wi-fi alliance

Apple's AirPlay, which wirelessly streams movies and music between devices, has a new competitor.

The Wi-Fi Alliance today announced the launch of Miracast, an industry-standard technology that will let users wirelessly transmit video and images from one device to another. As with Apple's AirPlay, users will be able to send the multimedia from, say, a mobile device to a big-screen television.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, a not-for-profit industry association of hundreds of companies, all Miracast products come with Wi-Fi Direct, meaning users won't need a wireless network to transfer the data. In addition, the technology automatically … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--Wireless carriers are looking to Wi-Fi to help them offload traffic from their cellular networks. And a new standard will make it even easier for consumers to use the unlicensed airwaves. But would you pay extra for that easy access?

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a trade association promoting the use of Wi-Fi, says a recent survey indicates that nearly three-quarters of respondents said they would.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is promoting the new standard, which will basically allow people to access a carrier's Wi-Fi without ever typing a passcode or even selecting a Wi-Fi hot spot. The technology will automatically … Read more

Joining a carrier Wi-Fi hot spot on your smartphone or tablet will soon be as simple as turning on your device. That means no more scrolling through lists of available Wi-Fi networks, and no more typing passwords to join networks.

Wireless carriers all over the world have been turning to Wi-Fi to alleviate network congestion, but the onus of actually getting on those networks has been on individual subscribers. A set of new standards being developed will soon change that.

The IEEE technical standards body is developing 802.11u and the Wi-Fi Alliance has developed its Hotspot 2.0 initiative … Read more

Among Wi-Fi users, there's a big gap between knowing about Wi-Fi security and keeping their network and devices secure, as revealed by the Wi-Fi Security Barometer Survey results that the Wi-Fi Alliance announced today.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the survey, conducted by Wakefield Research in August, randomly asked 1,000 participants age 18 or older around the country about their knowledge of Wi-Fi security. Around 97 percent of the interviewees said they thought that data on their devices and networks was "safe and secure." However, when asked which of several recommended steps they have actually taken to protect their Wi-Fi networks or devices, respondents received an overall score of just 66 percent. This means that in practice, users were actually not as safe as they could be.

The good news is, according to the survey, most users (about 86 percent of those surveyed) have taken basic steps to ensure the privacy and security of their Wi-Fi network by enabling security protections on their access point or router. However, only 59 percent have implemented wireless passwords or encryption methods that meet the basic criteria for strength and privacy. This means that there is a large number of people who have been using Wi-Fi with a false sense of security. … Read more

Connecting to public Wi-Fi hot spots can be a challenge, but the Wi-Fi Alliance is hoping to ease some of the pain.

Responsible for certifying Wi-Fi products and technology, the Wi-Fi Alliance said yesterday that it's working on a new certification program that should make it easier to access and use public hot spots. Various members of the alliance, including service providers and device makers, have already formalized the requirements needed to test such a certification program.

Once in place, the new hot spot program would offer several benefits to Wi-Fi users.

Computers, phones, and other connected gadgets would … Read more

More people are trying to tap into unsecure but easily available Wi-Fi networks around them, according to the results of a poll from the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Conducted by Wakefield Research in conjunction with the Wi-Fi Alliance, the results out this week found that 32 percent of those polled admit to trying to hop onto an unsecure Wi-Fi network that wasn't theirs. Some say they've done it only once while others reveal they've done it many times. That percentage compares with the 18 percent who admitted to borrowing a Wi-Fi connection according to a December 2008 poll.

Though … Read more

The Wi-Fi Alliance is launching a campaign to urge consumers to configure routers and devices to use WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) on all their wireless Wi-Fi equipment.

"Wi-Fi security has gone through some evolutions over the years and WP2, which has been around now for a few years, is the latest and greatest in Wi-Fi security," Kelly Davis-Kelner of the Wi-Fi Alliance said in this podcast interview.

WPA2, which offers government- and enterprise-grade security, is available in all products that the alliance has anointed as "WiFi Certified." The security standard replaces the original WPA and … Read more

The Wi-Fi Alliance and HomePlug Powerline Alliance have joined forces to promote the adoption of powerline and Wi-Fi networking technologies in smart-grid applications, which could mean more streamlined connectivity for consumers.

The Wi-Fi Alliance tests and certifies Wi-Fi products, including Wi-Fi Direct, to ensure their interoperability, and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance does the same thing for powerline devices.

The agreement, announced today, enables cooperative efforts for the joint technical review of Wi-Fi Alliance's and HomePlug's specifications and standards that facilitate interoperability of smart-grid applications. Both parties will also promote the adoption of wireless and powerline technologies.

The collaboration … Read more

It's long been possible to connect Wi-Fi-enabled wireless devices to each other via a network or an access point, but the Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that is has begun certifying Wi-Fi Direct products "capable of making device-to-device connections."  In other words, instead of your laptop sending documents to your printer via your network as is now the case, the new technology will make it possible for the laptop to speak directly to the printer.

To find out how it all works, I spoke with Wi-Fi Alliance spokesperson Kelly Davis-Felner.