Robot helps link WLAN networks
Quiconnect has said that a remote access solution to manage the configuration and integration of network operators’ hotspots will create global virtual Wi-Fi networks for its telecommunication customers. Quiconnect’s clients include BT Openzone, Orange France and Sprint.
Quiconnect provides systems integration and interconnectivity management solutions for telcos in the wireless broadband sector. It connects discrete commercial IP networks globally into a single worldwide virtual network, branded for its telco customers, managing billing and financial clearing house services, with automated connection for users.
Quiconnect said such an approach removes the complexity of public Wi-Fi access, historically an arduous affair for users having to remember password information, keying in credit card or scratch card details or knowing that their ISP has a roaming agreement with a particular third party aggregator. By streamlining the Wi-Fi access process whatever the device (laptop, gaming console or mobile phone) Quiconnect said it is establishing a system similar to Cirrus or Maestro access to cash ATMs.
The process of creating a single worldwide virtual network involves a complex range of activities, from initial RADIUS set up to the implementation of virtual landing pages (branded to the telco), and integration testing of any carrier-specific client software to ensure that users can access hotspot sites.
As more operators and carriers connect to the Quiconnect virtual network the impact on the engineering resources of all parties will grow, as integration and subsequent testing is required. The Hotspot Robot means that Quiconnect engineers can remotely access and manage hotspots (on behalf of the individual operator and carrier without impacting their own IT resource).
Andrew Schultz, Quiconnect’s head of marketing and strategy explains, “Our engineers need to test a whole range of things such as whether users can log on and off hotspots correctly, that client software functions correctly, and that the different payment methods work. In the future we hope to include bandwidth and Quality of Service (QoS) testing of the network. You can do this in a variety of ways with Hotspot Robot, so we can see what’s happening on the network – it’s like physically being there.”
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