Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Wey.
Alex, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
The concept behind Aerwave originates in my backyard. I was trying to connect to my home Wi-Fi, but I was just too far away from my router. However, I could see my neighbor’s Wi-Fi signal and had I had the password, I would have been able to connect. Of course, I didn’t have the password, but my neighbor was out of town that day, so why would the Internet Service Provider “lock down” my neighbor’s Internet connection when I could have been using it? It was there that I realized how inefficient and “dumb” traditional Wi-Fi was and at that moment, our idea to add intelligence to Wi-Fi was born.
As we began development to make Wi-Fi smarter and more efficient, we realized a more important, fundamental flaw in the relationship between Wi-Fi, the technology, and how we interact with Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is inherently a “network” technology, meaning that when users join a Wi-Fi network, they are truly networked together. Users on the same network can communicate, share files, and work together. This is a pretty essential feature when talking about an enterprise network, but in public places, where users don’t know each other, this is a huge security risk. Luckily, our intelligence platform just happened to solve this issue.
Today, Aerwave offers private Wi-Fi networks, that automatically “follow” users between Wi-Fi locations. Users have a unique, cloud-based network that is private to them (or their team) and is not shared with others, even those who are located in the same physical location. By segmenting these users, the connection becomes significantly more secure and by adding automation, users can receive and connect to their networks with zero-touch points.
We are completely flipping the network paradigm: before, you connected to different networks but now, your network connects to you. That’s really the way it should have been the whole time. We are hoping that we can bridge all of these disparate wireless locations to create a seamless, secure connection for all users.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been anything but smooth. We are really fighting an uphill battle in terms of communicating how our service works and how it compares to today’s Wi-Fi environment. Because we are fundamentally changing the way that you interact with networks, there is a lot of educating we need to do to get users and partners to “see the light.”
It usually takes a short conversation with folks to get them to understand how our platform is different than anything they’ve ever seen before, but once we have that conversation, a light bulb moment typically follows. Now, it’s our goal to synthesize that message and communicate it effectively to the world. We are learning a ton along the way and will constantly work to improve our communication.
Please tell us about Aerwave.
Aerwave is a network automation and mobility platform that provides users with unique Wi-Fi networks to ensure a secure, private, and seamless network connection. Our platform is like having a massive amount of “guest networks” that are all stored in the cloud and then seamlessly delivered to users on-demand. This is a fundamentally different approach to wireless security than say, a VPN because we are effectively removing the “public” network altogether, whereas a VPN still requires a public connection.
What gets us really excited is the massive opportunity that lies ahead of us. We feel like the world of wireless and networking are getting massive improvements (with the rise of cloud computing and 5G) but not much attention has been paid to Wi-Fi. We think our platform can help pave the way for Wi-Fi’s integration into the cloud and 5G and hopefully bring new innovation to those markets. We are proud to be at the forefront of new technology and innovation in those markets.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
It’s hard to pinpoint one specific favorite memory from my childhood but I will say I really loved how supportive my family was when it came to sports. I love to be competitive and my family spent countless hours practicing and competing in sports, myself in baseball and football, my brothers in swimming and rowing, but I can always remember my family being on the sidelines of the games cheering each other on.
I can specifically remember my dad watching my baseball games with his newspaper and radio (listening to the Mets play) and how that made me want to perform at my best so we could celebrate together. I definitely want to do the same for my kids one day.
Pricing:
- Business – Approximately $10 / device / month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aerwave.io
- Email: team@aerwave.io
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerwave.io/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerwave.io/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aerwave_io/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerwave/
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