Barcelona Will Be a Big Test For HotSpot 2.0 Wi-Fi Connections

alphadogg writes "There are currently several million smartphones certified to run on a 'HotSpot 2.0' Wi-Fi network, which promises automatic Wi-Fi authentication and connection, and seamless roaming between different Wi-Fi hotspot brands, and eventually between Wi-Fi and cellular connections. In November, about 400 smartphone users finally got a chance to do so — in Beijing, China. The next big public demonstration of what's confusingly referred to as both Hotspot 2.0 and Next Generation Hotspot will be in February: an estimated 75,000 attendees at the next Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will be able to take part."

Comments

I love it, Wifi 2

[unique_parrot]

is so coo^br^br^hu

Open Wifi AP FTW!

[ickleberry]

Why bother requiring authentication for a bit of bandwidth that costs about 0.01 of a cent per person to provide? If anything this will make the internet a less-free place, with a debit card & address traceable from every packet that's sent.

The only good thing is if the grubby mobile phone network operators get in on this, maybe we will see more powerful wifi standards emerging and we will eventually do away with the proprietary UMTS/LTE standards and hopefully we will eventually see the end of having to pay for bandwidth while on the move (everyone simply runs and shares their own AP, kind of like FON)

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[timeOday]

I would imagine one necessity of keeping track of who's who (i.e. authentication) is so people can receiving incoming calls and texts.

Since I am not crazy about the tracking aspect of cell phones, I would like if you could put them into a "stealth" mode where they don't exchange any information unless you initiate a call. You could whitelist certain places to sync up all your texts and emails opportunistically, like your home and office.

I realize you could already accomplish this by simply putting the phone in airplane mode all the time (well, I think so), but the whitelisting is the important part.

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[SJHillman]

Historically, securing public hotspots been less about the costs to provide it and more about A) liability and B) not oversaturating it. B isn't too much of a concern these days, but A can still be depending on local and national laws. Of course, there has been a C) people are in it for the money, but that's fairly rare now.

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[CanHasDIY]

I would imagine one necessity of keeping track of who's who (i.e. authentication) is so people can receiving incoming calls and texts.

Since I am not crazy about the tracking aspect of cell phones, I would like if you could put them into a "stealth" mode where they don't exchange any information unless you initiate a call. You could whitelist certain places to sync up all your texts and emails opportunistically, like your home and office.

I realize you could already accomplish this by simply putting the phone in airplane mode all the time (well, I think so), but the whitelisting is the important part.

Question: If I used Redphone for calls, TextSecure for SMS messaging, and GNUPG encryption on my email, would there be a need for the whitelisting?

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[Ingenium13]

The system is basically automated WPA2 Enterprise. I read that a few airports in the US (Chicago) are starting to have this through Boingo. Normally Boingo is pay, but it's free for use through this service, so I'm guessing the carriers are paying a fee to them. It makes sense to authenticate the devices to make sure it's "allowed" to be on it.

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[timeOday]

Sure, because your cellphone is still associating with the nearest cell (i.e. tracking you) so that information can be pushed to you.

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[CanHasDIY]

Sure, because your cellphone is still associating with the nearest cell (i.e. tracking you) so that information can be pushed to you.

OK, that's what I was wanting to know, thanks.

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[TubeSteak]

maybe we will see more powerful wifi standards emerging and we will eventually do away with the proprietary UMTS/LTE standards and hopefully we will eventually see the end of having to pay for bandwidth while on the move (everyone simply runs and shares their own AP, kind of like FON)

Mobile wireless will always be hamstrung by real world limitations.
1. Wireless towers are expensive
2. Wireless bandwidth is expensive
3. There is a limit to the number of clients you can connect to any 1 tower

As a result, wireless providers have been doing their damnedest to get data off their OTA networks and onto wifi where/when ever possible.

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[timeOday]

"Always" is a long time. Is there some reason a Picocell can't be produced for about the same cost as a WiFi access point?

Re:Open Wifi AP FTW!

[gl4ss]

well.. so that you can sell hotspot wifi access for the price that other countries are selling the price of unlimited 3g.

you don't need this if you have unlimited 3g+.

BUT how is this super new? automated wispr hotspot authentication has been on some androids and laptops an option for years now.

This is exciting?

[Roarkk]

I'm able to do this with a $10 sim card from a 7-11 convenience store in Bangkok betweek cellular 3G and their distributed wifi network. Works great....

This scares me a bit...

[libtek]

FTA: "...when their subscribers walked into the venue with their phones, the phones and access points started an automatic conversation. By the time a user pulled his smartphone from a pocket, the device already had been authenticated to the Wi-Fi network, with full roaming rights, and securely connected."

I assume the attendees signed up for the event, (and probably some sort or User Agreement) to "allow" this demonstration to happen BUT.

The idea of a being hijacked by one of these hotspots should give plenty of researchers some material to play with before this comes to the US. Hell, maybe we can just ask the NSA to flip it on for us...