Ookla launches Wi-Fi Speedtest Certified program to help prove network quality

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Ookla, a prime web pace take a look at service, now presents venue Wi-Fi certifications.
• The certification service continues to be rolling out.
• As soon as in place, it’s best to search for lodges and enterprise areas with Speedtest Licensed rankings.

You may decide your lodge for its location or worth, however one of many issues I think about is whether or not its Wi-Fi is fast and reliable. I make my residing working on-line. If I am unable to rely on a speedy connection, I am in hassle. So I used to be intrigued after I heard community efficiency specialist Ookla announce the launch of Speedtest Licensed, a brand new connectivity verification program designed to assist property homeowners and companies show the standard of their community infrastructure.

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This initiative leverages Ookla’s well-regarded Speedtest methodology to offer an unbiased, goal seal of approval for lodges, airports, occasion venues, workplace buildings, and multifamily residences. Dependable web is crucial today for tenants, visitors, and staff. Unpredictable or subpar community efficiency in public venues is depressing for patrons and companies. Speedtest Licensed goals to deal with these challenges by offering properties with a visual badge of excellence.

(Disclosure: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s father or mother firm.)

A few of you could assume dependable web is not essential. Does not everybody have first rate Wi-Fi now? No, really, they do not. 

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I used to be already on good phrases with the Linux kernel builders just a few years in the past, when, at a Linux Plumbers conference, they found the lodge’s web was insufficient. I helped get the connection on top of things — earlier than I turned a author, I used to be a community engineer — and that is one motive why I am at all times welcome at these core Linux kernel programmers’ meetups. 

So, Ookla believes, with good motive, that this certification program will assist web service suppliers, system integrators, and managed service suppliers searching for to validate their choices and help companies hoping to draw clients and tenants who demand wonderful connectivity.

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Licensed properties will be capable of show the Speedtest Licensed badge each on-site and on-line, making it simple for customers to establish venues which have met rigorous, standardized community efficiency benchmarks.

The trail to Speedtest Certification consists of 4 levels:

1. Discovery: Assortment of key property information, together with measurement and sort.
2. On-Website Audit: Complete evaluation of the digital expertise, leveraging Ekahau by Ookla’s Wi-Fi diagnostic tools.
3. Findings & Enhancements: Supply of detailed community efficiency insights, with suggestions for enhancements if wanted.
4. Certification: Awarding of the Speedtest Licensed badge to properties assembly all predefined technical standards, legitimate for 2 years.

The evaluation measures a number of efficiency metrics. These embody:

• Wi-Fi Radio Frequency (RF) High quality
• Community Configuration
• Community Safety Evaluation
• Community Efficiency Metrics
• ISP Backhaul

Wanting forward, future program phases will increase to incorporate mobile efficiency analysis, providing even broader community perception.

Ookla stresses that certification is strictly primarily based on technical requirements, not fee. The info-driven methodology is standardized and goal. The info collected is strictly associated to community configuration and efficiency, with no assortment of non-public or business-sensitive information.

If a venue doesn’t meet the mandatory requirements, it doesn’t seem on a public “failure” record. As a substitute, it receives confidential suggestions for enhancements and might reapply sooner or later. 

Luke Kehoe, an Ookla trade analyst, added that if a venue wanted assist to get its Wi-Fi choices on top of things, Ekahau by Ookla, which supplies Wi-Fi instruments and tools for optimizing, designing, and troubleshooting wi-fi networks, can help them in optimizing their community. 

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For Ookla, the marketing strategy for Speedtest Licensed depends on property homeowners paying evaluation and renewal charges, in addition to charges from accreditation program companions. Costs differ by property measurement. Present buyer identities stay confidential. A number of properties are present process evaluation now.

“Speedtest Licensed is a direct extension of our mission to enhance related experiences,” stated Stephen Bye, president and CEO of Ookla. 

“A powerful web connection is not a perk; it is a elementary expectation. Our new certification offers property homeowners a option to show they’re assembly that demand, and offers customers confidence to decide on venues with confirmed, superior connectivity.”

He is proper. Sooner or later, after I’m on a enterprise journey, I will be including Speedtest Licensed to my lodge and venue guidelines. You need to, too.