The update also opens up more than 3,500 new hot-spot locations in Europe, doubling the number of spots in the Boingo Roaming System.
The new software adds support for 802.1x authentication and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption standards to allow users to integrate the software with corporate authentication schemes. It can now import profiles from Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration, Cisco Aironet Client Utility, and the Agere-based Wi-Fi utility. It continues to include a private VPN to encrypt data as it travels from a notebook to the Boingo data center.
Via new private profile settings, the Boingo software also enables users to hide a specific network or, in areas with many signals, reduce signal display clutter by hiding all networks except those for which they have set up profiles. Users can also designate that the Wi-Fi sniffer show private signals by user-designated profile name, instead of by SSID, thereby allowing users with closed (non-broadcast) networks to keep their SSIDs hidden.
Boingo also announced plans to release its software developer kit (SDK) to its Platform Services partners, thereby enabling them to develop custom-branded Wi-Fi connection applications to be used with the Boingo Roaming System, or to integrate the new functionality into their existing Boingo-based client applications.
The Boingo software is free and available now for download.
