While the telecom industry has spent the past few decades touting the ever increasing bandwidth of their various broadband products, a panel of top cable experts said that consumers are increasingly looking to how those services perform as they continue to pile devices and applications onto their networks.

As cable has evolved from one-way video to two-way DOCSIS, users are becoming more concerned with how their different applications and services interact with their broadband network, Charter VP, connectivity technology Justin Colwell said on a panel session during Tuesday’s Opening General Session at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo moderated by Comcast senior technology adviser Tony Werner.

Also Read: Talent Gap Depends on What You're Doing, Cable Chiefs Tell Expo 

“We’re getting to the point, actually, where we’re going to have excess capacity, and customers’ applications are going to care less about the peak bandwidth, which will be important at times, but actually more about how latency and jitter and then the home network performs,” Colwell said. “A lot of what we’re focused on from a development perspective is how we create a better in-home or in-small business network, how we then use that end-to-end network to include where hosts are out on the internet in order to establish for applications that need it or customers that need it, the right experience.”

Home networks are getting more sophisticated as they increasingly have to handle more and more devices per home. Charter averages about 15 devices connected to its Wi-Fi network per customer, Colwell said. 

“The network has never been more complicated,” Colwell said. “And our jobs are to turn that around and make it very easy for customers. Things should just work.”

Werner asked if that transformation has made the home Local Area Network (LAN) more important.

“If you don’t have a good home LAN, it’s like putting bicycle tires on the back of a dragster,” Colwell said. 

No conversation about the internet can bypass the Metaverse, the amalgamation of the various technologies and applications possible as data speeds and capacities rise exponentially. While Facebook even changed its name to Meta in deference to the expected impact of the technology, it hasn’t materialized quite as quickly as some might have expected. Werner asked if the panel thought the Metaverse was hype or reality, and Cox Communications chief technology officer Len Barlik came down hard on the latter. 

“It is going to be a reality,” Barlik said. “I think the capabilities that we’re helping developers come forward with, and the expectations of customers, we’ll continue to see an evolution associated with it. We’re living in it today. … We’ll start to see a lot more.”

Also: Comcast Successfully Tests ‘Final’ Piece of ‘10G’ FDX DOCSIS 4.0 Network

Werner also asked about the future of video for the cable business. While traditional pay TV has lost millions of subscribers over the past decade and streaming video services have started to dominate, there have been some who have questioned if video service should even be part of the equation for cable operators.

Liberty Global EVP and CTO Enrique Rodriguez said that video will continue to remain an important part of Liberty Global’s product offerings, adding that it too will evolve like the rest of the business.

“We don’t see a future in which we stop innovating in video,” Rodriguez said, adding that although technology and needs have changed over the years — consumers are mostly concerned with the ability to onboard apps and integrating services — he still sees it having a place in the product mix. 

“Video, at least in our markets, will continue to be extremely important for a long, long time,” he said. ■

Comcast launched an ambitious broadband initiative Thursday, promising to pass 50 million homes and businesses with a combination of 10G-enabled broadband and WiFi by 2025.

The cable company plans to begin offering 10G-enabled multi-gig symmetrical services by the end of 2023. Comcast will roll out download speeds of up to 2 Gigabits per second (and 200 Megabits per second upload) to 34 cities and towns before the end of this year, and deployments are already underway in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Augusta, Georgia; and Panama City, Florida.

“We’re making our network even smarter and faster, which allows us to quickly deliver true multi-gig WiFi to tens of millions of businesses and residential consumers at an unprecedented pace,” Comcast Cable president of the technology, product, experience organization Charlie Herrin said in a statement. “Whatever the application, whatever the future holds, our network and world-class, whole-home WiFi experience will be there and ready to power all of our customers’ connected experiences.”

Comcast began preparations for the multi-gig rollout earlier this year when it introduced its WiFi 6E Gateway, one of the first in the world to support multi-gigabit symmetrical WiFi. For business customers, Comcast Business also launched a new multi-gigabit gateway earlier this year. 

According to the company, the multi-gig initiative accelerates the transition to DOCSIS 4.0 and 10G. Powered by DOCSIS 4.0, 10G will deliver multi-gig symmetrical speeds to tens of millions of people over the connections already installed in their homes and businesses, without the need to dig up yards and neighborhoods, or pick and choose who gets faster speeds and who doesn’t. The technical updates included in the initiative announced today are a necessary precursor to Comcast’s 10G deployment.

Comcast plans to start launching 10G-enabled multi-gig symmetrical speeds to customers in the second half of 2023, work that will occur in concert with the current launch of the faster speeds.

“10G will deliver so much more than just speed,” Comcast Cable executive VP and chief network officer Elad Nafshi said in a press release. “The digitization and virtualization work we are doing today is already enhancing our customers’ connected experiences and delivering better performance.” ▪️

Cable operators said complaints from broadcasters about opening up the 6-GHz spectrum band for WiFi are “unfounded … untimely, unsubstantiated and irrelevant.”

NCTA–The Internet & Television Association made that argument in comments to the Federal Communications Commission on June 10 regarding unlicensed use of that band, comments prompted by a court remand of one part of the FCC's unanimous April 2020 decision to allow the entire 1,200 Megahertz of the 6-GHz band to be shared with unlicensed WiFi. The decision was at that time the FCC‘s latest move in freeing up more spectrum for connecting 5G in-home devices — video streaming, video calls — and connecting internet of things (IoT) devices to the internet. Cable operators and technology companies supported it.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a decision handed down last December, said the FCC‘s conclusion on the risk of harmful interference was just the sort of technical call to which the court owes “significant deference.” It rejected the broadcasters’ challenge, arguing TV stations had not provided a basis for their claim  the band could not be opened up without “a significant risk of harmful interference.”

But while the court denied the petitions to review in most respects, it did say the FCC had not sufficiently responded to a request from broadcasters that it reserve a sliver of the band exclusively for mobile licensees, so that aspect of the decision was remanded to the FCC for "further explanation."

NCTA said that explanation is easy. In its comments, it said the FCC should tell the court ASAP that broadcasters‘ unsupported assertions “do not alter the Commission’s conclusion that the risk of harmful interference to mobile indoor operations from unlicensed 6 GHz low-power indoor (LPI) devices is
insignificant.” ■

 In honor of National Veterans and Military Families Month, Comcast said it will install free WiFi at up to 100 facilities focused on veterans, part of its Lift  Zones program.   

The Lift Zone program, initiated in 2020, brings WiFi connections outside the home to neighborhood community centers and complements Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, which provides low-cost broadband to eligible consumers inside the home. Both are part of Comcast’s Project UP, a 10-year, $1 billion commitment to reach 50 million people with the tools, resources and skills needed for success in the digital world.

“The Internet is a fundamental tool to participate in today’s increasingly digital economy,” Comcast NBCUniversal senior VP of Military and Veterans Affairs Carol Eggert said in a statement. “Today’s announcement will provide even more Internet access for veterans and military families. Doing so will enable them to participate in workforce development programs, access their well-deserved healthcare benefits, and foster meaningful connections with friends, family, and their fellow veterans.”

Comcast said it has already installed about 25 Lift Zones inside veteran-serving organizations and will continue to work with members of the military community to identify additional locations over the next several months.

Among the veteran  organizations that will receive free WiFi via the Lift Zone program are:

• Veterans Leadership Program, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: helps veterans in 30 counties across Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio with housing, career development, wellness and supportive services. 

• Do Good Multnomah, Portland, Oregon: provides permanent, supportive housing and low-barrier emergency shelter to houseless veterans, as well as one-on-one engagement and supportive services for veterans in need.

• Alpha Omega Veterans Services Inc., Memphis, Tennessee: helps military veterans reintegrate into society, often after achieving recovery and rehabilitation from debilitating mental and physical conditions.

“As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, having access to the Internet to take advantage of career development searches and support services has grown increasingly important for not only the veteran in need, but their families as well,” Veterans Leadership Program chief development officer Toshua Jarret said in a press release. “We are proud to partner with Comcast through this Lift Zone to help provide the tools needed to help the veteran community succeed during this difficult time and beyond.”

Do Good Multnomah director of permanent supportive housing Jess Gibly added the program is especially important in the COVID-era, where access to internet service is crucial.    

“These Lift Zones give our Veterans in Permanent Supportive Housing, many of whom cannot afford Internet themselves, the chance to get their wellness needs met and participate in online communities that have given people much needed support and connection during COVID,” Gibly said in a statement. ■

Roku’s broad-sweeping product refresh, announced earlier this week, included two notable connectivity features:

First, the new Roku OS 10 includes intelligent management of dual-band WiFi, with the OS itself automatically choosing which band in the home is the most efficient transom. “We’re finding that millions of users aren’t using the strongest band,” Sheldon Radford, director of product management for Roku, told Next TV.

Secondly, the company’s latest streaming device, the Roku Express 4K+, features dedicated microUSB Ethernet support, so users can bypass WiFi altogether. Among OTT devices, Ethernet support hasn't gone away. It's still standard equipment on smart TVs, smart speakers and higher end OTT players, such as the Roku Ultra. 

Both Amazon and Google enable Ethernet adapters to connect via microUSB to their respective Fire TV sticks and Chromecast dongles. But Roku, the leading seller of OTT devices in the U.S., has been phasing out Ehternet support altogether on its lower-end--and best-selling--devices in recent years. 

The fifth-generation Roku Premiere situated in our Los Angeles office, for example, doesn't feature miniUSB, or a standard USB port for that matter, so WiFi connectivity is the only option. Same with Roku's legacy "Express" product line. 

But we think the Roku Express 4K+ might reverse the anti-Ethernet trend.

Dallas-based research company Parks Associates recently published survey data, indicating that 40% of U.S. consumers report of having some kind of issue regarding their WiFi. 

The biggest cohort in the group reporting problems say their WiFi is too slow (nearly 30%). Around 25% say their WiFi suddenly stops working for some reason. Over 15% say they have coverage gaps in their homes. 

A newly reintroduced bill would resolve the issue of unlicensed spectrum, the currency of cable WiFi hotspots the country over, being undervalued as an economic force by the government. 

The Government Spectrum Valuation Act would require the government to put a value on all its spectrum “if the spectrum were reallocated for the use with the highest potential value of licensed or unlicensed commercial wireless services that do not have access to that spectrum as of the date of the estimate,” the bill said. 

The issue of undervaluing unlicensed spectrum has been a bipartisan one, so there is hope that this time around, with the added emphasis of an Internet of Things world and a rural digital divide that unlicensed can help connect, the bill could finally pass.

Also Read: White House Backs Online Political Ad Disclosures 

In 2015, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), then ranking member and now chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, pointed out in a spectrum hearing that unlicensed spectrum was a driver of innovation. But even though that spectrum has been calculated to provide a $220 billion annual boost to the economy, Pallone said, the Congressional Budget Office scores freeing it up at “zero,” meaning that while CBO scores auctioning spectrum as worth billions to the treasury, it treats freeing up unlicensed bandwidth as though the government wasn’t getting anything for that valuable spectrum.

NCTA–The Internet & Television Association has estimated WiFi “will generate $995 billion in economic value for the United States in 2021.”

The Biden and Trump Justice Departments have at least one thing in common: Both support opening up the entire 6-GHz band for WiFi, a move pushed by cable operators and computer companies.

The Federal Communications Commission, under then-chairman Ajit Pai, voted unanimously last April to allow all 1,200 megahertz of the 6-gigahertz band to be shared with unlicensed WiFi, the regulator’s latest move in freeing up more spectrum for connecting 5G in-home devices — to enable video streaming and video calls — and for connecting internet of things (IoT) devices to the web.

The WiFi Forward coalition, whose members include NCTA–The Internet & Television Association and Google, has said that opening up the GHz band, combined with the FCC’s plan to free up 5.9 GHz spectrum, also for unlicensed WiFi, will add at least $183.44 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years.

The FCC voted in October 2020 to free up the lower 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for wireless broadband while transitioning the remaining upper 30 MHz to the latest iteration of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology.

Broadcasters, telecoms and electric utilities, all using the 6-GHz band, tried to get the FCC to reconsider the decision, concerned about interference from unlicensed broadband access devices. When the FCC rejected that petition, they sued the commission in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which has principal jurisdiction over the regulator’s decisions.

AT&T, the lead party in the suit against the FCC, other telecoms and utility companies use the spectrum for backhaul. And while the telecoms are all for expanding WiFi, they said the FCC was opening up the entire band without what they argued were sufficient protections for incumbents.

Broadcasters favored protecting those already using the band for electronic news gathering (ENG) by reserving 80 MHz exclusively for journalists, saying there was too much risk of harmful interference to that even-more-crucial service in a time of pandemic.

The FCC, though, was convinced it could open up the entire band and still protect the incumbents, including by employing power limits. 

