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BLE Beacons

Virtualized Bluetooth® Low Energy (vBLE) beaconing technology allows exact calculations for locating BLE-enabled devices. Juniper Mist access points (APs) use this technology and can simulate third-party beacons to locate devices containing BLE sensors. Beacons can be broadcast with different payload structures.

Juniper Mist APs broadcasts three types of beacons:

  • iBeacon–iBeacon is a protocol Apple developed that mobile devices use that allows the device to act as a Bluetooth transmitter. When the device gets within range of an AP broadcasting iBeacon, the AP detects the device signal and then uses the installed mobile application to trigger an action or push a notification to the user’s mobile device. Both iOS and Android devices can use iBeacon.

  • Eddystone UID–Eddystone (Unique beacon ID) UID is a protocol that Google developed. It allows mobile devices to act as Bluetooth transmitters. When the device is within range of an AP broadcasting Eddystone UID, the AP detects it and uses an installed mobile application to trigger an action on the mobile device. Both iOS and Android devices can use Eddystone UID.

  • Eddystone URL–Eddystone URL is a protocol that Google developed. When a device is within range of an AP broadcasting Eddystone-URL, the AP will detect it and send a URL from the web in the form of a notification to the mobile device. A mobile application is not needed for this to work. Eddystone URL is compatible only with Android devices.

  1. From the left menu of the Juniper Mist portal, select Access Points.
  2. Select the Access Point that is going to broadcast BLE beacons.
  3. Scroll down to the BLE Settings configuration block.
  4. Select Enable for each type of BLE beacon you want to broadcast, and then update the payload according to the payload structure.

  5. Click Save (in the top right corner).
    Note:

    To verify that the beacons are broadcasting, you can use the Beacon Simulator Application. You can download the app from the Apple App Store or from the Google Play Store. Make sure to turn on Bluetooth on your mobile device prior to using the app.