Seamless Wi-Fi / cellular roaming for better Wi-Fi monetization
No matter where we are – home, office or on the go – we expect to be wirelessly connected 24×7, either via 4G/5G cellular services or Wi-Fi services. However, while cellular services provide great coverage and a secure connection for wide open outdoor areas, they often lack adequate coverage and/or performance indoors. In addition, there is often a desire to switch from cellular to Wi-Fi in public venues and office buildings so the owners of those facilities can monetize guest Wi-Fi services and/or minimize wireless access costs for employees.
Orion Wifi is a new platform from Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator, and it was developed to address these scenarios. Announced by Google on September 8th, Orion Wifi brings a new level of simplicity to improving cellular coverage for phones from participating cellular carriers by selling access to your Wi-Fi network. It leverages a combination of:
- RadSec to secure the connection between your network and Orion Wifi
- Passpoint® (Hotspot 2.0) to enable devices to discover and roam onto your network.
Orion Wifi makes it quick, easy and free for facilities owners to enable and secure connections to carrier’s cellular networks.
Juniper Networks is pleased to be one of a select number of Wi-Fi vendors integrated with Orion Wifi. Driven by Mist AI, Juniper Wi-Fi delivers unprecedented user experiences with rich insights and customizable service levels. In addition to being an all-around leader in next generation networking, Juniper brings the following unique capabilities to the joint solution:
Simplified Provisioning with End-to-End Security
The Juniper solution supports Hotspot 2.0 and RadSec natively, allowing fast roaming from the cellular network to Wi-Fi while ensuring quick configuration of Orion Wifi. With Juniper Mist technology, the Orion system can be set up in less than 30 minutes, as opposed to the many hours it takes with other vendors’ Wi-Fi solutions.
This is possible in part because Juniper natively supports RadSec, which provides end-to-end encryption of AAA traffic for secure authentication from Juniper Access Points directly to Orion back-end systems. This ensures a secure, flexible and easy deployment in most environments.
Automated Operations
Juniper’s Wi-Fi solution, driven by Mist AI, supports 100% open and programmable APIs with full automation and seamless integration with the Orion Wifi platform. This further simplifies the provisioning of Orion Wifi networks at scale.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership
Juniper is built on a modern microservice cloud architecture that doesn’t require WLAN controller or gateway equipment. This simplifies Orion Wifi’s configuration processes and ongoing operations, which helps Wi-Fi network operators save on deployment costs by minimizing the need for additional expensive hardware components.
“We are excited to partner with Juniper Networks to extend cellular coverage for mobile users on the go,” said Raj Gajwani, Director at Google’s Area 120. “Juniper is a wonderful partner for Orion Wifi users because Juniper’s full RadSec automation makes it incredibly quick to enable Orion Wifi — less than 30 minutes. Juniper’s microservice cloud architecture also helps venue operators improve cellular services for their visitors while monetizing their Wi-Fi investments.”
Google Orion Wifi, powered by the Juniper Mist solution, delivers a “better together” story for cellular carriers and Wi-Fi providers. Both benefit from seamless integration and unprecedented insight, which opens up more opportunities for wireless service revenue while maximizing end user Wi-Fi experiences. Wherever mobile users roam, Google and Juniper have them covered.
To learn more about the technology that makes up this exciting new joint solution, point your browser here:
Visit Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance page
