browser. I tried a whole bunch of other browsers. I learned and relearned a whole bunch of new muscle memory movements. It was hard. But it was worth it. I knew that Google Chrome was one of the worst browsers I could be running in terms of performance and power/resource consumption, and yet I kept on using it for years.

I was sure it would get better. But sure enough, it kept getting worse. I know that I’m partly to blame. Having dozens of tabs open in a browser doesn’t come free, and it’s not how browsers were designed to operate (remember bookmarks?). But what can I say? I have a tab problem. And until someone comes up with a redesigned way to handle bookmarks, that problem’s not going away anytime soon. I tried a lot of browsers. Safari, Brave, Firefox, Opera. Here’s the thing, I like them all. I even like Edge on Windows. They are all far better, far superior compared to Google Chrome. Sometimes you don’t notice how bad something is until you look at it in hindsight. Google Chrome has cornered the web browser market and has become the defacto browser for many millions of users.  On Windows, Google Chrome started out as an alternative to the bloated, buggy competition.  And then, over time, it became the thing it set out to destroy. So, what’s my favorite browser now? Here’s my secret –I don’t have one. I’m partial to Safari on Mac because it’s energy and resource efficient, but I’ll also happily use anything else —
Brave

is good, Firefox is great,
Opera

is still a solid browser. And there’s Edge on Windows. I think the trick is not to have a favorite.  If you have to use Google Chrome, I have some ideas on how to make it less awful. But at the end of the day, it’s still awful. It’s even awful on the new
MacBook Pro running the M1 Pro chip

. And that chip makes
Adobe Premiere Pro

look good. I don’t say this lightly, but my advice to everyone is to dump Google Chrome. I know not everyone can get rid of it completely (I’m one of those people), but do yourself a favor and go try some other browsers. And then you’ll see for yourself just how bad Google Chrome actually is.

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