In wired networks we have technologies such as CoS and QoS that allow us to prioritize the different data packets, to provide the best possible quality of service when we have high network traffic. Although we can also use QoS in Wi-Fi networks to prioritize packets (when they arrive at the router), it is not an adequate metric when we have multiple Wi-Fi devices connected in our home. For this reason, Plume proposes a new metric called QoE (Quality of Experience) that allows to measure and improve the user experience in Wi-Fi Mesh networks, and has nothing to do with the popular QoS that we all know. Do you want to know everything about QoE?
What is Plume?
Plume is a company that has taken Wi-Fi Mesh networks further, both home and business. Plume has Wi-Fi Mesh equipment with a really elegant design, but above all it stands out for the user experience when it comes to having coverage and Wi-Fi speed in the connected home. In Wi-Fi Mesh networks, it is essential that Wi-Fi roaming between nodes is done in a completely transparent way, so that a user with their smartphone does not notice any cut in the wireless connection when changing from one AP to another. The user experience with band-steering is also very important, a technology that allows us to go from 2.4GHz to 5GHz and vice versa in certain conditions, in this way, we will always have the best possible connection.
What happens when we have a device between two nodes or at the limit of band-steering? Depending on the firmware configuration, it is very possible that you are roaming Wi-Fi between the two nodes continuously, causing us to have cuts in the wireless signal by constantly passing from one node to another. The same happens if we are right in the location where a band-steering is executed, it is possible that the AP is “moving” us from one band to another, so the user experience can be disastrous. Plume uses a cloud backend to constantly monitor all connected Wi-Fi devices, received speed, received signal (RSSI), number of changes to APs and frequency band and many other markers, with the aim of optimizing the Wi network -Fi from a specific client specifically.
For example, Vodafone with its SuperWiFi in Spain has relied on Plume technology to provide the best user experience for its customers. An important detail is that Plume provides the “intelligence” and the Cloud for the optimization of the Wi-Fi wireless network, not the specific equipment that may be from any manufacturer approved by them.
What is QoE (Quality of Experience)?
The QoE considers the complete route from the Internet to the device in our home , since it is possible that in our home we have several “jumps”, because today Wi-Fi Mesh networks are very fashionable. In other words, it focuses on the complete path from the origin (our smartphone or laptop) to the destination (Internet). In this way, it is possible that a device of ours, such as a smartphone or laptop, is connected to a Mesh node, and this in turn passes through another Mesh node to subsequently reach the Mesh router and go to the Internet. With each jump that we have, logically the wireless speed will decrease, in Wi-Fi Mesh systems where the backhaul is shared with the clients, the speed will drop dramatically with each “jump”, as we have previously explained in this article, mainly due to the CSMA protocol / CA that we have in wireless networks. Today, the main connection problems that we find at home or in companies are related to Wi-Fi: low speed, high latency, inability to connect due to a high number of concurrent devices already connected, sporadic outages etc.
QoE also takes into account multiple network factors that are closely related to Wi-Fi networks . One of the most important factors is the actual speed of the different devices connected to the wireless network (either 2.4GHz or 5GHz), since the first thing we do when connecting to a Wi-Fi network is to check the speed we achieve. The signal strength received by the clients (RSSI) is also very important, since a device far from the AP can harm one that is closer, due to the nature of Wi-Fi, and even the SNR of the connection It’s very important. The use of the wireless channel is another very important factor, a saturated wireless channel will cause the real performance of the connection to be low due to the interference that there is on that channel. Finally, the topology of the Wi-Fi network (star, tree, or serial) and the number of hops to the main router and band / channel sharing are critical aspects of a Wi-Fi Mesh network.
Quality of Experience is in charge of collecting information about the different devices in the home , seeing the type of device and its capacity, since the bandwidth that a Cloud camera or an IoT device needs is not the same as a Smart TV via Wi -Fi playing 4K content. Other important aspects are the use of current and historical data, since it is possible that they have changed in the last days, in addition, we must take into account the requirements of the specific device.
Taking into account the large number of different devices that we can connect to a Wi-Fi network (smartphones, tablets, laptops, Smart TVs, motion sensors, water sensors, smart thermostats, assistants like Amazon Alexa or the Google assistant) , it is essential that the Wi-Fi network adapts to your needs . In a normal environment, a motion sensor will not need a speed of more than 0.1Mbps to function properly, however, a Smart TV will need a bandwidth of up to 100Mbps to play 4K content. Traditional QoS would say that the motion sensor has poor speed, when in fact it is just what you need. Thanks to QoE, we will have each device perfectly classified with its needs.
Why is the quality of experience in Wi-Fi networks important?
In our analyzes of WiFi Mesh systems we have always talked about our experience with Mesh, since a device in question can provide real speed and great coverage, but subsequently cause cuts in the final device when changing Mesh or frequency band, so the user experience when roaming Wi-Fi or band steering can be disastrous.
Thanks to QoE and its subsequent application, Wi-Fi Mesh systems will be able to select the best Wi-Fi channels at a given moment , and the best route from one source to the router, since if we have three or more nodes in our home , it is possible that the path that the packages follow is not the optimal one. In large homes with four or five nodes, choosing the best path is critical to provide the best real performance and best user experience. Another very important aspect is determining where a Mesh node is needed to extend wireless coverage, and where to place it to achieve the best possible speed, also, whenever possible, the best thing you can do is interconnect via cable so that the return network is at 1Gbps via cable.
For example, with the data collected by Plume on their Cloud, they saw that during COVID-19 where workers had to telecommute, the number of Wi-Fi roaming, band steering and Wi-Fi network saturation increased by 250% , something logical and normal considering that all the members of the household were at home, some working and others watching streaming multimedia content.
Do we really need many Wi-Fi extenders in our home? It is possible that only with one or two extenders we will be able to cover the entire house, we should not buy too many extenders, because with each “jump” we will lose bandwidth to connected clients. Another aspect to consider is if a device works well or poorly depending on your needs, if we have a low bandwidth IoT devices will work well, but not Smart TVs, for example.
In traditional Wi-Fi networks, if a wireless client has an RSSI below -75dBm it means that the coverage it receives is low, and in some cases we force it to aging out so that it automatically connects to another node or AP that is closer to him. High levels of interference and channel occupancy are also measured, if, for example, the interference is more than 50%, we are in a fairly congested environment and it would be advisable to change channels as soon as possible.
As you have seen, Quality of Experience is becoming a very important metric to have the best user experience in Wi-Fi Mesh networks. We must remember that QoS fails to identify problems in different devices, and we even have false positives, indicating that a device has problems when its requirements do not really need more wireless bandwidth.