The Biden administration agreed, to the applause of Google and cable operators. Justice joined with the current FCC on a brief to the appeals court to that effect. 

The DOJ said it was satisfied the FCC knew what it was doing in imposing technical and operational limits on WiFi use of the band and deferred to the FCC’s expert judgment that those would prevent harmful interference.

Citing their indoor and outdoor use of the band for ENG, broadcasters were back at the FCC late last month contending there were “no 6-GHz unlicensed deployments that would provide real-world experience supporting the commission’s already tenuous conclusions about the likelihood of interference to licensed services.” 

Utility companies and others are pitching the new FCC acting chair and commissioners on pausing any further certification for unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band, which the FCC voted unanimously to open up for WiFi.

In a letter to the commissioners, public safety and power companies asked them to immediately "pause any additional equipment certification approvals for 6 GHz unlicensed low-power indoor ('LPI') devices" until more testing can be done.

Also Read: Utilities Sue Over 6 GHz Order

The FCC voted unanimously April 23, 2020 to allow the entire 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band to be shared with unlicensed WiFi, the FCC's latest move in freeing up more spectrum for connecting 5G in-home devices--video streaming, video calls--and connecting IoT devices to the internet. 

Cable operators supported the proposal, while broadcasters argued for protecting the electronic news gathering (ENG) already using the band by reserving 80 MHz for them, saying there was too much risk of harmful interference to that even-more-crucial service in a time of pandemic.

FCC engineers concluded that the band could be shared and ENG protected, with the conditions the FCC has imposed, and the FCC commissioners agreed.

But in the COVID-19 appropriations act, some members of Congress suggested more needed to be done. 

"The FCC is directed to provide a report to the Committees within 90 days of enactment of this Act [by March 27] on its progress in ensuring rigorous testing related to unlicensed use of the 6 gigahertz band," the groups pointed out, quoting from the legislation. They said they were eager to get such rigorous testing underway.

Also Read: NCTA, OTI Oppose 6 GHz Recon Petitions

WiFi Forward, whose members include cable broadband operators that rely on WiFi for their primary mobile broadband play, urged the FCC not to pause certification.

"The FCC unanimously ruled that Wi-Fi and point-to-point microwave systems can safely share the 6 GHz band," WiFi Forward said in a statement. "It did so after an exhaustive technical proceeding and having considered extensive engineering submissions by all sides. And now consumers are benefitting as companies seek final FCC certification and bring new devices to market. Americans need more Wi-Fi spectrum and devices now more than ever before and this careful process should continue."

Despite having announced adoption of managed WiFi technology, Charter Communications is, increasingly, an outlier among U.S. telecoms for having yet to launch an actual service.

The eighth-largest cable company in the U.S., Atlantic Broadband, recently became the latest MSO to launch managed WiFi based on a cloud-based technology developed by Plume, OpenSync. 

Atlantic Broadband, which reported 492,212 broadband customers as of the end of September, is now offering these subscribers “WiFi Your Way.” Powered by Plume’s HomePass technology, the new service includes AI-driven optimization features, which adapt router settings to customer usage patterns to deliver better speed and performance over time. There are control and personalization features that let parents shut down and enable their kids’ devices from their iOS and Android smartphones. 

ALSO READ: WiFi Gets Its Biggest Upgrade in Decades

There are also online security features, as well as home security enablements, such as motion detection. 

The Atlantic Broadband announcement comes about 14 months after Charter, the No. 2 U.S. cable operator, said its Spectrum operations would deploy managed WiFi based on Plume’s core technology, the open-sourced, cloud-based software OpenSync. 

But Charter still hasn’t deployed the managed WiFi service, which it calls “Advanced In-Home WiFi,” to key markets such as Los Angeles. 

For its part, Charter just published a self-produced Q&A with its top technology executive, Stephanie Mitchko-Beale, who said the company is “in the process of launching” Advanced In-Home WiFi “throughout our footprint.”

The service, she said, will enable Charter’s more than 28.6 million home internet customers “control over their security and privacy by letting them see every device that’s connected to their network and how it’s being used.

“Throughout the year, we plan to make Advanced WiFi available in more markets, and we continue to expand the availability to our own Spectrum-branded WiFi Pods to enable customers to maximize network connectivity throughout their home,” Mitchko-Beale added. 

ALSO READ: Netgear Debuts Pricey WiFi 6E Router

Asked which Charter markets have seen Advanced In-Home WiFi deployments,
a representative for the MSO referred Multichannel News to the Mitchko-Beale statement. 

Notably, top U.S. cable operator Comcast, an early investor in Plume, has been offering managed WiFi services based on OpenSync to 30 million-plus broadband customers for several years. 

For now, the limited penetration of managed WiFi doesn’t appear to be curtailing Charter’s overall proliferation of broadband services, with the cable operator adding 537,000 high-speed internet customers in the third quarter.  

The biggest upgrade to WiFi technology in decades doesn’t come cheap.

Tied to the virtual CES 2021, Netgear introduced one of the first routers built around the new WiFi 6E standard, the tri-band enabled Nighthawk RAXE500.

Price: $599.

Introduced in 2019, WiFi 6 represented a major evolution in the way routers communicated with devices, making signal exchanges much more efficient. The just-introduced WiFi 6E standard (the “E” standing for “extended”) uses an additional 1,200 MHz of unlicensed spectrum recently freed up by the FCC.

As more people communicate with more devices than ever in densely crowded areas, the additional spectrum is crucial for keeping signals from bumping into one another. 

Also Read: WiFi Gets Its Biggest Upgrade in Decades | TCL: Google TV-Powered Smart TVs on the Way

As the “tri-band” capability suggests, the RAXE500 supports the traditional 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, in addition to 6 GHz. 

It has five gigabit ports and two USB 3.0 ports, and contains a quad-core 1.8 GHz processor.

The WiFi 6 revolution is here — for real this time.

Actually, the biggest upgrade to WiFi tech in decades is called “WiFi 6E,” and it promises to vastly improve the way our router/gateway communicates to the myriad connected devices in your home, including the smart TV, box, stick, dongle, laptop or tablet you stream video on.

Last week, the WiFi Alliance, the industry trade group that oversees the evolution of WiFi, began certification of WiFi 6E. You’ve probably already heard of WiFi 6, but the "E" (for "extended') is new. Introduced in 2019, the sixth iteration of the 802.11 WiFi standard dramatically improved the way routers and gateways handled multiple devices at once.

Using 802.11 ax WiFi, these devices tap into OFDMA (orthagonal frequency division multiple access), a modulation scheme similar to what is used in DOCSIS and LTE that helps routers and gateways increase the efficiency of how channels are split.

Also Read: Netgear Debuts Pricey WiFi 6E Router | TCL: Google TV-Powered Smart TVs on the Way

Last year, regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom approved use of the 6-GHz band for home WiFi use, allowing WiFi 6 another 1,200 MHz of midband unlicensed spectrum all to itself. 

This massive haul of new frequency is where the “extended” comes in for WiFi 6E, offering huge benefits in places such as multi-family dwellings, in which users have traditionally bumped into one another in terms of WiFi frequency usage. 

At last week’s virtual CES 2021, numerous technology vendors pitched WiFi 6E gateways and routers, as well as devices like compatible smartphones and laptop computers. 

These devices are backward compatible with traditional WiFi routers and gateways that rely on old-fangled 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz spectrum. But paired with those that do enable Wi-Fi 6E, they’ll deliver far lower latency, while maximizing those pricey 1-Gigabit per second internet subscriptions to boot.

As of now, Roku, Amazon, Apple, Google and other streaming hardware makers have yet to integrate WiFi 6E into their players, sticks and dongles. But it’s a good bet that the technology will proliferate beyond the major WiFi components (routers and computers) to peripheral devices by CES 2022.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has circulated draft rules that would free up the majority of the 5.9 GHz band for wireless broadband while transitioning the remaining 35 MHz to the latest iteration of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology.

Pai plans to vote the item at the FCC's November meeting.

The band has previously been reserved for Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) V2V communications, and the FCC had contemplated freeing up the lower 45 MHz for WiFi and leaving the upper 30 MHz for either DSRC or C-V2X. Actually, that was after it initially considered allowing V2V and unlicensed to share the same spectrum. 

Auto manufacturers have argued that sharing the band with WiFi could interfere with intelligent transportation systems (ITS)/V2V safety systems, but the FCC said the new rules would improve auto safety by transitioning the upper 30 MHz from the "long-stalled" DSRC, which the FCC said "has done virtually nothing to improve automotive safety."

Others, including computer and cable companies, had argued that the FCC should free up the other 30 MHz for WiFi as well.

Related: Stakeholders Signal Support for FCC's 5.9 GHz Item

The item includes a timeline for transitioning incumbent intelligent transportation system licensees to the upper 30 MHz band, and from DSRC to C-V2X, as well as rules to allow for full-power unlicensed Wi-Fi in the lower 45 MHz band. 

This includes a proposed timeline and technical parameters for transitioning the limited number of incumbent Intelligent Transportation Systems licensees to the upper 30-MHz portion of the band (and then to C-V2X-based technology), as well as adopting technical rules to enable full-power outdoor unlicensed operations in the lower 45-MHz portion of the band.

“[The] 5.9 GHz spectrum has lain fallow for far too long," said Pai in announcing the item's circulation. "For the last two decades, the American people have waited for this prime mid-band spectrum to be put to use, and the time for waiting is over,” said Pai. “We should move on from DSRC and unlock forward-looking automotive safety technology. Under my approach, the FCC would for the first time authorize C-V2X in the 5.9 GHz band. At the same time, we would make available the spectrum needed for a 160 megahertz-wide channel for WiFi, which would enable a new level of gigabit connectivity for schools, hospitals, small businesses, and other consumers."

“At a time when American consumers are relying on WiFi more than ever before, we commend chairman Pai for taking action to enable next-generation WiFi access to the 5.9 GHz band," said Michael Powell, president of NCTA-the Internet & Television Association. "After more than 20 years of spectrum underutilization in 5.9 GHz, and a seven-year Commission proceeding, the Chairman’s compromise proposal is the right way to bring this band online, creating a new wide WiFi channel that will support more data at much faster speeds and that can be activated by early next year, while also reserving sufficient spectrum for future automotive safety innovations. We look forward to working with the chairman and his colleagues on this important item.”

“The Commission’s upcoming action to open 5.9 GHz for unlicensed use represents a critical opportunity for consumers because, with the right rules in place, we will be able to leverage the 5 GHz WiFi ecosystem already in place to deploy use of the new band very quickly,” said Craig Cowden, senior VP of wireless technology for Charter. “It couldn’t have come at a better time for our customers. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, WiFi has helped families stay connected and productive as they work, learn, access healthcare, and connect with friends and family from a distance, highlighting the urgent need for robust unlicensed spectrum resources to keep pace with continuously growing demand.”

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs has recommended that Comcast stop making the advertising claim of Best In-Home Wi-Fi Experience" or at least narrow the claim to specific superiority attributes it can support.

That came in response to a challenge by AT&T to that and other advertising claims.

NAD also asked Comcast to pull its "Living with AT&T" commercial because the message that AT&T offered internet speeds it does not deliver.

Comcast said it would appeal the decision to the National Advertising Review Board because it argues that it provided "a more than reasonable basis to support its claim that it provides the 'best in-home Wi-Fi experience'" and that the decision is a “departure from the reasonable basis standard upon which Comcast and all other responsible advertisers rely.”

NAD did determine that Comcast's claim that “AT&T, why am I paying the same price for only a fraction of the speed you advertised?" as a stand-alone statement was supported, explaining it was because of Comcast's flat-price model versus AT&T's technology-based speed tiers.

"Comcast internet service is delivered over its cable network, with the same speeds available to nearly all customers in its service area. Whereas, AT&T provides its customers different speed tiers, based on which technology is available at their address (e.g., copper telephone wire, fiber optic cable, and a hybrid of copper and fiber optic cable)," NAD said. "At its base level of service, AT&T charges a flat price for 'up to 100 Mbps,' meaning that consumers will be sold different internet speeds depending on which speed is available at the consumer’s address. Comcast’s advertising sought to highlight that consumers who sign up for this service pay the same price but receive different internet speeds.

"Because of this flat price model, NAD determined that the challenged express claim in Comcast’s “Living with AT&T” commercial, 'AT&T, why am I paying the same price for only a fraction of the speed you advertised?,' was supported.

Comcast unveiled a new multi-year initiative Thursday to launch more than 1,000 WiFi-connected “Lift Zones” in community centers across the company, providing free internet connections and access to educational and digital skills content to help needy students navigate online learning.

The initiative will complement Comcast's existing Internet Essentials program, which has offered low-cost internet access to families in need since 2011, connecting more than 8 million people to the internet at home. Working with its network of nonprofit partners and city leaders, Comcast will provide WiFi in facilities they have identified to help students get online, participate in distance learning, and do their schoolwork.

