Hack Tales: Keeping track of tools the wireless way - This Wi-Fi hack meant tools need never go missing again.(real estate industry uses Trapeze Networks RingMaster)

"Who has that damn cart now?" During a network build-out for a large New York commercial real estate manager a few years back, that phrase got shouted often enough to become a stress mantra.

This company had several midsize businesses already signed up for space and was offering central network services as an optional part of the lease package. So, while the walls were still open, my team was hired to supervise the riser wiring and wire the floor closet ourselves, as well as set up a small datacenter in the basement.

Being a real estate manager, however, our client was financially tight. In fact, "fiscal tourniquet" might be a better term. As a result, we had …