Eleven Issues Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
3/29/2020, Portland, Ore.—Eleven issued the following response to customers, partners, and industry friends:
“It hardly bears repeating that we are living in unprecedented times and the volatility of this pandemic makes it especially difficult to react to. As we focus on what we can control, our employees are all successfully working from home, we have stopped all business travel, and we are continuing to monitor the situation and are nimbly making changes as needed.
To our valued customers and partners—we stand with you. We are doing everything we can to offer some relief to those most affected, while remaining fully committed to delivering vital guest and staff Wi-Fi services. Our roots are in hospitality and we are devastated by how this has affected so many of our customers.
To the people who count on the ElevenOS platform to stay connected—we are here for you. Our pledge is to stay 100% operational during this trying time. Connectivity is more important than ever. We’re in this together.”
Eleven encourages everyone to follow along on their website or subscribe to their blog for the latest updates.
2021 COVID-19 Update
As the pandemic continues to change our lives in many ways, Eleven is committed to helping the industry recover, namely our friends in hospitality, one of the hardest hit sectors. Eleven issued the following statement:
"Eleven got its start deploying Wi-Fi networks in hotels back in 2002. We’ve evolved in so many ways since then, but one thing has remained the same—our deep love and respect for the hospitality industry. It’s been tough to experience the impact of COVID as a business deploy rooted in hospitality, and even worse to witness our industry friends and customers have to make impossible decisions.
When we thought about what we could to offer support beyond the discounts and other financial relief we offered our customers, we knew we could add value with our breadth of Wi-Fi expertise. So, when Apple announced they would start randomizing MAC addresses in mid-2020, we jumped into action to shed light on the topic.
The use of a static MAC address is far reaching in many current network architectures. MAC address randomization is the increasing trend of device operating systems using a random, anonymous device identifier instead of the real address when connecting to wireless networks. The goal of doing this is to increase user privacy by preventing network operators from being able track devices using the real address as a consistent device identifier.
Historically, MAC addresses have been a reliable identifier. However, as we learn more about privacy and security, we now know that spoofing other people's MAC addresses has been a serious network vulnerability on hotel networks. These changes by handset manufacturers, like Apple, are going to force everyone to fix this, which is ultimately a really good thing for everyone. There are technologies, like Passpoint, that do not rely on MAC addresses, yet enable a secure, frictionless Wi-Fi experience—something every guest wants.
In an effort to demystify MAC randomization and empower hoteliers to create a future-proof Wi-Fi strategy, we want to share this knowledge with everyone. We wrote blog posts, created presentations, and shared our findings in HTNG webinars. We will continue to do what we can to support our customers, partners, colleagues, and friends.”
ABOUT ELEVEN SOFTWARE
Eleven is a global SaaS company on a mission to simplify managed Wi-Fi. Since 2001, Eleven has been developing solutions that bring to life a world with simple, seamless, and secure connectivity for all. The ElevenOS cloud-based platform works with the leading network infrastructure to simplify the process of authenticating guests and managing Wi-Fi performance across the enterprise. Today, thousands of sites in more than 40 countries rely on the ElevenOS platform to enable more than 4 billion annual authentications. For more information visit www.elevensoftware.com.