Hotspot 2.0/Passpoint in a Nutshell

• 802.11u is a 2011 amendment to the 802.11 standard that enables seamless Wi-Fi roaming and network discovery (Independent of the SSID of a WiFi network).
• Although often used interchangeably with Hotspot 2.0 and Passpoint, these terms have distinct meanings.
• While they share common goals and technologies, Hotspot 2.0 typically refers to the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification program, Passpoint is a specific implementation, and 802.11u is the underlying standard.
• In practice, however, these terms are often used loosely to refer to the same general concept of advanced Wi-Fi roaming and network selection.
• In short, it allows your device to connect to a WiFi network without being dependent on the SSID that is broadcast on the specific WiFi network.
• 802.11u enables devices to connect to Wi-Fi networks based on other identifiers, such as:
  • Domain names
  • Roaming consortiums
  • Network identifiers
• So the key takeaway, 802.11u, Hotspot 2.0 and Passpoint are all part of the same WhatsApp group

Next we will look how this is accomplish on the WiFi Access Point.

• With the 802.11u standard there are provision for extra data in the WiFi beacons to indicate the Access Point is Hotspot 2.0 enabled.
• The extra data that