“For nearly a decade, Internet Essentials has helped to change the lives of millions of people by providing low-income families with Internet access at home,” Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said in a press release. “These Lift Zones, which will be installed in community centers in local neighborhoods that our partners have identified and will run, and where students and families can get online and access the resources they need, especially while so many schools and workplaces have gone virtual.”

Comcast said it has already identified the first 200 Lift Zones, which are intended to help those students who, for a variety of reasons, may be unable to connect to distance learning at home, or who just want another place in which to study.

Several of the Lift Zones are already open and others will open this year in more than a dozen cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Trenton, Twin Cities, and Washington, D.C.

Examples include: 

Baltimore – Harvey Johnson Community Center at Union Baptist Church – Serves more than 50 students and community members in West Baltimore in a safe space for participating in online education, as well as in inter-generational learning classes, with access to computers and training through its cyber center. 

Chicago – BUILD is one of Chicago’s leading gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organizations, serving nearly 3,000 young people each year. Its mission is to engage at-risk youth in schools and on the streets to help them realize their potential and contribute to their communities. BUILD focuses on hard-to-serve youth in some of Chicago’s most challenging neighborhoods.

Philadelphia – Olney Recreation Center – A 13.6-acre site with outdoor spaces and recreation building with an auditorium, gymnasium, and multipurpose rooms offering free and low-cost programming for neighborhood children.

Trenton – Catholic Youth Organization of Mercer County – Provides childcare and youth programs to approximately 1,200 children ages 8-14 from Catholic schools and parishes during the academic year.

Twin Cities – The Sanneh Foundation Distanced Learning Hub at Conway Community Center in St. Paul, enables parents and guardians to continue to work while providing a safe space for their children during normal school hours. Sanneh hosts 140 students per day and is offering safe, socially distanced access to educational technology as well as tutoring support. 

The Lift Zones initiative comes on the heels of Comcast’s recent launch of its new “Internet Essentials Partnership Program,” which focuses on enabling cities, school districts, and community-based organizations to connect large numbers of low-income students to the Internet at home to support distance learning while many schools remain closed. To date, more than 70 schools have signed up for the Partner Program, potentially benefiting nearly 200,000 students.

Ford said it has a better idea, and data, about how adjacent-channel interference from unlicensed WiFi in the 5.9 GHz band could pose a threat to incumbent vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) safety and other communications.

Related: Spectrum Alliance Pushes for 5.9 GHz

In a filing at the FCC, the car company said the data provided by CableLabs and NCTA-the Internet & Television Association--to demonstrate that WiFi and V2V can safely co-exist--suffers from some critical flaws, including " failure to consider significant hazards in vehicle safety, inadequate statistical sampling, and evaluating situations that are not representative of automotive safety risks."

Cable operators have been urging the FCC to push ahead with its plans to open up the lower 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use, saying that spectrum is critical for current and future WiFi needs, particularly in a COVID-19 time of social distancing when WiFi helps bridge that physical gap. 

The 5.9 GHz proposal, adopted unanimously last December, is among a number of efforts to clear spectrum for 5G.

The FCC is proposing freeing up the lower 45 MHz exclusively for unlicensed WiFi and the upper 30 MHz for V2V communications, including 20 for C-V2X, which Ford said it agrees with the FCC is the V2V technology of the future.

Related: Highway Officials Say 5.9 GHZ Sharing is Misguided

Ford said that for the upper portion of the 5.9 GHz band to "effectively" support safety ITS (intelligent transport systems) applications it must be free from interference and that the WiFi Alliance--NCTA is a member--claim that Ford is wrong and unlicensed devices won't create adjacent-channel interference is false.

Cable's position, as spelled out in its reply comments, is: "The record confirms that the Commission should reject ITS delay tactics, adopt its proposal to open the lower 45 megahertz of the 5.9 GHz band to unlicensed services, establish reasonable technical rules, and proceed to a final order as soon as possible."

Today’s home WiFi network has become a true point of contention with residential customers. As device usage increases, so too does network strain and customer frustration. This means more support calls, truck rolls and even subscriber churn.

Significant increases in simultaneous streaming, work from home, virtual classrooms and video conferencing have exacerbated the demand on the network. As families shelter at home, device usage has skyrocketed, adding to the barrage of heavy traffic and unprecedented pressure on our home internet gateways.

In fact, we’ve seen device usage at home more than double during the workday in the United States since Jan. 29.

But this also presents an opportunity — a new way for service providers to differentiate their offerings and better serve subscribers. The bottom line is consumers’ homes, habits and connected devices are evolving, and so should the way we measure and manage our internet performance.

For years, internet service providers have looked at quality of service (QoS) to assess a home’s network and troubleshoot issues. While this is a great way of measuring the “pipe” — things like throughput, latency and jitter — in today’s increasingly complex connected home, QoS ends up answering the wrong question altogether. Whether a device works well depends not only on what the network provides, but also on the needs of the device, and application, at hand. If we’re only looking at raw performance of the broadband connection, we’re missing half the picture and will end up with a poor connection, and worse, unhappy subscribers.

Instead, service providers today must focus on what keeps consumers happy — the performance or, put another way, the experience of their devices.

Delivering on this promise requires getting closer to the customer experience, looking at the “happiness” of every device, and critically, fully understanding the device a consumer is using right now. After all, it’s not the internet that consumers really care about — it’s the quality of experience (QoE) when using their connected devices.

QoE is an entirely new approach to measuring internet performance that goes beyond QoS to address the modern challenges home networks face today. While QoS is all about broadband performance, a QoE mentality treats each device individually to deliver an optimal experience whatever the device or the application.

What exactly does this mean? To better understand what’s really happening inside our connected homes, we must consider:

1.) The entire set of paths from the internet to the devices in the home, particularly paths that include one or more hops of Wi-Fi. Most devices today are connected via Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi is often the biggest problem area on the path.

2.) A broader range of network performance factors such as data rates, signal strengths, packet error rates, interference, channel utilization, broadband throughput and the topology of the network in question.

3.) The needs of each device in the home, such as the type of device, networking capabilities, current and historical data usage and any other requirements in its specific environment.

Of course, there have been many attempts to remedy connection issues in other ways, but these have always come up short. Bigger, more powerful access points, for example, still can’t transmit enough to connect and power all the devices throughout a home. And adding multiple access points provides a static connection with no flexibility. Both these solutions simply “boost” signal, but they don’t adapt to rapidly changing network conditions.

This is where a QoE methodology truly shines. Equipped with an understanding of what’s actually happening throughout a home network, service providers can not only improve the offerings and customer satisfaction but also reduce costs while increasing ROI. These new and deep insights can be leveraged to better guide network configuration, establish whether Wi-Fi extenders are needed and can even enable support personnel to identify and resolve connection issues before a subscriber is aware of a problem. Equally important, these insights enable home networks to adapt to the needs of devices as they arise.

Let’s look at my home as an example. I have a WiFi-connected thermostat that can only achieve 5 megabits per second of throughput, as well as a video streaming device that can achieve 15 Mbps. Traditional measurements like QoS would lead us to believe the thermostat has poor performance, but the video streaming device is great. In reality, this is entirely backward — the thermostat is actually happy with even just 1 Mbps throughput, while the video streaming device would struggle to do 4K video reliably. Not only would the QoS method fail to highlight the problem with the video streaming device, but it might also put unnecessary attention and expense towards the thermostat.

By considering the needs of each individual device, QoE gives the more informed answer: the thermostat is fine, but the video device requires attention. Armed with this newfound insight, it’s possible to adjust the network and address the issue, even before I start streaming.

Don’t just take my word for it — this methodology has already proven successful. Despite load and congestion peaking at 69% and 80% above pre-COVID-19 baselines, ISPs that have adopted modern QoE metrics have maintained download and upload data speeds into and out of homes. In fact, disruption, load, congestion and optimization surges have increased by a combined 252%, yet many ISPs have managed to maintain network speeds within a 7% variation while ensuring device experience is preserved with the use of QoE.

The connected smart home is far more complex than it used to be, and the airwaves are only getting busier. But staying current and addressing new challenges doesn’t need to be difficult. It’s time we ditch outdated methods of measuring performance and adopt a modern approach that looks more deeply at a home’s connected digital health to ensure each and every device is happy. After all, happy devices equate to happy customers, and customer satisfaction is what drives new subscriptions, deepens penetration and prevents churn.

Bill McFarland is chief technology officer of Plume, a Palo Alto, California-based provider of whole-home WiFi products and services. 

Altice USA announced that it has begun deployment of “smart” WiFi technology to Altice One customers in the Optimum footprint within the New York Tri-State area, as well as fiber-to-the-home customers in that region.

It will soon be available to customers within the Suddenlink-branded footprint, the operator said.

The new technology feature includes a simplified network connection, eliminating the need for users to manually select between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

Related: Plume Backer Liberty Global To Deploy Vendor's WiFi Tech Across Europe

Intelligent band and access point steering provides the best possible connection for devices no matter where they are in the home.

Mesh network technology is also included, allowing the optional use of extenders to eliminate dead zones and boost signals.

Meanwhile, advanced traffic management features improve the performance of video streaming and gaming.

An Altice USA spokesperson told MCN that while the cable operator works with "numerous" technology partners, the smart WiFi feature is based on proprietary tech. It is being offered free to Altice USA customers, the rep told us. Although, Altice USA did just raise prices across the board on internet and TV services. 

“Powerful connectivity has become a core component of any home environment, and the introduction of smart WiFi to the Altice One experience brings our in-home broadband to the next level in terms of coverage, ease of use, and reliability,” said Hakim Boubazine, Altice USA’s president of telecommunications and chief operating officer, in a statement. “Bringing smart WiFi intelligent mesh technology to our Optimum and Suddenlink customers ensures that they are always connected to blazing fast WiFi and the strongest signal possible, providing more choice and flexibility in how and where they use their connected devices.”

Liberty Global isn’t just a Plume investor. It’s a customer.

The operator has announced the expansion of its relationship with WiFi tech vendor Plume, with plans to deploy the company’s smart home solutions across its European footprint.

In fact, that deployment already started last year with Virgin Media in the UK.

Liberty Global gateways across the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland and Poland will now include Plume’s open-sourced WiFi management software, which allow parents to set digital controls on their kids, monitoring device usage, pausing internet connectivity and generally having the ability to shut all things digital down as needed.

The so-called Connect App will be available to Liberty Global service subscribers at no additional cost.

Additionally, Liberty Global will start rolling out Plume hardware, including its mesh WiFi boosters (Liberty has branded these as “Connect Pods”), as well as the vendor’s open-source WiFi optimization platform, OpenSync.

Liberty Global and Comcast are among Plume’s backers.

And as you might have guessed, Liberty Global CTO Enrique Rodriguez is pretty excited about the partnership. He wrote it about it in a pre-packaged press release quote: “Combining Plume with Liberty Global’s gigabit network capabilities releases the full potential of broadband speeds and spreads them throughout the home, adapting to the unique environment each connection operates in,” Rodriguez stated. "The expanded partnership with Plume builds on our commitment to creating the next-generation of broadband by working with partners to enhance our network capability and go beyond speed-leadership. This strongly positions Liberty Global to offer a highly reliable internet residential services in the home that enables smart homes, online gaming and wide variety of use cases which rely on wireless connectivity.”

Liberty Global isn’t just a Plume investor. It’s a customer.

The operator has announced the expansion of its relationship with WiFi tech vendor Plume, with plans to deploy the company’s smart home solutions across its European footprint. 

In fact, that deployment already started last year with Virgin Media in the UK. 

Liberty Global gateways across the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland and Poland will now include Plume’s open-sourced WiFi management software, which allow parents to set digital controls on their kids, monitoring device usage, pausing internet connectivity and generally having the ability to shut all things digital down as needed. 

The so-called Connect App will be available to Liberty Global service subscribers at no additional cost. 

Additionally, Liberty Global will start rolling out Plume hardware, including its mesh WiFi boosters (Liberty has branded these as “Connect Pods”), as well as the vendor’s open-source WiFi optimization platform, OpenSync.

Liberty Global and Comcast are among Plume’s backers. 

And as you might have guessed, Liberty Global CTO Enrique Rodriguez is pretty excited about the partnership. He wrote it about it in a pre-packaged press release quote: “Combining Plume with Liberty Global’s gigabit network capabilities releases the full potential of broadband speeds and spreads them throughout the home, adapting to the unique environment each connection operates in,” Rodriguez stated. "The expanded partnership with Plume builds on our commitment to creating the next-generation of broadband by working with partners to enhance our network capability and go beyond speed-leadership. This strongly positions Liberty Global to offer a highly reliable internet residential services in the home that enables smart homes, online gaming and wide variety of use cases which rely on wireless connectivity.”

