Mobility and management capabilities enhance experience in Wi-Fi® networks

Austin, TX, September 7, 2017 – Wi-Fi Alliance® introduces two enhancements for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Vantage™ which elevate the user experience in dynamic, managed network environments ranging from large-scale deployments in venues, airports, and subway stations, to enterprise and service provider-managed residential networks. Wi-Fi Vantage™ devices will soon include functionality to enable quick, secure authentication and consistent, quality connections in Wi-Fi® networks. Wi-Fi Vantage bundles Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ features that deliver the greatest benefits in challenging Wi-Fi environments.

Wi-Fi Vantage delivers management and mobility capabilities to the market through two new Wi-Fi Alliance certifications – Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Agile Multiband™ and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Optimized Connectivity™.

Wi-Fi Agile Multiband

Wi-Fi Agile Multiband is a new certification from Wi-Fi Alliance available now that allows infrastructure devices to work efficiently with mobile devices to manage network resources and efficiently respond to changing network conditions. Wi-Fi Agile Multiband provides intelligent steering by allowing devices to exchange information for the access point (AP) to guide a mobile device to a recommended band, channel, or AP. This steering capability avoids suboptimal client behavior in Wi-Fi Agile Multiband networks, such as a device remaining attached to an AP that is nearly out of range or experiencing high traffic loading. Steering capabilities maximize overall spectral efficiency by minimizing congestion and improving device connection speeds, as well as helping transition devices from Wi-Fi to cellular networks when appropriate.

Wi-Fi Agile Multiband supports fast transition, which allows devices to reauthenticate quickly with WPA2™ security when roaming within a Wi-Fi network, improving connections for latency-sensitive applications such as voice over Wi-Fi. Both service provider and consumer networks benefit from Wi-Fi Agile Multiband.

Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity

Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity complements Wi-Fi Agile Multiband and includes features that optimize the process of discovering Wi-Fi networks, establishing initial connectivity, and roaming between APs serving the same network or different networks. Network discovery enhancements prioritize which channels a device scans during the discovery process, assisting devices in more rapidly discovering APs. Devices can quickly pre-authenticate to a Wi-Fi network based upon environment information received automatically from access points. Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity also reduces management frame overhead, resulting in more efficient sessions because devices spend less time sending or responding to network management traffic and more time moving user data. Certification for Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity will be available in late 2017.

“Wi-Fi Vantage provides a better user experience with Wi-Fi devices in rapidly changing environments, such as when moving to a new gate in an airport or stepping onto a busy subway platform,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi Vantage enhances the Wi-Fi portfolio to service high-density environments at high performance levels.”

Wi-Fi Vantage addresses three key pillars – manageability, mobility, and performance – and provides a common approach to deliver these capabilities to the market. Features selected from Wi-Fi Agile Multiband, Wi-Fi Optimized Connectivity, and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint® provide simple tools which enable service providers to better understand their network environment,  allocate resources appropriately, and simply provision and authenticate devices – improving manageability of their networks. Steering and transition mechanisms provide users with a more seamless mobility experience when accessing Wi-Fi networks, roaming between different Wi-Fi networks, or transitioning from a Wi-Fi to cellular network. Higher data rates and features like MU-MIMO from Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac deliver better performance in dense environments, and combined with enhanced manageability and mobility capabilities improve overall performance of Wi-Fi Vantage networks.

Future releases of Wi-Fi Vantage will continue to support new technologies that benefit users and operators of managed networks. For more details on Wi-Fi Vantage, visit https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-vantage.

Industry support for Wi-Fi Vantage:

“The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Vantage program gives service providers and users a clear designator of the best-in-class Wi-Fi products that meet the most exacting requirements for performance and reliability in managed networks. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Agile Multiband and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Optimized Connectivity programs included in this new release will deliver cellular-class network steering and improved network management, increased capacity, and the lower latency necessary for livestreaming and other social applications in dense scenarios. Broadcom congratulates Wi-Fi Alliance on this important step; we’re proud to partner with them on this program and are pleased to have our implementations selected for use in the Wi-Fi Agile Multiband test bed.” – Christopher Szymanski, director of product marketing for the Mobile Connectivity Products Division at Broadcom Limited.

