Nokia Enhances In-Home Wi-Fi Solution for Service Providers to Provide Faster, Better, Smarter
Network Experience

Nokia is introducing several enhancements to its in-home Wi-Fi solution that maximize Wi-Fi performance and simplify network management. The new Wi-Fi solution expands Nokia’s portfolio of meshed Wi-Fi gateways and beacons, delivers a new Wi-Fi Care Portal for operators, introduces a mobile application for subscribers and provides new software functions and analytics that improve network intelligence.   

In-home Wi-Fi networks strained by the growing number of connected devices and signal interference that come from appliances like microwaves are creating an influx of help desk calls by users frustrated with their Wi-Fi performance. With more than 30 percent of calls related to poor in-home connectivity, operators are increasingly challenged with troubleshooting issues that are often the result of third party Wi-Fi solutions. With limited network visibility into the home, this can lead to lengthy trial and error procedures or expensive truck rolls to diagnose issues.   

Nokia’s in-home Wi-Fi solution helps operators overcome these challenges with several new enhancements that improve the Wi-Fi experience and significantly reduce the time and complexity for operators to solve network problems. These include:

• Nokia is extending its portfolio of meshed Wi-Fi solutions to include a wide array of premium, flagship and entry level gateways and beacons to better support operators’ various deployment needs. Operators can also use software enhancements from Nokia to quickly upgrade selected existing gateways in the field to support meshed Wi-Fi networking capabilities.
•  New software and embedded analytic functions that compile insights on the network, devices and interference sources to automatically self-heal and optimize the Wi-Fi experience. This includes algorithms that automate band and channel steering to improve overall performance and create full in-home coverage with seamless roaming capabilities without service interruption.   
• Wi-Fi Care Portal for operators – Providing a single screen, holistic view of an enduser’s in-home Wi-Fi network, allowing operators to effectively manage devices, quickly identify and resolve issues or upsell new services – such as broadband capacity or additional beacons – to improve network performance.    
• End-user Mobile application – Delivering an intuitive, simple interface that provides a visual representation of the Wi-Fi network including a heat map to easily locate and manage dead zones. Customers can also quickly access device lists and management capabilities to create guest networks. The application gives users access to a wide array of self-install, network care and troubleshooting capabilities. 
  

Federico Guillen, president of Nokia’s Fixed Networks business group, said: “For many users, the concept of Wi-Fi and broadband access are synonymous, putting many operators on the front line of customer complaints if Wi-Fi performance is impacted.  Depending on the tools available to operators, this can become either a business challenge or an opportunity. Nokia’s enhanced in-home Wi-Fi solution is unique in that it addresses the end-customer need for a better Wi-Fi experience while providing service providers with the tools and visibility they need to quickly resolve issues, enhance customer loyalty and create additional revenue-generating opportunities.”

Source: Nokia media announcement