Introduction

Home Wi-Fi has become synonymous with the broadband service, which means subscribers today perceive a poor Wi-Fi service to be a poor broadband service. It is essential, therefore, that operators invest in this part of the network if they are to remain competitive. But how can they enhance an already sophisticated network to gain the maximum RoI from this investment? The answer is interoperability. 

Managing complex networks in connected homes

As a broadband operator, you probably know only too well how complex network architecture with multi-vendor devices and chips can slow down the rollout of new services. Each deployment is unique; however, complexity is often the culprit in delays or cost overruns when you’d really like to focus on delivering an excellent experience in the home. 

Airties was one of the first companies in the home network space to develop and deploy mesh solutions. At that time, there was no standard to rely on when establishing a Mesh network and how to manage that network in a connected home. At Airties, we’ve always been a strong advocate for fundamental levels of standardization, and have worked actively with the Wi-Fi Alliance to make it happen. The second release of Wi-Fi EasyMesh provides a standardized communication layer for home networks that use multiple Wi-Fi extenders. We put all our efforts into integrating Wi-Fi EasyMesh into our Smart Wi-Fi System and interface with various chips, gateways, and extenders using the Wi-Fi EasyMesh protocol. It allows us to focus our efforts on the advanced Wi-Fi and cloud management capabilities that really make a difference to broadband operators, who, in turn, can benefit from this foundation that enables faster time to market and helps reduce bespoke integration efforts typically needed across OEMs, chipsets, and software. 

Excellent customer experience is about interoperability and smart enhancements.

In our interactions with operators around the globe, we often get the impression that there is some confusion in the market regarding the role of Wi-Fi EasyMesh.

Wi-Fi EasyMesh defines the low-level communication protocol between multi-vendor gateways and extenders. It reduces complexity by providing a standard exchange mechanism between devices. However, it doesn’t determine the rules around any of the more advanced features: diagnostics, performance enhancements, backhaul optimization, client steering, or how to determine the best channel for a particular home. Flawless user experience will, therefore, still require compatible Smart Wi-Fi enhancements in order to achieve the 100% smooth, fast, reliable experience customers want, especially for critical applications.  

Legacy and new devices will continue to coexist for many years to come – for the moment, only recent (mainly Wi-Fi 6) extenders are available with Wi-Fi EasyMesh, which is also why our Smart Wi-Fi solutions support this complexity in a unified way. 

Value-added Wi-Fi EasyMesh enhancements for gateways  

Airties’ software enabled the world’s first service provider deployment of Wi-Fi EasyMesh with Telstra in Australia. Since that time, the company has created versatile new solutions that combines the benefits of standards-based Wi-Fi EasyMesh architecture, with the added functionality and control provided by Airties Edge software and Airties Cloud.

Airties’ Wi-Fi EasyMesh controller functionality is included in Airties Edge software which is compatible across chipsets and gateway manufacturers, making it faster and easier for service providers to deploy operator-grade Wi-Fi EasyMesh into the field. For third-party gateways, Airties hybrid cloud-edge solution of Airties Edge and Airties Cloud can be deployed as a single firmware upgrade to legacy devices in the field.

Watch this video from Telstra featuring their new Smart Modem 3, powered by standards-based Wi-Fi EasyMesh software and Cloud Management Platform from Airties.

Key benefits of Airties software solution include:

• Enhanced band/client steering and roaming to improve performance;
• Advanced Wi-Fi channel management and backhaul optimization;
• Easy on-boarding of extenders with zero-touch activation;
• Pre-integration with Airties’ secure, GDPR-compliant management platform to optimize subscribers’ home Wi-Fi networks, and provide remote diagnostics, troubleshooting, and proactive recommendations to improve performance; and
• Pre-integration with Airties Vision App that helps guide consumers through extender set up and placement, parental controls, enhanced security, and more

Article by:

Metin Taskin,

CEO & CTO