Hotspot (Wi-Fi)
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A hotspot is a physical location where people can obtain
Internet access Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide ...
, typically using
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
technology, via a wireless local-area network (WLAN) using a router connected to an
Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...
. Public hotspots may be created by a business for use by customers, such as coffee shops or hotels. Public hotspots are typically created from wireless access points configured to provide Internet access, controlled to some degree by the venue. In its simplest form, venues that have
broadband Internet access In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide- bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Internet access. The transmission m ...
can create public wireless access by configuring an access point (AP), in conjunction with a router to connect the AP to the Internet. A single wireless router combining these functions may suffice. A private hotspot, often called tethering, may be configured on a smartphone or tablet that has a network data plan, to allow Internet access to other devices via
password A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...
, Bluetooth pairing, or through the moeex protocol over
USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...
, or even when both the hotspot device and the device accessing it are connected to the same Wi-Fi network but one which does not provide Internet access. Similarly, a Bluetooth or USB OTG can be used by a mobile device to provide Internet access via Wi-Fi instead of a mobile network, to a device that itself has neither Wi-Fi nor mobile network capability passwords.


Uses

The public can use a
laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
or other suitable portable device to access the wireless connection (usually
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
) provided. The iPass 2014 interactive map, that shows data provided by the analysts Maravedis Rethink, shows that in December 2014 there are 46,000,000 hotspots worldwide and more than 22,000,000 roamable hotspots. More than 10,900 hotspots are on trains, planes and airports (Wi-Fi in motion) and more than 8,500,000 are "branded" hotspots (retail, cafés, hotels). The region with the largest number of public hotspots is Europe, followed by North America and Asia. Libraries throughout the United States are implementing hotspot lending programs to extend access to online library services to users at home who cannot afford in-home Internet access or do not have access to Internet infrastructure. The
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
was the largest program, lending out 10,000 devices to library patrons. Similar programs have existed in Kansas, Maine, and Oklahoma; and many individual libraries are implementing these programs. Wi-Fi positioning is a method for
geolocation Geopositioning is the process of determining or estimating the geographic position of an object or a person. Geopositioning yields a set of Geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinates (such as latitude and longitude) in a given map datum ...
based on the positions of nearby hotspots.


Security issues

Security is a serious concern in connection with public and private hotspots. There are three possible attack scenarios. First, there is the wireless connection between the client and the access point, which needs to be encrypted, so that the connection cannot be eavesdropped or attacked by a man-in-the-middle attack. Second, there is the hotspot itself. The WLAN encryption ends at the interface, then travels its network stack unencrypted and then, third, travels over the wired connection up to the BRAS of the ISP. Depending upon the setup of a public hotspot, the provider of the hotspot has access to the metadata and content accessed by users of the hotspot. The safest method when accessing the Internet over a hotspot, with unknown security measures, is
end-to-end encryption End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a method of implementing a secure communication system where only communicating users can participate. No one else, including the system provider, telecom providers, Internet providers or malicious actors, can ...
. Examples of strong end-to-end encryption are
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protoc ...
and SSH. Some hotspots authenticate users; however, this does not prevent users from viewing network traffic using packet sniffers. Some vendors provide a download option that deploys WPA support. This conflicts with enterprise configurations that have solutions specific to their internal WLAN. The Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) standard provides
encrypted communication Secure communication is when two entities are communicating and do not want a third party to listen in. For this to be the case, the entities need to communicate in a way that is unsusceptible to eavesdropping or Signals intelligence, interception ...
in open Wi-Fi networks, alongside the WPA3 standard, but is not yet widely implemented.


Unintended consequences

New York City introduced a Wi-Fi hotspot kiosk called LinkNYC with the intentions of providing modern technology for the masses as a replacement to a payphone. Businesses complained they were a homeless magnet and CBS news observed transients with wires connected to the kiosk lingering for an extended period. It was shut down following complaints about transient activity around the station and encampments forming around it. Transients/ panhandlers were the most frequent users of the kiosk since its installation in early 2016 spurring complaints about public viewing of pornography and masturbation.


