Signing into a Wi-Fi hotspot isn’t always the simple and easy process it seems, which is why the latest generation of wireless products is looking to banish this task to the history books.
New roaming standards have been developed and now confirmed by the wireless industry as technology providers look to make accessing a Wi-Fi network more seamless for consumers.
Derek Peterson, senior vice president of engineering for Boingo Wireless, a market leader in Wi-Fi software, said carriers will begin to make something called a passport standard available by the end of this year.
According to cnet.com, this technology allows devices and Wi-Fi access points to communicate with each other in order to establish a connection. Everything runs off the mobile user’s subscription to certain services, although link up to free hotspots for all mobile owners could be possible.
Mr Peterson said companies won’t wait too much longer to deploy the necessary equipment, but stressed that most of the activity would start to unfold in 2014.
In order to hook themselves up to a speedy connection, mobile device owners are currently required to search for a wireless hotspot before signing in with a username and password. This sometimes requires a conversation with a certain member of staff or consultation with a sign displaying the code.
If it’s a paid hotspot they’re looking to use, the consumer is forced to delve into their pocket to check their payment details and enter them in the required fields. However, yahoo.com claims wireless users will soon be able to avoid these barriers by roaming from network-to-network automatically through the passport system.
