Setting Up A 4G WiFi Hotspot With A Dual Band Network

ABSTRACT

Recent years have witnessed massive growth in the popularity of smart portable devices. These devices are fully powered with a number of network interfaces, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 4G, etc., in order to facilitate connectivity and enable the realization of computing and reachability everywhere and all the time. However, there has been difficulty in setting up the device by most people. This work presents a new framework for overcoming such limitation by introducing a new way of setting up a 4G WiFi hotspot with dual band network.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0    INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

• PROBLEM STATEMENT
• AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
• SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• REVIEW OF STUDY
• MOBILE HOTSPOTS
• OVERVIEW OF WIFI (HOTSPOT)
• SOFTWARE HOTSPOTS
• RELATED WORK
• SERVICE DISCOVERY IN WI-FI DIRECT
• WFD-BASED HOTSPOT PROTOCOL

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     METHODOLOGY

3.1      FEACTURES OF A 4G DUAL BAND Wi-Fi

3.2      HARDWARE REQUIREMENT

3.4      HOW TO SETUP A 4G DUAL BAND WIFI HOTSPOT

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0    RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                        INTRODUCTION

1.1                                           BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The smart devices we carry every day are fully powered with a collection of sensors and different means of communication. Technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and more recently Wi-Fi P2P (Wi-Fi Direct), can be used to enrich the smart side of these devices by enabling device-to-device (D2D) communication and providing more functionality to enhance the user experience. Among applications of D2D networked systems, we can cite VANETs, where exchanging information about road conditions and crowd sourcing, can be handled between vehicles (drivers) without the need of roadside units [1]. Such information sharing can also  be extended to involve pedestrians carrying any smart device – Wi-Fi Direct (WFD) is a prime choice for realizing D2D services given its advantages over Bluetooth and over operating Wi-Fi in the ad-hoc mode. Basically, Bluetooth has a fairly short range, and the ad-hoc mode of Wi-Fi is also very limited in range [2]. WFD, on the other hand, enjoys long transmission range at the same speed of a Wi-Fi transceiver that is operating in infrastructure mode.

Specifically, Wi-Fi direct (WFD) is exploited to form multi-hop peer-to-peer (P2P) routes to the introduced hot-spot. WFD supports the same speed and range of the normal Wi-Fi without the need of any infrastructure. Wi-Fi is among the emerging network technologies that are becoming almost standard on all new smart devices. By exploiting nearby devices, which have Internet access, our framework will enable users to publish contents. Our framework is validated through implementation using Android.

In this paper we present a framework on setting up a 4G WiFi hotspot network with dual bank.

1.2                                                  PROBLEM STATEMENT

You can use a WiFi device to create an ad hoc network that helps several devices share a data connection on a cellular network. WiFi devices include built-in modems and work as mobile hotspots or wireless routers.

Connecting a WiFi device to a cellular network typically requires setting up or updating a service contract with your cellular service provider. A WiFi usually has its own data connection from the cellular service provider.

Setting up a 4G WiFi hotspot with dual banG network is always a difficult thing most especially by people that are not conversant with it. This study was carried out to overcome this challenge by highlighting step by step how a 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network can be setup.

1.3                                   AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of this study is to carry out a research on how a 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network can be setup.

The objectives that will help the researcher to achieve the aim of this work are:

i.                    To learn step-by-step how a 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network can be setup.

ii.                  To become conversant with a 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network

iii.                To make setting up a WiFi network easy.

1.4                                                   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this work focused on how 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network can be setup with easy. The study will discuss the theoretical meaning of 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network and how it can be setup.

1.3                                           SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be of great benefit the student involved in that it will make him to become conversant with 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network, and also will benefit all readers by exposing their knowledge on how a 4G WiFi hotspot with a dual band network can be setup.

 

CHAPTER TWO

2.0                                                    LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1                                                      REVIEW OF STUDY

There are currently about 47 million public Wi-Fi hotspots [1] around the globe. This form of Internet access is often provided by cafés, shops, airports, and railway stations to let the customers access the web, connect to the favourite social networking site, upload photos, read and send e-mails etc. Such an urban Internet access is also often used by tourists who do not use international data roaming packages, as well as, by teenagers when they have smartphones equipped with no or limited data packages provided by mobile network operators.