Locations

Public hotspots are often found at
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
s,
bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...
s, coffee shops,
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
s,
fuel station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
s,
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s,
hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
s,
libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
, public pay phones,
restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
s, RV parks and campgrounds,
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
s,
train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...
s, and other public places. Additionally, many
school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
s and
universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
have
wireless network A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks, and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables int ...
s on their campuses.


Types


Free hotspots

According to statista.com, in the year 2022, there are approximately 550 million free Wi-Fi hotspots around the world. The U.S. NSA warns against connecting to free public Wi-Fi. Free hotspots operate in two ways: * Using an open public network is the easiest way to create a free hotspot. All that is needed is a Wi-Fi router. Similarly, when users of private wireless routers turn off their authentication requirements, opening their connection, intentionally or not, they permit piggybacking (sharing) by anyone in range. * Closed public networks use a HotSpot Management System to control access to hotspots. This software runs on the router itself or an external computer allowing operators to authorize only specific users to access the Internet. Providers of such hotspots often associate the free access with a menu, membership, or purchase limit. Operators may also limit each user's available bandwidth (upload and download speed) to ensure that everyone gets a good quality service. Often this is done through
service-level agreement A service-level agreement (SLA) is an agreement between a service provider and a customer. Particular aspects of the service – quality, availability, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user. T ...
s.


Commercial hotspots

A commercial hotspot may feature: * A
captive portal A captive portal is a web page accessed with a web browser that is displayed to newly connected users of a Wi-Fi or wired network before they are granted broader access to network resources. Captive portals are commonly used to present a landing o ...
/ login screen / splash page that users are redirected to for
authentication Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an Logical assertion, assertion, such as the Digital identity, identity of a computer system user. In contrast with iden ...
and/or
payment A payment is the tender of something of value, such as money or its equivalent, by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods or services provided by them, or to fulfill a legal obligation or philanthropy desir ...
. The captive portal / splash page sometimes includes the
social login Social login is a form of single sign-on using existing information from a social networking service such as Facebook, Twitter or Google Account, Google, to login to a third party website instead of creating a new login account specifically for tha ...
buttons. * A payment option using a credit card, iPass,
PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...
, or another payment service (voucher-based Wi-Fi) * A walled garden feature that allows free access to certain sites * Service-oriented provisioning to allow for improved revenue * Data analytics and data capture tools, to analyze and export data from Wi-Fi clients Many services provide payment services to hotspot providers, for a monthly fee or commission from the end-user income. For example, Amazingports can be used to set up hotspots that intend to offer both fee-based and free internet access, and ZoneCD is a
Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...
that provides payment services for hotspot providers who wish to deploy their own service. Roaming services are expanding among major hotspot service providers. With roaming service the users of a commercial provider can have access to other providers' hotspots, either free of charge or for extra fees, which users will usually be charged on an access-per-minute basis.


Software hotspots

Many Wi-Fi adapters built into or easily added to consumer computers and mobile devices include the functionality to operate as private or mobile hotspots, sometimes referred to as "mi-fi". The use of a private hotspot to enable other personal devices to access the WAN (usually but not always the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
) is a form of bridging, and known as tethering. Manufacturers and
firmware In computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, h ...
creators can enable this functionality in Wi-Fi devices on many Wi-Fi devices, depending upon the capabilities of the hardware, and most modern consumer operating systems, including Android, Apple OS X 10.6 and later,
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, and
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
include features to support this. Additionally wireless chipset manufacturers such as Atheros,
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data cen ...
,
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
and others, may add the capability for certain Wi-Fi NICs, usually used in a client role, to also be used for hotspot purposes. However, some service providers, such as AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile charge users for this service or prohibit and disconnect user connections if tethering is detected. Third-party software vendors offer applications to allow users to operate their own hotspot, whether to access the Internet when on the go, share an existing connection, or extend the range of another hotspot.


