Cable ONE Targets WiFi Dead Zones

Taking aim at the need for whole-home WiFi coverage, Cable ONE this week launched WiFi ONE, a product set that’s designed to boost the wireless signal strength on customer home networks.

Under the program, Cable ONE said certified techs will use signal mapping software to find the optimum location of the WiFi gateway in a customer’s home and determine the proper hardware configuration based on the customer’s number of wireless devices and the design and structure of the home. That info will help to determine if the customer requires 4x4 antennas with MU-MIMO as well as WiFi extenders that use Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) technology.

A Cable ONE official said the MSO is using a variety of vendors for WiFi One, including gateways from Arris and Hitron, as well as Hitron-made WiFi extenders.

Cable ONE is offering WiFi ONE for no added fee to customers who already lease a cable modem from the operator. Others can upgrade to WiFi ONE by leasing a model for an addition $8 per month.

“WiFi ONE will give our customers the freedom to access our super-fast Internet speeds from multiple devices anywhere in their home – eliminating dead zones and buffering that can interfere with surfing, streaming and gaming,” Varn Chavez, Cable ONE’s director of product management, said in a statement.

He said 90% of the operator’s customers current get speeds from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. Cable ONE has more than 6500,000 customers in parts of 19 states.