Immense growth and innovation in the broadband industry has meant that for ISPs, the competition for subscribers doesn’t happen through prices, bundling, and speeds anymore. As far as subscribers are concerned, loyalty is earned through in-home experiences.
As much as this exerts pressure on ISPs, it also presents an interesting opportunity. A sale doesn’t end at the contract anymore; there’s an entirely new chapter that starts at what might be the next major milestone for ISP subscribers, the WiFi network installation.
These installations set the tone for how subscribers can expect to be treated by your business, and serve as the foundation of their experience—including the quality of WiFi. But as essential as these installations are, they often add hurdles for ISP teams. A traditional reactive approach means these hurdles are difficult to overcome—but a proactive approach makes them easier to address.
So with this in mind, let’s explore where exactly things go wrong at installation—and what ISPs can be doing to improve subscribers’ experiences.
Router placement
Choosing a home for a subscriber’s new router comes down to a few different factors, but unfortunately, network stability isn’t always one of them.
Typically, a home’s basement is the most convenient location for the router. It can be difficult for technicians to put the router anywhere else in the home, even if that would deliver better performance—especially with the challenge of convincing the subscriber if they don’t want it to be seen.
This leaves the subscriber with a network that doesn’t work the way they were expecting and may end up requiring a follow-up visit. In fact, recent data shows that one in 20 installations requires a turn-around visit.
What ISPs can do: With Certify, the latest solution from RouteThis, field technicians can quickly identify the ideal location in a specific home for a router—and use visual proof to explain to a subscriber why that location is in their best interest.
WiFi extenders
On average, WiFi-connected homes need two WiFi extenders to get the level of performance that subscribers expect. Unfortunately, because it’s difficult for technicians to articulate their value to subscribers, these pods only have about a 10% attachment rate—which leaves a gap between ideal performance and actual performance for the vast majority of subscribers.
What ISPs can do: Using the unique features in RouteThis Certify, field technicians can identify how many pods a subscriber needs for the best possible performance. Then, techs can illustrate the difference in signal with and without those pods so subscribers can see why they need them.
WiFi extender placement
Just like routers, WiFi extenders rarely get placed for network stability over convenience. Additionally, consumers may not understand how extenders impact their network and may assume that it acts as a second router—so they can take it wherever they go within the home, and it will automatically strengthen their signal.
What ISPs can do: Similarly to the router placement feature, Certify can help technicians find the best location for each WiFi extender—and by showing subscribers how their quality of WiFi changes based on these locations, techs can easily get subscriber buy-in.
The common denominator for WiFi installation issues
Ultimately, the WiFi network installation process is supposed to help subscribers get the connectivity they want. But in each of these cases, the issue revolves around major network decisions being made by subscribers who may not understand their networks and who don’t always have the right information for those decisions.
Instead of creating extra work for your support team, you can prevent this situation by providing technicians with a solution like RouteThis Certify—the type of solution they’ll want to reach for time and again to help them optimize home networks and educate subscribers. This way, you stand to improve both your subscribers’ experiences and your business just by setting up their Wifi.