Hotspot 2.0

Hotspot 2.0, also known as HS2 and Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint, is an approach to public access Wi-Fi by the
Wi-Fi Alliance The Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit organization that owns the Wi-Fi trademark. Manufacturers may use the trademark to brand products certified for Wi-Fi interoperability. It is based in Austin, Texas. History Early IEEE 802.11, 802.11 product ...
. The idea is for mobile devices to automatically join a Wi-Fi subscriber service whenever the user enters a Hotspot 2.0 area, in order to provide better bandwidth and services-on-demand to end-users and relieve carrier infrastructure of some traffic. Hotspot 2.0 is based on the IEEE 802.11u standard, which is a set of protocols published in 2011 to enable cellular-like roaming. If the device supports 802.11u and is subscribed to a Hotspot 2.0 service it will automatically connect and roam.


Supported devices

* Apple mobile devices running
iOS 7 iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 18 ...
and up * Some Samsung Galaxy smartphones *
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
devices have full support for network discovery and connection. * Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 lack network discovery, but support connecting to a network when the credentials are known.


Billing

The "user-fairness model" is a dynamic billing model, which allows volume-based billing, charged only by the amount of payload (data, video, audio). Moreover, the tariff is classified by net traffic and user needs. If the net traffic increases, then the user has to pay the next higher tariff class. The user can be prompted to confirm that they want to continue the session in the higher traffic class. A higher class fare can also be charged for delay sensitive applications such as video and audio, versus non time-critical applications such as reading Web pages and sending e-mail. The "User-fairness model" can be implemented with the help of EDCF (IEEE 802.11e). An EDCF user priority list shares the traffic in 3 access categories (data, video, audio) and user priorities (UP). * Data 2* Video 4* Audio 6 See Service-oriented provisioning for viable implementations.


Legal issues

Depending upon the set up of a public hotspot, the provider of the hotspot has access to the metadata and content accessed by users of the hotspot, and may have legal obligations related to privacy requirements and liability for use of the hotspot for unlawful purposes. In countries where the internet is regulated or
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
more restricted, there may be requirements such as licensing, logging, or recording of user information. Concerns may also relate to child safety, and
social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control. Soc ...
s such as exposure to objectionable content, protection against cyberbullying and illegal behaviours, and prevention of perpetration of such behaviors by hotspot users themselves.


European Union

The Data Retention Directive which required hotspot owners to retain key user statistics for 12 months was annulled by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2014. The Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications was replaced in 2018 by the
General Data Protection Regulation The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), abbreviated GDPR, is a European Union regulation on information privacy in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of ...
, which imposes restrictions on data collection by hotspot operators.


United Kingdom

* Data Protection Act 1998: The hotspot owner must retain individual's information within the confines of the law. * Digital Economy Act 2010 :[39
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History

Public access wireless local area networks (LANs) were first proposed by Henrik Sjoden at the NetWorld+Interop conference in The Moscone Center in San Francisco in August 1993. Sjoden did not use the term "hotspot" but referred to publicly accessible wireless LANs. The first commercial venture to attempt to create a public local area access network was a firm founded in Richardson, Texas known as PLANCOM (Public Local Area Network Communications). The founders of the venture, Mark Goode, Greg Jackson, and Brett Stewart dissolved the firm in 1998, while Goode and Jackson created MobileStar Networks. The firm was one of the first to sign such public access locations as Starbucks, American Airlines, and Hilton Hotels. The company was sold to Deutsche Telecom in 2001, who then converted the name of the firm into "T-Mobile Hotspot". It was then that the term "hotspot" entered the popular vernacular as a reference to a location where a publicly accessible wireless LAN is available. ABI Research reported there was a total of 4.9 million global Wi-Fi hotspots in 2012. In 2016 the Wireless Broadband Alliance predicted a steady annual increase from 5.2m public hotspots in 2012 to 10.5m in 2018.


See also

*
Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...
* Evil twin (wireless networks) * Hotspot gateway * IEEE 802.11 * Legality of piggybacking * LinkNYC * MobileStar * Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act * Visitor Based Network * Wireless Access Point *
Wireless LAN A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building ...
* Wireless security *
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
* Wi-Fi Direct


References

*


External links

* {{Telecommunications Wi-Fi Wireless access points