A large amount of stress is being put on legacy networks, due to the increased number of wireless devices and video being viewed on multiple devices throughout the home. This results in consumers experiencing deteriorated performance such as choppy videos and slower load times. 5G WiFi, which is based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard, improves the coverage of the wireless network for faster, more reliable video streaming and the ability to connect multiple devices to the network at the same time.
The Swisscom gateway supports 5GHz 3×3 802.11ac and 2.4GHz 2×2 802.11n/g/b, whilst the Broadcom AnyBeam extends 802.11ac beamforming to legacy 802.11n/g clients. The IAS enables carriers to guarantee a strict priority for any service they choose and deliver the most efficient use of network capacity. The Broadcom SmartConnect enables the client to connect to the best possible band for maximum performance.
“Consumers are sharing, downloading and watching exponentially more content wirelessly in the home,” commented Andreas Martschitsch, Swisscom’s Head of Home Networking. “This dynamic is causing more in-home network congestion and creating demand for gateways and access points that enable consumers to download content quickly and stream video anywhere in the home without buffering or interruption. By incorporating 5G WiFi into the new Swisscom gateway, we’re ensuring a quality wireless experience for our customers.”
“Broadcom continues to lead the transition to the next generation of Wi-Fi across all product segments,” remarked Rahul Patel, Broadcom Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Connectivity Combos. “The demand for HD quality video in the home is growing. With the introduction of 5G WiFi smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, consumers require higher capacity wireless networks. By incorporating 5G WiFi into carrier-grade gateways, service providers like Swisscom can reliably deliver valuable content to their customers.”
The four Broadcom chips are now in production, whilst Swisscom’s gateway is available now.