As consumers' expectations towards Internet Quality evolve, managing the Wi-Fi experience has become a critical component of customer service for ISPs and CSPs. These days users expect the highest standards: no touch installations, no down time, remote reconfiguration, omni channel support and what’s more important stable and efficient Wi-Fi. From reports it is also clearly seen that this market is rapidly growing, which is a tremendous opportunity for ISPs as well as a significant challenge. Traditional device management solutions focus on standard use cases of remote device management: configuration, basic troubleshooting or firmware upgrade. However, these tools alone are not enough to ensure a high-quality Wi-Fi experience, which directly impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Modern Wi-Fi Experience Platforms now integrate advanced Wi-Fi management capabilities, providing service providers with deeper insights and control over in-home Wi-Fi performance.
Wi-Fi experience management goes beyond the basics of device management. It involves actively monitoring, managing, and optimizing the Wi-Fi performance at the consumer's premise in real-time, focusing on Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics that are crucial for end-users. These metrics include Wi-Fi coverage, signal strength, bandwidth usage, interference levels, and device connectivity, allowing service providers to detect and address issues proactively. Advanced analytics based on AI solutions boost the capabilities even more - predictive analysis and live recommendations are also possible!
As one of our customers’ said:
“Speed is the magic word for most customers and a parameter they understand as the major indicator of quality - and we're not going to challenge this common knowledge”
But what’s the point of having a flashy 1 Gig fiber WAN connection if you don’t have sufficient Wi-Fi coverage?
Let’s analyze real life situations.
Optimizing Wi-Fi in High-Density Environments
In homes with multiple connected devices, Wi-Fi experience management helps balance the load and prevent interference, ensuring that every device gets the best possible connection.In homes with an increasing number of connected devices, such as smartphones, laptops, smart TVs, gaming consoles, and IoT devices, Wi-Fi experience management becomes essential. It plays a crucial role in balancing the network load to prevent congestion and ensuring that each device receives adequate bandwidth and a stable connection. By actively managing and optimizing the Wi-Fi network, users can avoid issues like slowdowns, buffering, and dropped connections, especially during peak usage times when multiple devices are competing for bandwidth. Additionally, Wi-Fi experience management can help mitigate interference from neighboring Wi-Fi networks or other electronic devices, further improving the overall Wi-Fi performance and ensuring a seamless and uninterrupted online experience for all users in the household.
Managing Mesh Networks
By providing real-time insights into network performance, signal strength, and device connectivity, Wi-Fi management tools enable service providers to proactively identify and resolve issues that may impact the user experience. They allow us to visualize the network topology, monitor signal propagation between access points, and optimize signal paths to ensure consistent coverage throughout the home. This optimization process may involve adjusting access point settings, such as channel selection and transmit power, or recommending optimal placement for access points to minimize interference and maximize signal reach. Additionally, they can detect instances of channel interference, where multiple access points or neighboring networks are using the same Wi-Fi channel, leading to reduced throughput and increased latency. By identifying these conflicts, service providers can automatically or manually adjust channel assignments to minimize interference and improve network efficiency.
Proactive Interference Mitigation
Identifying sources of interference is essential for maintaining a strong and reliable Wi-Fi connection. Interference can stem from various sources, both internal and external to the network:
Neighboring Networks: In densely populated areas, multiple Wi-Fi networks operating on the same or adjacent channels can cause interference. This is especially true in the 2.4 GHz band, which has a limited number of channels.
Other Electronic Devices: Many electronic devices, such as cordless phones, microwaves, and Bluetooth devices, can also generate interference in the 2.4 GHz band.
Physical Obstructions: Walls, floors, and other physical obstructions can attenuate Wi-Fi signals and create areas of poor coverage.
Network Misconfiguration: Incorrect channel selection, transmit power settings, and other network misconfigurations can also contribute to interference and poor performance.
By identifying and mitigating these sources of interference, network administrators can improve Wi-Fi performance and ensure a seamless user experience. This may involve changing channel assignments, adjusting transmit power levels, relocating access points, or implementing other optimization techniques.
Traditional device management protocols like TR-069 and the more advanced TR-369 (User Services Platform) provide essential functions for CPE management, such as remote configuration, firmware updates, and diagnostics.
TR-069 provides foundational remote management capabilities, but with the rise of complex home networks and increased demand for seamless connectivity, the need for more dynamic and real-time management became evident. TR-369 (USP) addresses these needs by enabling real-time, two-way communication with devices, allowing for advanced Wi-Fi management and optimized service delivery.
All above capabilities and benefits can be achieved with AI powered Customer Experience Management (CEM), a tool designed specifically for Wi-Fi Experience Management.
CEM is an AI powered solution designed to enhance the efficiency of first-line Customer Care agents and their supervisors. CEM aims to streamline technical interventions, reducing both their duration and frequency. CEM empowers agents to deliver quicker, more efficient customer service while providing a structured approach to technical interventions.
These days AI technologies are becoming a commodity. More and more people are using it to improve certain aspects of their private or professional lives. As per now the boundaries of AI are hard to set. However, Wi-Fi Management can leverage right now what AI has the best to directly improve Quality of Service.
AI based recommendations and health scores in CEM are based on neural networks.
Neural networks are techniques for efficient correlation between different sets of parameters and occurrences to calculate the health score and as a result to find the best alternative to solve specific problems. Neural networks are a type of machine learning model that are inspired by the structure and function of the human brain. They consist of interconnected nodes, called neurons, that are organized into layers. The input layer receives data, which is then processed through hidden layers and finally output by the output layer. In CEM, neural networks are used to correlate various parameters, such as signal strength, network congestion, and user behavior, with the overall health score of the network. By analyzing these correlations, the solution can identify potential problems and suggest actions for agents to improve the user experience, proactively or while on the call.
Health Score widget is a core feature of the Customer Experience Management module. It provides a quick and comprehensive view of the general condition of a device by presenting quality scores related to various metrics of Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) operation. These scores are displayed in a chart format for ease of understanding and quick assessment. The Recommendations panel is designed to streamline the troubleshooting of customer issues by providing the most relevant recommendations on a single device dashboard. The panel displays the most relevant recommendations related to the worst-performing device metrics, helping to quickly identify and address critical issues. Recommendations cover a variety of common customer problems, such as unstable or slow internet connections, and guide first-line customer care agents through optimized solutions.
The fusion of AI-driven Wi-Fi experience management with traditional device management is revolutionizing how ISPs and CSPs approach customer service. By harnessing the power of both TR-069, TR-369 protocols and AI technologies, service providers can not only manage devices efficiently but also deliver intelligent, personalized Wi-Fi experiences that exceed the expectations of today's smart homes.