Wifi is becoming increasingly important to home users [citation needed]. As a result, there are a lot of wifi-related threads on Geekzone [citation needed]. I've seen quite a few threads that seem to involve some kind of variation on:(a) my ISP-supplied router is rubbish, since I cannot get a signal in my shed/garage/outhouse/lead-lined basement/faraday-cage kitchen or throughout my large, thoroughly insulated, 4 split level, house;(b) I bought a lot of wifi repeaters because of (a), but my wifi is still rubbish;(c) I bought a super duper 57-antenna toting, MOAR POWER, epic gamerz optimised, router because of (a). How do I set it up for my ISP?[Tongue in cheek. No offence intended. I've been one of these people too.]I'm wondering if anyone (ISP or otherwise) has given thought to some kind of wifi-as-a-service/managed wifi type product. Or perhaps (for ISPs) rather than differentiating themselves on offering the cheapest possible router to deliver their services, offering a decent router that still offers remote management capabilities/full ISP support. Tongue in cheek again, but given some ISPs still like to offer the fastest/bestest/gamerist interwebs, I would have thought that offering the fastest/bestest/gamerist wifi would have been appealing. This could be a full blown AP installation and cabling service, or perhaps just working with a mesh networking provider.In addition to raw coverage, there are a number of other geek features that I would have thought a savvy-provider could bring to mass market via an app or remote management facility. Things that seem like witchcraft to my less-technology inclined friends but are hard/less desirable with $99 routers include:- roaming around the house without manually forcing network changes (cough, roaming around the house at all)- a separate, clean browsing enforced, wifi network for the kids, while maintaining a non-clean browsing network for the adults (solely for performance reasons, of course)- a separate, timer enabled/privilege revoking, wifi network for the kids- a separate guest network- allocating bandwith available between networks or services so the adults can "work" even amidst children/guest bandwith hoggingI know there are some providers offering installation-only services, but I've seen some ridiculous prices and specifications (one friend was specced 6 ports on a patch panel, paired with a $700 (seven hundred dollars!) 24 port managed switch). From what I can tell, after-installation support is mostly visiting at headlines rates. I was kind of thinking a more compelling offer would be $X per month, with a lock in based on the number of units installed maybe (e.g. three WAPs = 3 year term at $X per month). I realise that would be much more appealing paired with an ISP broadband plan. Management would be by user friendly app/gui, with remote access to the managed support provider when required.I've seen some similar service offerings in the commercial area overseas and here, but not retail.This is just me thinking aloud. I have zero plans and no interest in doing anything along these lines myself. However, I'd be stoked if someone did bring it to market since it would mean I can wriggle off the hook for friends/family IT support queries in the future.
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