New whitepaper examines the impact of managed Wi-Fi in multi-dwelling units (MDU)

Parks Associates today released the white paper Managed Wi-Fi in Multifamily Housing: Key Use Cases and Considerations, sponsored by Plume, which highlights new use cases for technology in multifamily properties, which can automate business and operational processes, reduce risk, save on costs, and increase appeal to residents.

Parks Associates’ Smart Home Opportunities in Multifamily Properties, a 2021 survey of 300 US MDU property managers and owners, reports 89% of property managers who do not currently offer bulk internet report that they plan to do so in at least one property they manage within the next 12 months. However, reception of bulk internet has been mixed, as only 43% of residents with bulk internet claim that their internet service is reliable. Less than a third report that they can easily connect smart home devices and printers to their network.

Property managers and owners have likewise experienced challenges – some 45% of those surveyed reported that they faced technical challenges, including getting networking equipment to work with the service, connecting devices to the network, and setting up the service for new residents.

From its research, Parks Associates believes that managed Wi-Fi presents a solution to these challenges, offering improved performance, improved management features, and advanced cybersecurity compared to legacy deployments.

“As new use cases evolve, multifamily properties will increasingly need to invest in their network architecture and ensure that their network backbones are robust and flexible enough to meet future demand,” said Kristen Hanich, Research Director, Parks Associates. “Parks Associates research shows that families are adding more IoT devices to their networks, and with only 43% of residents interviewed being satisfied with their current bulk service, CSPs, and building owners can turn to managed Wi-Fi services to improve in-home experiences and increase customer satisfaction.”

The market is increasingly moving in this direction, with many seeing strong benefits and an opportunity to prepare for future rollouts of smart apartment and building management solutions. The white paper also addresses the challenges in mixed-use buildings, where different types of tenants have very different needs with regard to data traffic, cybersecurity and privacy, user authentication and credentialing, and time of use, among others.

“The growing MDU market – including apartments, multifamily, and other high-density living spaces – presents service providers with an incredible opportunity to access new revenue streams, yet property management companies often struggle with inefficient infrastructure and fragmented solutions that lead to poor Internet performance and outdated tenant experiences,” said Tony Liebel, Uprise Product Suite Manager of Plume. “Providers must turn to intelligent platforms to manage the load, congestion, and interference problems that are often exacerbated in high-density living spaces and transform the connected experience for tenants.”

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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About Plume

Plume® is the creator of the world’s first SaaS experience platform for Communications Service Providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, deployed in more than 50 million locations globally. As the only open and hardware-independent, cloud-controlled solution, Plume enables the rapid delivery of new services for smart homes, small businesses, and beyond, at massive scale. On the front end, Plume delivers self-optimizing, adaptive WiFi, cyber-security, access and parental controls, and more. CSPs get robust data- and AI-driven back-end applications for unprecedented visibility, insights, support, operations, and marketing. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs.