The new Multy M1 is the WiFi mesh solution you need if you want to take advantage of the consistent high performance that WiFi 6 provides for every user on every device, says Patrick Hirscher, EMEA Wireless Market Development Manager at Zyxel.
To test how integral a technology has become to our everyday lives, you only need to imagine what would happen if you tried to take it away. For example, if you tried telling people that they can no longer have a smartphone, access to the Internet, or WiFi, you can easily guess at the response you’d receive. The idea is completely unthinkable. These are technologies upon which we all rely on now. We are certainly not prepared to give them up.
When you think about it, we could not have managed all that well over the last 18 months if we had not had these technologies. The fact that – in the most developed economies at least – most households already had access to fast broadband and wireless technology, meant people could switch to working from home quite easily.
Progressive development
For several months, we were able to cope with not going out, except for essential journeys. Without going to restaurants, bars, stadiums, and theatres. Without meeting family and friends. But that would not have been acceptable or bearable had we not had web access and WiFi, through which we could work, communicate, and stream TV and audio services.
If you think about it a little more, you soon come to realise that, without the progression and development in technology that had been made over the years just before the pandemic, it might not have been possible for us to adhere to the lockdowns at all. During this time, everyone has relied on being able to use video conferencing over their home connections and that would have been much more problematic without the fast, fibre-based broadband services and more advanced wireless technologies that became more widely available in the period prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
To me, this is a perfect illustration of just how valuable the work our research and development teams do is to us all. Of course, we’d rather the pandemic had not happened at all, but with older technologies, we might not have got through it as well as we have.
A significant step forward
Of course, hundreds of new technologies are products are always coming out and when they do, it is easy to be blasé. The arrival of the Multy M1, our latest mesh WiFi solution for use in the home, for example, may not seem like that big a deal. But even the smallest step forward is a step towards a better, brighter, faster, and more efficient future – and that’s something we all want.
In fact, the arrival of the Multy M1 is quite significant, as it is the first of the Multy range to support the 802.11ax standard – or WiFi 6 as it is also known. The big benefit of WiFi 6 is that it allows you to support more connections over the whole wireless mesh system, at consistently high speeds. That’s becoming more important, as everyone is now working and studying at home much more than before. That makes being able to provide fast and reliable coverage all over the home, more important as well. And as Multy M1 is a mesh system, you can extend the reach of that consistent high performance all over the house, and to adjacent external areas as well.
Also, with Multy M1, we have added support for WPA3 encryption, enhancing security for all users. We have also provided three Ethernet ports for fast connections to local storage drives, printers, or other peripherals. These are useful additions, especially for people doing serious work in the home.
In addition to all this, as more mobile devices now support WiFi 6, it makes sense to make use of the latest and the best technology. After all, we don’t know what the future may bring. What we can be sure of is that certain technologies will continue to play an even bigger part in our lives – and WiFi is one of them.
If you would like to find out more about our Multy M1 WiFi 6 mesh system, please contact your nearest Zyxel partner, or Zyxel office.