[Scan-DC] Scan-DC Digest, Vol 135, Issue 4

Sun Jul 19 10:49:36 EDT 2015

I am selling a like-new Whistler 1080 for $240.00 + 10.00 Shipping. Paid
$489.90 for it.

Earl Suitor
216 Jackson Dr
Berryville, VA 22611

WV4NSS

540-955-0282
703-431-2661  

-----Original Message-----
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Subject: Scan-DC Digest, Vol 135, Issue 4

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi (Joel Kahn)
   2. Re: xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi (andrew)
   3. PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App (Alan Henney)
   4. xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi (Alan Henney)
   5. Had anybody heard of Joe's Radio Shop? (Alan Henney)
   6. Re: xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi (Dewey)
   7. Re: PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App (D. Jones)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2015 23:24:02 +0000 (UTC)
From: Joel Kahn <jrkahn at att.net>
To: Scan DC <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>, Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi
Message-ID:
	<1691880248.2922394.1437002642855.JavaMail.yahoo at mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Just remember guys.? This is not a secure wifi connection. It's like
smartphone sex without a condom.?Joel R Kahn
      From: George H <ghaymond at gmail.com>
 To: Andrew Clegg <andrew_w_clegg at hotmail.com>
Cc: Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>; Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
 Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2015 10:20 AM
 Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi

Likewise here.

The COMCAST smart phone app is somewhat useful in that it helps locate
hotspots in an area you are not familiar with.? A downside of the app,
though, is that it likes to remain on in the background, helping to drain
your battery...?

On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 10:05 AM, Andrew Clegg <andrew_w_clegg at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Same here.
>
> Public hot spots are also built into newer Xfinity cable boxes so you 
> can legally pilfer your neighbors' Internet.
>
>
> > On Jul 15, 2015, at 9:35 AM, andrew <amickert at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Alan,
> >
> > Once you are connected to the Comcast hot spot you should get a 
> > comcast welcome page on a web browser and it should prompt you to 
> > enter your user name and password. You would enter your Comcast user
name and password.
> >
> > That's all I have done in the past to get connected.
> >
> > Andrew
> >> On Jul 15, 2015 1:21 AM, "Alan Henney" <alan at henney.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> I have noticed in many neighborhoods hotspots with these 
> >> identities, and they are often deployed together.
> >>
> >> They appear on the cable line, a small plastic enclosure often near 
> >> the pole.
> >>
> >> Now that we have Comcast service, I would like to use this.? But 
> >> after
> two
> >> calls to Comcast tech support, they keep sending me off with 
> >> useless
> info.
> >>
> >> One tech told me I needed to download the Comcast app.? Another 
> >> told me
> I
> >> needed to log on using a user name and password and he created me 
> >> one
> for
> >> e-mail.? They seem clueless what I am talking about.
> >>
> >> I can select the unencrypted xfinity hotspot, but if I start a 
> >> browser,
> I
> >> am not able to log on or connect to anything.
> >>
> >> Any ideas?
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >> ______________________________________________________________
> >> Scan-DC mailing list
> >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/scan-dc
> >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
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> >>
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> > ______________________________________________________________
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------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:41:26 -0400
From: andrew <amickert at gmail.com>
To: Joel Kahn <jrkahn at att.net>
Cc: Scan DC <scan-dc at mailman.qth.net>, Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi
Message-ID: <B21CFE40-0277-41CB-AA1D-DD6B11B29B82 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Definitely agree with that statement. 

Highly suggest that a VPN be used whenever anyone connects to a WiFi network
that is not your own. 

There are plenty of VPN providers out there. I personally user VyprVPN.

You know how easy to is to rename a WiFi connection to ?comcast?,
?xfinitywifi?, ?CoxWiFi?  or a name it a coffee shop or restaurants name and
then have people connect to it thinking they are connecting to those
companies WiFi connection and then sniff all the traffic and collect user
names, passwords, bank information, credit card data, etc? Its very easy to
do.

So use a VPN.

