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Windows Vista's Plan for Easier Wi-Fi Setup |
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Saturday, 27 May 2006 |
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The guy who gave the Wi-Fi presentation at WinHEC (Microsoft's annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Seattle) began by telling the vendors at the session that Windows Vista hoped to help them reduce return rates (at retail) of 30 percent for their products. Thirty percent is a catastrophically high figure for Wi-Fi vendors who are engaged in cutthroat competition to begin with--and it says a lot about just how confusing and frustrating network setup can be for us, the users.
In fact, the Wi-Fi setup feature in Vista (called Windows Connect Now-NET, which is actually a new version of the Windows Connect Now feature in Windows XP) is Microsoft's implementation of the Wi-Fi Simple Config technology being developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance industry group to address the same issue. To work optimally, it requires awareness of the technology by clients and access point/routers. (You can read about it on Microsoft's Web site.)
So here's how setup will work in Windows Vista: The OS acts as a registrar that provides network settings to new devices (called enrollees) once they are authenticated--i.e. they must prove they are your devices and not some neighbor's or intruder's. (By the way, this general scheme applies to other network devices, not just wireless ones. In particular, officials from the HomePlug Powerline Alliance say upcoming HomePlug AV products will work with Windows Connect Now in Vista.)
Vista's registrar communicates with a new network device using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology, either directly (if the enrollee is connected via ethernet) or wirelessly through a Wi-Fi router that has already been set up on the network (interestingly, Vista at ship won't support wireless setup of the first Wi-Fi router on a network, but Microsoft says it will add that ability later via a software update).
The registrar in Vista is launched either through the OS's new Network Explorer (which is proactive in looking for the presence of new connected devices) or its Network Center. Once a new device is discovered, the registrar software prompts the user to authenticate the device by typing in a PIN provided with the device. You then select which existing network profile settings to apply to the device (i.e. network SSID and passphrase) or create new settings.
Microsoft officials say there are provisions for dealing with legacy equipment that doesn't have a PIN--and that vendors may be able to add WCN-NET technology to some devices via a firmware upgrade.
What's particularly appealing about this approach is that for all but the first Wi-Fi router on a network (see above), setup is completely wireless (today you typically start by connecting a new device via ethernet), and the only real effort on a user's part is to find and enter a new device's PIN. Also, the approach provides a measure of security since the network will only permit communication between authenticated devices.
My only concern is for legacy devices. If setup for older equipment gets easier--or at least doesn't get more complicated than it is now--then it sounds like a good idea. Time will tell. Posted by Yardena Arar
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