2020 WINNERS were announced at #WLPC!

François is a founder and owner of SemFio Networks, and a regular contributor to the @cleartosend podcast. Always soft-spoken, but wise in his perspectives, he makes technical Wi-Fi solutions down to earth and easy to understand for even beginners in the Wi-Fi industry. An expert in Wi-Fi who excels at bringing new products and news to the forefront of our industry, François has made a name for himself as a standout content contributor in the community.

Twitter: @VergesFrancois

Blog Site: semfionetworks.com/blog 

Eddie has several claims to fame, ranging from his eclectic presentation style (who could forget the security handshake conversation at his WLPC presentation?) to being a respected business owner, teacher, and expert in the Wi-Fi industry. His sometimes-controversial blog where he regularly serenades the community with his sometimes over the top examples of installations likely gone awry.

Twitter: @Heyeddie

Blog Site: badfi.com

Jake generates content over at https://todsfromds.com – where he regularly waxes philosophically on the road going to save the worlds biggest networks from impending doom. Jake regularly contributes by blogging, engaging on twitter, and in the Wi-Fi Pros slack group. Jake brings a wealth of experience within the community whether it be Cisco or Aruba or things that slither (that’s python), but nothing says unique like battle scars from experience – and freely shares all he knows.

Twitter: @jsnyder81

Blog Site: todsfromds.com

Jim’s blog (https://jimswirelessworld.wordpress.com) is not only a blog about his own professional experience but he also includes Tools and other helpful links for those looking for more WLAN information.  His blog is suited for newcomers and experts alike and is written in a straight-forward and humorous way that makes it not only educational but entertaining as well. In his own words, “One radio guy’s journey into an IP world”. We agree that perspective is everything and regardless of how you ended up in the Wi-Fi world, your take on it all is valuable.

Twitter: @WirelessJimP

Blog Site: jimswirelessworld.wordpress.com 

Lee is one of the community's favorite pug loving, gonzo bloggers. In the words of his nomination, he’s always on top of industry trends, news, events, and covers things in an easy to digest format. His conversational style keeps topics technically accurate while making them easy to understand. He blogs and generates content all over the place, but most notably, his primary place to put content for us is at https://wirednot.wordpress.com/ .

Twitter: @wirednot

Blog Site: wirednot.wordpress.com

The Catalyst 9100 access points are Cisco’s first access points that run 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), and the first that run on IOS XE. The Catalyst 9120 is powered by (the) Cisco RF ASIC that performs advanced RF spectrum analysis and delivers features like CleanAir, Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) and DFS detection allowing for a superior RF experience.

Besides Wi-Fi 6 capabilities, these access points extend the power of intent-based networking with hardware and software innovations, with advanced analytics and multi-RF (Wi-Fi, BLE, Zigbee and Thread) support. Along with a better industrial design, they offer improved RF performance, and deliver reliability, security, and intelligence at scale.

For more information visit www.cisco.com

Mist built an AI engine right into the platform. This eliminates the need for overlay sensors, data collector hardware, and extra software. AI for IT™ allows you to configure new sites in minutes with no human errors. In addition, AI for IT™ provides the capability to correlate user events and dynamically capture packets for fast troubleshooting, create automated workflows for rapid troubleshooting and notifications, and automatically self-correct and/or optimize the WLAN in real-time. AI for IT™ integrates as part of Mist's platform and products to build an effective portfolio of products that help build a modern high performing network.

For more information visit www.mist.com

Arista has pioneered the networking industry with its software driven cloud networking approach built on top of Arista EOS® with programmable interfaces, publish-subscribe state separation, resilient fault containment and self-healing attributes. CloudVision® extends the same architectural approach across the network with a state-based view of the entire network, across private, public and hybrid clouds. This enables customers to move to cloud-class automation without needing significant custom internal development. CloudVision is a network-wide approach for workload orchestration, workflow automation and real-time telemetry as a turnkey solution for Cloud Networking.

