Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC

Time Warner Cable Inc.

Dave Hawkins

John Anthony Chen

Geoff Filippi

Brian Coughlin

Systems and methods for Wi-Fi roaming. A gateway supports both a local access point (AP) and a virtual AP. The local AP is accessible only to an 'owner' of the gateway. The virtual AP (VAP) is accessible to devices associated with the owner of the gateway and to roaming Wi-Fi devices. A datastore conveys information about the roaming Wi-Fi devices to the VAP to permit them to access the VAP without the need for manual configuration of the VAP. A roaming Wi-Fi device may communicate with a gateway via a tunnel to maintain session connectivity during roaming. A session may be initiated on one network, such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network, handed off to another network, such as a cellular network or a Wi-Fi network, and then returned to the network on which the session was initiated.

System and method for wi-fi roaming

Systems and methods for Wi-Fi roaming. A gateway supports both a local access point (AP) and a virtual AP. The local AP is accessible only to an 'owner' of the gateway. The virtual AP (VAP) is accessible to devices associated with the owner of the gateway and to roaming Wi-Fi devices. A datastore conveys information about the roaming Wi-Fi devices to the VAP to permit them to access the VAP without the need for manual configuration of the VAP. A roaming Wi-Fi device may communicate with a gateway via a tunnel to maintain session connectivity during roaming. A session may be initiated on one network, such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network, handed off to another network, such as a cellular network or a Wi-Fi network, and then returned to network on which the session was initiated.

Growing community of inventors

Ashburn, VA, United States of America

Dave Hawkins