Telecom Lead America: Ruckus Wireless announced that its Smart
Wi-Fi products have been selected as part of the Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED Passpoint test bed.
The company has completed Phase 1 interoperability trials
within the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) Next Generation Hotspot (NGH)
program.
Ruckus is among some of the first Wi-Fi suppliers to
receive Passpoint certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance for its products.
As one of the initial Wi-Fi equipment suppliers to be
involved in developing the Wi-Fi Alliance Hotspot 2.0 Specification, which is
the underlying technology for the Passpoint certification, Ruckus is
demonstrating its commitment to advancing next-generation Wi-Fi technology, and
revolutionizing the way subscribers connect to Wi-Fi hotspots.
Using Passpoint-certified devices, this process is
completely automated. Passpoint-certified mobile devices automatically select a
Wi-Fi hotspot based on information advertised by certified Wi-Fi access points.
With Passpoint mobile devices and Wi-Fi access
points, information is provided that tells which network is available for
service and which hotspots support roaming with the user’s home service
providers. Once this is established, the user’s mobile device will
automatically connect to the appropriate hotspot while securing the link with
advanced Wi-Fi security.
“The Wi-Fi Alliance’s development of the Hotspot 2.0
specification and the use and support of Passpoint will radically transform and
simplify the way people connect to Wi-Fi networks – making it as easy as using
today’s cellular phones,” said Steve Martin, senior vice president of
engineering for Ruckus Wireless.
To achieve certification and become part of the Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED Passpoint testbed, Ruckus participated in several plugfests with
various mobile client and infrastructure vendors over the course of several
months. In these tests, Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products demonstrated
interoperability with other Passpoint-certified equipment and devices.
The products that succeeded in meeting interoperability
requirements, including the Ruckus ZoneFlex suite, were selected as test
devices in the Passpoint testbed. The Passpoint testbed will be used to test
additional products for Passpoint certification in the months to come.
The aim of the WBA trials was to test the NGH
requirements for network discovery and selection, security, automatic
authentication in a production environment on, and between, different
operators’ actual networks using equipment and devices from various vendors.
“We congratulate Ruckus on the selection of their
products to the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint test bed, and commend their
commitment to multi-vendor interoperability,” said Wi-Fi Alliance CEO
Edgar Figueroa.
