Zero-Touch Internet of Things Connectivity Leveraged by Aptilo Networks

Aptilo is using Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and AWS IoT Core to bring an Internet of Things connectivity solution for both enterprises and telecom operators to add to their existing offering. Aptilo makes use of Amazon EC2 for automation, scalability and high-availability and to help Wi-Fi IoT devices connect to AWS IoT Core for device management, analytics, security and application enablement.

“Customers are looking for a solution that can help them deliver IoT services effectively,” says Tim Mattison, Global Technology Lead, IoT Partners, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “With Aptilo’s IoT connectivity solution, Wi-Fi becomes scalable, seamless, and secure.”

Typically, onboarding of Wi-Fi IoT devices is difficult. Existing Wi-Fi connectivity solutions require some kind of manual action when the device is switched on for the first time. This has been a hindrance when rolling out IoT services based on Wi-Fi connectivity. As a result, cellular connectivity is sometimes preferred over Wi-Fi in spite of being widely available at indoor locations.

“The only way for Wi-Fi to be used on a large scale for IoT is for onboarding to happen automatically, after powering up the device for the first time,” adds Paul Mikkelsen, CEO, Aptilo Networks. “Aptilo offers an elegantly simple, secure solution that also allows control to stay with the enterprise IT department. AWS makes it easy for us to provide a scalable cloud service globally.”

Aptilo’s IoT solution, based on the award-winning Aptilo Service Management Platform™ (SMP), leverages Hotspot 2.0 and Passpoint, while also supporting legacy Wi-Fi equipment and devices.

Instead of requiring tedious labor to onboard every device, Aptilo’s IoT solution uses device identities that already exist in AWS IoT Core. Through the integration with AWS IoT Core, Aptilo SMP can also verify if the device is active and collect input to form connectivity policies. The enterprise remains in control, but the service is seamless.

“As a long-time customer of Aptilo, we appreciate that they are adding more functionality to enable IoT services over Wi-Fi,” comments Hanspeter Stofer, ICT Architect, Swisscom. “This is a game-changer for Wi-Fi IoT connectivity.