Managed Wi-Fi lets you provide subscribers with everything they need to enjoy the best possible experience. And it reduces support costs for service providers, while generating additional revenue. It’s a win-win.
What is managed Wi-Fi?
Managed Wi-Fi is a premium service offered by a growing number of leading communications service providers (CSPs) to their broadband subscribers.
While every CSP offers basic internet connectivity, managed Wi-Fi takes things to the next level. As its name suggests, managed Wi-Fi means that you, as the CSP, actively manage all aspects of your subscriber’s Wi-Fi experience, ensuring they enjoy the fastest speeds, the best performance, and Wi-Fi coverage that extends throughout their homes. While most CSPs are charging a monthly fee for their managed Wi-Fi, others are offering it for free and yet still getting a financial benefit by reducing support costs.
Enable subscribers to complete tasks themselves, without having to call your help desk.
Deploy a residential gateway in subscriber homes, delivering a “whole-home” Wi-Fi experience, with coverage that extends throughout the home (and even outdoors).
Resolve subscriber issues quickly; in most cases, without having to deploy a field technician.
More than 89 percent of broadband subscribers connect their devices to home Wi-Fi networks*, but many of them find it difficult to manage their Wi-Fi and their many connected devices by themselves.
In fact, more than half of broadband subscribers report having technical issues with their Wi-Fi connectivity. This includes coverage problems, slow speeds, dropped connections, interference from other electronic devices and more.
And that leads to rising support costs
Many subscribers equate Wi-Fi with their internet connection. So, when Wi-Fi problems occur, they expect you, their service provider, to solve them. Even though you may not have provided their Wi-Fi gateway, you’ll receive support calls anyway, and that will likely result in higher costs and more truck rolls.
Managed Wi-Fi helps address subscriber pain points
With managed Wi-Fi, subscribers no longer have to worry about frustrating problems that occur with their Wi-Fi network. With the carrier-class residential gateway that you can provide them, they’ll experience seamless connectivity on all their devices and the fastest speeds. When problems do come up, and they call your customer care team, you’ll have complete visibility into what’s going on in their Wi-Fi network and the right software tools to troubleshoot and resolve their issues remotely.
* NCTA, https://www.ncta.com/whats-new/wi-fi-how-broadband-households-experience-the-internet
This complimentary Parks Associates paper investigates the role that managed Wi-Fi can play in optimizing the home broadband experience. It highlights the business opportunity for service providers to encourage consumers to upgrade their broadband speeds and create renewed subscriber “stickiness” via new incremental services revenue.
This webinar features speakers from Arlo, Parks Associates, and Calix discussing current pain points for consumers and opportunities for service providers to deliver a superior end-user experience and establish the framework to deploy and monetize future value-added services.
Wi-Fi 6 features faster speeds and improved coverage. This whitepaper provides more details on the latest iteration of the IEEE Wi-Fi standard, 802.11ax.
The introduction of additional, unlicensed spectrum (using the 6 GHz band) means faster, more reliable connections for the next generation of connected devices.This whitepaper provides more details on this development.
Understanding the core science behind what contributes to a great Wi-Fi experience is key for service providers looking to offer the best system to subscribers as part of a Managed Wi-Fi offering.
Building on ‘The science of great Wi-Fi’ paper, learn more about the key factors that impact the performance of Wi-Fi systems, including transmit power, antenna, and enclosure design.
“We made a deal with our customers that if you wanted our broadband you need our Wi-Fi systems. We got rid of the ‘bring your own device’ approach. This eliminated a lot of problems and helped us improve the Wi-Fi.”
–Jeff Leslie, President and CEO, ITSFiber
“Our customers equate Wi-Fi with broadband. So, we need to make Wi-Fi as good as they can possibly get. It just needs to work all the time.”
–James Byerley, Plant Manager, West River Telecom (WRT)
“We started deploying the Calix Wi-Fi systems … to replace consumer electronics that were not reliable and hard to manage. Leasing the router, managing the software, and providing a warranty for the system is a very easy decision for our customers.”
–Joel Emter, Network Supervisor, Consolidated Telecom
What is managed Wi-Fi?
Managed Wi-Fi is a premium service that involves CSPs managing all aspects of their subscribers’ home Wi-Fi experience. Subscribers enjoy an outstanding Wi-Fi experience and CSPs reduce support costs while generating additional revenue.
What do you need to offer managed Wi-Fi?
To offer managed Wi-Fi, CSPs need to provide subscribers with carrier-class residential Wi-Fi gateways that are highly secure and offer the best combination of speed, performance, and coverage to ensure an outstanding Wi-Fi experience for subscribers. Managed Wi-Fi also requires a robust mobile app and specialized remote management software that CSPs use to keep Wi-Fi gateway firmware up to date, assess subscriber Wi-Fi network health, perform remote troubleshooting, and take corrective action.
What are the benefits of carrier-class Wi-Fi gateways?
Carrier-class Wi-Fi gateways combine the latest Wi-Fi technology, enhanced security, speed, carrier-class reliability, and performance that enable CSPs to deliver a superior Wi-Fi experience to subscribers. These devices also support remote management capabilities, which enable customer care teams to diagnose and fix issues remotely, in many cases eliminating the need for expensive truck rolls.
What is a Wi-Fi mesh satellite?
A Wi-Fi mesh satellite can be deployed in larger homes to extend coverage to hard-to-reach areas. Mesh satellites provide a seamless experience, enabling users to move to various areas of the home with no change in connectivity, speed, or performance.
Do CSPs charge for managed Wi-Fi services?
While some CSPs charge a small monthly fee for managed Wi-Fi services, others offer these services with no additional charge beyond the subscriber’s monthly internet connection fee. There are several charging models, including charging a flat monthly fee, charging for equipment rentals (including residential gateways and mesh satellites), or charging a fee for premium monthly service. CSPs who choose not to charge for managed Wi-Fi still benefit financially by the reduction in support costs that typically results from these offers.
What are the benefits of managed Wi-Fi for subscribers?
Managed Wi-Fi dramatically improves the subscriber Wi-Fi experience. With their CSP managing their end-to-end Wi-Fi experience, they can enjoy the highest quality Wi-Fi experience without having to deal with issues like slow speeds, dropped connections, and poor coverage.
What are the benefits of managed Wi-Fi for CSPs?
Managed Wi-Fi offers offer CSPs several benefits that allow them to create differentiation, including reduced Wi-Fi-related support costs, increased revenues, and reduced subscriber churn.
GigaSpire BLAST Wi-Fi Systems
The System for Smart homes
Calix Cloud
Managed Wi-FI and subscriber experience management
Revenue EDGE
Turn the subscriber edge into the Revenue EDGE
CommandIQ®
Ultimate Wi-Fi deserves the ultimate app.