“CableLabs is pleased to participate in building out the framework of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Vantage with our Wi-Fi industry partners to meet users’ growing demands. We look forward to continued success as the framework is deployed more broadly to benefit cable and mobile operators, the vendor community and, most importantly, consumers.” – Mark Poletti, director of wireless at CableLabs

"Wi-Fi Vantage continues to provide the capabilities our customers are seeking as they build a great user experience in dense, managed network environments. Marvell is excited to be a part of Wi-Fi Agile Multiband, a new enhancement in the second release of Wi-Fi Vantage, which enables devices to more efficiently manage network resources and make smarter network decisions." – Mark Montierth, General Manager of the Wireless Connectivity Business unit at Marvell

“Wi-Fi Vantage brings new tools to improve the user experience in managed Wi-Fi networks. It provides a standardised approach to deliver consistency, more manageability and higher performance to Wi-Fi devices from service providers for managed home networks, airports, stadiums and other scenarios.” – Philippe Lucas, SVP Strategy, Architecture & Standardisation at Orange

“Carrier Wi-Fi is an essential tool for enhancing consumer mobility and maximizing operator networks. As a driving force behind wireless innovations that are transforming connected experiences, Qualcomm Technologies is a proud supporter of Wi-Fi Alliance’s efforts to improve the way people connect to managed Wi-Fi networks. These enhancements to the Wi-Fi Vantage program represent a significant step toward better spectral efficiency, simplicity and roaming." –Irvind Ghai, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“Efficient and manageable Wi-Fi networks are critical for an enhanced subscriber wireless experience in enterprise and service-provider environments. Wi-Fi Vantage delivers enhanced capabilities for demanding network deployments including quick network discovery and connection, network-guided client steering, and reduced management traffic overhead which together aid the delivery of superior performance in today’s dense environments.” – Steve Martin, chief technology officer of Ruckus.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 35,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Stephanie Burke
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-646-838-1190 ext. 48

Simplified Wi-Fi, high-performance products, and IoT innovation coming this year

Las Vegas, NV, January 4, 2017 – Wi-Fi Alliance® developed a list of predictions for 2017 that demonstrate the expanding role of Wi-Fi® as a high-performance technology and an enabler of new innovations. With more than three billion Wi-Fi device shipments expected in 2017 and more than eight billion devices currently in use around the world, Wi-Fi continues to have a major impact on everything from home networking to Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and the Internet of Things (IoT). As more people around the world rely on Wi-Fi each day for productivity and access to data, Wi-Fi is also playing a more prominent role in our expanding communications infrastructure. 

1. Wi-Fi simplifies wireless networking.

There is a shift toward Self-Organizing Networks (SONs) and other solutions that help simplify Wi-Fi networking and optimize overall network performance to provide the best user experience. New products will “self-organize”, bringing a more seamless user experience to homes and offices, and helping to automate the management and optimization of Wi-Fi networks. More products like Orbi and Google's Wi-Fi solution will emerge that balance performance with convenient network setup. New home buyers will soon benefit from professionally designed, pre-installed Wi-Fi networks that will deliver whole-home coverage and exceptional Wi-Fi performance. Managed network operators will also benefit from a new designation that makes it easier than ever to select carrier-grade devices that provide superior connectivity in Wi-Fi networks while taking complexity out of purchase decisions.

