One of the most trusted voices in Wi-Fi
Drew Lentz,
the Wireless Nerd
Award-winning wireless engineer. Twenty-plus years making wireless actually work, from Fortune 50 networks to rural South Texas broadband. Every week I break down the industry for the people who build it: what's new, what's now, and what's next.
Latest
What I've been putting out
New articles, field reports, and podcast episodes, newest first.
Satellite Already Won the Scalability Argument. Affordability Is the Fight That Matters
14 Aug 2026
SpaceX told the FCC that Starlink makes rural subsidies obsolete. Drew Lentz concedes the technology point and explains why coverage maps still miss...
ArticleI Ran Out of Excuses Not to Blog, So I Built Something That Revolves Around Me
10 Aug 2026
Drew Lentz built a system that phones him daily, interviews him about a story pulled from 500 feeds, and turns his spoken answers into a post in his...
ArticleThe fiber-AI finding is good marketing and a warning about who gets left behind
09 Aug 2026
Fiber users reportedly ask 28.5 questions per AI session. Drew Lentz explains why that correlation is a red flag for the digital divide, and why...
ArticleSpaceX's Rooftop Cell Hint Looks a Lot Like Helium's Network
05 Aug 2026
SpaceX's rooftop-cell hint echoes Helium's distributed network model. Here is what was said, what the data supports, and what remains unproven today.
PodcastSmarter Wireless: Design Standards, Tool Updates, Trends And Real-World Use
05 Feb 2026
Miss the days when Wi‑Fi talk meant real problems, real tools, and real wins? Same here. I’m back on camera to unpack what actually moved the needle...
PodcastWhy Wi‑Fi 7’s Surge Matters And How Wi‑Fi 8 Will Change Network Design - Plus the WiFiNow Awards and BEAD Funds!
17 Dec 2025
The wireless world just flipped from speed bragging rights to real‑world reliability, and we’re here for it. We break down how Wi‑Fi 7 went...
The short version
I translate the wireless industry for the people who actually deploy it.
I'm a wireless network engineer based in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. I've designed and deployed Wi-Fi for stadiums, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, and whole communities, and I've spent just as much energy getting connectivity to the places the fiber maps forgot. The podcast, the writing, and the consulting all come from the same place: a genuine obsession with making invisible things work.
Waves with Wireless Nerd
The podcast
A weekly look at what's making waves in tech and wireless. News, field reports, gear, and the occasional interview, stitched into a practical roadmap you can actually use.
Smarter Wireless: Design Standards, Tool Updates, Trends & Real-World Use
Standardized Wi-Fi design, Wi-Fi 8 progress, and new tools (Wi-Fi Check, Hamina Clip).
Why Wi-Fi 7's Surge Matters and How Wi-Fi 8 Will Change Network Design
Wi-Fi 7 goes mainstream, Cisco pricing, Wi-Fi 8 design, the WiFiNow Awards, and BEAD funds.
From Fries to Fiber, Dual-Mode APs, Multi-Cloud to Wi-Fi 8, 5G & More
Vegas event recap, dual-mode APs, multi-cloud, BEAD, and the road to Wi-Fi 8.
re:Invent 25 for Wireless Nerds: Faster Satellites and Wi-Fi That Actually Works
AWS re:Invent special, Amazon's Leo LEO satellite, and the mesh network behind a very busy burger joint.
Desired State Networking, New Gear from Meter & Ubiquiti, T-Mobile's Slicing & EU Spectrum
Intent-based networking, fresh gear, network slicing, and European spectrum shifts.
Why listen to me
A real track record, not a follower count.
Two-time Cambium Connectivity Hero
2020 Connectivity Hero of the Year for the McAllen digital-divide deployment, read the full case study, and a 2017 Connectivity Hero award for Hurricane Harvey disaster-response work.
WLPC presenter & former track chair
A recurring voice at the Wireless LAN Professionals Conference, the industry's premier vendor-neutral Wi-Fi event.
Tech Field Day delegate
An invited independent delegate across Mobility, Networking, and Tech Field Day events.
Founder, CodeRGV
President and co-founder of a South Texas nonprofit building the next generation of nerds through computer-science education.
