Save on Roaming and Overage Charges with WiFi

 

The data crunch is in full swing. As more and more people buy smartphones, carriers are having a harder time delivering the amount of data we have grown accustomed to and, unless you still have a legacy unlimited plan, you probably have a data cap. Moreover, data plans are increasingly expensive and, if you travel, you can face astronomical overage charges. So how can you avoid them? WiFi of course.

The best way to avoid overage fees without significantly cutting down your usage is to make the most of WiFi networks. By simply installing a WiFi network at home and at work, you can cut down your cellular data usage significantly. Indeed, Olivier Baujard, Deutsche Telekom’s chief technology officer,  recently cited that around 90% of the general consumer’s data usage is split between the home and place of employment.

Moreover, WiFi is rapidly becoming more available in public places (such as Fon’s over 5 million hotspots around the globe) and retail locations and cafes are increasingly offering in store WiFi for free as a way to interact with consumers. So jump on to a WiFi network and start saving.

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The Importance of WiFi in Retail Locations

WiFi in a Cafe

There has been much debate about how the internet is affecting brick and mortar retailers, with consumers increasingly making purchases online. And,  recent article in Retail Week recently dispelled the idea that consumers, empowered by the ability to comparison-shop on the spot, would choose to shop exclusively at online stores. In fact,  in-store WiFi can attract customers, who linger and ultimately spend at the places that enable them to surf the web on-the-go.

As Retail Week correctly points out, pros of offering in-store WiFi heavily outweigh the cons.

In-store WiFi offers a range of solutions for retail locations through the use of WiFi enabled barcode scanners and mobile computers, so a store can easily track inventory, speed up shipping and receiving, simplify markups and markdowns, streamline the labeling process, realize labor savings, and reduce stock-outs. Those scanners that they use in Apple stores? Yeah, they are operating on WiFi.

Of course, the most important aspect of in-store WiFi is the consumer facing one, and it should not be underestimated. In store WiFi presents an opportunity to create sales through people who are searching for WiFi (tourists and people with wireless data caps). Additionally, in-store WiFi can be used for checking in on Foursquare and other location-based services, and for social networking. For stores, this creates an opportunity to offer customers hyper-targeted advertising and promotions, which could potentially result in a sale. This is not only positive for the retailer, but also a fantastic way to build relationships with customers.

We’re already ahead of the curve when it comes to retail WiFi, as Fon is present at retail locations around the world, providing high-quality WiFi to all different kinds of small businesses.

 

 

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WiFi: Now in a Quarter of the World’s Households

WiFi will be in nearly 50% of homes by 2016

According to a recent survey conducted by Strategy Analytics, WiFi is now present in a whopping 439 million households around the world – and this is just the beginning! The highest penetration rate of WiFi occurs in South Korea, where over 80 percent of households have a WiFi network installed. Other countries with high WiFi penetration include the UK, France and Germany – each with a penetration rate of over 70 percent.

The survey also predicts that 800 million households will have WiFi by 2016. This means that in just four years WiFi will be in 42 percent of homes. The largest part of the growth will come from China which is projected to add another 110 million WiFi households by 2016.

WiFi in the home has clear benefits, not least being able to connect all of your devices to the network in a simple way. It is reliable and fast, and saves on 3G/ 4G costs.

 

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What is EAP-SIM?

In a few previous posts (here and here) we have mentioned EAP as part of the Passpoint program that is under development by the WiFi Alliance. But what is EAP? Specifically, what is EAP-SIM, how does it work, and why is it important?

EAP stands for Extensible Authentication Protocol and is a generic framework for network authentication i.e. it provides access to a network. At Fon we are very interested in EAP-SIM technology, which uses the subscriber identity and credentials contained in any SIM card to automatically access a WiFi network without the need for the user to input a pre-established password.

So how would this work?

Essentially, EAP-SIM operates using three connected elements: a wireless hotspot or WLAN,  a centralized authentication manager (RADIUS server) that supports EAP-SIM, and a central database containing the details of each subscriber (known as an HLR) of the mobile operator. In many cases, all three elements will be operated by the same operator, but roaming agreements would enable users from third parties to be authenticated seamlessly. A combination of these three elements will enable an authorized user to be seamlessly authenticated on a participating network. Everything would be done in the background: you would not have to put in a user name or password and the connection would happen as if you were connecting to your home network, even if you had never been at that physical location before.

Now, why is it important?

An authentication protocol like EAP-SIM is important on two levels. Firstly, the experience of connecting to an operators WiFi network on a mobile device would be greatly simplified. There would be no more searching for an open SSID and having to put in your account credentials (who remembers them anyway?). A user would be connected as soon as they walk into range of the signal. Secondly, from a business standpoint, EAP-SIM is a no brainer for telecommunications companies as it would greatly improve the data offload potential for a WiFi network,  as users will be automatically transferred onto WiFi from 3G or 4G networks.

At Fon we are constantly working to improve user experience and, as a testament to that, the next generation Fonera Simpl will include EAP technology and will be available in the fall of this year.

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SFR Renews Partnership with Fon

Alex Puregger, Fon COO, presenting at SFR event

SFR, France’s second largest telco, and a long-time Fon partner, has just announced a renewed partnership with Fon.

Thanks to this partnership, all SFR neufbox customers can enjoy Fon’s over five million hotspots all over the world, in addition to SFR’s own network of four million hotspots around France. SFR was the first telco in France to create a WiFi community network, and is the only telco in the country that provides international WiFi access to its ADSL subscribers.

SFR is committed to further developing the SFR WiFi Fon coverage in France by allowing all its neufbox subscribers to join the Fon network.