> On Jul 15, 2015, at 7:24 PM, Joel Kahn <jrkahn at att.net> wrote:
> 
> Just remember guys.  This is not a secure wifi connection. It's like 
> smartphone sex without a condom. Joel R Kahn
>     

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2015 01:41:16 -0400
From: "Alan Henney" <alan at henney.com>
To: "Scan DC" <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Scan-DC] PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App
Message-ID: <1B07C95D0F714AB1B7E0299DFE8996A7 at HPCompaqPro6300>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Somewhat of an off-beat techie article that mentions Chief Lanier.

Signal

July 2015

PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App

BYLINE: Jontz, Sandra. 

c. ontact: Sandra Jontz, sjontz at afcea.org

SECTION: GOVERNMENT/COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGIES; Pg. 31 Vol. 69 No. 11 ISSN:
0037-4938

LENGTH: 1684 words

ABSTRACT

[...]two companies have fused their respective technologies to bear the
upgrade in service-Kodiak, a provider of standards- based, clear, reliable
broadband PTT with land mobile radio (LMR) interoperability over 4G LTE,
Wi-Fi and 3G networks; and Mutualink Incorporated, which developed an
interoperable communications platform that enables communitywide multimedia
sharing in a secure environment. First responders increasingly rely on
mission-critical LTE-based PTT communication services that can send and
receive images and video, according to the Open Mobile Alliance, a global
standards development organization for the mobile phone industry. 

FULL TEXT

An upgrade offers a new level of interoperability for broadband
push-to-talk.

Improved technology now can provide seamless interoperability between
cellular push-to-talk and land mobile radio networks, even allowing data,
video and voice communications to be shared across multiple agencies. The
upgrade could prove ideal for first responders such as police officers,
firefighters and EMTs as well as security personnel in schools, hospitals or
shopping malls during emergencies.

Push-to-talk (PTT) technology has made remarkable strides from the days in
which it provided a communications platform to keep employers and employees
connected without racking up cellphone charges. Now, two companies have
fused their respective technologies to bear the upgrade in service-Kodiak, a
provider of standards- based, clear, reliable broadband PTT with land mobile
radio (LMR) interoperability over 4G LTE, Wi-Fi and 3G networks; and
Mutualink Incorporated, which developed an interoperable communications
platform that enables communitywide multimedia sharing in a secure
environment. 

"A push-to-talk offering is a natural progression for Mutualink in our
mission to deliver innovative, affordable communications solutions to the
public safety community and business enterprise users," says Mark Hatten,
CEO of the Wallingford, Connecticut, company. "Partnering with Kodiak
enables us to deliver seamless interoperability to PTT users wherever,
whenever they need it."

Mutualink's Radio Network Interface Controller (R-NIC) allows Kodiak PTT
users to connect to the Interoperable Response and Preparedness Platform
network, a secure Internet protocol grid that connects Mutualink gateways
used by public safety departments, utility companies, transportation
offices, hospitals, schools and other organizations. It lets agencies that
invest in the technology share voice communications, video and data using
devices they already own.

"By having built out essentially a nationwide network of these agencies, an
agency within a town on one type of radio system can talk to an agency
within that same town on another type of radio system, or they can talk to
an agency on the other side of the country on their radio systems," Hatten
attests. "There is no geographic boundary in our platform-the same with
sharing video and so on."

First responders increasingly rely on mission-critical LTE-based PTT
communication services that can send and receive images and video, according
to the Open Mobile Alliance, a global standards development organization for
the mobile phone industry. "The Kodiak partnership with Mutualink provides
more options for LMR users to augment their networks," says Bruce Lawler,
co-founder and chief product officer at Kodiak. "The Mutualink R-NIC
provides broadband PTT users with more choices when it comes to network
gateways."

Agencies can scale their LMR networks, add users, extend coverage and access
broadband data capabilities, especially since Kodiak platforms support iOS
and Android handsets and tablets and ruggedized devices.

"Our emphasis is about allowing these agencies to use the tools that they
see fit to use, without us necessarily getting in the middle of telling them
they should choose one type of radio system over another," Hatten says.

