#MWC: Cisco launches small cell Wi-Fi technology for intelligent roaming

Cisco has announced the launch of two new Wi-Fi services aimed at operators and large enterprises to help them run and manage large-scale wireless networks with improved roaming capabilities.

Firstly, the firm has announced a software upgrade for its access points (APs) which improves the secure automatic authentication between APs, ensuring firms can deliver a reliable and seamless Wi-Fi service over a large campus.

The technology, dubbed Next-Generation Hotspot, has been approved by the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

It would be invaluable for organisations with large campuses, Murali Nemani, Cisco's senior director for service provider mobility, told V3.

"In large spaces such as airports, shopping malls or similar locations those managing the networks can allow users to move between different points seamlessly," he said.

Secondly, the firm has also launched a new Small Cell Gateway service that can offer a combination of 2G, 3G and 4G services as well as Wi-Fi signal that will automatically provide devices with the strongest possible signal depending on the available services.

Nemani said that with more employees than ever requiring access to the internet on a range of devices, allowing the network to manage connections was a vital next step.

"With the Small Cell Gateway enterprises can create a system where devices can move between networks without having to re-authenticate each time they connect to a different access point," he said.

"Similarly, the network is smart enough to recognise that if a user's data signal quality drops off as they enter a building, it can automatically switch them to Wi-Fi, for example, to give them the maximum available coverage."

Both products are available now with some deployments already taking place with pricing based on firm's specific requirements.

Cisco expects mobile traffic to grow massively in the next five years, predicting that by 2016 there will be some 130 exabytes of data sent over networks every year.