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GlobalReach to Demo Hotspot 2.0 In-flight Wi-Fi at the Paris Air Show 2019
Join us at the Seamless Air Alliance booth next week as we demo in-flight Hotspot 2.0 WiFi.
Booth B49, Hall 6 17-23 June 2019 Parc des Expositions Paris-le Bourget.
Excited for tonight’s WBA Awards 2016 in San Jose.
We’re a finalist in the Best Consumer-Centric Wireless Service Innovation category for our work in creating a seamless global user experience over Wi-Fi, whilst minimizing latency.
The WBA Industry Awards promote successful practices and strategies in different aspects of the convergence and coexistence in the wireless broadband industry.
Good luck to all finalists.
We’ll be attending Wi-Fi NOW 2016, London, 25-27 Oct. Join us to talk service provider Wi-Fi, using our Wi-Fi AAA, RADIUS and captive portal platform. Get in touch here.
About the GlobalReach RADIUS API
GlobalReach offers a powerful application program interface (API) that can be used to integrate GlobalReach RADIUS authentication services with user and guest management systems.
The API framework allows your platform to interact with the network access control infrastructure provided by GlobalReach.
The GlobalReach API is a secure JavaScript object notation (JSON) web services API allowing you to create, delete and modify users, groups, guest users and virtual RADIUS servers. Additionally, you can get a list of all active sessions.
With the GlobalReach API, user management systems can dynamically update the RADIUS server to instantly create or delete users in the GlobalReach database. And you can also set or modify access rights.
When a user attempts to access the network, GlobalReach uses the updated credentials as the basis for permitting activities on the network.
A custom captive portal self-registration can be presented. When a user logs in, the application can make an API call to GlobalReach to add the user.
When a user attempts to access a Wi-Fi network, the access point can send a RADIUS request to the GlobalReach RADIUS. GlobalReach authenticates the user based on the updated credentials.
For technical assistance with your GlobalReach API project, or to talk about your Wi-Fi programs, get in contact at www.globalreachtech.com/contact
Wireless Broadband Alliance Launches City Wi-Fi Roaming Project - and we’re the supporting technology!
Singapore, 23 August - The Wireless Broadband Alliance today launches the City Wi-Fi Roaming project, part of the World Wi-Fi Day initiative to accelerate affordable wireless connectivity around the world. The initiative allows consumers and visitors of major cities, including New York, San Francisco, San Jose and Singapore, to automatically and securely roam between the public Wi-Fi networks throughout August and September.
With the full backing of the Connected City Advisory Board, the City Wi-Fi Roaming project will focus industry, policy and public attention on addressing the divide between connected and unconnected societies. The Wireless Broadband Alliance is encouraging cities, government bodies, fixed and mobile operators, technology vendors, internet giants and service providers, as well as retailers, to come together to deliver connectivity to everyone, everywhere.
The City Wi-Fi Roaming project sees dedicated participation from 20 operators offering free Wi-Fi access to people in major cities across the world, whilst 90 organizations are supporting the broader Word Wi-Fi Day initiative. Roaming hubs are provided by Accuris Networks, BSG Wireless and Syniverse as well as a captive portal and Wi-Fi AAA / Hotspot 2.0 OSU solutions platform provided by GlobalReach.
The free seamless Wi-Fi Roaming service is based on Next Generation Hotspot (NGH), Passpoint Technology based on Hotspot 2.0 Specifications, for extra security and a better user experience. There are over 1,000 hotspots in total with 228 in downtown San Francisco, 500 across San Jose at San Jose airport, downtown and at the Congress Centre, 200 LinkNYC Kiosks in New York and 290 on selected MRT stations and the Sentosa Island in Singapore which is visited by 15 million people per year.
“With four billion people still unconnected, the greatest threat to the global economy is the vast gap between the connected world and the non-connected world,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance. “The Wireless Broadband Alliance has a vision to ensure everyone can connect to the internet easily and cheaply and is encouraging cities, governments, operators and tech giants like Facebook, Google and Microsoft to collaborate in ensuring affordable, sustainable connectivity for all.”
Both the World Wi-Fi Day and the City Wi-Fi Roaming project are backed by the Connected City Advisory Board (CCAB), a body which aims to deliver the vision of Connected Cities around the world. With senior representatives from New York City, Barcelona, Dublin, San Francisco, Singapore, San Jose, Mexico City as well as the governments of Delhi and Philippines amongst those involved, the CCAB helps cities maximize the opportunities presented by universal connectivity and aids in the development and execution of Connected City plans.
“Connectivity continues to transform and improve the way we live in the world,” said Miguel A. Gamiño Jr., Chief Information Officer for the City and County of San Francisco. “The roaming partnership is San Francisco’s contribution to our communal goal of making it easier for people to connect to Wi-Fi wherever they are around the globe. Our hope is that more cities will join.”
Alphonso Jenkins, Deputy Commissioner for Telecommunications Planning at New York City Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications and Co-Chair of CCAB added, “Connected Cities have the power to improve life for citizens and develop our nations. It is for this reason that the City of New York is making connectivity a priority and supporting the City Wi-Fi Roaming project as we truly appreciate the profound significance that wireless connectivity plays within our communities.”
Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive for Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, comments: “As Singapore moves towards a Smart Nation, we are looking into ways in which we can solve big challenges and create new opportunities though technology. Secure and pervasive connectivity will be important in this journey. Through initiatives such as HetNet Trials and Wireless@SG, we hope to continually enhance the wireless experience in Singapore, as well as enable the creation of innovative products and services. We are happy to be part of the City Wi-Fi Roaming project, bringing Singapore and other cities a step closer to realizing a world of Connected Cities to benefit our society and global communities.”
