Boingo Wireless has launched Hotspot 2.0 networks at twenty-one airports in the United States, providing access to a secure Wi-Fi network for monthly subscribers and roaming partners. The launch includes the addition of a new Passpoint-enabled network, Passpoint Secure, in each of the airports that provides instance access to users on iOS 7 devices with a Passpoint profile. Once the user downloads a Passpoint profile, their device will establish a secure, WPA2 encrypted connection when they are in range of a supported hotspot.
Smooth roaming from cell to Wi-Fi networks is finally seeing the light of day, with deployments at 21 U.S. airports and at two smaller sites in Europe debuting on Monday. Wi-Fi networks at some of America’s biggest airports, in a park in Warsaw and at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona are using Hotspot 2.0, a set of technologies that vendors and service providers around the world have pursued for more than two years. Up to now, it’s only been available in a few instances. The specification lets users get onto Wi-Fi as easily as they roam onto cellular networks, eliminating the need to choose a network, log in or give a password.