For more information visit www.arista.com 

Ekahau offers a a suite of Wi-Fi tools that enable you and your team to design, optimize and troubleshoot any Wi-Fi network faster and easier than ever before. It allows seamless collaboration between IT personnel, who are charged with keeping Wi-Fi running smoothly, and the Wi-Fi expert, who is often overloaded with managing multiple projects and sites.  Choose a collaboration method that works best for you and your customers and easily switch between offline and cloud modes. Enjoy seamless collaboration between central office and field sites and make project sharing with your entire team simple and easy. Multiple people in the field can now work concurrently on the same project while critical data can be quickly shared with Wi-Fi experts anywhere in the world so they can help troubleshoot tough to solve problems without ever leaving the office.

Ekahau Survey is the first professional grade Wi-Fi site survey tool for iPad. It’s intuitive and easy to use which means both Wi-Fi experts and IT professionals can now perform site surveys with ease. It automatically locates all nearby access points and places them on a map and delivers instant post-survey analysis with easy-to-read, beautiful crystal-clear heatmaps.

for more information visit, www.ekahau.com

As the first handheld tool to offer a single user interface (UI) that fully integrates both wired and wireless network test data, the EtherScope nXG dramatically increases network visibility, accelerates and simplifies testing, and simplifies team collaboration. This is the first portable tool with the right combination of capabilities to, break the Layer 2 ceiling‚ allowing users to easily identify wireless clients not just by MAC address, but by IP, name and type, delivering visibility most Wi-Fi tools cannot provide.

For more information visit www.netally.com

Active Expert constantly looks for ways to better serve Wi-Fi community. In order to help the enhance community, they have created dedicated lab for CWNA, with additional labs for the "P" series exams that are great and easy to use.

The Active Expert team is passionate about delivering great Wi-Fi and exceptional training. In addition providing education and access to information, they serve as mentors for the community as a whole. They are constantly adding new course material for the community.

For more information visit www.activeexpert.com.

Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is recognized as a global leader in the networking industry, currently serving as a leader on numerous technology standards bodies including Chair positions on the IEEE, ETF, and many others. Aruba is also driving standards decisions on key wireless capabilities like Wi-Fi 6, including 802.11ax, WPA3, Enhanced Open (OWE) and Wi-Fi Easy Connect (DPP).

Aruba is recognized across the industry as having played a key role in shaping the future of Wi-Fi. Aruba is also actively involved with the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance in driving conversations with the FCC and other global entities in opening up the 6GHz spectrum for unlicensed (Wi-Fi) use, and is also playing a leading role among network vendors in partnering with leading communications service providers to deliver Wi-Fi 6 as an onramp to 5G. 

For more information visit www.arubanetworks.com.

Cisco provides thought leadership through their continued outreach to a broad number of communities, from standards working groups such as IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance to engagement with a broad number of companies for our device ecosystem.

One specific example of leadership is the Open Roaming initiative. Open Roaming enables mobile users to automatically and seamlessly roam across Wi-Fi and cellular networks, including Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and 5G. This is achieved through a collective of industry partners and collaborators, whose goal is to provide a better bridge between mobile and Wi-Fi networks. Cisco has created this federation around enabling Open Roaming to help create a better experience for the general public.

For more information visit www.cisco.com.

MetaGeek believes in building an exceptional company around exceptional people and exceptional products. They treat each other as close family, their customers as welcomed friends and embrace their work as the relentless process of making hard things easy. And have fun doing it. Through training, and community engagement. They strive to listen, provide strong solutions that are dependable, and work when needed.

For more information visit www.metageek.com.

Tech Field Day displays leadership in the community by bringing both venerable wireless professionals together with up-and-coming content creators. This interaction allows for mentoring relationships and knowledge transfers that can enrich the entire community and keep positive interactions happening for everyone. We are one of the only events that puts the focus on the community and the way it interacts with vendors and providers of solutions.

For more information visit www.techfieldday.com.