Nomadix’s new software version plays to carriers

Nomadix, a public Wi-Fi hot spot vendor, has announced a new version of its Network Service Engine software with features that reflect what the company said is increasing interest in Wi-Fi on the part of carriers and other large companies.

The new version of the software, unveiled at the 802.11 Planet Conference in Boston, feature enhanced roaming capabilities based on network access identifier (NAI) routing. NAI routing supports the Wi-Fi wholesale network operator model by allowing “many carriers to co-exist providing service in one venue, while users are re-directed only to their service provider, and that provider’s authentication process,” said John DiGiovanni, director of marketing at Nomadix.

Also, a new fail-over feature allows for a secondary Nomadix access gateway to be used if the first subscriber gateway fails, offering better assurance of service availability. Other new features support rapid deployment and secure management of gateways, as well as duration-based billing and improved security against denial-of-service attacks.

“Scalability was a main driver in developing the new version of the software,” said DiGiovanni. “There has been a shift in the types of customers we’re seeing for our gateways from the smaller mom-and-pop hot spot operators to larger carriers.”

He added that Verizon’s recent announcement to offer Wi-Fi access as a free extension service to its DSL customers in New York City has caused many larger carrier to take a more serious look at deploying Wi-Fi technology.

The new version of Network Service Engine will be released on Nomadix’s gateways at the end of July, and also will be available as a firmware upgrade.