News

• Wi-Fi Alliance's Passpoint program on track for June certifications

  By Brad Reed | 09 May, 2012 07:47

  NEW ORLEANS -- The Wi-Fi Alliance's Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint Program, which aims to make Wi-Fi hotspots work more like cellular and LTE networks, is on track to start issuing certifications this summer.

• T-Mobile commits to Passpoint automatic Wi-Fi access; other U.S. carriers mum

  By Matt Hamblen | 08 May, 2012 22:12

  Of the nation's four biggest wireless carriers, only T-Mobile USA has revealed plans to deploy Passpoint, a technology that would allow wireless users to automatically access Wi-Fi hotspots from carriers' 3G and 4G cellular networks.

• What you need to know about 802.11ac

  By Craig Mathias | 26 March, 2012 15:31

  A question we're hearing with increasing frequency concerns the upcoming 802.11ac standard, which promises to do to 802.11n what .11n did to .11g. While the IEEE 802.11ac standard likely won't be completely finished before the end of 2013, and, while the Wi-Fi Alliance similarly has issued no interoperability criteria for 802.11ac, consumer-grade products claiming compliance with the aforementioned 802.11ac standard could be on store shelves as soon as the middle of 2012.

• How Passpoint could make Wi-Fi hotspots more like cellular data services

  By Brad Reed | 05 March, 2012 22:33

  We all love Wi-Fi, as long as we're logged into one particular hotspot and aren't moving much.

• Cisco bridges Wi-Fi, cellular nets

  By Jim Duffy | 29 February, 2012 06:37

  At Mobile World Congress this week, Cisco unveiled products designed to provide cellular-like roaming among Wi-Fi hotspots, and disclosed deployments among several wireless service providers.

• Wi-Fi Passpoint standard could end hotspot sign-on hassles

  By Stephen Lawson | 22 February, 2012 12:14

  The Wi-Fi Alliance will launch a program to simplify the use of Wi-Fi hotspots in July, making it easier for both users and mobile operators to get off strained cellular networks.

• CES: Buffalo demonstrates Gigabit wireless router

  By John Cox | 14 January, 2012 03:29

  Buffalo Technology used CES to show off a prototype of what will eventually be its first 802.11ac wireless router, with a data rate of 1.3Gbps, though actual throughput will be less.

• CES: Gigabit Wi-Fi takes center stage

  By John Cox | 10 January, 2012 06:26

  Goodbye Wi-Fi ... at least as we've known Wi-Fi.

• WiFi users blissfully ignorant about real security, research finds

  By Bob Brown | 06 October, 2011 06:43

  New research conducted on behalf of the Wi-Fi Alliance shows that while wireless users are making strides on the security front, they’re still leaving their Wi-Fi networks too open to intruders.

• Wi-Fi Direct coming on strong, Broadcom says

  By Stephen Lawson | 26 May, 2011 10:25

  Wi-Fi Direct, a peer-to-peer networking standard that came out last year but has been slow to appear in consumer products, will be in a large percentage of mobile phones by year's end, according to communications chip maker Broadcom.

• Wi-Fi group plans to simplify hotspot access

  By Stephen Lawson | 22 March, 2011 23:02

  The Wi-Fi Alliance plans to make getting onto a public hotspot as easy as connecting to a cellular network, a change that mobile operators are likely to welcome as they look to shift more data traffic onto Wi-Fi.

• Wi-Fi Direct still finding its stride

  By Stephen Lawson | 21 January, 2011 07:12

  Wi-Fi Direct is still scarce in announced or shipping products, but it would be wrong to reach a gloomy conclusion about the new peer-to-peer technology from the Wi-Fi Alliance.

• Wi-Fi, WirelessHD cozy up to WiGig standard

  By Stephen Lawson | 10 May, 2010 13:07

  The Wireless Gigabit Alliance may be on its way to dominating the market for multi-gigabit in-room wireless networks after the powerful Wi-Fi Alliance said it would study the group's specification as part of Wi-Fi certification and a key rival announced it would include WiGig in dual-mode chips.

• New Wi-Fi spec allows access point bypass

  By John Cox | 15 October, 2009 09:29

  A new industry specification promises to un-network Wi-Fi networks. Dubbed Wi-Fi Direct, the spec will let your laptop or smartphone connect directly with other wireless devices.

• Wi-Fi group launches full 11n certification

  By Stephen Lawson | 30 September, 2009 20:01

  The Wi-Fi Alliance is launching a certification program based on the completed IEEE 802.11n standard on Wednesday and looking toward a future peer-to-peer specification it is developing on its own.