Durham, NH. The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, today announced it has expanded its Wi-Fi testing capabilities through the acquisition of cutting-edge test and measurement equipment from octoScope. With a staff of highly trained test engineers, the expansion of UNH-IOL’s Wi-Fi testing platform is in response to service providers’ and customer-premises-equipment (CPE) manufacturers’ goals to provide end users with robust and reliable wireless broadband performance today, and as capacity demands continue to increase at the network edge.
Current market analysis predicts that the global Wi-Fi market could grow to be valued at $33.6 Billion by 2020.
“It’s clear that capacity demands driven by rapidly expanding mobility use and high-data broadband services, such as video streaming, is greatly impacting networks and creating operational challenges for service providers vested in differentiating their offerings based upon best-in-class performance,” said UNH-IOL senior engineer Lincoln Lavoie. “The UNH-IOL understands the importance of providing controlled, repeatable testing and measurement procedures based on actual Wi-Fi usage, and has invested in equipment purchases needed to provide a comprehensive testbed that helps assure quality of service for wireless customers.”
Wireless performance has become a key factor within broadband deployments. Because many consumers view Wi-Fi connectivity as being the Internet, ISPs are generally blamed for poor performance. The ever-increasing number of Wi-Fi-connected devices, and the advent of new, faster wireless technologies like IEEE 802.11ac, has increased the number of factors that can directly impact Wi-Fi performance.
Pete Beynon, principal network services engineer, TalkTalk Group PLC, said, “TalkTalk is committed to delivering the best experience for our customers. We welcome UNH-IOL’s decision to expand its Wi-Fi testing capabilities. It will provide us with invaluable access to a testbed that can accurately measure results based on real usage scenarios. Robust testing and measurement is key to the continuous improvement of broadband services, and Wi-Fi performance has become critical to that equation. In turn, this will help ensure providers continue to meet consumers’ growing demand for faster, more reliable services.”
UNH-IOL will be holding a webinar on Tuesday, March 6, at 1 p.m. EST to share the details of its new and expanded Wi-Fi testing and measurement capabilities. To register, please visit the registration page.