A survey of LMR users conducted by consulting firm Market in View for Kodiak
showed 75 percent of them use a commercial cellular service to supplement
LMR communications at work. Additionally, 84 percent of decision makers and
38 percent of end users use cellphones to access productivity applications
as well as voice service, text messaging, email and the Internet. Survey
respondents listed the top three most desirable attributes of broadband PTT
as coverage, support for 4G LTE/3G networks and Wi-Fi, and compatibility
with the latest smartphones. "The survey results clearly show LMR users are
already using cellphones to augment LMR networks and that there is strong
market interest in the use of broadband push-to-talk services from wireless
operators," Lawler concludes.

"We had a teacher come in [during a focus group], and the teacher said,
'Look, we've got four LMR radios in our school. I know how to use one of
them. But we've got 100 teachers, and all of the teachers have smartphones.'
In times of crisis, wouldn't it be great if everyone could be talking on
that same LMR-like experience?" Lawler asks. "We could talk to the rescue,
the fire, the police, whatever might be the occasion. That's what drives us
to do a better job of interconnecting with these LMR systems."

Mutualink's products and services are deployed by numerous public and
private entities worldwide, including the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, the Defense Department, NATO Special Operations Forces, police and
fire departments, transit authorities, hospitals, schools, universities,
shopping malls and casinos. "We share video coming offof smartphones. We
share video coming offof surveillance systems. We share video coming offof
drones and robots," Hatten relates. "Essentially, if we can gain access to
video, we can share it, and we can tie that video to the push-to-talk."
Imagine, he continues, if police officers could view in real time a video
feed of an emergency situation unfolding in a school, mall or hospital.

Kodiak's connection with Mutualink bridges the gap between LMR radio and
broadband PTT on a carrier network. "Whether it's a very inexpensive but
ruggedized feature phone like a Samsung Rugby 4 or an iPhone, you could
push-to-talk directly on any of those on a carrier network," Lawler says.

Adds Hatten, "Where we come in: If that Android or that iPhone using the
Kodiak push-to-talk on one of the two carriers, AT&T or Verizon, wants to
talk to the police radio, that happens through the Mutualink gateway. A
school needs to communicate with a police department or a fire department,
or maybe they have to bring in a hospital. Responses today are generally
multiagency. We very quickly and efficiently allow those enterprises to come
together and work as one with any type of voice, video or data device
they're using."

All of the communication and transmission of data, images or video are
end-to-end encrypted using federally approved Advanced Encryption Standard
ciphers and are mutually authenticated using standards-based public-key
cryptography. "[This] is the same kind of encryption that you trust your
bank accounts to when you're on a Web browser. It's very, very secure
encryption," Lawler says. However, use of old analog systems essentially
decodes the communication. "That is the weak link in the chain," Hatten
adds. "There's nothing anyone can do about it. That encrypted message at
that point is decrypted because their radio system decrypts it."

For the past several years, police and public safety departments across the
nation have upgraded to encrypted communications, with the Washington, D.C.,
police force leading the charge in 2011. "Whereas listeners used to be tied
to stationary scanners, new technology has allowed people- and especially
criminals-to listen to police communications on a smartphone," Police Chief
Cathy Lanier said during a D.C. Council committee hearing at the time. "When
a potential criminal can evade capture and learn, 'There's an app for that,'
it's time to change our practices."

"We're all about multimedia," Hatten adds. "We present encrypted voice, and
we encrypt the video and present it to the police, fire, multiple agencies
that are responding- whoever is relevant to the particular need or
incident."

The need to have the full multimedia experience-the voice communications,
video and data-prompted the move toward developing capabilities to
accommodate LTE services, Lawler explains. Between 75 percent and 100
percent of LMR users, depending on jurisdiction, already carry a broadband
device. The users sought expanded coverage and broadband services for their
smartphones. "They also want to be able to run apps," Lawler says. "Today,
38 percent of LMR end users are using a productivity app on their phone; 84
percent for business decision makers. When I say that, I'm not including
text or email or Web browsing. I'm talking about location tracking, fleet
management, work force management-those types of applications. And that's
why ... people want to grow their networks by 47 percent. If I have 100 PTT
radios, I would want to add 47 broadband push-to-talk devices. We're seeing
that."

