Heavy Wireless
Packet Pushers
Heavy Wireless is a deep dive into Wi-Fi, IoT, wireless security, and more. Host Keith Parsons, CWNE#3, draws on his decades of experience to educate, entertain, and inspire those working in the WLAN industry. Each twice-monthly episode explores an aspect of wireless technology with guests including Wi-Fi engineers, industry experts, and vendors. Whether you're already a WLAN specialist or looking to expand your skills in this high-demand sector of IT, Heavy Wireless gives you the technical know-how and industry context to succeed.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 14, 2026 • 31min
HW075: Speedtest Certified
Speedtest Certified is a network connectivity verification program for properties and venues, allowing them to prove the performance of their Wi-Fi. Alan Blake of Ookla joins the show to break down what the certification actually measures, how assessments are performed, and what it means for network owners as well as Wi Fi professionals. This is... Read more »
Mar 31, 2026 • 27min
HW074: Build Your Own Access Point with Bradley Wegner
Keith Parsons is joined by Bradley Wegner, the creator of the Build Your Own AP deep dive at WLPC. Brad discusses his class, which focuses on hands-on hardware experience of constructing an AP. He talks about balancing hardware costs with capabilities, sourcing the components, and the software and firmware involved. He also shares his vision... Read more »
Mar 17, 2026 • 29min
HW073: OpenIntent: A Collaborative Effort for Wi-Fi Interoperability
OpenIntent is an open-source, collaborative effort by network operators to develop a standard schema to describe the necessary information needed to deploy network equipment. Keith sits down with Jake Snyder, the developer behind OpenIntent. They discuss why he developed OpenIntent, the building blocks of the schema, and his vision for seamless Wi-Fi design interoperability. AdSpot... Read more »
Mar 3, 2026 • 25min
HW072: Wireless-Adjacent Products from Digi International
Digi International has a whole lot of things that aren’t exactly in the Wi-Fi space, but are close enough to be of interest to WLAN engineers. Joining us today to talk about Digi International’s wireless tech, and what it means for wireless LAN pros, is Bob Blumenscheid. Bob discusses Digi’s offerings, including their XBee modules,... Read more »
Feb 17, 2026 • 26min
HW071: New iOS Tools for WLAN Pi
Adrian Granados joins Keith Parsons to discuss new iOS tools available for the WLAN Pi. These new tools extend a professional’s ability to run Wi-Fi scanning and analysis apps such a Wi-Fi Explorer Pi and Airtool Pi on iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads. Along with the small, portable WLAN Pi itself, these apps... Read more »
Feb 3, 2026 • 29min
HW070: Better Understand Your Network Performance with NetViews
Every Wi-fi or network professional occasionally struggles with understanding what their endpoints are experiencing. Keith sits down with Bill Bushong, creator of NetViews, a macOS application originally called PingStalker. In this conversation they discuss why he built NetViews, the technical details on how it works, its network monitoring capabilities, and how Wi-Fi professionals can use... Read more »
Jan 27, 2026 • 34min
HW069: The Hamina Clip
Keith sits down with old friend Jussi Kiviniemi, CEO of Hamina, to unveil their new product: The Hamina Clip. Together they discuss this new wireless survey device, including its portable design, its price point, and its ability to help you perform surveys and create heat maps without a floor plan. They also compare it to... Read more »
Jan 20, 2026 • 29min
HW068: Vibe Coding for Wireless Engineers
Is AI just a fad or is it fundamentally changing Wi-Fi operations? Keith sits down with Robert Boardman to discuss the reality of AI-augmented Wi-Fi engineering. Robert describes AI as a tool, and explains how it can be useful for automating monotonous tasks and proactive troubleshooting. They also explore the human factor and how experience... Read more »
Dec 16, 2025 • 26min
HW067: Extending Your Wireless Range with Wi-Fi HaLow
Today we delve into Wi-Fi HaLow, 802.11ah. Wi-Fi HaLow offers a more extended range than traditional Wi-Fi. We talk with David Rice, Principle Field Application Engineer and Arien Judge, Open Source Platforms Manager both from Morse Micro. Morse Micro makes chips to deliver energy-efficient wireless communication with extended range in the sub-1 GHz band. They... Read more »
Dec 2, 2025 • 20min
HW066: An Inside Look at the WLAN-Pi App
Ben Toner once again joins Keith Parsons to explain the new WLAN-Pi App. Originally built to control the WLAN-Pi Go, the app now works with all WLAN-Pi models and consolidates controls previously spread across the web UI and APIs. They then dive deeper into the method of connectivity for the app and the functionalities it... Read more »
