WiFi network performance in homes is often impaired by many seemingly benign factors. WiFi dead zones – the bane of many customers with homes that are large or have multiple levels – can be attributed to router placement, home layouts, wall and floor thickness, furniture and interference from neighbouring networks. Quick fix options such as installing repeaters and range extenders can improve the situation, but with limited results.
To solve these issues, Singtel will be conducting a trial of AirTies’ Wi-Fi Mesh™[1]. This technology is widely deployed in enterprise-grade solutions to provide seamless outdoor WiFi access. AirTies’ Wi-Fi Mesh ™ greatly improves home wireless coverage and performance by expanding and optimising Wi-Fi connections through its mesh and ‘client steering’ technologies.
Mr Goh Seow Eng, MD for Singtel’s Home Division said, “Singtel always aims to provide the best communications solutions for our customers. With this trial, customers will be able to experience robust wireless connectivity for their TV and Broadband services regardless of how complicated their home configurations are.”
Users in the trial will experience consistent bandwidth at high speeds that can support data-demanding applications. For example, they will be able to watch bandwidth-intensive HD Singtel TV on multiple devices in every corner of their home.
With the trial, Singtel will be the first operator in the world to utilise mesh technology with ‘client steering’ in homes. Mesh technology allows for a superior WiFi connection by virtue of its topology, where interconnected nodes serve to expand wireless coverage and enable constant wireless connectivity. The ‘client steering’ capability increases WiFi performance by switching devices to the optimum bandwidth and selecting the best transmission path within the home network.
The trial will run in selected homes from mid-April to the end of May 2015. The service is expected to be available for commercial use in July 2015.
[1] AirTies’ Wi-Fi Mesh ™ also features Wi-Fi dual band AirTies4920 Access Points technology.
I have included a video on Mesh Network. Please note that this is just to illustrate the idea of mesh networking. The actual technology on trial could be more complex.