In-home connectivity
How to provide the best in-home Wi-Fi experience
A Gigabit fiber broadband service is only as good as the in-home Wi-Fi. Discover the key considerations for a killer Wi-Fi.
How can I optimize the in-home Wi-Fi network to give customers the best performance?
Avoid placing the Wi-Fi router near devices that cause interference (e.g. Bluetooth speakers, microwave ovens). Place the router away from walls, obstructions and reflective surfaces. A mesh network with two or more beacons creating a whole home network performs better than Wi-Fi extenders. Choose the 2.4 GHz spectrum band for a stronger connection at distance from the router, or 5 GHz for a faster connection close to the router. Select the right channel, one that is not used by neighboring Wi-Fi networks.
How many customer broadband devices are needed in a home?
In home devices provide three functions: a modem sending traffic to and from the internet (optical network terminal, ONT); a residential gateway (RGW) to connect customer devices via Ethernet or Wi-Fi; mesh technology to extend Wi-Fi throughout the home. A single device combining these functions is simple for customers. Multiple devices can be updated or replaced independently for the best performance. The best number of devices depends on the type of services offered, the way devices are managed, and the desired time between upgrade investments.
What are the benefits of managed Wi-Fi in a broadband service?
Wi-Fi is the weak point in any broadband service and can lead to increased costs, customer satisfaction issues, and churn. Managed Wi-Fi gives operators the tools to manage both legacy and new Wi-Fi assets and provide a premium broadband service all the way to the connected device. It uses local (device) and cloud-based optimization to automatically maintain performance levels and mitigate connectivity problems. It provides remote insight of the Wi-Fi network for troubleshooting and upsell opportunities.
What are the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E?
Wi-Fi 6 offers better bandwidth (meaning faster speeds) than Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 also has lower latency (thanks to orthogonal frequency division multiple access, OFDMA) which is better for gaming, video, and other low latency applications. BSS Coloring mitigates interference and congestion while target wake time save energy. Mandatory WPA3 certification improves security and tunable guard intervals improve the reach (distance). Wi-Fi 6E uses the 6 GHz spectrum to increase speeds/bandwidth even further.
