Vodafone Hope to Banish Broadband Blackspots with Super WiFi

Mobile operator and ISP Vodafone have today announced that they’ll soon be launching a new cloud controlled “smart home network” solution for customers of their home broadband service, which will work to deliver “fast, reliable, Wi-Fi signal to every corner of the home.”

Over the past few months we’ve seen a number of UK ISPs launch mesh style WiFi extenders, which usually consist of a base unit and several “repeater” modules (e.g. BT’s Complete Wi-Fi and TalkTalk’s Plume SuperPods). Naturally Vodafone weren’t going to be left out of this and so they’ve come up with a similar solution called.. drum roll.. Super WiFi.

As we all know putting “super” in front of anything makes it instantly better or stronger (super man, super car, super herpes etc.). In any case Vodafone explains that their new solution uses “easy-to-install small extenders, strategically placed throughout the house, to deliver a consistent signal in every room” (up to 3 extenders should cover a good sized house). So far, so familiar.

However Vodafone explains that its approach is a bit different because their Super WiFi network is managed by the cloud and uses “self-learning algorithms” to get the most out of your home wireless signal (i.e. it keeps “learning” and adapting to internal and external changes.). For example, it can switch between WiFi channels to deliver the strongest signal (modern routers have been doing this for years) and detect interference from other devices, before adapting to compensate.

The extenders still connect to the ISP’s broadband router but the new cloud aspect should, they claim, create a “smart, dynamic network that adjusts automatically to deliver the best possible connection to each type of device.” As usual all of this will be controllable through a Smartphone App, which also enables Vodafone’s customer care team to help tackle any remaining issues remotely.

Ahmed Essam, Vodafone Group’s Chief Strategy Officer, said:

“We know that the vast majority of people’s broadband issues are actually down to poor Wi-Fi signals in their homes – around a quarter of calls into customer care are about Wi-Fi issues. Super WiFi is a simple way to address these problems and give our customers the best possible connection in every room of their house, every day of the week.”

Sadly Vodafone has not yet provided any pictures of the new kit or said how much they’re likely to cost, although mesh WiFi systems do tend to be quite pricey. We would stress that there are plenty of third-party mesh systems on the market (e.g. Mesh WiFi page on Amazon) that will do a similar job and the costs are slowly coming down. Likewise in smaller homes you may only need a single cheap extender.

One reason why Vodafone may have chosen not to give out more details is because they plan to do a phased roll-out across their various different markets. The first to benefit will be their subscribers in Spain, which will see the new solution emerge within the next few weeks. After that they’ll make it available across other major European markets and the UK this summer.