Comment on Why Isn’t Wi-Fi Better? by Björn S

Thanks for the mention Stacey. :) I think Bob is spot on; it's the UX that needs to be improved. Wi-Fi works really well when you're at home (and have WPA enabled) but in hotspots it just plain sucks. The fact that hotspots are used at all I think is testament to Wi-Fi's strengths in other departments. You need AT LEAST this if you want a good mobile Wi-Fi UX: 1. Automatic authentication. Enter credentials once, use everywhere. Extra credits for reusing credentials already in the device, e.g. SIM card. 2. Encryption, and preferably with a trusted end-point. The Guardian recently illustrated the trusted end-point part of it (in the sense that over-the-air encryption would not have helped): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/25/wifi-security-flaw-smartphones-risk 3. Quality coverage. Blanket coverage is great but not if it's 80% crap that makes you want to turn your Wi-Fi off. Quality needs to be actively monitored and managed so that devices only connect (i.e. switch over from 3G) when Wi-Fi signal strength is good enough for a quality UX. We'll hopefully have the first major ISP up and running with all of the above (and some more) this fall.

Comment on Why Isn’t Wi-Fi Better? by Björn S

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