Cox Communications said its premium whole-home WiFi offering, branded as Panoramic WiFi, has surpassed 1 million customers about 14 months after it was introduced.
Cox launched Panoramic WiFi last fall in markets such as San Diego, Orange County and Santa Barbara last fall, and extended it to all Cox markets in June 2017. During that span, Cox said it did have a month in which it added 185,000 new Panoramic WiFi subs.
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Cox sells the premium whole-home product starting at $9.99 per month. Panoramic WiFi uses a modem/router with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem (supporting up to 24 downstream channels and eight upstream channels) and dual-band 802.11ac WiFi. That’s matched with network management app for iOS and Android mobile devices, and a customized WiFi installation.
Cox also rents out WiFi extenders that utilize MoCA 2.0 technology for $4 each per month.
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Cox’s product follows a trend by which cable operators and other ISPs are enhancing their core broadband service with premium WiFi offerings that provide more consistent wireless speeds throughout the house and the ability to manage those in-home wireless networks.
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The operator said 66% of new high-speed internet subs are choosing the Panoramic WiFi option, and that its Connect app is getting 120,000-plus WiFi “interactions” per month.
The My WiFi component in the Connect app lets users view primary and guest networks, change their wireless security settings, broadcast or hide the in-home network, change their WiFi network passwords, name or rename devices, view WiFi signal strength, and even send a reboot signal to the modem.
“While designing and developing Panoramic WiFi, we listened to our customers and applied that feedback to delivering a premium user experience,” Philip Nutsugah, senior vice president, product development and management, said in a statement. Our customers want an effortless and predictable WiFi experience that delivers the speed and reliability they expect. They want to have confidence that they are equipped with tools to optimize and manage their home WiFi.”