2. High-performance Wi-Fi products with new features and technologies will hit the shelves.

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ ac products are hitting the shelves and users will see benefits from new Wave 2 features, including MU-MIMO, that enable more devices to operate simultaneously on the same network without sacrificing performance. With WiGig® on the verge of a breakout year in 2017, we will soon see flagship smartphones incorporating WiGig, along with a variety of announcements about new laptops, tri-band Access Points (APs) and other products supporting the technology. Products will incorporate sub-microsecond device clock synchronization, bringing to reality completely in-sync systems for homes, automotive, healthcare, and industrial environments. With more products from multiple vendors hitting the market every year, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo is more important than ever in assuring users that their favorite high-performance products will interoperate across brands.

3. Wi-Fi Location will gain momentum.

New Wi-Fi Location technology that enables accuracy to one meter will become broadly available in Wi-Fi chipsets in 2017. Wi-Fi Location will work in a range of environments, including indoors and urban canyons, and enable a variety of new location-usages without the need for additional, location-specific infrastructure. This improved Wi-Fi capability will bring new opportunities for location-based data and services to retail spaces, entertainment venues, manufacturing facilities, and the healthcare industry.

4. Wi-Fi is a platform for IoT innovation.

Wi-Fi is the Internet platform of choice, making it an ideal connectivity platform for the Internet of Things. In 2017, Wi-Fi will introduce standards-based features to bring greater power efficiency to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices. According to Wall Street Journal, the killer app for IoT is services rather than “things,” and others agree the most successful IoT products will be accompanied by some related service. Wi-Fi will continue to evolve to provide a building block for IoT services, allowing companies to easily innovate over Wi-Fi and making it easier for companies to ensure there are strong security protections in place even at the service or application level. In 2017, Wi-Fi Alliance will collaborate more closely with other organizations, helping to unlock massive opportunity in the IoT space.

5. Wi-Fi improves the AR/VR experience for the masses.

The Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) markets are forecast to reach $120 billion by 2020. In 2016, there were multiple announcements for a variety of headsets and platforms promising to bring more realistic VR experiences to the masses. With Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig™ now commercially available, device vendors will take advantage of multi-gigabit speeds, low latency, and extremely high throughput to provide a more immersive, wireless VR experience without sacrificing wired-grade performance. As WiGig technology adoption in VR devices increases, VR will become a truly viable technology within reach of the average consumer for both gaming and more “practical” scenarios including education. Sports fans will soon benefit from Wi-Fi enabled AR experiences to help better identify players and associate pertinent stats or information through phones or glasses. 

6. Wi-Fi cements its place as a critical component in communications infrastructure.

Wi-Fi technologies available today, including WiGig, will play a role in providing foundational elements for addressing many emerging 5G use cases to help meet increasing speed, bandwidth, capacity, and latency demands. Forthcoming Wi-Fi technologies will be even more critical to enable 5G scenarios, which require high capacity and/or very low latency. More than half of all data traffic already flows over Wi-Fi, and convergence between Wi-Fi and other licensed technologies will be discussed in more detail as it relates to the impact 5G and the overall future of wireless communication.

7. Cities and stadiums get major Wi-Fi upgrades.

In 2017, we will see expanded rollouts of LinkNYC to new boroughs and cities, as well as new initiatives to bring high-speed Wi-Fi to and schools and municipalities to help bridge the digital divide. More municipal Wi-Fi initiatives will feature Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint®, and roaming agreements will bring seamless, secure Wi-Fi access to hundreds of hotspots and homespots. Wi-Fi will enable innovative technologies such as waste & recycling solutions and solar powered benches that will help further develop Smart Cities by transforming regular fixtures with data. NFL and professional sports teams will put Wi-Fi at the heart of their fan experience, and we’ll see increasing partnerships with networking providers to bring the most advanced Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac Wave 2 features to  stadiums and provide the highest quality Wi-Fi experience to fans.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6

New certification designation advances connectivity experience for Wi-Fi users

Austin, Texas, November 14, 2016 – Wi-Fi Alliance® announces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Vantage™, an ongoing evolution of Wi-Fi® devices delivering an enhanced user experience in managed Wi-Fi networks. Now, and in the future, Wi-Fi Vantage™ makes it easier than ever for users to select devices that provide superior connectivity in Wi-Fi networks including airports, stadiums, offices, campuses, and home networks.

