By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW CEO & Chairman
Fixed broadband may not always be entirely reliable so to reduce the risk of your home or business Internet connection being interrupted, solution provider Kyrio this week launched the ‘ARC Hotspot’. In case of disruption the system automatically turns a smartphone within a home or business into a Wi-Fi hotspot and continues to serve connected devices via the ARC-enabled gateway. Kyrio says there are plenty more innovations in the pipeline aimed at removing barriers to a great connectivity experience.
Not all fixed broadband services are born equal and some networks may be prone to service interruptions – which for example could leave staff working from home effectively ‘stranded’ or businesses with disconnected payment terminals. This week software solutions vendor Kyrio launched a fix to that exact problem: The new ‘ARC Hotspot’ automates failover to cellular connectivity for the premises – via a smartphone – should the fixed network service fail.
The intelligent thing here is that all of it is automated: If the system detects a fixed network disruption it will shift the traffic to the mobile network (via the smartphone) and send it back when the fixed connection is restored. This means that connected devices within the premises – TVs, computers, IoT devices – will continue to operate normally (within the bandwidth limits of the cellular network) with no user intervention required.
The system will use any smartphone to establish failover cellular connectivity as long as it is paired with the ARC-enabled gateway. Mario Di Dio, VP Software and Network Technology at Kyrio, says the solution is integral to Kyrio’s philosophy behind the ARC portfolio. “Our mission is to make the best possible use of available access networks to boost the user experience including reliability,” Mario Di Dio says.
He also says that ARC Hotspot works equally well as cellular failover for fibre, DSL, wireless Internet, or cable broadband as long as the ARC agent is installed on the gateway. The system will route to cellular connectivity of any kind – 3G, 4G or 5G – according to the capabilities of the paired smartphone and will support more than one paired phone – although not more than one at any given time initially, he says.
Kyrio says the ARC Hotspot is part of a wider portfolio of existing and some not yet released software solutions aimed at improving the connectivity experience by using intelligent routing technology (ARC is short for Adaptive Routing Control). Kyrio’s go-to-market strategy includes working directly with ISPs as well as with home broadband technology OEMs. The ARC solution is typically deployed remotely to the gateway and then managed via the broadband operator’s customer care app, Mario Di Dio says.
Among operators validating the ARC Hotspot use case is broadband service provider Liberty Latin America. “As the past few years have shown, network reliability is critical to everyday life in our increasingly digital world. At Liberty Latin America, we understand the importance of reliable and trustworthy connectivity, which is at the heart of our customer promise,” says Sergio Rodriguez, Senior manager for Connectivity Product Development at Liberty Latin America in Kyrio’s press release here.
Kyrio’s ARC platform already supports cellular and fixed connectivity management and is currently under trial with several ISPs. For more about ARC also read here.
Finally: Don’t miss Mario Di Dio of Kyrio speaking at the Wi-Fi World Congress Europe 2022 in Stockholm this September 26-28. Go here for more.
/Claus.