Comcast has announced a further iteration of its xFi WiFi management tool, allowing parents to drill down even further on how they control their children’s use of the internet.

The scheduling feature builds on the xFi’s popular “bedtime mode,” allowing parents to set up 30 different screen-time schedules per profile, covering every device a child may use in the home.

“The xFi bedtime mode feature really resonated with our customers, and we heard from them that they wanted more precision and control in managing their kids’ screen time schedules. As a father of four, I know that screen time is one of the biggest painpoints for parents,” said Dave Puckett, VP of xFi & digital security at Comcast.

Xfinity xFi can be accessed via the xFi mobile app (iOS and Android), the website, or on the TV with the X1 voice remote. The service is available at no extra cost to the more than 17 million Xfinity Internet customers who lease a compatible Xfinity gateway.

While there’s been ample discussion of “5G,” “10G” and the overall evolution of broadband networks to bring next-generation speed and latency into the home, how this data will be distributed once it actually gets inside has been a sometimes overlooked piece of the puzzle.

The fast-emerging WiFi 6 standard, a fancy name given to the sixth iteration of 802.11 WiFi, seems to have this covered. From new routers and gateways already on the market to new enabled smartphones and video-streaming devices that will be ubiquitous at CES in January, we’re about to finally see what some are calling the biggest advancement in WiFi in two decades.

Developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the new 802.11ax standard, what we call WiFi 6, is an improvement on the fifth-generation 802.11ac standard. WiFi 6 backers say the technology doesn’t just improve speed and latency, enabling users to fully realize the multi-Gigabit speeds of their future network connections. WiFi 6 is also a major advancement in how data is distributed in the home, enabling routers to handle more devices at once, more efficiently.

“WiFi 6 is the first redesign of WiFi since it was conceived 20 years ago,” said Charles Cheevers, chief technology officer of CommScope’s consumer premises equipment division, which has already rolled out WiFi 6-compatible mesh WiFi systems, as well as WiFi 6-compatible devices.

“It was designed to get higher data rates and capacity (Gbps speeds), work better in environments with lots of devices and also improve battery efficiency for IoT [internet of things] devices and connected smartphones/ tablets/laptops using WiFi,” Cheevers added. “At the same time, it is backward-compatible to WiFi 5 older clients — and makes them more efficient.”

The rise of video streaming can be directly tied to the emergence of WiFi 5 back in 2013. With routers supporting modulation of 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), and data transmission speeds up to 960 Megabits per second, WiFi 5 greatly reduced OTT buffering.

WiFi 6, which supports 1024 QAM modulation and is theoretically capable of 10 Gbps, arrives as consumers begin streaming denser 4K video to more rooms in the house while linking things like door locks, lights and thermostats to the home network.

While WiFi 6 is backward-compatible, devices such as smartphones and Roku boxes must have the right chips and software to fully realize its potential. We’re starting to see a few of those. Top-selling smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and the iPhone 11 already support WiFi 6. Even a world still populated by WiFi 5 devices will see improvement working with a WiFi 6 router, though, Cheevers said.

“At its simplest description, WiFi 6 is designed to [deliver] four times better performance in an all-WiFi 6 client environment,” he said. “But even today, with mixed WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 devices, it is typically 25%-plus more efficient than a WiFi 5 AP solution.

The Major Innovation: OFDMA

WiFi 6’s secret sauce, according to Cheevers, is the introduction of OFDMA (orthagonal frequency division multiple access), a modulation scheme similar to what is used in DOCSIS and LTE.

Not only are WiFi 6 channels wider — 160 Megahertz versus the current norm of 80 MHz — but OFDMA lets each channel be used more efficiently. The scheme allows the router to serve more devices at once by efficiently splitting a single frequency channel.

A WiFi 6 router divides data it is transmitting on a specific frequency into dedicated “resource units” (RU). Say you’re messing with your fantasy league on your smartphone while streaming a football game on your Amazon Fire TV box via a virtual vMVPD. The WiFi 6 router would assign one RU to your smartphone and another to the Fire TV, allocating more data to the video streaming.

Finally, in an IoT world, WiFi 6 promises battery-saving advantages through a feature called Target Wake Time. With this technology, the WiFi 6 router “checks in” with connected devices at preassigned times, letting them stay asleep longer.

Meanwhile, WiFi 6 could get a massive boost down the road if American and European regulators approve use of 6 GHz band for home WiFi. This would give WiFi 6 another 1,200 MHz of midband unlicensed spectrum all to itself, starting as soon as 2021, a major boon should it come to fruition.

“When put together, WiFi 6 is as transformational for wireless home networking as the Bugatti Chiron is to the Model T Ford,” Cheevers said.

While there’s been ample discussion of “5G,” “10G” and the overall evolution of broadband networks to bring next-generation speed and latency into the home, how this data will be distributed once it actually gets inside has been a sometimes overlooked piece of the puzzle.

The fast-emerging WiFi 6 standard, a fancy name given to the sixth iteration of 802.11 WiFi, seems to have this covered. From new routers and gateways already on the market to new enabled smartphones and video-streaming devices that will be ubiquitous at CES in January, we’re about to finally see what some are calling the biggest advancement in WiFi in two decades.

Developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the new 802.11ax standard, what we call WiFi 6, is an improvement on the fifth-generation 802.11ac standard. WiFi 6 backers say the technology doesn’t just improve speed and latency, enabling users to fully realize the multi-Gigabit speeds of their future network connections. WiFi 6 is also a major advancement in how data is distributed in the home, enabling routers to handle more devices at once, more efficiently.

“WiFi 6 is the first redesign of WiFi since it was conceived 20 years ago,” said Charles Cheevers, chief technology officer of CommScope’s consumer premises equipment division, which has already rolled out WiFi 6-compatible mesh WiFi systems, as well as WiFi 6-compatible devices.

“It was designed to get higher data rates and capacity (Gbps speeds), work better in environments with lots of devices and also improve battery efficiency for IoT [internet of things] devices and connected smartphones/ tablets/laptops using WiFi,” Cheevers added. “At the same time, it is backward-compatible to WiFi 5 older clients — and makes them more efficient.”

The rise of video streaming can be directly tied to the emergence of WiFi 5 back in 2013. With routers supporting modulation of 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), and data transmission speeds up to 960 Megabits per second, WiFi 5 greatly reduced OTT buffering.

WiFi 6, which supports 1024 QAM modulation and is theoretically capable of 10 Gbps, arrives as consumers begin streaming denser 4K video to more rooms in the house while linking things like door locks, lights and thermostats to the home network.

While WiFi 6 is backward-compatible, devices such as smartphones and Roku boxes must have the right chips and software to fully realize its potential. We’re starting to see a few of those. Top-selling smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and the iPhone 11 already support WiFi 6. Even a world still populated by WiFi 5 devices will see improvement working with a WiFi 6 router, though, Cheevers said.

“At its simplest description, WiFi 6 is designed to [deliver] four times better performance in an all-WiFi 6 client environment,” he said. “But even today, with mixed WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 devices, it is typically 25%-plus more efficient than a WiFi 5 AP solution.

The Major Innovation: OFDMA

WiFi 6’s secret sauce, according to Cheevers, is the introduction of OFDMA (orthagonal frequency division multiple access), a modulation scheme similar to what is used in DOCSIS and LTE.

Not only are WiFi 6 channels wider — 160 Megahertz versus the current norm of 80 MHz — but OFDMA lets each channel be used more efficiently. The scheme allows the router to serve more devices at once by efficiently splitting a single frequency channel.

A WiFi 6 router divides data it is transmitting on a specific frequency into dedicated “resource units” (RU). Say you’re messing with your fantasy league on your smartphone while streaming a football game on your Amazon Fire TV box via a virtual vMVPD. The WiFi 6 router would assign one RU to your smartphone and another to the Fire TV, allocating more data to the video streaming.

Finally, in an IoT world, WiFi 6 promises battery-saving advantages through a feature called Target Wake Time. With this technology, the WiFi 6 router “checks in” with connected devices at preassigned times, letting them stay asleep longer.

Meanwhile, WiFi 6 could get a massive boost down the road if American and European regulators approve use of 6 GHz band for home WiFi. This would give WiFi 6 another 1,200 MHz of midband unlicensed spectrum all to itself, starting as soon as 2021, a major boon should it come to fruition.

“When put together, WiFi 6 is as transformational for wireless home networking as the Bugatti Chiron is to the Model T Ford,” Cheevers said.

AirTies has introduced a new line of dual-band and tri-band WiFi 6 mesh extenders and routers.

The Istanbul-based vendor said the devices will be brought to market in “the coming months” and that it already has deployment deals with “multiple Tier 1 service providers.”

The new products include the Air4960 WiFi 6 extender, a dual-band device that incorporates Broadcom’s BCM67532 chipset and has integrated 2.4 GHz 2x2 WiFi 6. A BCM43684 chipset delivers 5 GHz 4x4 WiFi 6 performance.

The Air4970 tri-band WiFi extender is designed to work with WiFi 6 tri-band gateways and provides a dedicated backhaul channel. It uses a Broadcom BSM6755 chips set with 2x2 dual band concurrent at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and 5 GBHZ dedicated backhaul with 3x3 WiFi 6 using a BCM6710 chipset.

Finally, the Air4960 WiFi mesh router is designed to support operators using existing cable modems or fiber terminations. The router enables operators to deploy only two devices, integrating the router software into the WiFi 6 mesh extender. Hardwire specs are identical to the Air4960.

“Today’s service providers want WiFi 6 as part of a managed WiFi solution to deliver the best possible home WiFi experience for consumers,” said Philippe Alcaras, CEO of AirTies, in a statement. “It’s clear that the number of connected devices is increasing at an accelerated rate, and trends such as UHD video, online gaming, and working from home, are all placing more demands on home networks. To address these evolutions, we’re excited to introduce our new Wi-Fi 6 portfolio, powered by AirTies Smart WiFi and supported by AirTies Cloud.” 

State highway officials have told the Federal Communications Commission not to free up 5.9 Gigahertz spectrum for WiFi use.

Car manufacturers have been arguing against sharing the spectrum with cable WiFi, and state DOTs are right with them. That’s according to an Aug. 19 letter to the agency from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

Currently, the 5.9-GHz band is reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, but app-based communications appear to be superseding that technology, which has essentially lay fallow for two decades. But AASHTO has said the debate about what technology V2V will use should not be an excuse to open the spectrum to non-transportation applications.

Toyota agreed, telling the FCC in meetings that an attempt to share the spectrum road with cable WiFi service could lead to a hit-and-run scenario, threatening technology that could protect pedestrians and other “vulnerable” road users.

The FCC is under pressure to free up as much spectrum for advanced communications as possible, so it has been looking hard at the band. But AASHTO has said, not in our transportation backyard.

“The top priority for the state DOTs and AASHTO has been — and will always remain — the safety of all transportation system users,” it told the FCC. “The loss of 36,750 lives last year on our nation’s highways and streets demands that we act boldly. To this end, connected vehicles (CV) utilizing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication in the 5.9 GHz spectrum will save lives by creating a seamless, cooperative environment that significantly improves the safety of our transportation system.”

WiFi Forward, a group that includes cable operators, has said continuing the policy of dedicated V2V spectrum is the wrong road, and would “merely perpetuate the waste of this extremely valuable resource.”

Dish Network is tackling what it hopes to be a lucrative market for multiple dwelling units (MDUs), offering apartment owners and developers a bulk managed WiFi and video product it calls Dish Fiber.

Dish Fiber, to be announced at the Apartmentalize convention in Denver Tuesday, will let apartment building owners package a managed WiFi service -- with speeds up to 1 gigabit per second -- and a bundle of video programming with packages ranging from a live streaming TV service with 24 channels selected by the property to fuller video offerings through its Dish's Hopper hardware.

The streaming TV service uses Smartbox, Dish's headend video distribution platform for commercial applications, via a single, centralized satellite dish and delivered over the property’s IP network. This configuration eliminates the need for individual satellite dishes and a separate coax network for video. 

Dish said residents can upgrade video service without a credit check, long-term commitment or a technician visit.

“The decision of choosing an internet and TV provider has historically been left to residents, which is more complicated and time-consuming for the consumer, and limits property owners’ revenue opportunity,” Dish TV group president Brian Neylon said in a press release. “By eliminating the common pain points often associated with competing providers, Dish Fiber provides residents with the services they want in one solution, while giving property owners more ways to monetize their highly-valued amenities.”

Dish Business director of product and business development Josh Rowe said the internet service is delivered through a DIA [Dedicated Internet Access] circuit to the property either through a direct fiber connection or a point-to-point millimeter wave connection where fiber is aggregated to a central location and delivered wirelessly. “Ultimately we own those connections into the building, so it is fully managed by Dish.”

Dish Business general manager of business development Nate Block said that in a recent interview 94% of residents ranked high-speed internet as the top apartment feature.