Wi-Fi Vantage builds on foundational technologies, such as Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ ac and Passpoint™ now, and subsequent releases will include support for advanced Wi-Fi CERTIFIED features for addressing challenging network environments. Wi-Fi Vantage will continually evolve to deliver improved device performance, faster speeds, and reduced network interference and network connection times. Wi-Fi Vantage networks will optimize use of unlicensed spectrum to deliver an enhanced Wi-Fi experience, even in dense environments and under heavy user demand.  

“For more than 15 years, Wi-Fi has delighted users, and now Wi-Fi Vantage products provide users an even better Wi-Fi experience when they connect devices at hotels, airports, and other crowded environments,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “The future evolution of Wi-Fi Vantage offers users simple identification of new generations of devices incorporating the latest technology for managed network access and connectivity.”

Wi-Fi Vantage complements today’s Wi-Fi, identifying technologies in the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED portfolio that together will provide the best possible user experience in managed networks.  Seamless, secure authentication and network connection, paired with auto-selection of preferred networks and the ability for more devices to operate simultaneously on the same network without sacrificing performance offers users an elevated experience in dynamic environments. As new Wi-Fi technologies are introduced, users will continue to benefit from the improved efficiency and reliability offered by Wi-Fi Vantage devices and networks.

Wi-Fi Vantage devices range from smart phones, tablets and laptops to network access points. Over 100 devices have received certification for Wi-Fi Vantage. A full list of certified devices may be found in the Wi-Fi Alliance Product Finder: http://www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-vantage-products.

For more details on Wi-Fi Vantage, visit https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-vantage.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 30,000 Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6

Look for smarter, higher performing, and more ubiquitous Wi-Fi

Las Vegas, NV, January 7, 2016 – Wi-Fi® has accomplished more in 16 years than many technologies do in their lifespan – including enabling the rise of mobile internet by carrying a significant portion of the world’s data traffic, advancing data rates from 11 Mbps to more than 1,100 Mbps, connecting users in more than 450 million households worldwide and more than 47 million global public hotspots, and contributing more than $222 billion in economic value.

Wi-Fi Alliance® has developed a list of predictions for 2016 that demonstrates Wi-Fi’s steady march forward as it continues to deliver an even better user experience.

Smart everything.
The number of connected devices will reach 38.5 billion in 2020. This growth is due in part to manufacturers adding intelligence and connectivity to products not typically thought of as “high-tech,” like your Wi-Fi connected vacuum, coffee maker, door locks, or slow cooker. In 2016, companies that do not specialize in developing connectivity technologies – particularly those developing products for the Smart Home – will leverage a new Wi-Fi Alliance Implementer membership category, which will allow them to more easily deliver Wi-Fi connected products with secure operation, certified interoperability, and legacy compatibility with the 6.8 billion Wi-Fi products currently in use. The average home has more than eight devices on the network, and that number will continue to grow. Companies have come to understand the value of Wi-Fi certification in assuring users that they can control their home connectivity devices securely and reliably for years to come, and Wi-Fi will continue to play a role in shaping a user-friendly and seamless Smart Home.

Wi-Fi is in more places you want it to be.
Seventy-three percent of Americans say it is very important to have access to Wi-Fi in their daily lives. Wi-Fi’s value is also recognized around the world, and last year we saw global Wi-Fi infrastructure investments pickup with assistance from cities and companies such as Google and Facebook. In 2016, city Wi-Fi deployments will increase, with some leveraging Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint™ to enable seamless roaming with other cities miles and even continents away. Sports fans will take advantage of enhanced Wi-Fi as stadiums and sports arenas amp up their Wi-Fi networks to keep pace with record wireless traffic numbers, and travelers will remain connected on-the-go through services from providers such as Boingo who keep users connected in airports and railways around the world. Users demand availability of Wi-Fi no matter where their day takes them. In 2016, Wi-Fi in cars, homes, and in-flight will be a standard amenity with auto manufacturers offering Wi-Fi connectivity in an expanding line of vehicles, airline carriers such as Air China upgrading their services and JetBlue announcing they will offer free Wi-Fi on every flight in 2016, and homebuilders supplying homes with connected automation packages.

