Next Generation Hotspots at Home
What's Going On?
The average utilization of widespread broadband services in the local loop is typically less than 3% of the available potential of xDSL, cable, and fiber systems. Landline carriers are looking for strategies to better leverage the local loop for delivery of new multimedia services for the home users and for guest users in and around the residence, particularly in populated urban areas.
Licensed spectrum systems such as GSM and CDMA suffer from limited indoor penetration, and system overload due to use with new data services for which they were not designed. Mobile operators are motivated to offload expensive cellular networks while improving the user experience through better service coverage and higher throughput.
What's Been Done?
Wi-Fi sharing schemes for basic Internet access are already available from a few innovative startups. More than a dozen operators have launched variations of fixed-mobile convergence voice services that offload voice traffic to Wi-Fi. Some are currently contemplating similar solutions for data offload. All of these efforts rely upon early adopters who have a high comfort level with new technology, the expertise to properly set up a home Wi-Fi network, and the ability to navigate through fairly complex security and configuration options.
What's Required?
Service providers can use the excess local loop capacity by leveraging the consumer access point, remotely controlling and managing Wi-Fi coverage and services in and around the home. In essence, individual residences can be turned into public hotspots, while maintaining complete independency, security, and the service subscription of the residential customer. These hotspots-at-home provide a very effective way to achieve ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage within a residential neighborhood. This expanded Wi-Fi coverage can be used by the operator to offer Internet access, voice over Wi-Fi service, and infotainment services to users inside and outside the residential buildings.
What are the Options?
Retail-type access points do not offer the multiple SSIDs required for offering services to guest users. Even if the service is limited to the home resident, as with initial unlicensed mobile access (UMA) deployments, operators attempting to leverage conventional access points find owner expertise limits usage. Specialty access points designed for the hotspot market are inappropriate for home use as they are too complex, too expensive, and do not offer backward compatibility with the home Wi-Fi networks that users are accustomed to.
What's the Solution?
Service providers require a new type of device that blends the residential access point features controlled by the home user, with the sophisticated hotspot features controlled by the service provider. Such a device must provide security and service levels to both the home user and guest users. The MediaFlex 2835 developed by Ruckus Wireless is specifically designed to balance the overlay services that can be offered by the operator, and the paid-for subscription of the residential user. From the home user perspective, the MediaFlex 2835 is a high-quality full-featured Wi-Fi access point that ensures whole home coverage. For the operator, the MediaFlex 2835 offers three additional Wireless LAN (WLAN) networks. These networks can be utilized and configured remotely using the TR-069 management protocol.
