Cover Story
The high-speed home
Our annual survey looks at the evolving role of CPE . Some providers want to shift the CPE workload to the cloud , while others think the Smart Home and the Internet of Things mean a continuing demand for a sophisticated Home Gateway . Euromedia spoke to a range of industry practitioners to define the role of CPE , in light of dramatically-altered work patterns and virtualisation of functionality .
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How have extended periods of lockdown and home working affected CPE ? Airties : We examined the impact of home WiFi usage during lockdown and beyond , based on real-world data analysis across millions of homes , and published a paper called The Catalyst Effect . The findings showed that when under pressure , WiFi performance does not worsen in a linear fashion correlated with increase in usage , but rather that it deteriorates in an exponential way . On an aggregate level , users ’ experience deteriorated by 160 %, with peaks reaching 200 %, relative to the increase in WiFi usage and activity . This catalyst effect remains prevalent in the postlock down period as well . This deterioration in quality of experience can , in turn , lead to increased customer care calls and lower NPS score , which is why progressive operators are deploying Smart WiFi software on CPE and QoE management tools to help them proactively address these issues . Allot : The CPE is the gateway to all of the devices and IoT and in the home network . The expanded role of the home CPE during WFH periods highlights existing CPE vulnerabilities including weak password protection , DNS manipulation and the potential for botnet attacks . Broadband Forum : As we have shifted to working from home due to the global pandemic , we ’ re more reliant than ever on fixed broadband and the connected devices , it enables keeping us connected with friends , family and work colleagues . An increasing use case for 5G and FWA ( Fixed Wireless Access ) as a backup for essential services such as homeworking , eLearning and eHealth . In many cases this is speeding up the demand of fixed and wireless convergence programmes versus creating brand new models . Another acceleration that extended periods of lockdown has created is the recognition that there are multiple customers across a single broadband connection . The homeworker ’ s employer , IOT providers , public services including eHealth as well as traditional residential services .
The monetisation but also delivery of multiple services with multiple quality of experience ( QoE ) needs is increasing the demand for more intelligent broadband gateways and CPE that securely containerise additional services per home or business . Leading to the opportunity to pick and choose new broadband services and applications . Consumers increasingly regard the home network as the service provider ’ s