I was originally going to post this in January, but I just couldn’t wait any longer. From January 25^th to 27^th, I will be a delegate at Wireless Field Day 2 (WFD2) in San Jose, CA.

My day job focuses primarily on Aruba Networks and Meraki, but I have always made an effort to keep up-to-speed with what everyone else is doing in the wireless industry. WFD2 will be a tremendous opportunity to do so. Sponsoring vendors include:

• Aerohive - @Aerohive
• Aruba Networks - @ArubaNetworks
• Ekahau - @Ekahau
• Meraki - @Meraki
• Metageek - @MetaGeek
• Ruckus - @RuckusWireless
• HP - @HP_Networking

If the opportunity to get all these vendors in the same room and have a pointed, no-BS discussion about wireless technology wasn’t enough, there’s more! Along with the vendors, there will also be a list of delegates that is nothing short amazing! So far, delegates include:

• Marcus Burton, CWNP, @MarcusBurton
• Sam Clements, SC-WiFi,  @Samuel_Clements
• Rocky Gregory, Intensified,  @BionicRocky
• Tom Hollingsworth, The Networking Nerd,  @NetworkingNerd
• Jennifer Huber, Wireless CCIE, here I come!,  @JenniferLucille
• Blake Krone, Digital Lifestyle,  @BlakeKrone
• Chris Lyttle, Wifi Kiwi’s Blog,  @WifiKiwi
• Andrew vonNagy, Revolution Wi-Fi,  @RevolutionWiFi
• Daniel Cybulskie, SimplyWifi - NCI, @SimplyWiFi

That’s a lot of wireless knowledge to cram into a single room. Seriously, my Wi-Q will increase just by hanging out with these people for a few days – awesome!

I’ll be tweeting and blogging during the entire event to help make sure that everyone gets to benefit from this amazing event. If you’re interested, you can also check out the official WFD2 channels.

Dan C.

Be sure to check back for more news on WFD2 as we get closer to the event date.

Question: What happens when two vendors work together with the common goal of making your life easier?

Answer: Your life gets easier.

Here is a quick ~5 minute video showing the integration capabilities between Aruba Networks’ Amigopod and Palo Alto Networks’ User-ID Agent. Aruba and PAN have allowed their systems to share user-ID information between each other; the benefit to you is that users can receive the same user-based firewall policy whether they are connected via wire or wirelessly. Watch the video, you’ll see what I mean.

Pretty neat stuff, no? Tight integration between wired and wireless solutions is going to be very important as we move into 2012. It’s good to see that some vendors are not only working on expanding their own offerings, but also taking the time to ensure that they play nicely with others.

Dan C.

We’d love to hear what you think of the video. Please leave a comment or contact us with your thoughts, comments, or questions.