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Colin Vallance


Colin Vallance is a technical architect for CDW with a focus on wireless technologies. In his role, Colin is responsible for the development of Wi-Fi solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of customers. Colin has been at CDW for nearly 10 years, first as a delivery engineer, and then as a technical lead, before becoming a technical architect. During his time in delivery, he surveyed millions of square feet, implemented dozens of networks and had the pleasure of working on several CDW stadium projects. He holds a CCIE Wireless and a Meraki CMNA; he is also a Meraki Master and enjoys writing tools in Python.

Technical Architect


5 Tips for Automation in 2021

Unsure of what to automate or how to get started? Here are some easy steps you can take to see the value that automation delivers.

By Mike Robinson  and Colin Vallance
|
January 19, 2021
Digital Workspace, Data Center, Software

The year 2020 saw significant business disruptions, which caused many organizations to adopt new technology strategies, repurpose or resize infrastructure, and honestly assess the suitability of existing solutions moving forward. Amid all this introspection, one general theme seems apparent: Automation should be a key component of any business strategy not only in the office but…

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Meraki Hackathon Powers Innovation

Cisco and CDW team up to jump-start development on exciting new wireless networking applications.

By Colin Vallance  and Mike Robinson
|
October 9, 2020
Networking, Services, Software

Darin Burleigh and Will Kerr also contributed to this post. This summer, with support and guidance from our partners at Cisco, coworkers from CDW came together for a friendly Meraki hackathon. Over the course of two days, each of the four teams worked on designing and implementing applications based on Cisco Meraki wireless technology. Learn…

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Expect Big Changes with Wi-Fi 6E

While some details are still being filled in, this coming wireless standard offers new and innovative opportunities.

By Colin Vallance
|
August 25, 2020
Networking

This past April, the FCC adopted new rules for the 6GHz band (5.925GHz – 7.125GHz), freeing up 1,200MHz of spectrum for unlicensed use. This new amount of spectrum was dubbed Wi-Fi 6E by the Wi-Fi Alliance in January to establish a common industry name to identify devices that will be able to use the 6GHz…

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Deploying Enterprise-Grade Wireless for Work from Home

Explore workarounds for connecting WFH users to the corporate network.

By Colin Vallance
|
March 31, 2020
Networking

Distributed the laptops? Check. Wireless mice? Check. Warm, snuggly pajamas with your company’s logo? Check. Your organization is ready for work from home. Except… you need to also extend your network to support this workforce. That’s where the real struggle is: where the hard-working IT professionals are having to support a massive influx of remote…

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What You Need to Know About Wi-Fi 6 Certification

Great new features will soon be available for certified devices.

By Colin Vallance
|
October 2, 2019
Networking, Digital Workspace

On September 16, the Wi-Fi Alliance officially announced the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 certification program. This is an exciting announcement in the world of wireless and will help usher more Wi-Fi 6 devices into the marketplace. For those unfamiliar with the Wi-Fi Alliance, it is a worldwide group of companies who work together to build sets…

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Are You Ready to Make the Jump to Wi-Fi 6?

Due diligence is required to make sure your organization is ready for access points supporting this new wireless standard.

By Colin Vallance
|
July 19, 2019
Networking

The latest standard in Wi-Fi denoted as 802.11ax and branded as Wi-Fi 6 has been big news lately. Wi-Fi 6 promises a multitude of exciting new features that are set to be the most radical changes to the 802.11 spec that we know and love. The name of the game here is efficiency — the…

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Wireless LAN Professionals Conference: An Opportunity to Explore All Things Wi-Fi

Here’s why attending the WLPC is a must for everyone, from wireless newbies to veterans.

By Colin Vallance
|
April 23, 2019
Networking

Part of my role as a wireless technical architect at CDW is keeping in touch with what's going on in the wireless industry. This means attending industry conferences such as Aruba Atmosphere and Cisco Live, where I get to absorb technical content, hear what's coming next, talk with our customers and partners, and frequently meet…

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Everyday DevOps: A Look at Gooey

This tool brings simplicity to Python complexity.

By Colin Vallance
|
January 22, 2019
Software, Networking

In my day-to-day life, I try to figure out little ways to become more efficient and consistent while solving the problems that are in front of me. In my personal life, these problems are usually more self-inflicted, such as creating customizable holiday lights or graphing fermentation temperatures for home-brewing. Professionally, this often looks more like…

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Securing Your Organization Against WPA Vulnerabilities — Part 3

A few changes to how you secure your PSKs will go a long way toward protecting your network.

By Colin Vallance
|
October 18, 2018
Security, Networking

In Part 1 and Part 2 of my blog series, I shared some insights into how attackers continue to exploit the weaknesses of WPA and the tools and techniques they are using to gain access to poorly secured networks. In the last post of the series, I will offer some suggestions for how organizations can…

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Securing Your Organization Against WPA Vulnerabilities — Part 2

Knowing the basic tools and techniques that attackers use will help you defend your network.

By Colin Vallance
|
October 12, 2018
Security, Networking

In my first blog post on securing against Wi-Fi Protected Access vulnerabilities, I talked about the fact that attacks are still being developed to take advantage of weaknesses found in WPA/WPA2, which are known and have been around for a while. This post continues that discussion, getting into how exactly most attacks are carried out…

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Securing Your Organization Against WPA Vulnerabilities — Part 1

New attacks continue to take advantage of Wi-Fi Protected Access weaknesses, so don’t let down your guard.

By Colin Vallance
|
October 4, 2018
Security, Networking

In early August this year, the folks behind the Hashcat password cracking tool posted a thread on a new attack against Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2) using the Pairwise Master Key Identification technique. The attack differs from the traditional WPA/WPA2 attack vector in that it does not require the capture of a full Extensible Authentication Protocol…

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3 Factors to Consider Before 802.11ax, the Next Wireless Upgrade

Wireless technology touches more than just the access point, so plan carefully.

By Colin Vallance
|
July 17, 2018
Networking

A lot of people have been talking recently about the upcoming IEEE wireless standard 802.11ax. If you haven’t already heard about this next generation of wireless, several vendors such as Aruba and Cisco have already published detailed white papers to help you through the details. With the standard expected to be finalized sometime in 2019,…

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