About

RM
Rick Murphy
WiFi Engineer · Educator · IEEE Standards Contributor
CWNE #10 Emeritus CWNA CWAP CWDP CWSP 802.11be
IEEE Standards Association Member · 802.11 · 802.15 · 802.3 · since December 2006

Background

Rick Murphy is one of the most credentialed and experienced wireless networking professionals in the industry. As CWNE #10 Emeritus, he has been an active IEEE Standards Association member since December 2006 — contributing to the development of 802.11, 802.15, and 802.3 standards since before 802.11n was ratified. Few practitioners can say they helped shape the technology they teach.

Rick holds the full suite of CWNP certifications — CWNE, CWNA, CWAP, CWDP, and CWSP — and has been an early adopter of the 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) standard. He is based in Larkspur, CO.

Career Timeline

1989 – 1999
MicroCenter Computers
Co-founded with his wife Sandy Murphy. Built and operated a networking company in Colorado. When the national MicroCenter electronics chain expanded into the Denver market, they purchased the Colorado naming rights. Rick reorganized under vLogic, Inc. and sold the networking operations as Intrinsic Networks in 1999.
2001
Learning Tree International
Wireless networking instructor.
2002 – 2005
Global Knowledge
Wireless instructor and course director.
2005
CWNP / Planet 3
Senior instructor, course designer (CWNA v3), and minority partner at The Certified Wireless Network Professional organization.
2006
WiTS Founded
Co-founded Wireless Training and Solutions, Inc. (WiTS) with managing partner Scott Williams and Stephanie Williams.
2009 – 2012
AirMagnet Academy
WiTS independently built and operated AirMagnet Academy, delivering vendor training for the AirMagnet product line. Rick led training in hotels and training facilities worldwide and across the US. Clients included NASA, the Panama Canal Authority, United Airlines, Apple Education, GoGo Air, and Philips Health.
2012
WiTS Academy Training Center
Opened the WiTS Academy Training Center in Frederick, CO — a dedicated facility for hands-on wireless networking instruction.
2020
Training Center Closed
Closed due to COVID-19.
2026
WiTS Academy Online
WiTS Academy relaunched as an online platform, bringing vendor-neutral WiFi training and live field project documentation to engineers and everyday problem-solvers worldwide.

WiTS Academy Today

Maybe you’re the Accidental WiFi Guy — the gym teacher who got handed a Ubiquiti box and a prayer, the office manager who inherited a mess of access points, or the IT generalist who knows enough to be dangerous but wants to actually understand what’s happening in the air around you. You didn’t plan to be the WiFi person. But here you are.

You’re in the right place.

WiTS Academy was built for people who need WiFi to work — not just engineers chasing certifications. The curriculum is grounded in real deployments and accurate wireless principles, explained in plain language without dumbing anything down. Whether you’re troubleshooting your first dead zone or designing a network from scratch, the goal is the same: understand what’s actually happening, make good decisions, and get it working.

The centerpiece of the current curriculum is a live 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) network upgrade at a private golf course — documented from initial site survey through full deployment, with live dashboards showing actual network performance as the project unfolds. No lab simulations. No made-up scenarios. Real gear, real problems, real results.

Instructor rick@witsacademy.com
General Inquiries support@witsacademy.com
Location Larkspur, CO