Ruckus Wireless has announced a major initiative with the City and County of San Francisco, the City of San José, CA and Global Reach Technology to create the first large-scale municipal Hotspot 2.0 service that allows millions of visitors and residents to automatically and securely connect to and seamlessly roam using San José and San Francisco free Wi-Fi services. The new Hotspot 2.0 service is now live and operational.
An innovative approach to providing public Wi-Fi access, Hotspot 2.0 is a new technology specification developed by members of the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) that radically simplifies and automates how users securely connect to and roam between Wi-Fi networks without requiring users to manually select a network or sign-on.
Leveraging new Hotspot 2.0 technology, users in San Francisco and San José now can enjoy seamless and secure Wi-Fi data connectivity that mirrors today’s cellular experience, with the added benefit of working on Wi-Fi-only devices such as tablets and laptops. The initial Bay Area Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0 deployment supports Hotspot 2.0 enabled iOS 7 devices (iPhone 5/5s/5c, iPad 3, iPad Mini, iPad Air, iPad Mini Retina, and iPod Touch 5th Gen) as well as Apple laptops running OS X Mavericks.
“With the adoption of Hotspot 2.0, we are literally transforming the user Wi-Fi experience,” said Vijay Sammeta, Chief Information Officer for the City of San José. “Hotspot 2.0 makes our infrastructure smarter by eliminating tedious and cumbersome device configuration. Now people can securely connect to and roam using our networks in a transparent fashion. Things don’t get much easier.”
“People want their devices to automatically connect to trusted Wi-Fi networks whenever they are in range, and to use strong encryption as well,” said Marc Touitou, Chief Information Officer for the City of San Francisco. “This is precisely what we have achieved.”
Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi equipment, which has been Passpoint Certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, is being used to power the new Hotspot 2.0 service across both the San Jose and San Francisco Wi-Fi networks. Simple device provisioning and unified authentication services are being provided through a cloud-based system operated by Global Reach, a Ruckus technology partner.
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