Fresh from the field
Recent builds I led
Not theory, networks I designed and stood up in the last year, where failure wasn't an option.
Palm Tree Music Festival, Santa Barbara
A sold-out festival on a polo field: dozens of cloud POS systems, artist media teams, and thousands of fans riding outdoor multi-gig Wi-Fi. Zero reboots, zero dropouts, all weekend, on gear sipping under 7 watts per AP.
World Surf League, three tour stops
Connectivity for Pipe Pro, Trestles Pro, and the US Open of Surfing: real-time judge scoring, live broadcast, athlete video review, and retail, each on its own segmented network, on the sand.
The largest Five Guys in North America
10,000 sq ft in Las Vegas, running nearly 24/7: six POS lanes, four kiosks, six menu boards. 100,000+ burgers and millions in transactions, zero network issues.
From the archive
Writing worth your time
More than a decade of field notes, deployment stories, and industry takes. A few that hold up:
Bridging the Digital Divide Using CBRS and Wi-Fi, 1,000 APs in 60 Days
1,000 access points and CBRS endpoints deployed in 60 days to close the digital divide.
ReadThe Fundamentals of Wi-Fi Predictive Analysis
What a predictive design actually needs to be trustworthy.
ReadTeeing Up Wi-Fi Analytics at the Ryder Cup
Analytics under the load of a global sporting event.
Beyond the mic
Things I've built
Frontera Consulting
Connectivity strategy, design, and deployment for enterprises, municipalities, and communities.
VentureSignalRoam
Connectivity as a service: indoor cellular coverage that rides existing Wi-Fi, Passpoint, carrier offload, and private 4G/5G.
VentureGuardSense
Real-time visitor management for facilities that need to know who's on site, the moment they arrive.
VentureThe Wi-Fi Survey Kit
Turnkey, case-based kits that give Wi-Fi pros everything they need for active and passive site surveys.
VentureWiFiStand
The AP-on-a-stick mounting stand that reframed temporary and survey WLAN deployments.
On Instagram
From the field
Job sites, gear, and whatever the week actually looked like.
Straight answers
Frequently asked
Who is the Wireless Nerd?
The Wireless Nerd is Drew Lentz, a wireless network engineer with more than 20 years in the industry, based in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. He hosts the weekly podcast Waves with Wireless Nerd, writes about Wi-Fi engineering and broadband policy, and advocates for closing the digital divide. He holds the CWNA certification and is a two-time Cambium Networks Connectivity Hero: 2020 Connectivity Hero of the Year for the McAllen digital-divide deployment, and a 2017 Connectivity Hero award for Hurricane Harvey disaster response.
What is Waves with Wireless Nerd?
Waves with Wireless Nerd is a weekly technology podcast hosted by Drew Lentz that breaks down the biggest stories in Wi-Fi and the wireless industry, what's new, what's now, and what's next. Episodes cover Wi-Fi 6, 7, and 8, spectrum policy, satellite connectivity, vendor news, and real-world deployments. It's available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music.
What does Drew Lentz specialize in?
Drew specializes in wireless network design and deployment: enterprise WLAN, Wi-Fi site surveys and RF planning, outdoor and high-density Wi-Fi, CBRS and fixed-wireless access, and municipal and community broadband. He is especially known for large, fast deployments, including 1,000 access points and CBRS endpoints in 60 days to bridge the digital divide in McAllen, Texas.
How can I book Drew to speak or consult?
Drew speaks at wireless and technology conferences and consults on connectivity projects through Frontera Consulting. The fastest way to reach him is email at drew@drewlentz.com, or via the contact page on wirelessnerd.net.
What's the difference between Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7, and Wi-Fi 8?
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) introduced OFDMA and better efficiency in dense environments. Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) added 320 MHz channels, 4K-QAM, and Multi-Link Operation for much higher throughput and lower latency. Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) shifts the goal from raw speed to reliability, its headline feature is multi-AP coordination, where access points cooperate to deliver consistent performance rather than just faster peaks. Drew covers this progression regularly on the Waves podcast.
Got a wireless problem worth solving?
Speaking, consulting, sponsoring the podcast, or just want to argue about Wi-Fi 8, I'm easy to reach.