"Tracking and cracking network performance problems is no easy task. More than a matter of identifying often mystifying bottlenecks, ensuring network efficiency requires an almost preternatural understanding of your organization's IT operations, as well as a thick skin for withstanding the heat when problems inevitably arise.

Now that Google has wrapped up the application period for its open access, 1Gbps fiber testbed, we know that more than 1,000 US cities want the network. Only a couple will get it, though; what's going to happen to everyone else?

More and more people are willing to assemble their own wireless network. With a wireless network set at your home or office, you will be able to share files, use the printer and access the Internet without the need of connecting a network cable to your computers.

By now, you all are very aware of my decision to break up with my iPhone because of connectivity problems with AT&T’s network. Since then, others have complained and switched away from the iPhone as well. As expected, my breakup didn’t go down too well in some company quarters. I think AT&T could have foreseen that a device that one of its senior executives deemed a “game changer” would be so popular that it would choke its bandwidth.