WiFi Ninjas - Wireless Networking Podcast

Matt and Mac are back in Matt's newly renovated garden studio, and this one covers a lot.

First, the studio. Matt walks through his full setup and what's actually worth the money. You can start with just a phone and a cheap wireless mic. Later, acoustics, lighting, lenses, a teleprompter, a decent chair and a two-zone desk setup make the biggest difference. They also cover what didn't make the cut.

Next, Ekahau's new SaaS licensing. They explain Plan, Measure Pro, Measure and the full AI Pro Software Suite: what each includes, how pricing works, prorated upgrades, and why existing Connect customers don't need to switch.

Then it's out on the water. Mac surveys his sailing club in Poland using the new Apple Maps GPS workflow in the Survey app. He needed no calibration points, got roughly 50cm accuracy, and his Sidekick 2 lasted two hours on a 10-minute charge. The result: the clubhouse has great Wi-Fi and the paying members' boats have none.

Along the way: life updates, Mac's new sailing school, a recap of Wi-Co in Manchester, Harry's journey from bartender to Wi-Fi architect in five years, and a teaser for Wi-Fi Day on 22 October.

WiFi Ninjas Podcast: We're Back (Third Time Lucky)

After five years of silence, the Ninjas return. Technically, this is our third attempt at recording episode one. The first was too inappropriate for the internet, the second got cancelled for a barbecue, and this one finally made it out alive. Recorded in person at Mac's brand new Cotswolds hotel, soon to be famous on Homes Under the Hammer.

What we get into:

• Where we've both been for five years: Matt still at Ekahau (now part of Ookla, now part of Accenture, keep up), Mac out building a property empire with 15 Airbnbs, 7 owned assets, and an estate agency, because apparently he wasn't busy enough

• Wi-Fi for Airbnbs: why prosumer mesh beats enterprise kit for short-term rentals, and why TP-Link Deco surprised everyone in our 110-test WiFi Design Day showdown

• Designing Wi-Fi for a 400-year-old building with 1.2-metre stone walls measuring 100+ dB of attenuation. Yes, you read that right. The Sidekick just gave up counting

• The salt and pepper cheat: six UniFi APs leaning on cross-floor coverage through thin ceilings instead of fighting walls that laugh at RF

• Fast roaming on a personal SSID: 802.11r in a holiday let, because guests deserve better than captive portals asking for your email so they can spam you later

• The full ECSE refresh: Design, Troubleshooting, and Advanced, all rebuilt around Ekahau AI Pro Online, with more hands-on labs, real-world troubleshooting scenarios, and no more melting netbooks

• The Accenture acquisition: what we know, what we don't, and why Matt being kept out of the loop is actually great for legal reasons

• The time we tried to explain Cockney rhyming slang to the owner of the company, and he genuinely thought we were winding him up

Milestone alert: 100,000+ downloads and still the number two Wi-Fi podcast in the world, despite five years of doing absolutely nothing. The fundamentals don't change, apparently.

What's next: More episodes, new perspectives (engineer life vs business owner life), guests grabbed at events, and a website that finally works. Got a topic you want covered? Drop it in the comments or reach out.

See you on the next one. Probably not in another five years.

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