“It’s really moved beyond an amenity and is now a utility,” Block said. “No one has to wonder what kind of electricity or water they’ll have, they just expect when they move in, when they switch on a light or turn on the tap, it’s going to work, The same is not true of internet services generally.”

Dish wouldn’t disclose active customers for the service yet, but said it has tested the offering over the past year at several different property groups. 

“Our target market is anywhere in the U.S.,” Block said.

Dish said property owners can select which 24 channels they offer residents from a pool of channels that includes local broadcast stations.

“It gives the property owner some ability to customize that lineup to best meet their demographics,” Rowe said.

Property owners buy the internet service and can set the resale price to either maximize profit or use it as a differentiator and offer it for free.

“Frankly some of those properties have said this is a really valuable amenity and we may just provide it as such,” Block said. “[They’re] saying, ‘Our differentiating point in the market is that we provide this for free and that’s why somebody would rent from us or stay with us versus going to another property.’ It’s a lot about empowering these properties to manage that infrastructure that best fits with their business plans.” 

WiFi is getting its own congressional caucus.

Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) have launched the bipartisan WiFi Caucus.

That comes as the FCC is moving fast on freeing up spectrum, including unlicensed, for broadband. 

The legislators pointed out that WiFi delivers more than half of all internet traffic and over 60% of mobile network offload. It is also the way cable broadband operators are reaching their increasingly mobile broadband subs.

Caucuses bring legislators together over common interests in an issue.

“The integral role that WiFi plays in our telecommunication infrastructure positively affects our economy, American businesses, consumers, and our way of life,” said Latta.

“WiFi Alliance commends Congressmen Latta and McNerney on the creation of a congressional WiFi Caucus to address important policy considerations shaping the future of WiFi innovation,” said alliance president Edgar Figueroa. “WiFi brings critical connectivity to society while contributing hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. economic value. The WiFi Caucus will inform decisions to support a WiFi ecosystem that will continue to provide ubiquitous and affordable connectivity while creating jobs, innovation, and value to the U.S. economy.”

There is already a Congressional Internet Caucus, but not one dealing specifically with WiFi. 

Sales of 4K Ultra High Definition TV sets will climb 21% during the coming year, and revenue for subscription video streaming services will jump by 24% during the same period, according to the Consumer Technology Association's mid-year update of its "U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecast," published Tuesday (July 31).

The semi-annual industry-wide update puts overall consumer technology sales up 6% by the end of this year compared with 2017, significantly higher than the annual growth rate of 3.9% predicted in CTA's January forecast.

CTA's January 2018 Report: Consumer Spending on Streaming Services to Reach $19.5B

The expected home technology growth is being spurred by a strong economy, low unemployment and the tax cut, according to CTA's analysis.

CTA foresees expansion in smart home and whole-home WiFi systems, which, along with streaming video, potentially affect cable operators and programmers' activities in those sectors. The rapid acquisition of 4K TV sets will offset the continuing flat sales for traditional HDTV receivers, possibly spurring networks to accelerate UHD delivery. CTA predicted that nearly 22.5 million 4K UHD sets will be sold in 2019, compared with 18.5 million this year and 16.7 million in 2017. 

The sales pace of smart TVs will slow down: 33.8 million units last year, 35.2 million this year, 36.6 million in 2019, according to the CTA analysis. But that widespread penetration of Internet-accessible TV sets will be accompanied by continuing growth in sales of streaming media players (including sticks and set-top boxes): 17 million units last year, 18.6 million units this year and 19.7 million units next year, according to the CTA forecast.

Related Study: 74% of U.S. TV Homes Have at Least One Connected TV Device

CTA foresees consumer expenditures on streaming video services to reach $13.4 billion this year, and $16.6 billion in 2019, compared with about $4 billion in 2014.

"These services are expected to sustain healthy, double-digit growth rates for the foreseeable future as consumers explore the various content delivery platforms available to them," the report concluded. "Live TV streaming options are becoming more widely available this year, potentially attracting traditional pay-TV subscribers that have until now avoided cutting the cord for fear of losing their sports programming. With plentiful streaming options available, it is expected that viewers will continue to cut the cord to explore their ideal blend of streamed content."

Related: 'Consumer Reports' Guides Subscribers on Cord-Shaving

At the same time, home networking devices -- especially smart speakers as forerunners of the Internet of Things juggernaut -- will fly off retail (and online) shelves. And their presence will raise new competitive issues, especially as fifth-generation (5G) wireless technology is deployed.

“The new Internet of Things is the ‘Intelligence of Things’,” said Steve Koenig, CTA vice president of market research.“Connected products tap artificial intelligence to enhance services, especially in categories including smartphones, connected cars and smart home devices. And with 5G on our doorstep – the first 5G products will hit the market this year – we’re crossing into a new phase of faster and smarter connected devices.”

Rick Kowalski, CTA senior manager of market research and business intelligence, focused on the "huge shift in how people consume content." He emphasized the value of live streaming, which has "more consumers exploring their over-the-top video options." "This remarkable growth in streaming services shows us that the phrase ‘content is king’ is more relevant than ever,” Kowalski said.

CTA said it expects U.S. consumer technology revenue overall will reach $377 billion in 2018. CTA said that this year will mark the first time that whole-home WiFi products and artificial/virtual reality headsets hit the $1 billion wholesale revenue milestone.

Among the other hot categories, with expected wholesale revenue levels, are voice-controlled smart speakers ($3.2 billion) and smarthome devices such as thermostats, detectors, locks and doorbells ($4.6 billion). CTA acknowledges that "multi-year projections cannot account for unpredictable factors such as changes in tariffs, trade laws, interest rates and federal policy."

The CTA report is available for $2,000 to non-members of association.

Follows CTA/NCTA Agreement Extension

CTA's forecast came just days after the organization and NCTA – The Internet & Television Association announced a four-year extension of the "Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Small Network Equipment." They said the cross-industry initiative has improved the efficiency of home internet devices such as modems and routers by 20%.

Although the agreement is unrelated to CTA's sales forecasts, it exemplifies the co-dependency of the industries.

The Small Network Equipment (SNE) Voluntary Agreement was initially adopted in 2015 to build upon the success of a similar award-winning voluntary agreement for set-top boxes endorsed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2013. The extension of the voluntary agreement raises the bar for signatories by committing to meet new, more rigorous energy efficiency levels by 2020 that are on average 11% lower than the agreement’s current levels.

"The four-year extension of the voluntary agreement demonstrates our industry's commitment to approaches that assure our customers benefit from energy efficiency measures while maintaining our ability to develop new services and equipment which they demand,” said Neal Goldberg, NCTA’s general counsel.

Agreement signatories include the major broadband internet services providers serving 95 million U.S. households (89%of the market) -- AT&T, Cablevision, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Cox Communications, Frontier and Verizon -- as well as leading device manufacturers Actiontec, ARRIS, D-Link, NETGEAR, Technicolor and Ubee Interactive.

Plume, a startup focused on whole-home WiFi products and services, has amplified its retail business with the recent debut of a new line of speedier “SuperPod” devices alongside a subscription-based model.

Plume, which works with ISPs such as Comcast and Bell Canada, in the service provider sector, said its second-gen SuperPods, equipped with a tri-band WiFi radio configuration, are more powerful than their predecessors, and work in tandem with a cloud-based Adaptive WiFi system that orchestrates the home WiFi network and establishes the best wireless paths for devices to connect to.

RELATED: Comcast Launches ‘xFi,’ Invests in Plume

The SuperPods are also compatible with Plume’s first-gen Pods, which have dual WiFi radios. Both products simply plug into the wall and are onboarded to the home network and managed via an app.

Plume reasons that SuperPods are needed as consumers need more powerful wireless signals in the home to ship video, including 4K streams, and other high-bandwidth services and apps, as well as apps that require low latencies. Those SuperPods are also designed to match up with higher-level in-home broadband services as cable operators and telcos continue to expand the rollout of 1-Gig service.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up

Plume estimates that the original Pod provides consistent speeds of about 100 Mbps to most areas of the home, and that the company has seen that number shoot to about 300 Mbps with the new SuperPod.

Though Plume’s first-gen Pods fulfill the needs of most consumers, “we want to stay ahead of the curve,” Fahri Diner, Plume’s CEO, said in a recent interview.

Plume is also tweaking its retail model with a subscription model ($60 per year, or a one-time fee of $200 for a lifetime subscription) that is paired with lower pricing on WiFi hardware.

The “Fast” configuration under that model includes 1 SuperPod and four Pods for $99, and a “Super Fast” option that provides three SuperPod devices for $199. A configuration for smaller homes provides SuperPod and two Pods for $39. Add-ons run $49 for a single Pod or $99 for a single SuperPod.

In addition to the hardware discounts, membership also factors in other elements such as HomePass (a system that lets users create and share custom passwords for certain devices and for guests), parental controls, free ground deliver of hardware, and 24/7 customer support.

Plume customers with first-gen Pods (as of June 11) get a lifetime Plume membership at no added cost along with access to discounted SuperPods.

“For many consumers, WiFi is the internet,” Diner said.

Though Plume works closely with service providers and doesn’t spend a lot on direct consumer marketing, retail “is an important part of our business strategy, Diner said, noting that the retail model ensures that Plume maintains a direct connection with consumers and can use that feedback to improve its products.

RELATED: Wi-Fi Alliance Takes Aim at Whole-Home Networking

Comcast has integrated Plume’s technology for the MSO’s current-gen xFi Pods, but hasn’t announced plans to develop a new, faster version that would be akin to the new SuperPod.

RELATED: Comcast Plugs xFi Pods into National Rollout

Comcast said it moved quickly to disable a vulnerability in its activation portal for broadband gateways that could enable someone to obtain a customer’s WiFi network name and password using a customer's account number and address, rather than going through an additional layer of authentication, such as also having to provide a cell phone number.

As ZDNet first reported, two security researchers discovered the vulnerability, noting that a customer’s WiFi credentials could be uncovered if someone, for example, obtained a discarded bill or email from the cable operator. The researchers said the method could also be used to change WiFi network names and passwords and lock out the customer temporarily.

Using that method, a person could obtain machine data, but not customer data.

Comcast said it removed the option that caused the vulnerability soon after it was alerted to it, and has also launched an investigation.

“There’s nothing more important than our customers’ security,” a Comcast spokesperson said in a statement. “Within hours of learning of this issue, we shut it down. At no time did this site enable anyone to access customers’ personal usernames and passwords and we have no reason to believe that any account information was accessed. We are conducting a thorough investigation and will take all necessary steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”

Looking to drive interoperability standards into whole-home setups that lean on multiple access points, the Wi-Fi Alliance has launched a new program called Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh.

The new program, targeted to homes and small business environments that use mesh-style, multi-access point setups, is designed to enable service providers to create those networks using a wide range of interoperable devices from different suppliers/brands.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up

The Wi-Fi Alliance is taking aim at interoperability standards as whole-home WiFi systems sold at retail and offered by service providers start to take significant hold in the market. However, much of that action has centered on one-supplier systems.

RELATED: Netgear’s New Retail Cable Router Targets Whole-Home WiFi

Mesh WiFi systems are taking off as consumers adopt a growing number of smart home devices and video streaming devices and require solid connectivity to all corners of the home, Kevin Robinson, VP of marketing at the Wi-Fi Alliance, said, citing NPD data from 2017 showing that mesh networks already account for roughly 40% of the U.S. retail home WiFi market.

Though several whole-home WiFi products have emerged that support multiple access points and software and analysis systems that tie them together, the push with the EasyMesh program is to establish baseline, multi-vendor interoperable standards that can drive scale into this growing segment of the WiFi market while still giving individual vendors room to innovate, Robinson said

The focus of the EasyMesh program is to standardize protocols that direct the management of the network and help to guide clients, such as smartphones or streaming players, to access points and specific bands that provide the best experience at any given time.

Key components of the standardized program include both the network controller (with one device on the network, such as a gateway or an access point serving as that control point) that coordinates activity with agents, including satellite access points, that are connected to the network.

There are no EasyMesh-certified products available yet as certification testing has yet to start. However, a mix of product and chip suppliers, industry organizations and service providers voiced their support in today’s announcement, including AirTies, Arris, Assia, Broadcom, Marvell, MediaTek, Intel, Qualcomm Atheros, Quantenna, CableLabs, and Liberty Global. 

Cox Business said it has rolled out a managed WiFi offering to customers in Cox’s northeast markets as well as parts of the company’s southwest region.

A rollout across Cox’s national footprint will occur in the coming months, the company said.

The wider deployment comes after Cox Business started to trial a managed WiFi service for business customers in 2017.

RELATED: Comcast Gets Down to Business with WiFi 

Cox Business Managed WiFi delivers up to 1 Gbps for both private and public WiFi networks, and provides partners with the ability to select the speeds available to guests. Cox said the offering can reach up to 36,000 square feet indoors, with backhaul options up to 1 Gbps for up to 250 guests and employees.

