Austin-Bergstrom International Airport got the nation's first airport Wi-Fi network in 2000, according to Boingo, which has run the airport's Wi-Fi since 2008. Now it's become one of the first airports to implement Passpoint, the standard that lets users of some devices get on networks and roam between them without entering a username and password.
Travelers don't even need to get on the network to take advantage of the security-wait warning system. A forecast for how long each line will take appears on screens right outside the security checkpoint. And any traveler who goes through security with a device that has Wi-Fi or Bluetooth turned on also helps to make the system work, according to Boingo CTO Derek Peterson. Boingo has launched the wait-sensing technology at three airports, all in trial mode, and Austin's is the first facility where it's displaying the information.
Here's how the system works: Wi-Fi devices with standard settings turned on constantly send out signals looking for nearby Wi-Fi devices and access points. Access points near the security checkpoints detect those signals and the unique MAC (media access control) addresses associated with them. Using that data, the system determines when that device entered the area of the queue and when it reached the other end of the checkpoint, after the owner finished with security.
via www.itworld.com
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