If you’re an SFR neufbox customer, you just have to enable SFR WiFi Fon through your neufbox interface to join the Fon network. You will then be able to enjoy unlimited connection to the Fon network from any WiFi-enabled device as well as free worldwide WiFi roaming.

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The Future of WiFi Connection: 802.11u

Right now, each time you find a WiFi signal, you have to connect to your desired network manually. While this process is usually fast and simple, there is a new standard being developed that will make connecting to a WiFi network seamless and even faster, and that’s 802.11u.

In a WiFi context, 802.11u is all about network discovery and selection. This means that it allows your WiFi -enabled device to find, automatically select and connect to your preferred WiFi networks. So this standard works by letting your device automatically scan for networks, find out details about the networks, and based on a set of policies set by you or your provider, prioritize the network that it connects to.

As a user, you can set your “favorite” networks based on a set of criteria. For example, having your device choose your private signal at home over a public signal. With the 802.11u protocol your device can even choose a network where you have paid for access over one where you have not. Basically, it ensures that you are always connected to the best possible network, so you always have the best connection quality, highest bandwidth or lowest cost, to name a few advantages.

802.11u will improve the usability of WiFi.

802.11u and Fon

At Fon, we are already offering offload solutions to our network partners. 802.11u will of course further expand Fon’s potential to deliver offload.

802.11u is part of the Passpoint (formerly Hotspot 2.0) program, which was specified by the WiFi Alliance, of which Fon is a member. At Fon, we see huge potential for Passpoint in combination with the technologies it puts forward (such as 802.11x, 802.11u and EAP, for example). This standard is principally about improving the user experience of public WiFi, ensuring that:

  • Users can easily find and connect to their preferred networks (802.11u)
  • Smoothly and automatically authenticate with the network (802.1X)
  • Securely authenticate (EAP).

Fon will adopt all of the Passpoint standards, including 802.11u.

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The Evolution of WiFi

If you are reading this blog, you already know that at Fon we live and breathe WiFi. But where did WiFi came from and how it has evolved over the years?

WiFi, also known as standard 802.11, began in 1997 when the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) introduced the standard system. IEEE is an organization consisting of expert electrical and electronics engineers who create standards for technologies like WiFi in order to ensure interoperability. The number 802 in the standard is the numerical designation of the IEEE subcommittee dealing with WiFi while the 11 means that the standard deals operates on a wireless frequency. Letters are given to amendments which have been approved to give the 802.11 technology either greater speed, increased range, better reliability, or any combination of the three. For a full list of the 802.11 amendments, see here.

The WiFi standard has evolved over the years from its original inception, known as 802.11-1997, through 802.11a,b, g, and n, to the newest iteration known as 802.11ac. The original standard operated on the 2.4GHz frequency but received very little recognition due to its low transfer rate (2Mbps) and the fact that the technology was expensive, not to mention laptops themselves.

The next versions of WiFi (a and b) were released simultaneously in 1999. 802.11a was able to transmit data at greater speeds (54Mbps) because it operated on the 5GHz frequency but suffered a major drawback in that operating on this frequency meant that the signal had trouble passing through walls and a shorter range than 2.4GHz . 802.11b, on the other hand, continued to operate on the 2.4GHz frequency and saw maximum speeds of around 11Mbps, which was comparable to broadband speeds at the time. This meant that users got all the mobility benefits of the frequency while not suffering significant speed reductions and resulted in the widespread adoption of the 802.11b standard.

In 2003 the fourth version of the standard was ratified in order to keep up with the increases in broadband speeds. This new version, 802.11g, integrated aspects of  the a standard in order to increase the data rate to 54Mbps while staying on the 2.4GHz frequency.

In 2009 the IEEE approved the 802.11n amendment, which improved upon the g standard by adding MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antennae. Essentially, MIMO antennae allow multiple users to connect to a single WiFi source without experiencing significant speed reductions (assuming the number of users is less than or equal to the number of antennae)  by assigning each user to a single antenna. 802.11n also allows operation on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies and has a maximum data rate of 150Mbps (per antenna).

Most recently, the IEEE is working to ratify the 802.11ac standard which promises speeds of up to 450Mbps per antenna. This is achieved by operating on the 5GHz frequency while integrating more antennae and using “beamforming” technology to overcome the range limitations. 802.11ac has yet to see widespread adoption even though Apple will be putting the technology into many of its products such as the Airport, Time Capsule and notebooks. For a great breakdown of 802.11ac and its implications, check out this TechRadar article.

WiFi is a constantly evolving technology, with new iterations, such as the WiFi Certified Passpoint program being continuously developed.

 

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Help Fon Win the People’s Choice Award!

Great news! Fon has been nominated for the People’s Choice Award, which recognizes amazing startups in Europe. Please help us win the award by voting for us here: http://www.websummit.net/nominee/vote/

Voting takes one minute. You can vote until March 14!

 

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Fon Partners With Netia to Create Largest WiFi Community in Poland

As promised, here is some more great news from Mobile World Congress! Today, we at Fon are happy to announce that we have partnered with Netia, one of Poland’s top telecommunications operators.

The new Netia Fon WiFi network already has thousands of hotspots up and running and plans to have over 100,000 available by the spring. Netia subscribers and Fon customers will have access to these new hotspots and over 5 million others around the globe for free.

Netia has incorporated Fon´s technology directly into their Netia Spot routers. Netia customers can get access to the Netia Fon WiFi network by registering with Fon from their Netia Spot.

 

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Fon at Mobile World Congress

As you know, we are at Mobile World Congress. So far, this has been a very good event for us, with a new product announced, and more announcements coming.

If you can’t visit us at stand 7E69, here’s a small teaser of our stand:

 

We have more updates coming your way soon! Stay tuned!

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