INEA is the largest regional fixed-access telecommunications operator in the Greater Poland, which provides advanced multimedia services to over 220,000 of homes, businesses, and institutions through different access mediums and technolo- gies, i.e., Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial (HFC), Gigabit Passive Opti- cal Network (GPON), point-to-point Carrier Ethernet optical fibres, IEEE 802.16e WiMAX [2], IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi [3], as well as, twisted pair based xDSL and IEEE 802.3 Ethernet. INEA is also the major shareholder of the Greater Poland Broadband Network (Polish: Wielkopolska Siec´ Szerokopas- mowa [WSS]) that operates over 4,500 km of optical DWDM infrastructure with IP/MPLS architecture running on top of in Figure 1, which shows the changes in the number of users throughout an average day. Each data point corresponds to a mean value obtained in the period of one month (further discussed in Section II-D). As in every graph in the paper, confidence intervals (error bars) present the standard deviation of a data point. The graph for mobile network shows highest numbers of users in the morning and in the afternoon what corresponds to the busiest commuting hours. Stationary network, though, exhibits the highest usage in the evening what apparently relates to Internet activities performed at home.

2.2                                          OVERVIEW OF WIFI (HOTSPOT)

A hotspot is a physical location where people may obtain Internet access, typically using Wi-Fi technology, via a wireless local-area network (WLAN) using a router connected to an Internet service provider.

Public hotspots may be created by a business for use by customers, such as coffee shops or hotels. Public hotspots are typically created from wireless access points configured to provide Internet access, controlled to some degree by the venue. In its simplest form, venues that have broadband Internet access can create public wireless access by configuring an access point (AP), in conjunction with a router to connect the AP to the Internet. A single wireless router combining these functions may suffice (Ngo, 2012)

A private hotspot, often called tethering, may be configured on a smartphone or tablet that has a network data plan, to allow Internet access to other devices via Bluetooth pairing, or through the RNDIS protocol over USB, or even when both the hotspot device and the device[s] accessing it are connected to the same Wi-Fi network but one which does not provide Internet access. Similarly, a Bluetooth or USB OTG can be used by a mobile device to provide Internet access via Wi-Fi instead of a mobile network, to a device that itself has neither Wi-Fi nor mobile network capability(Ngo, 2012).

Uses

The public can use a laptop or other suitable portable device to access the wireless connection (usually Wi-Fi) provided. Of the estimated 150 million laptops, 14 million PDAs, and other emerging Wi-Fi devices sold per year for the last few years, most include the Wi-Fi feature (Schrubbe, 2018).

The iPass 2014 interactive map, that shows data provided by the analysts Maravedis Rethink, shows that in December 2014 there are 46,000,000 hotspots worldwide and more than 22,000,000 roamable hotspots. More than 10,900 hotspots are on trains, planes and airports (Wi-Fi in motion) and more than 8,500,000 are “branded” hotspots (retail, cafés, hotels). The region with the largest number of public hotspots is Europe, followed by North America and Asia (Schrubbe, 2018).

Libraries throughout the United States are implementing hotspot lending programs to extend access to online library services to users at home who cannot afford in-home Internet access or do not have access to Internet infrastructure. The New York Public Library was the largest program, lending out 10,000 devices to library patrons.

Wi-Fi positioning is a method for geolocation based on the positions of nearby hotspots (vonNagy, 2012).

Security issues

Security is a serious concern in connection with public and private hotspots. There are three possible attack scenarios. First, there is the wireless connection between the client and the access point, which needs to be encrypted, so that the connection cannot be eavesdropped or attacked by a man-in-the-middle attack. Second, there is the hotspot itself. The WLAN encryption ends at the interface, then travels its network stack unencrypted and then, third, travels over the wired connection up to the BRAS of the ISP.

Depending upon the setup of a public hotspot, the provider of the hotspot has access to the metadata and content accessed by users of the hotspot. The safest method when accessing the Internet over a hotspot, with unknown security measures, is end-to-end encryption. Examples of strong end-to-end encryption are HTTPS and SSH.

Some hotspots authenticate users; however, this does not prevent users from viewing network traffic using packet sniffers (vonNagy, 2012).

Some vendors provide a download option that deploys WPA support. This conflicts with enterprise configurations that have solutions specific to their internal WLAN (Simkins, 2012).

The Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) standard provides encrypted communication in open Wi-Fi networks, alongside the WPA3 standard, (Simkins, 2012) but is not yet widely implemented.

Unintended consequences

New York City introduced a Wi-Fi hotspot kiosk called LinkNYC with the intentions of providing modern technology for the masses as a replacement to a payphone. Businesses complained they’re a homeless magnet and CBS news observed transients with wires connected to the kiosk lingering for an extended period. (Simkins, 2012) It was shut down following complaints about transient activity around the station and encampments forming around it. Transients/panhandlers were the most frequent users of the kiosk since its installation in early 2016 spurring complaints about public viewing of pornography and masturbation (Simkins, 2012).

Locations

Public hotspots are often found at airports, bookstores, coffee shops, department stores, fuel stations, hotels, hospitals, libraries, public pay phones, restaurants, RV parks and campgrounds, supermarkets, train stations, and other public places. Additionally, many schools and universities have wireless networks on their campuses.

