The Signal: A Wi-Fi Alliance podcast

In this episode, we welcome Alex Roytblat, Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Wi-Fi Alliance, to The Signal to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the FCC's landmark decision to open the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi. Alex explains that this was the most significant expansion of spectrum for Wi-Fi in decades, which effectively doubled the spectrum for Wi-Fi in U.S., and ushered in the dev...

In this episode, we welcome Raja Shanmugam, Global Head of Strategy and Market Development for IoT and Digital Engineering at Tata Consultancy Services, to the podcast to dive into the evolving role of Wi-Fi in smart homes and enterprise environments. Raja shares his perspective on why Wi-Fi 7 is gaining traction in smart homes, and how the new standard's key features meet the demand for a gr...

In this episode, we welcome Quentin Lebeau, Product Marketing Manager at SoftAtHome, to discuss their recent Wi-Fi 7 gateway launch with Swisscom. Quentin delves into the rising consumer demand for cutting-edge technology, making Wi-Fi 7's key capabilities of higher speeds, lower latency, and increased reliability even more appealing to consumers. Quentin explains that Wi-Fi 7 also enables th...

Today, we welcome Rahul Patel, Group General Manager of Connectivity, Broadband, and Networking at Qualcomm, back to The Signal. Rahul shares how Wi-Fi 7’s adoption has outpaced expectations due to growing demand for faster speeds and widespread market adoption. We explore the rise of 5G fixed wireless access and FTTH and how these technologies drive the need for best in class Wi-Fi. Rahul explain...

In today's episode, we welcome Eric McLaughlin, VP of the Connectivity Solutions Group at Intel, back to The Signal to talk about AI trends in the PC market. Eric tells us that Wi-Fi is crucial to the development of AI experiences, delivering robust connections essential for offsite workloads and enhanced performance, and we talk about how Neural Processing Units (NPUs) enable AI capabilities...

In today's episode, we're bringing back our CEO Insights series with Kevin Robinson, CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance, and Mike Finley, CEO of Boingo, to explore how Wi-Fi is enabling new levels of connectivity and security for airports, military bases, and IoT applications. Kevin and Mike discuss some of Boingo's recent deployments, including the first launch of Wi-Fi 7 at a public venue, and...

In this episode, we welcome Marian Kost, VP and GM of Connectivity at Texas Instruments, back to the podcast to talk about wireless security. As the number of connected devices grows, securing them becomes more important than ever, especially in critical areas like patient monitoring, building automation, and industrial applications. Marian tells us that the latest generations of Wi-Fi are even mo...

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Curtis Hill, Network Deployment Manager at Open Broadband, to discuss a recent Wi-Fi deployment across 14 underserved parks in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Curtis takes us through the details of this project, which leverages Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5, and Wi-Fi 6, and we chat about the impressive uptick in usage, even before the full installation was completed. Cu...

In this episode, Jussi Kiviniemi, Founder and CEO of Hamina Wireless, joins us to discuss 6 GHz Wi-Fi and Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC). Jussi shares insights into how Wi-Fi technology has evolved to support high-value use cases, including industrial robots, medical devices, and more. We talk about how 6 GHz spectrum delivers faster, more reliable connectivity, particularly in outdoor env...

In this episode, we’re joined by Gaurav Jain, Senior Director of Engineering at Wi-Fi Alliance, to discuss the recent demonstration of 6 GHz Wi-Fi at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok. The demo, part of a months-long pilot program, showcased how Wi-Fi in 6 GHz transforms healthcare to enhance medical training through AR/VR applications and dense deployment. Gaurav explains why access to the full 120...

In today's episode, we welcome Gino Dion, Director of Innovation Solutions at Nokia, to talk about how Wi-Fi 6E brings esports to life. Gino gives us the inside track on the recent Nokia Apex Legends invitational tournament, the first-ever esports event held over Wi-Fi instead of ethernet-based connectivity. Deterministic performance is crucial in a gaming environment where every millisecond...

In today’s episode, we welcome Matt Pekarske, Principal of Connectivity and Service Integration Technologies at GE HealthCare, to the show to explore 6 GHz Wi-Fi's impact on healthcare. Matt tells us how the additional spectrum of 6 GHz Wi-Fi enhances healthcare settings by improving clinical workflows and ensuring reliable connectivity for critical healthcare devices. He also shares his insi...

