Just arrived: Wireless Design and Audit

Telarus has announced the launch of a wireless design and audit service. Such services are in high demand with medium to large businesses however Telarus will also open up this service to smaller businesses by offering a fixed price service for small sites.

Our wireless specialists use purpose-built site survey and spectrum analysis tools to assist the customer in achieving the desired level of performance, reliability and security.

The site survey tool allows Telarus engineers to map out what the wireless coverage looks like visually. The engineers load the customer’s floor diagram into this software and use a drawing tool to mark solid objects that could potentially weaken the wireless signal such as brick or gyprock walls. The survey tool operates in two modes – “predictive” mode and “survey” mode.

In “predictive” mode, a theoretical model of the network is built within the tool to predict how the network will operate in practice. This allows Telarus engineers to fine-tune the placement and configuration of wireless access points in order to design the solution that will result in the best coverage for the customer site.

In “survey” mode, Telarus engineers are able to collect real data to map the strength of the signals that are visible from each of the wireless access points throughout the site. Multiple surveys are typically required in order to assess the impact of changes or fine-tuning.

Once there is a working model of the network in the survey tool, Telarus engineers can use it to assess potential impacts on performance (e.g. heavy usage). It is possible to simulate varying levels of usage in order to expose the network’s weak spots and determine where the signal needs to be improved.

A spectrum analysis tool also allows engineers to see all the signals operating in the same range as the wireless network (e.g. in the 2.4GHz spectrum for 802.11b/g) enabling them to locate sources of interference that are not related to the wireless deployment such as DECT phones, microwaves and Bluetooth devices.

Fergus Fitzwater, Security Analyst at Telarus, said that poorly-designed wireless networks often result in variable performance and blackspots in coverage.

“Incorrect placement of access points can result in solid objects such as hard walls and furniture affecting the quality of the wireless signal, said Fitzwater. “And if wireless networks are not properly secured, they can become a big corporate security risk,” he added.

This service is now available!

Coming soon: Managed Email Security: Anti-virus/anti-spam

Telarus will soon be offering email anti-virus and anti-SPAM under a managed service offering, reducing the customer’s risk against one of the most prolific sources of security problems – email.

This service will assist in avoiding the significant productivity impacts that arise through the proliferation of SPAM. It will also reduce the risk of you falling victim to the steady stream of viruses, trojans and worms that making their way into your organisation via email.

SPAM is an epidemic and stopping it from hitting your email boxes can save you a lot of time and money. SPAM is the delivery vehicle of choice for many of the viral threats that affect organisations – aside from simply impacting productivity, further risks are presented when staff members open files that are infected with viruses, trojans and worms. Recovering from these attacks can turn out to be an awfully costly exercise.

Unfortunately, the cost of hiring an in-house security expert is often prohibitive, particularly for a small to medium business. Depending on the skill level of the resource you hire, it could end up costing you a significant sum of money and who does their job when they get sick or take annual leave?

Outsourcing email security under a managed service arrangement is a good alternative to trying to handle it in-house.

Under our managed service offering, well trained and highly competent Telarus staff will maintain the equipment used to provide the service, updating firmware, checking security logs and adding new security rules as they are required.

Telarus is currently trialling two leading-edge email security products and expects to release this new service offering shortly so watch out for the arrival of this service soon!