WBA white papers

Rural Wi-Fi Connectivity

Wi-Fi is Essential to Bridge the Digital Divide in Rural Areas

In this Rural Wi-Fi Connectivity: Challenges, Use Cases and Case Studies, it sets out how mobile operators, fiber providers & cable companies should be using Wi-Fi to serve the 1 billion consumers & businesses where copper, fiber & cellular struggle technologically and economically.

This report also demonstrates why Wi-Fi is the most economical and effective technology for bridging the digital divide in small towns, remote communities and other sparsely populated areas, utilising the best available backhaul solution.

We discuss the critical factors applicable to Wi-Fi networks in rural areas including:

• Broadband deployment challenges
• Relevant use cases
• Best practices in the ecosystem
• Importance of an unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi to connect the unconnected
• Real-world case studies, and
• Business models from different regions

Profiles and RCOI Prioritization – Improving Passpoint Network Selection

With the expansion of Passpoint networks and WBA OpenRoaming™, the landscape of identity providers is undergoing a paradigm shift.

Wi-Fi roaming based on Wi-Fi Alliance CERTIFIED Passpoint® and IEEE specifications is experiencing rapid growth. While these standards and certifications ensure interoperability in the Wi-Fi ecosystem, many implementation details are left to Wi-Fi equipment, device vendors and network providers.

As Passpoint adoption expands, users will frequently subscribe to multiple Passpoint identity providers, and many venues will advertise multiple Passpoint services. In these scenarios, different players in the ecosystem – including network providers, identity providers, OS and device vendors and the end-user of the device – may have different requirements for the prioritization of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) in the venue and Passpoint subscriptions on the device.

This whitepaper identifies common use cases and recommendations on the best practices for the ecosystem. The paper also provides guidance to implementers using Passpoint technology.

In-Flight Wi-Fi Connectivity

“In-Flight Wi-Fi Connectivity: Improving Passenger Experience, Engagement and Uptake,” explores how airlines, service providers and other stakeholders can make it faster and easier for travellers to get and stay connected.

Wi-Fi Device Identification – A Way Through MAC Randomization

Until now, many Wi-Fi networks have relied on the original permanence of device MAC addresses to facilitate access to or management of the network.

Without a new way to identify devices on Wi-Fi networks, the networks will cease to be as manageable and/or as functional as they were. This will have customer experience impacts as well as financial ones.

Wi-Fi 6/6E for Industrial IoT

This whitepaper examines Industrial IoT encompasses solutions that employed by multiple industries to understand and improve their economic value by connecting machines, materials, people, processes, products, and services to improve visibility and understanding, increase quality and efficiency and create greater value for their respective customers.

In-Home Wi-Fi Multi-AP Solutions Trial Report

In-Home Wi-Fi is becoming an essential proposition to meet the high expectations of customers – namely, that Wi-Fi will be easy to set up and operate even if they have no knowledge or understanding of the technology.

With more wirelessly-connected devices in use than ever before, home network security has become increasingly important. Homeowners need to make sure their home Wi-Fi network’s security is up to the required standard in reasonable speed and coverage to ensure the smoothness and productivity for work-from-home and online education. In addition, with the advent of widespread video streaming and video conferencing, the demand for bandwidth within the home has increased significantly which required multi-access point. However, multi-AP systems are quite different in this respect from simply plugging in a single AP and using default configuration. So, how we can make it easier for the customers and keep them happy?

To help operators and other providers of in-home Wi-Fi understand the advantages and differences of multi-AP systems, this In-Home Wi-Fi Multi-AP Solutions Trial Final Report provides testing and analysis of all the Multi-AP features and capabilities and defines a set of performance metrics and subsequent test plans which have been collected from live use cases conducted in a real operating environment.

WBA’s In-Home Wi-Fi Program has launched an expanded version of its previously-released In-Home Wi-Fi Industry Guidelines, providing a clear guide on the best practices and standards to create the ultimate in-home Wi-Fi experience for consumers. It provides a comprehensive analysis on in-home Wi-Fi multi-AP solutions, trials and use cases.

This report is brought to you by WBA Next Gen Work Group – In-Home Wi-Fi Project Team.

IMSI Privacy Protection for Wi-Fi

EAP methods are primarily used by wireless carriers and operators who want to take advantage of Wi-Fi capabilities for their SIM subscribers for use cases including licensed mobile radio service; in service-environments such as sports or shopping venues; underground locations; and the overall experience for end-users when Wi-Fi and mobile services are combined for the SIM subscriber’s benefit. Passpoint enables the cellular carrier to offload data by providing a means to have an automated connection to available Wi-Fi providers.

To fill the industry gap, it is important to provide solutions that enable mobile devices to keep their permanent subscriber identity (IMSI) private when using SIM authentication methods.

WBA’s IMSI Privacy Protection for Wi-Fi – Technical Specification document serves as the standardization for seamless, private and secure access for SIM-based devices onto to Wi-Fi. The document provides clear guidelines to ensure that service providers can deploy secure and interoperable Wi-Fi services with confidence.

With the joint collaboration between operators and vendors, the WBA’s Wi-Fi IMSI Privacy Protection project team formulated the best practice on security policy and privacy protection on SIM-based devices as well as developed guidelines and a compliance program to guarantee broad industry deployments and alignment