The technology can work on any cellular network, making it deployable to
other nations.

"For all of us in the industry, we're in the business of giving push-to-talk
to people wherever and whenever they need [it]," Lawler says. "It's a real
change in the industry from systems that were very closed to an industry
where systems are very open, and interoperability is the norm and not the
exception."

Merging the technologies presented few hiccups, if any, the two offer.
"There was a slight difference in how the systems behaved that had to be
ironed out," Lawler says. "But it was more like British English to American
English than French and German or something like that."

SIDEBAR

"We're all about multimedia. We present encrypted voice, and we encrypt the
video and present it to the police, fire, multiple agencies that are
responding-whoever is relevant to the particular need or incident."

-Mark Hatten, CEO of Mutualink Incorporated

To share or comments on this article go to http://uri.afcea.org./July15

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2015 01:46:48 -0400
From: "Alan Henney" <alan at henney.com>
To: "Scan DC" <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Scan-DC] xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi
Message-ID: <00D6AF80B6F84661A18B68C3BBD6B771 at HPCompaqPro6300>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8";
	reply-type=original

My thanks to the many of you who provided valuable info on how to connect to
these xfinity hotspots.

I did some more testing with my Android tablet.  While I am able to connect
to these Comcast hotspots, when I open a browser, it says "page not found."

But funny thing, when I moved into a different neighborhood, my tablet
started connecting through xfinity without ever having entered a password.

Odd, huh?

I will try a notebook next.

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2015 01:42:11 -0400
From: "Alan Henney" <alan at henney.com>
To: "Scan DC" <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Scan-DC] Had anybody heard of Joe's Radio Shop?
Message-ID: <5865C32789D94D788B40F012D361C63F at HPCompaqPro6300>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

The Morgan Messenger (Berkeley Springs, West Virginia)

July 15, 2015

Joe's Radio Shop closes after 67 years

BYLINE: Kate Shunney

SECTION: FRONT PAGE

LENGTH: 571 words

Devin Myer, left, stands with Cecelia "Sis" Youngblood as the pair takes a
break from packing up equipment from Joe's Radio Shop last week. Most of the
stuff still left in the back room of Joe's Radio Shop last week could have
been called "obsolete" by modern standards.

Before an auctioneer hauled their last load away and the Youngblood family
settled on the sale of the shop Friday, that workshop still had remnants of
more than six decades of radio and TV repair work. 

Roger Youngblood joked that it was just a bunch of old junk nobody knew how
to use anymore. But, in truth, the collection of his father's repair
equipment -- left over from 67 years in business as Joe's Radio Shop - would
excite just about anyone interested in the history of electronics.

Joe Youngblood and his wife Cecilia "Sis" Youngblood opened their first
radio shop in the top floor of Nolan's Store in Great Cacapon around 1958.
They ran the business there for a year and a half, with their son Roger
spending naptime in empty boxes.

The couple moved the shop to the storefront where Tari's Caf? now operates
in downtown Berkeley Springs, and spent five years there. They operated for
the next 20 years in the building that houses Connie Perry's realty firm --
selling white goods, televisions, Brothers sewing machines and radios, of
course.

In 1974, Joe's Radio Shop moved to its final location - along the Warm
Springs Run on Congress Street. The short brick building had previously been
the Town of Bath office, the police department and home of the Berkeley
Springs Volunteer Fire Company.

Over the years, Joe Youngblood - who passed away in 2011 at the age of 90 --
serviced all sorts of radios, televisions, satellites, scanners, household
machines and antennae. Roger Youngblood has been working in the business
full time since 1984, with help from his wife Mary.

Customers of Joe's Radio Shop also turned to Cecilia Youngblood for their
sewing projects. She once worked at the Berkeley Shop - a dress shop in town
- and picked up some of her skills there.

"When you worked for a dress shop, you had to do alterations and all that,"
she said. People still come to her with their sewing projects - everything
from repairs to hemming and such.