Customers have access to a range of options, including network passcodes, splash page login screens, as well as power management and rogue access point detection.

Packages include Guest WiFi (for business customers, guests and vendors, and up to four guest network IDs with splash page passcode control), Private WiFi (for business employees and internal use, with up to four private network IDs with encrypted and private network ID passcode access control); and Total WiFi (private and guest networks, each with separate access controls).

“A smart business is a connected business,” Steve Rowley, executive vice president at Cox Business, said in a statement. “Employees and customers expect superior connectivity while working, shopping or in some situations waiting. Cox Business Managed WiFi delivers superior network management, with the security and agile functionality that businesses demand.”

Louisville, Colo. -- The hunting appears to be pretty good these days at Kyrio, the for-profit unit of CableLabs that has been seeking business growth opportunities both inside and outside the cable industry.  

Kyrio, a spin-off formed in 2012 and originally called NetworkFX (rebranded as Kyrio in 2016), cut its teeth in cable device security using a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) service. It has been expanding into several emerging areas, including mobile and wireless, the Internet of Things, as well as interoperability work centered on network functions virtualization (NFV). While some of those activities have attracted business from companies and industries outside of cable, Kyrio has also taken the reins on DOCSIS certification testing.  

RELATED: Kyrio Takes Over CableLabs Certification Testing Program 

Out of all the opportunities being worked on now or being targeted, wireless is currently the biggest one being pursued, Mitchell Ashley, president and GM of Kyrio, said in a briefing here at the CableLabs headquarters.  

WiFi performance testing (for metro WiFi networks as well as in-home WiFi products and technologies) are the largest component of that part of the business, though Kyrio has started to do some testing around 5G. All of that work complements other wireless-facing work Kyrio has undertaken, including a WiFi roaming service/hub that some cable operators, including Midco, have taken advantage of.  

Louisville, Colo.-based Kyrio, which has even rented out a two-story home in the area to help with real-world WiFi performance testing, also expects increasing interest in the emerging CBRS band to also factor into future business.  

RELATED: Comcast Wants to Test CBRS in Philly 

Part of the WiFi testing tends to center access point performance, as well as new whole-home setups that employ extenders and other whole-home gear and software.  

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up 

Kyrio’s being tapped in part by vendors and suppliers for product testing because the division is made to be neutral and independent, and can also serve as an extension of their own in-house labs. Others simply don't have the resources that Kyrio affords them. 

“We don’t have a dog in the hunt on what’s chosen,” Ashley said. “The data is the data…The results speak for themselves.”  

Kyrio has also taken its PKI infrastructure for set-tops and modems and offered that capability to the IoT market, enabling the same security mechanisms and technology to validate and authenticate this new wave of connected devices in a sort of digital ticket exchange.  

RELATED: Kyrio Teams on IoT Device Security 

“IoT has a lot of promise” for Kyrio’s business, Ashley explained.  

Another emerging area for Kyrio is NVF interoperability. Some of that work involves a lab that lets vendors come in to create multi-device scenarios and develop proof of concepts.  

Interoperable, multi-vendor environments represent both a challenge and a promise for NVP, explained Robin Ku, director of Kyrio’s NFV Interop Lab, which is sponsored by Intel and Amdocs. 

Some of that work has involved expanding the NFV ecosystem to support a greater number of virtual applications that can be tested in those interoperable settings.  

“But you have to walk before you run,” Ku said, adding that NFV has “a high degree of interest from MSOs”  

Comcast is expanding the utility of xFi, its home WiFi management platform, with a feature that enables real-time updates that are focused on security.

When enabled, those WiFi-related, push notifications are delivered to the customer’s smartphones and TVs when certain events on the home WiFi network occur, including:

-When new devices are connected to the network. Customers can also go into the xFi app on smartphones or on the web to assign those new devices to a member of the household.

-When a WiFi name or password has been changed, important in part because customers will need to reconnect WiFi devices when those credentials have been changed by an authorized user.

-When security settings are changed.

-If the home WiFi’s network name has been hidden or unhidden. xFi has an option that lets customers hide their WiFi network’s name, an option that comes in especially handy in densely populated areas.

xFi customers are also told if their internet service and gateway has been activated for the first time, and if the home network’s IP address has been changed, Eric Schaefer, SVP and GM, data and mobility services at Comcast, explained in a blog post about the new features.

Comcast launched xFi in May 2017, and it’s now available to more than 15 million customers (via Comcast’s xFi Wireless Gateway -- formerly known as the XB3-- and the xFi Advanced Wireless gateway, a new DOCSIS 3.1-based device formerly referred to as the XB6.

RELATED: Comcast Launches ‘xFi,’ Invests in Plume

Last August, Comcast rolled out another set of new features for its cloud-based xFi service, including “timed pause,” enhanced parental controls, and some initial notification center elements.

Deepening its reach into the growing whole-home WiFi market, Nokia has reached a deal to acquire Unium, a U.S.-based maker of WiFi mesh technology.

Financial terms were not announced, but Nokia expects to close the deal in Q1 2018.

Founded in 2002, Unium is based in Seattle and has raised at least $26.7 million in funding, according to CrunchBase. TechCrunch reports that Google Fiber is among Unium’s known customers.

Nokia is integrating Unium’s software into its home WiFi products to provide a wireless mesh that reaches into all corners of the home alongside a management system that measures wireless performance in real-time and uses that data to improve the home network’s coverage and capacity.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up (subscription required)

In tandem with the acquisition announcement, Nokia introduced a new whole-home WiFi platform that includes meshed WiFi gateways and beacons that utilize Unium’s software, along with a WiFi Home Portal offering for service providers.

With the acquisition and product launch, Nokia is amplifying its focus on a part of the market that has become a higher priority for cable operators and ISPs and opened the door to other vendors that specialize in whole-home WiFi equipment and software, including eero, AirTies, Arris, Plume, Netgear and Linksys, among others.

RELATED: Comcast Launches ‘xFi,’ Invests in Plume

Federico Guillén, president of Nokia's Fixed Networks business group, said: "We look forward to having the Unium team join us. The home networking market is booming and whole-home Wi-Fi is a key enabler for this.

“Today's Wi-Fi solutions still have serious issues with sticky clients, interference, coverage gaps and capacity issues,” Federico Guillén, president of Nokia's Fixed Networks business group, said  in a statement. “With Unium inside, our Nokia Wi-Fi solution will deliver an unmatched user experience, going beyond what standard mesh Wi-Fi solutions deliver today."

AirTies Wireless Networks has inked a retail-focused deal with Deutsche Telekom that will see the service provider sell a mesh-based, whole-home WiFi “Starter Kit” at its shops and online to residential customers in Germany.

Under the arrangement, Deutsche Telekom’s Starter Kit, with two AirTies 4920 extenders equipped with dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, for €199.95 (US$246.51), plus shipping. AirTies said its platform can be expanded to up to six extenders per mesh network.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up

The retail agreement will give AirTies exposure to Deutsche Telekom’s customer base, which spans 28.5 million fixed-access lines, 18.5 million broadband lines, and 165 million mobile customers.

The agreement with DT follows a recent one with AT&T, and adds to other partnerships AirTies has with service providers such as Orange, Singtel, Sky, Swisscom, Comporium, Frontier Communications and Midco. 

RELATED: AT&T Taps AirTies for Whole-Home WiFi

AT&T has evidently tapped AirTies to bring whole-home WiFi capabilities to a sizable portion of its broadband subscriber base.

AT&T doesn’t identify AirTies by name in this blog post about the new in-home WiFi mesh product, but an image of the WiFi extender on offer is clearly made by AirTies.

AT&T is initially selling the “Smart Wi-Fi Extender” online for $34.99 (with two-day shipping), down from a stated original price of $99. Per AT&T, the Smart Wi-Fi Extender on offer is designed for use with its BGW or 5268 WiFi Gateway.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up

The new WiFi extender, when used in the mesh setup, “boosts your coverage by up to 1,000 sq. ft.” while also reducing network congestion and auto-selecting the fastest avaialbity connection for each device that hangs off the in-home WiFi network, Stephen Vincent, assistant VP, in-home-broadband, wired voice and broadband products at AT&T, explained in the post.

Vincent also used the post to introduce the AT&T Smart Home Manager that, among its features, lets users personalize their WiFi network name and password, invite guests to the user’s in-home WiFi network and chat with customer service. AT&T is offering versions of the Smart Home Manager app for iOS and Android mobile devices.

It’s not immediately clear what role AirTies is playing with that app, but the vendor has previously said that is offers a program that enables ISP partners to sub-license its technology to their broadband gateway suppliers. 

UPDATE: An AT&T official confirmed that the company's new mesh platform uses AirTies software,  noting that it's compatible with AT&T's latest line of WiFi gateways. While those gateways are available to customers across multiple speed tiers, the new WiFi extenders and new mesh platform is not available to AT&T's DSL subscribers. 

The AT&T tie-up marks a significant win for AirTies, which opened an R&D center in Austin, Texas, late last year, and has agreements in place with several other broadband service providers, including Atlantic Broadband, Frontier Communications, Midco, Orange, Singtel, Sky, Swisscom, Vodafone and Waoo, among others.

RELATED: Midco Rolls Whole-Home WiFi Offering

Other WiFi technology vendors are also taking advantage of this trend, as ISPs and other service providers develop and launch premium whole-home WiFi products.

 Plume, for example, is heavily involved with new ‘xFI Pod” products that Comcast has introduced in a few markets. Eero, meanwhile, has complemented its retail strategy with one focused on service providers that recently was parleyed into a deal with BlueRidge Communications. Last fall, Canada’s Westman Communications was the first operator to announce a rollout of Hitron Technologies’s new whole-home WiFi product set.

RELATED: Comcast Launches ‘xFi,’ Invests in Plume

Eero, a startup that makes whole-home WiFi equipment and management software, confirmed that it has laid off about 30 employees as it applies more focus to its “core business.”

TechCrunch first reported on the layoff, noting that the reduction impacted about 20% of the company’s total workforce.

Eero released this statement:

“Our goal is to provide perfect WiFi in every home. Over the past year we explored several related projects, and we've now made the tough decision to eliminate one new project in favor of greater focus on our core business. We do not take this lightly, and unfortunately this shift means about 30 colleagues will no longer be working at eero. We will continue our work to make eero the most reliable, secure, and easiest home WiFi solution.”

Eero declined to elaborate on the project that was eliminated.

Last year, eero introduced a second-generation of whole-home WiFi products, including a new “Beacon” device that can plug directly into power outlets and a premium “network protection” subscription service.

RELATED: Eero Upgrades, Expands Whole-Home WiFi Platform

Also of recent note, eero broadened its sales channels with a new lineup that is dedicated to professional installers.

Eero has also complemented its retail business with one focused on ISP partnerships. Blue Ridge Communications, eero’s first cable operator partner, launched a new premium offering, called HomeFi, that features eero’s compact WiFi access points working in tandem with the customer’s cable modem and an MSO-branded app that lets users manage their home WiFi networks.

RELATED: Blue Ridge Greenlights Eero for Whole-Home WiFi Offering

Founded in 2014, eero has raised about $90 million, according to CrunchBase.

Arris has opened up a new enterprise-focused business unit following its recently closed deal for the Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch businesses from Brocade, but also sees some potential points of synergy with the residential components of its business.

RELATED: Arris Closes Ruckus Wireless Acquisition 

Arris on Monday offered an update on its business about two weeks after it acquired the Ruckus, and analysts wondered if it the company some revenue and technology synergies with respect to Arris’s CPE business and home WiFi, an area that has become of greater importance to cable operators and other service providers that work with the company.

Arris CEO Bruce McClelland acknowledged that there is a greater desire to build in more capable and extensive networking and wireless capabilities on the residential side of the broadband business.

There are no new residential products to discuss yet that would link in Ruckus, but “it’s definitely something that our teams are looking at.”

One potential area for more collaboration is 802.11ax, a new version of WiFi that will build in OFDMA capabilities from the cellular world along with other features, rather than trying to go back and revamp products that use older versions of WiFi.

He said Arris may look into how it can leverage investment on all sides, and perhaps create a common roadmap that addresses Arris’s enterprise, retail and service provider businesses. “Maybe there’s a tiered technology strategy or a variety of different approaches there,” McClelland said.

Dan Rabinovitsj, the new president of Ruckus Networks, noted that Ruckus did not pursue residential in part because the enterprise sector requires designs that can scale to higher densities and client counts and support a bigger range of features. However, some of Ruckus’s channel partners do dabble in residential by offering premium products for some homes that need technology capabilities that are akin to those of a small business.

“That’s where we start to see the lines blurring,” Rabinovitsj said, adding that there could be some opportunities to drive of that WiFi-related work into products like integrated wireless gateways.

