"Wi-Fi" articles

Consumer technical support needs are strongly influenced by the number and type of connected devices consumers have in their homes. More consumers working and attending school from home has led to an increase in the number of computing devices being used in broadband households. As consumers adapt to doing more activities virtually, they encounter more technical problems. At the same time, device manufacturers are adjusting technical support strategies to support customers...

This week was marked by a flurry of acquisition activity in the smart home segment that could have significant long-term repercussions. First, Spectrum Brands has agreed to sell their home and hardware improvement business for $4.3BN to ASSA ABLOY, a Swiss access solutions company. By selling, Spectrum Brands will focus on their remaining businesses: Home and Personal Care -- which includes Black & Decker, George Foreman, Global Pet Care, and Home & Garden. ASSA ABLOY, a...

With the exception of the high-end, luxury home market, consumers are still working to “build” their smart homes — by buying single devices and connecting them to create an experience that provides value around the core propositions of safety and security. Even within the security market, we see consumers building on top of their existing services to add in new smart home devices that provide new value through the experience that products like a smart door lock or doorbell can...

Authors: Jennifer Kent, Avni Mithal It’s no secret that fragmentation plagues the smart home . Due to an incredibly diverse ecosystem of products, plus numerous competing communication protocols, seamless device-to-device interaction is difficult to achieve. For instance, 40% of smart home device owners who have had technical problems with a smart home device report having difficulty getting the device to interact with other devices in their home. Device-to-device integration...

Parks Associates recently hosted its 15th annual CONNECTIONS TM Summit: Smart Home Growth Strategies . The conference took place virtually January 14, in cooperation with CES® 2021. This one-day event featured sessions on smart home technology and services, connected health, data privacy, value-added services, and home security. During the session, Home Services: Maximizing Value of Connectivity , Parks Associates Senior Analyst, Patrice Samuels , moderated a panel of industry...

Parks Associates recently released the Market Snapshot, Voice as a Lifeline and the Transformation of Home Telephony , which explores how home telephony is transforming in ways that provide renewed validation of legacy technologies even while new technologies accelerate adoption. The whitepaper, developed in partnership with DECT Forum , reports that North American and European telecommunications providers have seen a significant increase in home telephony beginning last year with the...

Unprecedented changes and market pressures have changed the game for small businesses (SMBs). New needs in a changing work environment, increasing use of technology products and services, and rising security concerns, especially regarding the security of home networks for remote workers, are driving owners to reevaluate their operations. Managing and securing their networks, and their ever-growing portfolio of end-user devices, are top priorities, and they are increasingly turning to ISPs...

The COVID-19 crisis has put fixed and mobile broadband networks to the test. Shifting work patterns and increased consumer use of connected devices and services at home bring into sharp focus the critical importance of the networks that provide the foundation of our connected lives. At this same moment, major shifts are occurring in the fixed and mobile broadband landscape.   ISPs are re-evaluating their offerings as more and more consumers drop the broadband & pay TV...