Types

Free hotspots operate in two ways:

• Using an open public network is the easiest way to create a free hotspot. All that is needed is a Wi-Fi router. Similarly, when users of private wireless routers turn off their authentication requirements, opening their connection, intentionally or not, they permit piggybacking (sharing) by anyone in range (Burton, 2012).
• Closed public networks use a HotSpot Management System to control access to hotspots. This software runs on the router itself or an external computer allowing operators to authorize only specific users to access the Internet. (Burton, 2012)Providers of such hotspots often associate the free access with a menu, membership, or purchase limit. Operators may also limit each user’s available bandwidth (upload and download speed) to ensure that everyone gets a good quality service. Often this is done through service-level agreements (Burton, 2012).

Commercial hotspots

A commercial hotspot may feature:

• A captive portal / login screen / splash page that users are redirected to for authentication and/or payment. The captive portal / splash page sometimes includes the social login
• A payment option using a credit card, iPass, PayPal, or another payment service (voucher-based Wi-Fi)
• A walled garden feature that allows free access to certain sites
• Service-oriented provisioning to allow for improved revenue
• Data analytics and data capture tools, to analyze and export data from Wi-Fi clients

Many services provide payment services to hotspot providers, for a monthly fee or commission from the end-user income. For example, Amazingports can be used to set up hotspots that intend to offer both fee-based and free internet access, and ZoneCD is a Linux distribution that provides payment services for hotspot providers who wish to deploy their own service.

Major airports and business hotels are more likely to charge for service, though most hotels provide free service to guests; and increasingly, small airports and airline lounges offer free service.

Roaming services are expanding among major hotspot service providers. With roaming service the users of a commercial provider can have access to other providers’ hotspots, either free of charge or for extra fees, which users will usually be charged on an access-per-minute basis (Burton, 2012).

2.3                                                  SOFTWARE HOTSPOTS

Many Wi-Fi adapters built into or easily added to consumer computers and mobile devices include the functionality to operate as private or mobile hotspots, sometimes referred to as “mi-fi”.^[17] The use of a private hotspot to enable other personal devices to access the WAN (usually but not always the Internet) is a form of bridging, and known as tethering. Manufacturers and firmware creators can enable this functionality in Wi-Fi devices on many Wi-Fi devices, depending upon the capabilities of the hardware, and most modern consumer operating systems, including Android, Apple OS X 10.6 and later, Windows, and Linux include features to support this (Burton, 2012). Additionally wireless chipset manufacturers such as Atheros, Broadcom, Intel and others, may add the capability for certain Wi-Fi NICs, usually used in a client role, to also be used for hotspot purposes. However, some service providers, such as AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile charge users for this service or prohibit and disconnect user connections if tethering is detected (Burton, 2012).

Third-party software vendors offer applications to allow users to operate their own hotspot, whether to access the Internet when on the go, share an existing connection, or extend the range of another hotspot.

Hotspot 2.0

Hotspot 2.0, also known as HS2 and Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint, is an approach to public access Wi-Fi by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The idea is for mobile devices to automatically join a Wi-Fi subscriber service whenever the user enters a Hotspot 2.0 area, in order to provide better bandwidth and services-on-demand to end-users and relieve carrier infrastructure of some traffic (Burton, 2012).

Hotspot 2.0 is based on the IEEE 802.11u standard, which is a set of protocols published in 2011 to enable cellular-like roaming. If the device supports 802.11u and is subscribed to a Hotspot 2.0 service it will automatically connect and roam (Brownlee, 2013).

2.4                                                        RELATED WORK

A lot of work has recently been done in the context of WFD. The majority of the proposed applications focused on implementing data dissemination protocols, and enabling multi-hop D2D communication. Enabling D2D communication is useful in a situation where no infrastructure is present. Most researchers have considered D2D communication regardless of the presence of Internet infrastructure. We think that devices must take advantage of the infrastructure when it becomes available. The implementation of protocols that use D2D communication combined with Internet connectivity, will allow the devices to communicate on a larger scale.

Motta and Pasquale [2010] have highlighted the advantages of WFD in realizing P2P systems in mobile devices and its utility in a number of applications such as chat and traffic data dissemination. Shahin and Younis [2015] have employed the service discovery feature of WFD as a mean of sharing time- sensitive data among devices. Their proposed alert dissemination protocol is fundamentally based on service records. Basically, service discovery frames are exchanged as a means for announcing alerts about emerging events. Such an alert announcement takes place before the group owner negotiation starts so that devices can decide on whether to join a group that tracks an event. Some work, such as DirectSpace [2013], has exploited the WFD advantages in boosting productivity by providing a framework for sharing workspaces across mobile devices in order to enable collaboration within users in a P2P group.

