Passpoint® deployments proliferate across borders and industries

This post is part of a series highlighting key technologies in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Vantage™ – a Wi-Fi Alliance^® solution making it easy for devices to provide an elevated experience in managed Wi-Fi^® networks.

Passpoint delivers secure, light-touch authentication for Wi-Fi Vantage™ devices. Stay tuned for a Wi-Fi Vantage update coming later this fall.

Passpoint^® has proven to be a revolutionary technology—allowing smooth transitions between Wi-Fi^® connections and cellular service and eliminating the need for users to identify and authenticate to a network each time they connect. Passpoint automates the process, enabling a seamless connection between Wi-Fi networks and mobile devices, all while delivering enterprise-level security.

Some of the most well-known Passpoint deployments have been in airports around the globe, but Passpoint’s reach has gone beyond airports, with Wi-Fi Alliance^® members like Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Boingo, and Cisco using Passpoint to seamlessly bridge the transition for millions of users between Wi-Fi and cellular. Partnerships between Wi-Fi and cellular companies have also expanded the reach of Passpoint, as Boingo has teamed up with AT&T so that, according to Boingo Chairman and CEO David Hagan, “AT&T customers can now enjoy automatic Wi-Fi connectivity at nearly all of our venues where Boingo Passpoint is available.” Today, Passpoint helps connect users at airports, hotels, stadiums, large public venues, and military bases.

Here we provide an overview of many of the locations where Passpoint has been deployed, enabling seamless connectivity for users as they go about their daily lives.

Airports around the world depend on Passpoint

Boingo was the first to launch a public Passpoint network in September 2013 at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Since that first launch, Boingo has been the primary provider of Passpoint networks at airports around the world. In 2020, Boingo provides secure Passpoint networks at more than 50 airports in the U.S., Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. These airports include:

Global hospitality brands deploy Passpoint

Hotels and cruise lines have noted the need for seamless Wi-Fi access for travelers in their facilities. According to a 2019 survey by Hotel Internet Services, “more than 90 percent of guests…stated that access to a hotel’s Wi-Fi service was ‘very important.” Additionally, those guests want their connection to be secure, with 93 percent of survey respondents indicating security was a concern.

Hotels and cruise lines have responded by deploying Passpoint networks. Clair Global, one of the primary developers of Rock Lititz, a campus shared with companies in the live event industry, engaged Cisco to deploy an OpenRoaming network at its 96-acre campus in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania—specifically at its 139 room, 92,000 square foot boutique Hotel Rock Lititz. The Wireless Broadband Alliance’s OpenRoaming network, leveraging Passpoint, will provide seamless onboarding to guests as they roam between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

Passpoint’s popularity extends beyond boutique hotels and is also used at some of the largest hotel chains in the world. Eleven creates software to enable hotel and cruise-line owners to more easily set up and monitor their Wi-Fi networks, ensuring these networks are protected with Passpoint. Eleven’s hotel client roster includes global hotel chains, such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and Omni Hotels and Resorts, and claims to connect over 1 million guest rooms around the world. Among its maritime clients, Eleven has secured Passpoint networks on cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises, Marriott, and Hilton.

Residential and commercial properties offer Passpoint as an amenity

Residential developments, corporate campuses, and mixed-use properties have deployed Passpoint networks to ensure residents, workers, and customers are able to enjoy uninterrupted cellular connections throughout these spaces. The Howard Hughes Corporation, a real estate development firm, has deployed Aruba Air Pass at both mixed-use and corporate campus properties in downtown Columbia, Maryland, in the Woodlands, Texas, and will deploy another Passpoint network at a master-planned community in Summerlin, Las Vegas.

Sports and entertainment venues rely on Passpoint

Sports stadiums, indoor sports arenas, and entertainment venues face unique challenges when it comes to both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity. The crowd at a typical sporting event is more tightly clustered than most other environments, and those crowds want continuous connectivity to engage on social media, or to share photos and videos of their experience.

The heightened density and bandwidth challenges that result from thousands of guests using data make it difficult for cellular providers to provide enough coverage to satisfy the needs of its customers. As a result, many stadiums have deployed Passpoint networks with the help of providers such as Cisco and Aruba to allow fans with mobile devices to automatically and securely connect to the stadium’s Wi-Fi network, thereby relieving bandwidth issues on cellular networks.

Stadiums and venues deploying Passpoint include:

Large public venues and cities embrace Passpoint

Transit hubs, large public venues, and even pedestrians on city streets have begun to rely on Passpoint to seamlessly connect users to the internet.

In the U.S., two of the country’s largest transit centers – the World Trade Center in New York and the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco, California – have deployed Passpoint networks to allow travelers and commuters to more easily transition from cellular to Wi-Fi. Moving beyond the physical structures of these centers, New York, San Francisco, and San Jose have brought Wi-Fi to urban centers, deploying entire city-wide Wi-Fi networks that rely on Passpoint to ensure their residents are able to easily, consistently, and securely connect to public Wi-Fi.

In Europe, Passpoint connectivity is now offered in a variety of public spaces. In Barcelona, Spain, Boingo and Cisco worked together to deploy a Passpoint-enabled Wi-Fi network at the Fira complex where Mobile World Congress (MWC) convenes. Boingo also worked with existing Wi-Fi providers in Barcelona subway stations, the airport, the Fira, and some hotels to enable the service. In London, England, Ontix and Global Reach Technology launched a Passpoint-enabled network in Trafalgar Square – a highly trafficked tourist area – making it the first central London service to include Passpoint connectivity. Cisco also announced the first commercial trial deployment of OpenRoaming—based on Passpoint technology—in London at Canary Wharf enabling wireless speeds up to four times faster by deploying Cisco Wi-Fi 6 access.

Military bases deploy Passpoint

The U.S. military has recognized the benefits of Passpoint for its troops, employing the services of Boingo to deploy Passpoint on over 70 of its military bases in the U.S., as well as in South Korea and Japan. With Passpoint, service members can stay connected as they move from room to room, building to building, and base to base.

Military bases with Passpoint networks include:

Passpoint delivers seamless connectivity across locations and industries

Passpoint-enabled mobile devices can automatically find and authenticate to previously visited hotspot locations, streamlining the hand-off between Wi-Fi and cellular for end-users – all while delivering enterprise-level security. These capabilities have proven useful in a variety of locations and across multiple industries, making Passpoint a foundational ingredient in global Wi-Fi connectivity, and a great solution for end users, network operators, and device vendors. Passpoint deployments will continue to proliferate around the world, allowing mores seamless connectivity for mobile device users around the globe.