In today's episode, we're joined by Walter Bronzi, Technical Product Lead for Connectivity Platforms and Wireless In-car Services at BMW. Walter shares how the surge in customer demand for in-car connectivity has made Wi-Fi a crucial component to automotive use cases. We talk about how Wi-Fi compliments other in-car features that utilize 5G and Bluetooth, and Walter tells us how Wi-Fi 7&...

In today's episode, we welcome James Chen, VP of Product and Technology at MediaTek, back to the podcast to talk about all things AI. We discuss the difference between traditional AI and generative AI, and learn more about Wi-Fi's pivotal role in both technologies. James shares his insights on the emerging generative AI landscape and how it supports communication, entertainment, and even...

In today's episode, we're joined by Shaila Bansal, Product Manager at Qualcomm, to talk all about how Wi-Fi serves the evolving XR landscape. Shaila tells us how XR boosts productivity in global enterprises, from augmented reality glasses to productivity applications like the infinite desktop. We discuss how VR enables immersive learning in the classroom, and how AR can improve safety fe...

2024 marks the 25th anniversary of Wi-Fi, and in today's episode, we're celebrating this milestone by taking a walk down memory lane with our guest David Coleman, Director of Wireless in the Office of the CTO at Extreme Networks. David tells us about his first experience with Wi-Fi 25 years ago, and how the technology moved swiftly from the warehouse to the consumer. We talk about the ea...

Today, we're continuing our special series, CEO Insights. In this episode, Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Kevin Robinson and CEO of Pavlov Media Cory Douglas share their thoughts on Wi-Fi innovation, fiber to the home, and more. We talk about the increasing need for reliable high-speed internet access and how OpenWiFi is working to meet that demand. Cory tells us how OpenWiFi complements broadband techno...

In today's episode, we're welcoming Nabil Bukhari, CTO of Extreme Networks, back to The Signal to talk about how Wi-Fi 7 empowers diverse use cases across multiple industries. Nabil discusses how Wi-Fi 7 supports the hybrid workplace and next-generation collaboration technologies. We talk about how the new standard enables retail use cases online and in-store, and how AR/VR allows retail...

Today's episode is all about Automated Frequency Coordination. We're welcoming Rolf de Vegt, VP of Technical Standards at Qualcomm, back to the podcast to tell us how AFC is expanding the use of Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band. Rolf gives us a technical overview, and we discuss the different indoor and outdoor use cases that will utilize standard power in 6 GHz. We learn how AFC will provide sig...

In today's episode, we welcome James Kimery, VP of Product Management at Spirent Communications to the podcast to discuss Wi-Fi 7 for network operators and service providers. James shares his insight on Wi-Fi testing and tells us about some of the specific test challenges for Wi-Fi 7. We also talk about the increased demand for video-based IoT devices and how the ubiquity of Wi-Fi enables rel...

Today, we're back with our CEO Insights series. In this episode, Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Kevin Robinson and co-CEO and Founder of Airties Metin Taskin share their insights on what Wi-Fi 7 will bring for service providers, and how it will enable them to better serve their customers. Metin tells us about the roles of both standardization and open source from a service provider perspective, and the m...

In today's episode, we're continuing our new series, CEO Insights, with Kevin Robinson, CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance, and Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance. Tobin shares an update on Matter's upward momentum, and we learn more about the newly released Matter 1.2 and the device types it supports. Kevin and Tobin discuss the considerations that led Wi...

In today's episode, we're welcoming Irvind Ghai, VP of Wi-Fi at Silicon Labs, back to The Signal. Irvind shares more about how Wi-Fi empowers IoT and tells us how Wi-Fi supports power optimization in IoT devices - an extremely important consideration for customers. We talk about how Matter over Wi-Fi allows IoT devices to coexist in smart homes, and we learn about how the protocol will i...

We're thrilled to kick off our new series, CEO Insights, where we sit down with industry leaders and visionaries to bring you Wi-Fi insights you won't hear anywhere else. Today, we're joined by Kevin Robinson, President and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance, and Mike Finley, CEO of Boingo. Mike tells us about Boingo's successful deployment of the first-ever Wi-Fi 7 network at a public venu...

In today's episode, we welcome Will Torgerson, VP and GM of Broadband at MaxLinear to the podcast to discuss how the network edge is moving closer to the end user. Will tells us about the importance of the partnership between OEMs and service providers, we talk about the emerging consumer applications that are driving the need for more bandwidth. Will tells us how streaming services, AR/VR, a...