A number of researchers have followed through and tackled issues related to group formation and maintenance, topology management, and data routing. Conti, et al. [2013] and Camps-Mur, et al. [2013] have studied the group creation latency through extensive experiments using smart phones. Wong et al (2014) proposed an approach for creating a mesh network of devices using software access points. Basically, an encryption key and SSID are assigned to the device selected to be a GO in order to serve as a mesh router. Service discovery frames are used to distribute connection credentials, namely the SSID and Key, to nearby devices that are willing to join the group and connect to the software access point. To bypass the user-confirmation of group member, devices are connected as legacy clients in Android. Meanwhile, the focus of [Shahin, 2014] is to overcome the limitation of WFD group management in Android. In that work, the group owner is responsible for tracking connected and disconnected devices. In addition, the group owner informs each group member about the availability and identity of other members to facilitate the interaction between devices within the group.

Some work has focused on the ability of establishing multi-hop inter-group communication. Duan, et al. [2014] have proposed an approach for routing data between devices that are part of two distinct groups by connecting the first group owner to the second as a legacy client using their WLAN interface. Although efficient, the implementation of this approach is quite constrained in Android. Basically, WFD uses a virtual interface that has its IP address configured using a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server running on the group owner. Such a DHCP server has a hard coded IP address range (192.168.94.x/24). Any device connected to the first group owner will receive an IP address from that address range. IP addresses of devices would overlap if the DHCP range is not changed by the second group owner. To overcome this issue, a mechanism has been proposed in [Shahin et al, 2014] to allow nearby groups to negotiate their DHCP ranges. Marinho et al (2014) implemented four routing protocols using WFD. The protocols are flooding, Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV), AODV-Backup Route, Location-Aided Routing. The authors have pointed out the limitation of service name length in Android. Basically, the service name is limited to only 24 characters and the authors has to divide routing information into multiple publications, to be able to send all the necessary data, that makes the nodes recognize each other.

Implementation of a hot spot over P2P links has also been studied in the context of Wi-Fi Ad-hoc mode. Teranishi et al (2014) propose a system that delivers social network messages in case of loss of Internet access. The messages will be disseminated across multiple mobile devices until they reach the cloud. This approach is also used to disseminate alert messages to a social network. Our goal is similar, but based on WFD instead of ad-hoc mode. In Android, the Wi-Fi Ad-hoc mode is implemented in the kernel level and is thus inaccessible at the application level. Therefore, writing applications that utilize such Ad-hoc mode will not be possible using the standard Android SDK and would require the compilation of the entire system for each target device. In addition, unlike WFD, the Wi-Fi Ad hoc mode does not support long-range communication [Alliance, 2011] and it is thus of limited utility in scenarios where no access to the infrastructure is locally possible.

2.6                                    SERVICE DISCOVERY IN WI-FI DIRECT

Unlike Wi-Fi infrastructure mode, Wi-Fi direct devices can check for the services supported by nearby devices before establishing a Wi-Fi direct connection. Which means that service discovery frames are exchanged before the negotiation of the group owner takes place. Fig. 1 shows when the service discovery frames exchange occurs considering two nearby devices “A” and “B”.

Service discovery in WFD relies on two protocols. The first is multicast DNS [Teranishi et al, 2011]; this protocol uses the conventional DNS programming interfaces and packet structure in a network without having a DNS server installed. Multicast DNS works in a distributed manner, which means that the protocol should be implemented on all participating devices. The second protocol used is DNS-SD [Teranishi et al, 2011], where SD stands for service discovery. DNS-SD provides an extension to multicast DNS by adding supported services by each device to the DNS records. Fig. 2, shows an example of DNS-SD Service (SRV) record.

The SRV records are an extension that provides a mapping between hosts and the services they support. Typically, a qualified local domain name has a conventional structure which starts with the device name, and followed by the service instance name, the transport protocol used by the service, and finally the local domain name. A reverse DNS lookup of a service name such as _myapp._tcp.local will extract all device IDs supporting that service name. After a device ID is retrieved, we can check all the services supported by that device via an SRV record lookup, as shown in Fig. 2. TXT records can also be used to send extra information about the service. The information is structured in a name value pair fashion.

Android supports service discovery over WFD since version (Jellybeans). The Android implementation of service discovery in WFD allows the manipulation of service discovery queries before the group negotiation is done. The devices exchange the supported services with each other in the discovery phase. This allows applications that use WFD, to check nearby devices for the services they support, and then choose to connect or not, based on a match in the service instance name. By using the service discovery feature in WFD, nearby devices can exchange data without the need of human interaction. In essence, the service discovery frames extend the chained D2D communication scheme to a more distributed way of data forwarding.