At Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Nokia today unveiled the Beacon 10, its first gateway supporting Wi-Fi 6E wireless technology, geared to provide seamless, high-capacity mesh networking capabilities.
As characterized by a Nokia press release:
Widespread roll-out of 10G fiber powered by XGS-PON requires upgrades to home and business Wi-Fi to deliver super high speeds to enabled devices. The ‘E’ in Wi-Fi 6E means faster speeds and lower latencies, ideal for the latest office applications, home entertainment and home working experiences.
The Beacon 10 is a true tri-band device which can provide Wi-Fi throughput of 10Gbps. It includes a 10G WAN interface to pair with 10 Gb/second fiber modems for multi-gigabit services to the home.
The new gateway is being shown for the first time at MWC 2023.
USP controller
Additionally at the show, Nokia announced it has upgraded its Nokia WiFi Cloud Controller to act as a User Services Platform (USP) controller.
USP is the industry standard protocol (also known as TR-369) to manage services and configurations in network devices, either remotely by a cloud application or locally by a mobile app).
Nokia’s USP agent in the Beacon 10 is based on the open-source OB-USPA so it can be managed by any USP controller, including the Nokia WiFi Cloud Controller.
Dirk Verhaegen, VP Broadband Devices, Nokia, said:
“We are proud to introduce Nokia’s first Wi-Fi 6E product for premium, high-performance Wi-Fi in the home and office. Not only does it offer faster speeds, but it also supports 3rd party applications and a USP agent to be fully compatible with multiple controllers, making it much easier for operators to manage. Third party apps and USP are both of strategic interest to Nokia and we will include them in all new broadband devices we introduce, as well as retro-fitting to select existing equipment.”
Nokia’s presentation at MWC also highlights the company's newly developed, all-in-one console for Wi-Fi management and optimization.
The console will be available to customer care operators, network administrators, onsite technicians and level 3 support staff to provide advanced WiFi optimization, troubleshooting and management.
Nokia notes it has established a complete eco-system of app developers to ensure CSPs can offer the value-add services they need to their customers on their Wi-Fi units.
Finally, the company noted that the Beacon 10 supports the latest, fully integrated cybersecurity application from F-Secure, which is delivered as a containerized application.
Michael Philpott, research director, Digital Consumer Services at telecom industry analyst Omdia, commented:
“Vendors like Nokia are paving the path for the next generation of in-home broadband devices with a container application framework that separates the application from the operating system. F-Secure is the first partner to fully leverage Nokia’s application ecosystem to bring its cybersecurity solution to Nokia broadband devices using this innovative and open environment.”