Arris also provided a bigger overview of the company following its latest purchase.

One big change is a new reportable segment, called Enterprise Networks and led by Rabinovitsj, that operates alongside Arris’s CPE and Network and Cloud units. One difference is that Enterprise Networks will have its own product management and sales and marketing team focused on that channel. And it will retain the Ruckus brand.

In addition to carrying the new tagline of “Redefined Connectivity,” the portfolio of the newly combined version of Arris should be thought of differently now, McClelland said.

That portfolio now spans a Core, Growth and Emerging businesses.

Core is focused on large, mature markets where Arris already has a significant share in areas with regular upgrade cycles that fuel investment in new products. That includes areas like integrated CCAPs, set-tops and other CPE, and residential WiFi.

Growth, where investment will increase more rapidly, includes areas like enterprise managed services, smart cities, DOCSIS 3.1, the direct-to-consumer segment and upgrades to multi-gigabit Ethernet.

Emerging markets for Arris include next-gen PON platforms, CBRS technology, network virtualization and distributed access architectures, and Full Duplex DOCSIS.

Rabinovitsj noted that the wireless LAN market enjoys an 11.5% CAGR, but “our plan is to grow faster than the market, fueled by our leadership position in verticals that are growing fast such as managed services.”

“This trend will continue to grow as IT managers shift their attention away from managing networks to delivering applications and services,” he said.

Looking ahead Arris expects its Enterprise segment to bring in between $650 million to $700 million of sales in 2-18, and earnings of 23 cents to 31 cents per share.

“While most of our discussion today has been around products and technology and markets, this acquisition is really about people and knowhow,” McClelland said.

Still, a portion of the discussion focused on the opportunities in the CBRS spectrum band.

RELATED: Federated Wireless Targets ‘Third Model’ for Mobile

For its part, Ruckus is focusing on that with a product area it calls “OpenG.”

Rabinovitsj said chips for the infrastructure end of CBRS have been out for some time, as they typically lead the way before silicon for smartphones and tablets emerge. However, some devices that will work in the 3.5GHz segment have already appeared for the Japanese market.

RELATED: CBRS Spectrum to Open Windows of Opportunity for Cable Ops

For now, Ruckus is testing CBRS using off-the-shelf smartphones that are being used outside the U.S. McClelland pointed out that Arris sees early CBRS activity around fixed mobile broadband access with a gateway serving as the client device.

Cox Communications said its premium whole-home WiFi offering, branded as Panoramic WiFi, has surpassed 1 million customers about 14 months after it was introduced.

Cox launched Panoramic WiFi last fall in markets such as San Diego, Orange County and Santa Barbara last fall, and extended it to all Cox markets in June 2017. During that span, Cox said it did have a month in which it added 185,000 new Panoramic WiFi subs.

RELATED: Cox Goes Wide With ‘Panoramic WiFi’

Cox sells the premium whole-home product starting at $9.99 per month. Panoramic WiFi uses a modem/router with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem (supporting up to 24 downstream channels and eight upstream channels) and dual-band 802.11ac WiFi.  That’s matched with network management app for iOS and Android mobile devices, and a customized WiFi installation.

Cox also rents out WiFi extenders that utilize MoCA 2.0 technology for $4 each per month.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up (subscription required)

Cox’s product follows a trend by which cable operators and other ISPs are enhancing their core broadband service with premium WiFi offerings that provide more consistent wireless speeds throughout the house and the ability to manage those in-home wireless networks.

RELATED: Comcast Starts Rollout of ‘xFi Pods’ to Boost Whole-Home WiFi

The operator said 66% of new high-speed internet subs are choosing the Panoramic WiFi option, and that its Connect app is getting 120,000-plus WiFi “interactions” per month.

The My WiFi component in the Connect app lets users view primary and guest networks, change their wireless security settings, broadcast or hide the in-home network, change their WiFi network passwords, name or rename devices, view WiFi signal strength, and even send a reboot signal to the modem.

“While designing and developing Panoramic WiFi, we listened to our customers and applied that feedback to delivering a premium user experience,” Philip Nutsugah, senior vice president, product development and management, said in a statement. Our customers want an effortless and predictable WiFi experience that delivers the speed and reliability they expect. They want to have confidence that they are equipped with tools to optimize and manage their home WiFi.”

Shoring up its whole-home WiFi tech strategy, Comcast has begun to roll out complementary “xFi Pod” devices that plug into the wall and work in tandem with the MSO’s primary gateways, including a new gigabit gateway that uses DOCSIS 3.1 technology and 802.11ac version 2. 

RELATED: Comcast Goes Wide With DOCSIS 3.1 Gigabit Gateway

Comcast’s new hexagon-shaped xFi Pods, developed in partnership with Plume, are designed to create an in-home mesh network that can extend the reach of WiFi into all corners of the home. Those devices also work with Comcast’s new cloud-based, xFi-branded WiFi management platform that was introduced in May.

RELATED: Comcast Launches ‘xFi,’ Invests in Plume

Comcast began to deploy the new xFi Pods in Boston and Chicago today, and expects to introduce the products on a national basis next year, Eric Schaefer, SVP and GM of communications, data and mobility services at Comcast, explained in a blog post.

He noted that the new devices are activated using the xFi mobile app for iOS or Android.

Though the latest gateways provide solid WiFi signals and coverage can be tweaked based on their placement in the home, “there are homes that have unique WiFi challenges due to their size, shape, age, or construction materials,” Schaefer noted. “That’s where xFi Pods come in.”

Comcast has been asked for pricing on the xFi Pods, but the company is selling them in packs – a 3-Pod pack for homes with three to four bedrooms (and basements and attics), and 6-Pod packs recommended for homes with five or more bedrooms and L-shaped additions and rooms on multiple stories.

Update: Comcast said the pack of three xFi Pods sell for $119, and the pack of six goes for $199.

Following initial deployments in markets such as Salt Lake City, Comcast has moved ahead with the national rollout of the xFi Advanced Gateway, a product that supports DOCSIS 3.1, souped up WiFi and a set of dedicated IoT radios.

Early on, Comcast will deploy the new gateway (previously called the XB6) to customers on the MSO’s fastest residential speed tiers, from 300 Mbps up to 1 Gbps, in markets where it has deployed DOCSIS 3.1. Comcast has deployed D3.1, a gigabit-class technology for its HFC network, to about 75% of its footprint (or 26 markets) so far.

Comcast is leasing the xFi Advanced Gateway for $10 per month, the same price as its previous-generation DOCSIS 3.0-based gateway, the xFi Wireless Gateway (formerly known as the XB3).  Comcast designed the new gateway, but as reported earlier, the operator has tapped Arris to build a version powered by an Intel Corp. D3.1 chip, and Technicolor to build one using Broadcom’s  chipset.

The new gateway supports xFi, a cloud-based home WiFi management platform that the cable operator rolled out in May.

Among other specs, the new gateway supports and 8x8 WiFi antenna array that leans on 802.11ac version 2, which allows for it to tap into 160 MHz channels (versus 20 MHz and 80 MHz used in most WiFi routers and gateways in the market). It also uses Multi-user, Multi-input, Multi-output technology to deliver top speeds to dozens of devices hanging off the network, the company said.

That also “over-provisions” the device to support more than 1 Gbps, Fraser Stirling, senior vice president of devices and AI systems at Comcast, said. Comcast said it has tested WiFi speeds of more than 1.5 Gbps using the new gateway's wireless technology configuration. 

Comcast believes that the WiFi capacities of the new gateway will be enough to blanket the vast majority of homes with WiFi, but later this month will start to offer optional, complementary xFi Pod devices that use mesh technology to complete the whole-home WiFi scenario by extending the range of the system and eliminating dead zones.  

Comcast hasn’t announced pricing on those xFi Pods, developed in partnership with Plume, but has posted an FAQ about them. Per the FAQ, Comcast will be selling the self-installable xFi Pods in sets of three or six.

RELATED: Comcast Leads $37.5M Investment in Plume

The xFi Advanced Gateway is also equipped with a set of IoT radios – Bluetooth LE, Zigbee and Thread, making the device “capable of connecting to virtually any IoT device.” Nest devices, for example, use Thread radios. Those capabilities are also expected to ensure that the new gateway integrates with Xfinity Home, Comcast’s home security/smart home service.

Comcast said it has made the new gateway easy to set up and onboard, as customers need only plug it in, scan a QR code with the xFi app and follow the prompts. Customers will be able to self-install the device, but for company installs, the techs will be using the same “customer flow” to set up the device, Stirling said.

“Everything we’ve been doing lately has 100% self-install in mind,” Stirling said. “The SIK (self install kit) is always front and center.”

More details about Comcast’s new product and its design strategy will be featured in the December 11 edition of Broadcasting & Cable.

Liberty Global said it has teamed up with the government of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board on a “mobile WiFi Tour” that is providing free internet connections to communities there that were most severely impacted by Hurricane Maria.

Headed up by Liberty Cablevision Puerto Rico, the free WiFi Tour includes three mobile units specifically designed for first aid communications after a natural disaster, the operator said. Kymeta, a company that includes Liberty Global Ventures as a financial backer, supplied the satellite antennas, while Intelsat is delivering the Internet connectivity.

Each mobile unit is equipped with satellite antennas that provide internet to the municipalities which the PRTRB determined have the greatest telecommunications needs. Those mobile WiFi vehicles are also leading a caravan of locally provided goodwill and services such as FEMA, banking, insurance, food, water, medical supplies and doctors to 29 remote towns that do not currently have internet connectivity, Liberty Global added.

“Liberty Global’s free WiFi Tour represents our steadfast commitment to aiding the people of Puerto Rico at their greatest time of need with services that have an immediate impact,” Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said in a statement. “I can attest first-hand to the bravery of Puerto Ricans, and to the fierce determination of our Liberty employees in helping restore services to our customers. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board, the Government of Puerto Rico and our collaborating partners for coming together to bring this private enterprise and public agency partnership to life.”

Liberty Global has already committed $1 million of funding to the Liberty Foundation in Puerto Rico and the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation, which were established to assist victims of the recent hurricanes in the region.

RELATED: Liberty Global Weighs Financial Impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria

Last week, Liberty Global noted in its Q3 results that the effects of the recent storms negatively impacted Liberty Puerto Rico’s and C&W's revenue by an estimated $19 million and $3 million, respectively.

Comcast Business said its Enterprise Solutions unit has notched a deal to provide managed services, including guest WiFi, for Taco Bell and its 6,200 company and franchise locations in the U.S.

RELATED: Comcast Gets Down to Business With WiFi

Financial terms were not announced, but the restaurant chain has retained Comcast Business to support the tech requirements for its national business operations, including a “redundant, highly-available network infrastructure.”

Tied in, Comcast Business will provide in-store managed WiFi networks and managed router systems for each restaurant that is capable of a minimum of 20 Mbps down/3 Mbps up, 4G business “continuity” at each location, and redundant connections at each location.

Comcast Business said it will also provide distributed IPsec VPN network that gives Taco Bell the ability to collect and exchange massive amounts of data at very high speeds across Taco Bell locations.

The deal comes a little over two years after Comcast introduced an enterprise division that targets large enterprises with multiple locations, and aims to build on Comcast Business’s work with small- and mid-sized business customers.

RELATED: Comcast Business Bows New Unit Targeting Fortune 1000

UPDATE: The national focus of the deal means that Comcast Business will be serving Taco Bell locations that fall outside of Comcast's regular cable footprint. Tied to its Fortune 1000 focus, Comcast has secured network agreements with several other cable operators to provide connectivity outside its footprint, and that strategy is in play with the Taco Bell deal, the company confirmed. 

“Comcast Business understands the unique network demands of national restaurant chains and looks forward to supporting Taco Bell, one of the technology leaders of the fast food industry,”  Glenn Katz, VP & GM Enterprise Solutions at Comcast Business, said in a statement. “By understanding the ever-changing demands of this highly competitive industry and having the largest high capacity network infrastructure in the country, Comcast is in a unique position to provide and manage all aspects of a service deployment within the quick serve restaurant (QSR) sector, whether they are a smaller restaurant group or a national chain with several thousand locations.”

Hitron Technologies, a maker of cable modems and other types of consumer premises equipment and software, said Canada’s Westman Communications Group is the first operator to roll out the vendor’s new whole-home WiFi product set.

RELATED: Hitron Launches Video Campaign Focused on Cable Ops

Following a two-month trial, Westman, based in Manitoba, will deploy Hitron’s “Unleash Your WiFi” solution, which includes the vendor’s gateway and MoCA-to-WiFi extenders that work in concert with Hitron’s EasyInstall and MyHitron apps. EasyInstall helps technicians setup the whole-home platform, while MyHitron is designed to help users manage and troubleshoot their home WiFi networks.

Westman is also using OptiMy, a cloud-based machine learning and big data analytics system from Hitron, which is showing off its new wares at this week’s SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

Read More: Complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

Westman joins a growing group of cable ops that have launched premium whole-home WiFi products.

RELATED: Blue Ridge Greenlights Eero for Whole-Home WiFi Offering

“Our customers demand reliable and fast Wi-Fi coverage in every corner of their homes. At Westman, the demarcation point is our customers’ fingertips. It’s our company’s mandate to deliver this experience in the most efficient, customer friendly and cost-effective manner,” Jeffrey DeSarno, Westman’s chief technology officer, said in a statement.

WiFi is the foundation for the super-connected home. With escalating device counts, increased video streaming, and the rise of the Internet of Things, the need for a new approach to whole-home WiFi has never been clearer. But, not all whole-home WiFi solutions are created equal.

Retailers are aggressively marketing new kinds of whole-home WiFi solutions to consumers that circumvent service providers. At the same time, service providers have an array of whole-home WiFi choices from suppliers. In evaluating what to do, several key things should be considered.

Retail vs. Managed Solution
Improving in-home WiFi should not be a consumer’s problem to solve. Most consumers are not IT experts – nor should they be. In fact, survey research commissioned by AirTies across the U.S. and UK found that nearly 80% of consumers would prefer that all their WiFi equipment be supplied by their service providers – versus having to try to solve this issue on their own. There is a comparable history lesson from DVRs, which first gained popularity in retail, until operators seized on the opportunity themselves. WiFi remains the number one customer care call for many service providers. Service providers cannot afford to cede this new market opportunity to retail competitors.

Multiple Access Points: Tree vs. Mesh Topology
There is a growing consensus that multiple WiFi access points are required to provide consistent, quality coverage throughout the home. One approach is a “tree” topology whereby WiFi is extended from the core gateway using repeaters/extenders that can only make a single path to the gateway node without any alternative paths for in home data flow between devices. Another is to use a “mesh” topology whereby every extender connects with each other simultaneously to manage data flow dynamically.

New advances in repeater technology and adaptive cloud management software, coupled with a rise in devices that support 802.11v, can certainly make a multi-AP tree topology more effective that having a single WiFi router in the home. However, there are some key issues to consider.

Most homes have numerous legacy devices that lack 802.11v support, meaning the gateway can’t be relied upon to command a device to connect to a closer AP, thus increases latency and bandwidth consumption. For devices that can, the AP switch can cause an interruption in the signal flow as the transfer to the new AP occurs. Such disruptions can impact streaming video quality, especially live broadcasts, a “no-no” for many service providers. Most repeaters also cannot prioritize video over other in-home network traffic. In addition, simply forcing a device to connect to the closest AP isn’t always the best option based on network conditions, if that closest AP has more hops compared to a slightly further gateway.

Tree topologies rely heavily on the gateway for network intelligence, which presents its own challenges. Most gateways do not support WiFi’s Wireless Distribution System (WDS) technology. Implementing a repeater technology without supporting WDS requires a manipulation of users’ device MAC addresses when roaming between gateway and repeater nodes, which often creates problems such as a DHCP server assigning a new IP address, device applications getting disconnected, or connection drops. In addition, a single gateway can only measure the interference from where it’s located, thus it may not make the best WiFi channel selection for extenders in the home, which may be experiencing very different network conditions. Repeaters also do not obey the rules of regulators for radar detection, because they ignore radar signals detected by the repeater which is located in a different location compared to the gateway node.

Mesh systems, in contrast, rely on more sophisticated approach because every extender has the intelligence to participate in determining optimal use of aggregate resources.

The internet itself is based on a similar principle. Mesh technology avoids the inherent challenge with tree topology-based repeaters because it uses WDS protocol, which employs additional MAC address fields to carry the original MAC address of the client devices when they roam between the gateway and extenders, enabling fast and seamless roaming. Mesh systems also fully comply with DFS rules as the radar channels are vacated even when only one extender detects a radar signal.

When evaluating Mesh systems, ISPs must consider whether it can continuously calculate the best data route and dynamically adjust to changing conditions in real-time, based on the number of active devices, the traffic profile, and any QoS required. This intelligent routing should also enable client steering, which dynamically connects devices to the best available WiFi channel and frequency (2.4GHz or 5GHz), based on actual network conditions in the home to ensure optimal performance. The system should be able to leverage client steering to sequester slow performing devices so they don’t degrade the performance of other devices in the home, and should work with any legacy WiFi device, which account for most of all devices in use today -- not just those with 802.11v/k/r.

Other considerations
Selecting the right in-home hardware is not enough. Service providers should also consider whether their whole-home WiFi software is portable across original equipment manufacturers and chipset suppliers. They should also look for a cloud-based solution that can provide real-time monitoring, analytics, and remote control of in-home WiFi to assist field technicians, call center operators, and subscribers.  

Service providers now realize that they can either view WiFi as a problem, or as a significant new opportunity. Relying on outdated WiFi is no longer a viable option. Subscribers demand and deserve more. Fortunately, new innovations in whole-home WiFi will enable service providers to reap the benefits, including: competitive differentiation, the ability to upsell subscribers to higher broadband plans or generate new monthly subscription revenue, and to better serve all of their subscribers.

Metin Taskin is CTO and co-founder of AirTies.

[Image Source:  Best  Buy]

Blue Ridge Communications, a cable operator that serves parts of Pennsylvania, is entering the premium whole-home WiFi market through a partnership with eero.

Blue Ridge’s new premium offering, called HomeFi, offers eero’s compact WiFi access points for $5.95 per device (Blue Ridge’s FAQ for the product suggests one HomeFi eero for every 1,000 square feet, or one to two devices per floor). Those access points, which extend coverage in the home, work in tandem with the customer’s cable modem and an MSO-branded app that enables users to manage their home WiFi networks and set up elements such as parental controls.  

Early into the program, Blue Ridge requiring pro installs of HomeFi (with a one-time activation fee of $49.95), but the operator also intends to make a self-install option available, according to John Del Viscio, Blue Ridge’s director of operations.

Del Viscio said the need for a premium whole-home WiFi product was driven by customers that are connecting more and more devices to the network and desire solid coverage in all corners of the home.

“For us, this seems like a natural extension to the product and services we offer,” Del Viscio said, noting that Blue Ridge put several vendors through the paces before picking its horse for HomeFi, but was partially attracted to eero’s performance and ease to set up.

Blue Ridge soft-launched HomeFi about 30 days ago, but intends to ramp up marketing soon via email, TV spots, mailers and other tactics, he said, adding that contractors and service agents have also been trained to support the new offering.

Blue Ridge is also the first announced cable operator partner for eero, which has largely been focused on selling its platform at retail. Eero also has a partnership with Cincinnati Bell whereby the service provider is selling the vendor’s devices at its retail stores.

“With the proliferation of OTT/connected devices and smart-home technologies, Blue Ridge understands how important the WiFi connection is to support their customers’ broadband needs and viewing experiences,” Matt Packard, head of ISP sales and business development, said in a statement.

Blue Ridge initially leased out eero’s first generation hardware, but is now mixing in vendor’s latest wares soon. Eero’s gen-two product set includes the “Beacon,” a more compact access point that plugs directly into power outlets and is equipped with a Thread radio and an LED nightlight.

RELATED: Eero Upgrades, Expands Whole-Home WiFi Platform

With HomeFi, Blue Ridge joins a growing group of ISPs and cable operators that have developed and launched whole-home WiFi products. Comcast, for example, has launched “xFi,” a cloud-based home network management platform and is developing a new line of wall-pluggable WiFi “pods” in partnership with Plume that will extend WiFi coverage in the home.

RELATED: Comcast Leads $37.5M Investment in Plume 

The trend is also opening up opportunities for other vendors, such as Google, Netgear, Luma, Linksys, Arris, and AirTies, which is already working with U.S. providers such as Atlantic Broadband, Frontier Communications and Midco.

Comcast said it is opening up Xfinity WiFi hotspots in Northern California to all-comers through this Friday (Oct. 13) to help residents and personnel stay connected amid wildfires in the region.

Ungated access throughout the Napa and Sonoma County areas is available on access points with the “xfinitywifi” SSID. Comcast internet subs can sign on with their regular credentials and stay connected on various hotspots.

Non-subs will need to pick the “xfinitywifi” network name from the list of available hotspots, launch a browser, and locate the “Not an XFINITY Internet Customer” section on the sign-in page to get started.

Liberty Global has launched the Connect App, an app and unified interface that enables  customers to automatically access the operator’s 10 million hotspots when they are in and out of the home.

The app, which should help customers keep their cellular data usage in check, is being offered for no added cost to UPC customers in Switzerland and Austria. Liberty Global expects to launch the app to its other markets by early next year.

In addition to auto-connecting to Liberty Global’s WiFi network, the app also provides monitoring tools so customers can scan for the strongest signal and know which devices and users on the account are connected. The app also lets customers share their home WiFi password with guests via WhatsApp or a dedicated QR code, monitor their data usage, and restrict access to the internet at specific times of the day.

To help spread WiFi to all corners of a customer’s home, the app also provides instructions on how to install and connect WiFi modems and boosters.

Liberty Global is debuting the app for iOS and Android mobile devices, and follows the debut of a Connect Box, a modem/WiFi gateway that has been deployed to more than 5 million homes.

Liberty Global is the latest MSO to introduce a customer-focused WiFi management tool, coming on the heels of Comcast’s ‘xFI’ platform.

RELATED: Comcast Launches ‘xFi,’ Invests in Plume

Liberty Global released this promo about the new app:

“From installing their router to checking their monthly mobile usage, this app really puts our customers in the driver’s seat,” Doron Hacmon, Liberty Global’s chief product officer, said in a statement. “Providing all these features within one innovative app means our customers get the most out of all the services we offer, both in and out of the home. This is just the beginning and we will continue to add even more features and functionality to ensure the app provides a range of great, up-to-date connectivity services.”

Eero, a vendor that specializes in whole-home WiFi gear and management software, is looking to broaden its sales channels with new product lineup dedicated for professional installers.

Giving pro installers the option to wall-mount those whole-home systems, eero has expanded its lineup with a PoE+ (power over Ethernet) Adapter and mount, as well as a remote network management tool that has typically been supported through the company’s retail and service provider products.

RELATED: Whole-Home WiFi Heats Up (subscription required)

eero, which recently launched its second-gen product line, has teamed up with about 1,500 dealers for the pro installation segment of the company’s business, according to Doug Bieter, head of sales at eero, which added the professional installer channel to its repertoire last August.

He said the new designs give professional installers more flexibility and options with respect to access points are placed, enabling in-wall or on-ceiling deployments.

RELATED: Eero Upgrades, Expands Whole-Home WiFi Platform

Bieter added that a common request from that segment of the market was a remote management tool that lets dealers gain visibility into the network, check performance and diagnose and correct technical issues that could reduce the need for truck-rolls. Those partners can also monetize that part of the product solution as well, he added.  

eero said pro installers can purchase the new PoE+ adapter and mount later this year from major distributors such as Access Networks, Catalyst AV Group, PowerHouse Alliance, and Wave Electronics. 

eero introduced the new product lineup ahead of CEDIA 2017, set for September 5-9 in San Diego. 

Arris International said it has landed a deal to supply a hosted version of its carrier-class service provider WiFi platform to Mediacom Communications for a deployment that is already underway in almost a dozen communities

The Arris platform being used by Mediacom integrates products from partners that include Ruckus Wireless, Aptilo Networks and Benu Networks. The combo enables Mediacom to combine its wireless assets into a unified, centrally managed network, and support a single sign-on for roaming among WiFi hotspots.

RELATED: Arris Puts Up $800M for Ruckus Wireless, ICX Switch Biz

Mediacom is deploying the out-of-home WiFi network to extend access at small-business locations, as well as venues and markets spanning hospitality and education, among others.

A Mediacom spokesman said deployments are underway in Columbia and Jefferson City, Mo.; Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Silvis, Ill; Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa; Savage, Minn.; and Valdosta, Ga.  

Of recent note, Mediacom made its WiFi service available to the public last weekend during the PGA’s John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, and supported more than 17,000 unique users on the service during the tournament.

Mediacom has not identified the next group of cities where it will deploy its WiFi network, but acknowledged that its “ultimate goal” is to join the Cable WiFi roaming consortium as it looks to expand into more markets. MSOs involved in the WiFi roaming group currently include Comcast, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, and Altice USA.

"ARRIS's Wi-Fi technology and expertise is enabling us to address the demand for carrier-grade wireless services in our key markets," JR Walden, SVP technology and CTO at Mediacom, said in a statement. "By hosting this solution for us, ARRIS is giving Mediacom the freedom to scale to new customers and services at our own pace, without having to make big investments in new infrastructure."