Virgin Media announces ‘Intelligent WiFi’ solution for improved home broadband coverage
Virgin Media has become the latest broadband provider to roll out a service that offers improved WiFi connectivity throughout the home.
Called ‘Intelligent WiFi’ it follows similar announcements from BT with its Complete WiFi solution and TalkTalk which recently announced a partnership with US adaptive WiFi specialist Plume.
Already available to all Virgin Media customers with a Hub 3 router free of charge, Intelligent WiFi is a smart cloud-based, adaptive system that is continuously evolving. Virgin Media claims it ingeniously tackles many of the problems that can hold people back from getting the best performance from their WiFi.
With Intelligent WiFi, Virgin Media customers can feel real benefits to their wireless connectivity with minimal effort, claims the broadband provider. Extensive testing byVirgin Media has seen speeds improve by up to three times without the aid of a booster.
This means that regardless of the type of property lived in – and the number of people living in it – customers can make the most of their ultrafast connectivity by streaming 4K programming, gaming online or simply browsing the net, all at the same time across multiple devices.
- Virgin Media’s Intelligent WiFi brings faster speeds to more areas of the home
- Customers can expect broadband speeds to improve by up to three times in certain rooms of the home with Intelligent WiFi
- A new Connect app will allow customers to take control of their in-home WiFi with optimisation features, house scan and blackspot detection, parental control, personal network for guests and in-app customer support
The new Connect app from Virgin Media will be the central control panel for all intelligent WiFi features. The app is quick and easy to set up and is free to download, claims Virgin Media.
Through the app customers can test the strength of their WiFi from room-to-room, which will also detect any blackspots in the home, manage devices that are connected to a home network, ‘pause’ devices (handy when the children are up past their bedtime) and access in-app customer support to help resolve any problems.
If a WiFi booster is required to remove connectivity blackspots in the home, these can be ordered directly through the Connect app with Full House and VIP customers able to get these free of charge. Outside of these bundles a £3 per month charge will apply for boosters.
Says Richard Sinclair MBE, Executive Director of Connectivity at Virgin Media:
“Delivering ultrafast broadband to help make Britain faster is what we do best at Virgin Media, but making sure this translates into reliable in-home connectivity is just as important. Intelligent WiFi will allow our customers to make the most of their broadband while also helping to easily overcome any connectivity conundrums around the home.
“With families using more devices than ever before, it’s vital they can all be online whenever needed. Whether it’s streaming UHD movies on Netflix, playing the latest games online or video conferencing, Intelligent WiFi has your back.”
Intelligent WiFi on the Hub 3 router is a smart system that adapts to the needs of the home and the devices that are connected to WiFi. It is made up of several features:
- Channel optimisation: All WiFi operates over a number of channels. Channel Optimisation helps ensure connected devices and gadgets are performing as best as they can. As a result of Intelligent WiFi, testing has shown that 18% of homes should experience less WiFi interference thanks to more than 300,000 optimisations per day ensuring that devices are being switched to less crowded WiFi channels.
- Band Steering: This is the process which prompts gadgets and devices to seamlessly switch between a 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency to optimise performance. With band steering on the Hub 3, testing showed that gadgets connecting to the 5GHz frequency increased by 25%, giving these devices greater speeds.
- Airtime Fairness: This helps to share out WiFi evenly across connected devices. Some older devices can’t keep up with ultrafast broadband speeds which can impact WiFi performance in the home. Intelligent WiFi will improve the share of WiFi to devices throughout the home.
Find out more about Intelligent WiFi in this YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VYL8W2Ry1Q&feature=youtu.be