Protecting unlicensed spectrum is a priority.
Everyone understands and agrees with the need to protect the billions of Wi-Fi users. In late 2015, there was an important shift towards a collaborative model for delivering on Wi-Fi and LTE-U coexistence. In 2016, industry will make progress on a test regimen for LTE-U devices, and Wi-Fi Alliance will emerge as the premier forum for this collaboration. Working within Wi-Fi Alliance, industry will deliver an agreed upon test plan which will promote fair sharing by all LTE-U devices. Users are concerned that another technology will negatively affect their Wi-Fi usage, and preserving the benefits of unlicensed spectrum for the billions of business, education, enterprise, and government users who depend on Wi-Fi every day will remain a priority this year.

Wi-Fi location will emerge.
Wi-Fi will enable a new breed of innovative applications built on location-based information. Wi-Fi location capabilities will bring users even closer to the world around them, enabling a variety of robust applications and usages – both indoors and outdoors. Retailers will be some of the first to leverage location awareness – a market that will reach $43.3 billion in four short years – and service providers will follow shortly after. Wi-Fi location will enable a range of usages for consumers, enterprises, healthcare providers, and the Internet of Things. While location-based services are now popular, Wi-Fi location will offer a variety of advantages over existing technologies, including the ability to deliver precise indoor location data.

Wi-Fi portfolio of technologies gets even better.
In 2016, a variety of new programs will make Wi-Fi better than ever. An update to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ ac will bring new features such as Multi-user MIMO to increase performance and network capacity, taking Wi-Fi beyond the gigabit Wi-Fi speeds already supported. This second wave of features will enable users to realize the full potential of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac, and help meet carrier requirements by supporting faster and more scalable operator networks. As a complement to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac, the WiGig CERTIFIED™ program is expected to launch, bringing multi-gigabit performance to in-room connectivity. Wi-Fi Alliance will also progress on work in new frequency bands, following the introduction of Wi-Fi HaLow™, to provide users with longer range and lower power connectivity – ideally suited to enable a variety of power-efficient use cases in the Internet of Things and other industrial applications, among others. To enable continued innovation through its expanding portfolio, Wi-Fi Alliance will work with regulators worldwide to increase spectrum availability for Wi-Fi technologies.

Wi-Fi brings even more value for carriers.
In 2016, carrier Wi-Fi that is faster, more robust, and even easier to use and manage will emerge. While Passpoint was the first of a series of Wi-Fi Alliance programs to enable a more cellular-like experience in Wi-Fi hotspots, new operator-focused programs and deployment guidelines will help scale service provider Wi-Fi networks, enable greater device mobility, more easily provision devices on the network, improve network utilization, and bring performance enhancements for dense deployments. A list of our current work areas, including those specifically related to carrier Wi-Fi can be found here.

About Wi-Fi Alliance®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is a global non-profit industry association – our members are the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. The members of our collaboration forum come from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem and share a common vision of connecting everyone and everything, everywhere. Since 2000, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, industry-standard security protections, and the latest technology. Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 25,000 products, delivering the best user experience and encouraging the expanded use of Wi-Fi products and services in new and established markets. Today, billions of Wi-Fi products carry a significant portion of the world’s data traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. 

Media contacts:
Elliott Suthers
Highwire PR for Wi-Fi Alliance
wi-fi@highwirepr.com
+1-415-963-4174 ext. 6