Custom wireless home network upgrades.
BY STEVE PANOSIAN
THE NEED TO UPGRADE A HOME’S WI-FI NETWORK is keeping a lot of custom installers busy these days, and for good reason. The stay-at-home paradigm shift for work and school has driven sales for Smart TVs, computer monitors, notebook computers, and game consoles. Factor in homes outfitted with camera monitors, smart sensors, plus half the universe of visiting friends’ and families’ mobile toys that are found on the router’s device list, and we wonder why the network seems to be slow. The standard cable modem and wireless router installed by the local service provider were not designed for such massive networking demands.
remember dial-up internet access?
It was circa 2005 when I upgraded my home’s internet access to Wi-Fi. While this solved the problem of fighting over internet access at the time via dial up to check on emails and complete homework assignments, a couple years later I found that it was necessary to enhance the home network. So, during the remodeling of our home, I added a 2-bay 2TB network storage solution and ran dedicated CAT6 to my home office area, the living room and family room TVs. I was ahead of the curve until the need to upgrade to fiber came about some years later.
a robust wi-fi network supports mobile communications
It’s one thing to need better Wi-Fi connections for Smart TVs and computing devices, but with more home time, what about those that experience poor cellular connections throughout the home? Nothing is more frustrating than dropped calls and slow texting performance; upgrading Wi-Fi connectivity means mobile phones can also enjoy the elevated performance of Wi-Fi calling in the home. Most service providers support Wi-Fi calling; here are some of the benefits:
• It’s free (except for data usage)
• It can be used where cellular reception is poor
• You can make and get calls using your phone number
• You can make video calls without an LTE connection
a surge in home networking installation
I recently spoke with Eric Smith, owner of InTech AV of Long Island, NY, who told me that upgrading wireless home networks has not only been good for business, he has become a hero with his customers. “I get calls almost daily, they’re at their wit’s end because of poor internet quality and no connection in parts of the house,” Eric said. “And my customers are buying into elaborate Wi-Fi solutions that solve everyone in the household’s need for a robust connection throughout the entire home. The installs can be as simple as extending Wi-Fi to the upper level of a home to an elaborate solution for 100 percent seamless coverage without dead-zones. Most installs are completed within a day, so customers love it.” He also shared that he often receives follow-up calls from customers with a big thank you.
“The Luxul solutions are more expensive than DIY Mesh and Wi-Fi router solutions found at retail and online that are good products but, comparatively speaking, they are not nearly as robust and do not effectively extend signal coverage with consistency.”
remote monitoring
Luxul network systems can also be supported by Domotz, a cloud-based remote monitoring and management platform that allows integrators and networking professionals to connect to their customers’ networks from a browser and remotely monitor, manage, and configure devices connected to that network from anywhere. “I can service my customers remotely”, Eric added, “and many times we see alerts and notifications before they call us about a network problem.”