Youngblood, who is just about to turn 91, said she'll still do a little bit
of sewing for her regular customers, even though the radio shop is now
closed.

Gareth and Gale Foulds of Berkeley Springs became the new owners of the
Congress Street building on Friday, July 10.

The Foulds don't have specific plans for the 1909 building beyond
stabilizing and renovating it to preserve its history, said Gale Foulds. The
couple hopes to work with the town and bring some "new energy" to the block.

Closing a chapter

Family members of the Youngbloods have helped sort through more than half a
century's worth of equipment and supplies at the shop as they prepared to
turn it over to the Foulds.

Joe Youngblood's great grandsons, Devin and Alexander Myer, have been
introduced to a few treasures during the process. One such item was a gold
Volkswagon bus model that doubled, in its day, as a record-player needle.

The closure of the shop has been taxing and physically demanding, but one
particular box drove home the idea that the family was closing a long
chapter in their history.

Inside the box were three cowboy hats set aside by Joe Youngblood - the
tall, handy, hat-wearing namesake of Joe's Radio Shop.

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2015 08:00:05 -0400
From: Dewey <dewey3 at gmail.com>
To: <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

That's the danger of remembering connections and auto-connect that was
mentioned by someone else in a previous reply.  Most systems only store the
SSID (hotspot name), and do not check for other unique identifiers, such as,
the MAC address.  So using xfinity as an example, if you connect
automagically to xfinity at home, when you travel and your system sees an
xfinity hotspot, it's going to connect.  As already stated, the dangerous
part is that I can create my own network full of hacker type tools like data
sniffers and loggers, then add wifi and name it xfinity.  When you and
anyone else who uses auto-connect come within my "reach", your system will
see "xfinity", and log on.  By the time you discover that you really
connected to a hostile "Man in the Middle", it will be too late.  The nature
of the damage can be as little as getting your login credentials to as
serious as sucking down everything on your system if you have network
sharing turned on.  There are other areas/things to this, but I only want to
do as much as possible to educate without saying so much as to make it easy
for someone who does already have the knowledge.

Dewey

-----Original Message-----
From: Scan-DC [mailto:scan-dc-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Alan
Henney
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2015 01:47
To: Scan DC
Subject: [Scan-DC] xfinity wifi / cable wifi / cox wifi

My thanks to the many of you who provided valuable info on how to connect to

these xfinity hotspots.

I did some more testing with my Android tablet.  While I am able to connect
to these Comcast hotspots, when I open a browser, it says "page not found."

But funny thing, when I moved into a different neighborhood, my tablet
started connecting through xfinity without ever having entered a password.

Odd, huh?

I will try a notebook next.

______________________________________________________________
Scan-DC mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/scan-dc
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2015 08:17:01 -0400
From: "D. Jones" <djoneses at verizon.net>
To: Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>, Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App
Message-ID: <65ho13dg446xc2kcfb2ouh4u.1437221821703 at email.android.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

This is also being done by a local company called Sytech. ?Sytech's products
are used by some local agencies.

-------- Original message --------
From: Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
Date: 07/18/2015  1:41 AM  (GMT-05:00)
To: Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Scan-DC] PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App 

Somewhat of an off-beat techie article that mentions Chief Lanier.

Signal

July 2015

PTT Technology Goes To Smartphone App

BYLINE: Jontz, Sandra. 

c. ontact: Sandra Jontz, sjontz at afcea.org

SECTION: GOVERNMENT/COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGIES; Pg. 31 Vol. 69 No. 11 ISSN:
0037-4938

LENGTH: 1684 words

ABSTRACT

[...]two companies have fused their respective technologies to bear the
upgrade in service-Kodiak, a provider of standards- based, clear, reliable
broadband PTT with land mobile radio (LMR) interoperability over 4G LTE,
Wi-Fi and 3G networks; and Mutualink Incorporated, which developed an
interoperable communications platform that enables communitywide multimedia
sharing in a secure environment. First responders increasingly rely on
mission-critical LTE-based PTT communication services that can send and
receive images and video, according to the Open Mobile Alliance, a global
standards development organization for the mobile phone industry. 

FULL TEXT