WiFi4EU is a program that finances municipalities throughout the EU to install free Internet access , and is specifically aimed at allowing residents and tourists to connect anywhere via Wi-Fi . The European Union has invested a total of 150 million euros, and thanks to this budget, nearly 9,000 municipalities already have a Wi-Fi network infrastructure with which to connect to the Internet. Today in this article we will give you all the details about WiFi4EU , and what APs we currently have available for it.
The operation of this WiFi4EU program to subsidize the municipalities with public money is very simple, the municipalities that have made the request in order of arrival are selected, with the relevant geographical adjustments. The Commission then finances the installation, but the operating data (the Internet connection, for example) is borne by the municipality itself, and it is necessary for this Internet access to last at least 3 years.
A very important detail, is that both local residents and tourists, can benefit from these Wi-Fi networks distributed by different municipalities for free, in addition, there will be no advertising or collect or use data for commercial purposes , ideal to protect our privacy.
How can a municipality register with WiFi4EU?
All you have to do is access the official website of WiFi4EU , once inside, we must register the municipality with all the details that will be requested, logically this must be done by a representative of the municipality itself. By order of receipt, all applications will be processed, if the municipality has been selected, the winners will be announced, to subsequently sign the different agreements with the municipalities for the subsequent transfer of the funds and start assembling the entire Wi-Fi network. The value of the funds is 15,000 euros per municipality , once it has been signed, the beneficiaries will have a year and a half until INEA remotely confirms that the WiFi4EU network is operational and finally pays the money.
The municipality will be responsible for finding a Wi-Fi installation company and contracting the installation in accordance with national contracting regulations. You will also choose the public outdoor spaces where to place the APs (where there are no similar offers of free Wi-Fi connectivity), display the graphic identity of the WiFi4EU initiative in the selected public spaces, and complete the validation procedure on the portal ( together with the installation company).
If you are the representative of a municipality, or want to send all the information to incorporate free Wi-Fi in yours, in this PDF you have all the details and a tutorial on how to access all the EU aids for installation and deployment of the APs.
Characteristics of WiFi4EU in the municipalities
Some very important features of WiFi4EU is that the municipalities will be responsible for paying Internet access (operating expenses) for at least 3 years, it can not be marketed with personal data of customers who connect to the network, nor show them any type of advertising.
It is necessary to provide a minimum speed of 30Mbps , without discriminating (limiting traffic) to users of the wireless network, except to be able to make an equitable distribution of bandwidth among users during peak hours of use of the Wi-Fi network. The use of the wireless network will be analyzed for statistical and analytical purposes, anonymizing personal data (MAC addresses of the devices, for example).
In the first phase of this project, the SSID of the wireless network was «WiFi4EU», and the captive portal will be direct access with a simple click, that is, without any password. There is also the possibility of adding an additional SSID for internal use of the beneficiary, such as administration issues, employees etc. A third SSID can also be added for secure connections locally. In the second phase of the program, the additional common SSID must be protected to use a common authentication service across the EU.
Technical characteristics that the chosen access points must meet
Some features that must be met by the Wi-Fi access points that are installed are the following:
- Simultaneous dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and MIMO 2T2R: installed APs must be simultaneous dual band, with a minimum of 2 × 2 MIMO, therefore, we will have access points of class AC1200 or higher. This is totally necessary to provide a real 30Mbps speed to different users.
- It supports the Wi-Fi AC Wave 1 standard at least, although it is recommended to use Wi-Fi AC Wave 2 to have MU-MIMO and other improvements.
- It allows the connection of up to 50 simultaneous users without diminishing its performance too much, complying with the 30Mbps rule.
- Supports 802.11k / v / r standards to perform Wi-Fi roaming between access points efficiently
- Compatible with Wi-Fi Alliance Hotspot 2.0
- Centralized management for all access points of each WiFi4EU network.
- Support cycle greater than 5 years and that the MTBF (mean time between failures) is at least 5 years.
Access points that meet the requirements for WiFi4EU
The manufacturer D-Link has launched two access points specifically designed for this EU project. We have two models, one for indoor environments, and one for outdoor environments, both with similar technical characteristics, and always meeting all the technical requirements of the APs.
D-Link DAP-2662
This access point is dual simultaneous band with Wi-Fi AC1200 (up to 300Mbps in the 2.4GHz band, and up to 867Mbps in the 5GHz band), it has Beamforming and MU-MIMO, since it complies with the Wi-Fi standard AC Wave 2. The internal antennas are 3dBi gain for the 2.4GHz band and 4dBi gain for the 5GHz band. This equipment has a Gigabit Ethernet port for the LAN with PoE support, in addition, it has advanced features such as Wi-Fi roaming with 802.11k / v / r standards as well as band steering. Other important features are that it can work as an AP, such as a wireless distribution system (SDS), WDS with AP, wireless client, repeater, WISP client router and also WISP repeater.
The core of the D-Link DAP-2662 is centralized management through Nuclias Connect, the Wi-Fi controller that can be installed locally in the organization, or also on a server in the Cloud. This model supports WPA3 and also old protocols such as WPA / WPA2, both in its PSK and Radius version. An important detail is that it allows you to create several SSIDs and segment them by VLANs.
This model is specifically designed to meet all WiFi4EU requirements, including Hotspot 2.0 (Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint). It also has QoS with WMM to optimize the performance of the wireless network, and even has load balancing to use other less congested APs and continue to provide great wireless performance in any circumstance.
We recommend you visit the official website of D-Link DAP-2662 where you can find all the details of this model.
D-Link DAP-3666
This access point is specifically oriented to outdoor environments, it is dual simultaneous band with Wi-Fi AC1200 (up to 300Mbps in the 2.4GHz band, and up to 867Mbps in the 5GHz band), it has Beamforming and MU-MIMO, since complies with the Wi-Fi AC Wave 2 standard. The internal antennas are 6dBi of gain for the 2.4GHz band and 6dBi of gain for the 5GHz band.
In this case we have two Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN, although one of them (LAN1) is that it supports PoE to power the wireless access point itself. This equipment is specifically designed to withstand the weather, so it has the IP68 certification against dust and water.
Other important features of this equipment is that it supports the same configuration modes as the previous one, it has Wi-Fi roaming with 802.11k / v / r standards as well as band steering, centralized management with Nuclias Connect, compatibility with WPA3 and the others Older protocols, with both PSK and RADIUS, possibility to create several SSIDs and segment them by VLANs etc.
This model also meets all WiFi4EU requirements, including Hotspot 2.0 (Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint). It has QoS with WMM to optimize the performance of the wireless network, and even has load balancing to use other less congested APs and continue to provide great wireless performance in any circumstance.
We recommend you visit the official website of D-Link DAP-3666 where you can find all the details of this model.