The Wireless Broadband Alliance is supported by more than 135 leading names in the telecoms industry, including operators and technology companies such as AT&T, BT, Cisco, Comcast, Google, Intel, Liberty Global and Orange. The City Wi-Fi Roaming Initiative is a supporting activity of World Wi-Fi Day, the foundation for driving and promoting connectivity worldwide. The Wireless Broadband Alliance urges and invites you to participate in the City Wi-Fi Roaming project. If you would like to get involved, or support and fund projects to connect the unconnected, please email [email protected].
For further information please visit: www.worldwifiday.com
In order to enjoy the benefits of City Wi-Fi Roaming, please register your device here: worldwifiday.odyssys.net
Our Thoughts on Google's Project Fi WiFi Assistant
You may have seen Google’s recent press release announcing that all Nexus users in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico and Nordic countries will receive an OTA update in the coming weeks with the payload of Project Fi's Wireless Assistant. This was previously exclusive to Google Project Fi subscribers in the US.
The Google announcement says of the service: “Keep your connection speed high and your data bill low with WiFi Assistant, a feature that allows you to automatically and securely connect to more than a million, free open Wi-Fi hotspots. Originally a Project Fi exclusive feature, we are now expanding WiFi Assistant to all Nexus users in the United States, Canada, Mexico, UK and Nordic countries. This will roll out to users over the next few weeks.
I was lucky enough to be asked to participate in an early trial and wanted to share my thoughts about the service, how it works and what you need to consider to use it.
How does WiFi Assistant Connect to Open Access Points?
Google’s own statement around this is a little vague, but the process I used in the build to connect to an 'Open' SSID went like this:
When in range of a strong signal, open SSID and not already connected to a Wi-Fi network, WiFi Assistant attempts to connect to the SSID.
It will attempt to receive an IP address. If it does not receive one it will discard that SSID for a period of time.
Once the device has an IP it will attempt to open a background connection to what Google calls its 'Canary URL.'
Google says:
“When WiFi Assistant connects to a network, the client synchronously issues an ‘in-the-clear’ HTTP request to the canary URL prior to establishing a VPN connection.”
There are two possible outcomes of the canary URL request:
If the response status code is 200 and the response body is “OK,” WiFi Assistant establishes a VPN connection and enables network use.
If the response status code is anything other than 200 (or the response body is anything other than ‘OK’), WiFi Assistant disconnects from the network.
Did that just say VPN?
That’s right. Google WiFi Assistant connects to hotspots when they are faster than the current cellular connection, but routes traffic through Google’s own virtual private network (VPN) as a security measure. This means no eavesdropping from the Wi-Fi access point owner, or from other users connected to the same hotspot.
One thing to note however. At no point did my phone appear to check with Google to see if the AP is on an approved list. Google appears to assume that if the AP is open and not secured, then it's publicly accessible.
How do I remove myself from Google's Access Point List?
There are four ways to keep random WiFi Assistant users from using your AP:
Secure your AP or network: You should be doing this anyway. Have you heard of WPA2?
Install a captive portal: You should really be doing this anyway for your organisational security, even a simple register your email click to accept terms and conditions of use, will mean you at least get some RADIUS tracking and a captive portal network will not allow access to the canary URL.
Block the WiFi Assistant canary URL: If WiFi Assistant can't connect to the canary URL, then it will automatically disconnect from the open AP. Currently, the URL to block is http://check.g-tun.com/connect
Change the name of your AP to exclude it from indexing: This is a bit excessive, but by appending your SSID with _nomap, Google will not index your AP location information for use with Google Maps, and will also not automatically connect to your access point with WiFi Assistant.
Some issues noted while using Wi-Fi Assistant
When connected successfully via Wi-Fi Assistant and with the VPN is active, you’ll see a small key icon in the top menu bar indicating that your connection is secure to Google’s own VPN infrastructure. Some apps and websites may not like this and will not allow the connection. They see this as trying to get over territorial boundaries.
An example of this is Netflix, because it’s region-locked (Netflix has only negotiated the rights for some digital content in certain regions). Netflix (or actually the digital copyright owners of the content) do not like the use of VPNs for this reason and will not let you play content via the Google VPN.
Isn’t this what Apple did last year?
Last year, Apple introduced a 'Wi-Fi' assist function in its iOS 9 update. But there are some differences:
Apple's Wi-Fi Assist will activate and automatically switch to data when a Wi-Fi connection is not working.
In contrast with this, Google's WiFi Assistant automatically connects to free Wi-Fi when a safe connection is possible by its own virtual private network (VPN).
What does this mean for carriers?
In trials, Project Fi users reported a significant drop in pay-as-you-go data costs, so carriers may see some users with Nexus phones data chargers drop. Great for the consumer but not so good for the carrier who may have subsidised the phone on contract or is assuming a certain billable data usage.
What does this mean for GlobalReach users?
Absolutely nothing, none of our captive portal or enterprise networks will be directly affected. It may cause the odd network using GlobalReach to see a number of sessions drop if there is a totally open network operating in the vicinity of its own network, but this should be very marginal because:
There are not really than many open networks in most mature markets
The Nexus phone ownership is not on a similar scale to Apple, Samsung.
As always, I’d be happy to talk more about what carriers need to consider when it comes to Wi-Fi authentication. Get in touch here.
GlobalReach CEO, Mark Williamson speaks to the WBA, at The Wireless Global Congress 2016, Liverpool. Listen to his view on business models in Wi-Fi services.
