In 2017, consumers will increasingly prioritise higher performance over speed as a growing number of smart devices connect to wi-fi network in Middle East homes, according to networking giant Linksys.

Data will be driven by people, but more so by the number of connected objects in the Internet of Things, estimated to be 50 billion by 2020, as per the research conducted by Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group.

Back in 1990s and early 2000s, consumers demanded Internet connection at home, which swiftly changed to the need for wireless Internet connection. The evolution of network technology, and the growing number of devices simultaneously being connected to the router, has driven an evolution in consumer demand from having Internet connectivity everywhere at home, to now having high network performance.

Network providers have matched this transforming demand over the years by bringing innovative products and technologies to the market, from routers and wireless routers to ranges extenders and MU-Mimo-enabled routers. MU-Mimo-enabled routers manage multiple devices connected to the network giving consumers optimised performance even at the edge of the network.

“Consumers are quickly realising that the bottleneck in their network performance is being caused by old router technology that cannot withstand the increasing number of smart devices attached to the Wi-Fi network. We expect that in 2017, many consumers will upgrade their Wi-Fi routers to achieve higher performance from their network and smart devices,” said Amanulla Khan, managing director, Linksys, Middle East, Turkey & Africa.

Higher networking performance and the increased availability of premium networking products are going to complement and accelerate the adoption of smart home technology, which is yet to become a mass market product. With technology converging between smart homes and networking routers, the year 2017 will see more connected homes adopting smart home technology.

With so much original content accessible from streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, consumers no longer need to worry that cutting the cable cord will mean leaving their favourite shows behind. In 2017, a household’s Internet connection will become the entertainment lifeline with more consumers upgrading to MU-Mimo routers and using range extenders that rebroadcast the Wi-Fi signal.

Wi-fi is a valuable tool even for children, with the Internet being an essential resource for education and entertainment. Internet acts as an expansive multimedia library with readily available content for children to find and absorb.

But not all available content is appropriate these days. Children may end up at unsafe sites through innocent search or by clicking links to supposedly safe videos and being exposed to sites with pornography, gruesome images, violence, and other inappropriate content.

This year, many parents will readily adopt methods that helps create a safe online environment for children. Using applications like the Linksys ‘Smart Wi-Fi App’ which provides features that allow parents to block Internet sites and apps on specific devices, as well as restrict Internet access, and at specific times. The Smart Wi-Fi App also provides alerts to when specific devices come online. – TradeArabia News Service