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

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