MWC 23: Beacon Wi-Fi 6E gateway shines for Nokia | Computer Weekly

Nokia is supporting Wi-Fi 6E to provide high-capacity mesh networking, ensuring homeworkers can take advantage of the increased availability of multigigabit services to the home.

Putting the launch of the device at MWC 2023 in Barcelona into context, Nokia said the Beacon 10 gateway is addressing specifically the widespread roll-out of 10G fibre-powered by XGS-PON – which requires upgrades to home and business Wi-Fi to deliver high speeds to enabled devices. The device includes a 10G WAN interface to pair with 10 Gbps fibre modems for multigigabit services to the home.

Key Beacon 10 features include tri-band 2+4+4 MIMO, supporting 160 MHz channel width, resulting in a PHY rate of AXE10200; 10GE uplink; one 2.5GE LAN port and two 1GE LAN ports; and a dedicated 6GHz multi-gig backhaul.

The device also supports both local and remote controllers via the user services platform (USP) standard, also known as TR-369; the underlying TR-181 data model from Broadband Forum; and DataElements from the Wi-Fi Alliance for complete end-to-end managed Wi-Fi.

At the same time as launching Beacon, Nokia upgraded its WiFi Cloud Controller to act as a USP controller and manage services and configurations in network devices, either remotely by a cloud application or locally by a mobile app. Nokia’s USP agent in the Beacon 10 is based on the open-source OB-USPA so it can be managed by any USP controller, including the Nokia Wi-Fi Cloud Controller.

Nokia has also developed an all-in-one console for Wi-Fi management and optimisation, which will be available to customer care operators, network administrators, onsite technicians and level 3 support staff to provide advanced Wi-Fi optimisation, troubleshooting and management. Beacon 10 also supports the latest, fully integrated cyber security application from F-Secure which is delivered as a containerised application.

To ensure CSPs can offer the value-added services they need to their customers on their Wi-Fi units, Nokia has established an ecosystem of app developers. In addition, the Beacon 10 supports the latest, fully integrated cyber security application from F-Secure, which is delivered as a containerised application.

Commenting on the launch of Beacon 10, Dirk Verhaegen, vice-president of broadband devices at Nokia, said: “We are proud to introduce Nokia’s first Wi-Fi 6E product for premium, high-performance Wi-Fi in the home and office. Not only does it offer faster speeds, but it also supports third party applications and a USP agent to be fully compatible with multiple controllers, making it much easier for operators to manage. Third-party apps and USP are both of strategic interest to Nokia, and we will include them in all new broadband devices we introduce, as well as retro-fitting to select existing equipment.”

“Vendors like Nokia are paving the path for the next generation of in-home broadband devices with a container application framework that separates the application from the operating system,” said Michael Philpott, research director for digital consumer services at analyst Omdia. “F-Secure is the first partner to fully leverage Nokia’s application.”