The Cisco Home Networking Business Unit is set to roll out smart routers that connect home digital devices in a single network that can be accessed and managed remotely via a smartphone app.
Ulrike Tegtmeier, Cisco International VP of consumer products, explains that the new role of the home network has transformed to become always-on and the heart of everyday life in the home.
“We want to change how consumers perceive routers to be a boring networking product, to become an enabler of home entertainment,” Tegtmeier says.
Cisco Home Networking has rolled out home solutions to enhance the performance and connectivity of consumer entertainment devices. Tegtmeier says Cisco's strategy is to drive performance, simplicity and design in its routers to create a home entertainment experience.
According to Tegtmeier, Cisco Connect - software loaded onto the routers - provides a three-step process to set up a router for Mac and PC. Cisco Connect Express is a free mobile app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets that lets users connect to their home networks from their mobile phones and allows them to remotely manage their devices.
Cisco Connect Cloud provides an interface showing the speed of the home network and what devices are connecting to it. The software features a home dashboard with router settings and a services page. Cisco says it will target channel partners and resellers that will be able to offer services as part of Cisco's ecosystem.
For instance, Tegtmeier explains that Cisco is working with a large retailer in the US that uses the service to communicate with customers that have purchased its printers, and has an app that lets users know when their printers run out of ink.
Cisco's routers will be able to prioritise video flow, as users will be able to select which device gets the biggest bandwidth in order to improve video streaming. This is expected to improve device performance.
Tegtmeier says: “We are currently engaging with a lot of Internet service providers. We want to be the enabler in the middle of the home network. It's not our philosophy to build the content, but rather to build a good connection point.
“We will be driving this strategy to all our channel partners across all the countries we operate in. We have a specific focus on the South African channel because we see a lot of economic opportunities here. The app-enabled routers will arrive in SA in three months' time.”
According to Cisco, within two years, 91% of network traffic will be video. By the end of 2015, more than 290 million households worldwide will have a home video-enabled network. And by 2020, there will be 50 billion devices connected to the Internet.
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