Anyfi Networks thinks it can help fixed network service providers add a “mobility” or “untethered” capability outside the subsciber’s home, using software. The easiest use case is a service provider that operates both a network of public Wi-Fi hotspots and fixed network access, plus a mobile network.
“By remotely upgrading your home gateways with our patent pending software you can transform your existing infrastructure into a mobile broadband network, license exempt and Wi-Fi compatible, literally overnight,” Anyfi says.
“Anyfi.net Simple” lets a fixed-line broadband operator extend the home Wi-Fi user experience outside the home, the company says. “Since devices always authenticate against the home gateway the connection is automatic and completely secure,” Anyfi Networks says.
“The trick is combining Wi-Fi with IP, Internet Protocol, to break the tie between logical network and physical infrastructure, much in the same way as Voice over IP separates your phone service from the physical line. You can think of it as Wi-Fi over IP,” the company says.
Anyfi claims that a fixed-line operator having a high density of broadband subscribers in certain urban areas could actually become mobile operators overnight, just by upgrading the modem software remotely, transforming the infrastructure into a radio access network.
Anyfi says that the ability to offload mobile traffic to any Wi-Fi access point depends on a business relationship between the “home” ISP and the operator of the remote Wi-Fi hotspot. In other words, Anyfi does not enable access to Wi-Fi hotspots whose owners do not agree to cooperate.