At CEDIA Expo 2024, networking solutions again took center stage as smart home connectivity continues to evolve. This year’s showcase highlighted innovations aimed at delivering faster, more reliable, and more secure connectivity across home automation systems. The show even had a dedicated Connectivity Pavilion to house all the new solutions being showcased within the category.
From cybersecurity solutions to advanced Wi-Fi 7 solutions, enhanced mesh networks and cutting-edge wired solutions, exhibitors offered a glimpse into the future of connected living. These technologies are designed to meet the growing demands of bandwidth-heavy smart homes, ensuring uninterrupted performance for everything from streaming and security to home entertainment and automation.
SpecOps Secure, a provider of cybersecurity and networking services, had a prominent presence at the 2024 CEDIA Expo in Denver. The company, which launched earlier this year, offers cybersecurity and networking support designed to assist integrators by providing IT solutions for smart home and business environments.
The platform aims to enhance security by monitoring networks, detecting potential threats, and offering managed services that simplify complex IT tasks for integrators.
SpecOps Secure’s booth saw significant interest from integrators seeking guidance on selling cybersecurity solutions to their clients. The company’s vice president of channel, Ted Bremekamp, discussed the positive reception and growing market focus for their offerings, especially the cybersecurity aspect.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
“Everybody has been really interested,” Bremekamp says. “They know they need it and their customers want it.”
Another key area of emphasis for SpecOps Secure was their cellular distribution systems, designed by FCC-certified engineers. The company also highlighted the importance of ongoing security maintenance.
“As new vulnerabilities pop up, devices and systems need to be updated,” he says. “That’s one of the most important things on cybersecurity.”
Netgear was showcasing its latest networking innovations, including new Wi-Fi 7 access points and enhancements to the company’s Engage software platform. Netgear’s John Henkel introduced the WBE 758 and WBE 718 Wi-Fi 7 access points.
“If anybody is putting in Wi-Fi, they’re putting in Wi-Fi 7,” Henkel says. “It even makes Wi-Fi 6 devices perform better.”
The new access points come bundled with a four-year subscription to Netgear’s Insight wireless management platform.
Henkel also discussed the ongoing development of NETGEAR’s Engage AV switch controller software.
The NETGEAR Engage Controller is designed to simplify the deployment and management of NETGEAR’s M4250 and M4300 AV switches, offering integrators a centralized platform for AV-over-IP networks. Designed with a user-friendly graphical interface, it eliminates the need for advanced networking expertise, enabling quick configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting of AV systems.
The Engage Controller supports both local and cloud-based access, allowing for remote management and reducing on-site maintenance needs. Its versatility makes it ideal for both small and large-scale installations, enhancing operational efficiency and reliability in AV network deployments.
Netgear’s Pro AV design team was also a focus, with Henkel emphasizing their role in providing detailed Wi-Fi design and configuration services for residential customers. Combined with NETGEAR’s other offerings, these add up to a comprehensive networking solution for any project, Henkel says.
“The ENGAGE software, our managed switches, our Pro AV design team and Pro Wi-Fi design,” Henkel says, “are our secret sauce.”
Alongside the updates to its Control4 smart home platform, Snap One is also bolstering its access networking capabilities. The company unveiled a new Wi-Fi 7 access point at CEDIA Expo, positioning it as an important complement to Apple’s anticipated product launches.
“Customers want the new shiny objects, and if you have Wi-Fi 7 on your phone, you want Wi-Fi 7 in your home,” explained Snap One product spokesperson Eric Harper. The timing of the Wi-Fi 7 access point release aligns with the expected debut of Apple’s next-generation iPhone lineup, which is rumored to support the latest Wi-Fi standard.
To further improve the integration of access points within smart homes, Snap One has also introduced a new in-ceiling bracket for its Araknis Wi-Fi 6 access points. This flush-mounted solution allows integrators to discreetly place access points where they are needed most, without compromising the home’s aesthetic.
“What you’re doing is not great practice. You’re shoving it in closets. You’re putting in attics,” Harper stated. “This gives partners the ability to put the Wi-Fi where it needs to be, which is where the people are, but without being such an eyesore.”
Haper also highlighted that Access Networks’ Wi-Fi 6 access points now include OvrC, the company’s cloud management and remote management tool.
BleedIO, a pioneering player in the Bluetooth mesh technology space, is making significant strides in the smart home industry with its netMESH solution. Following a successful showcase at the CEDIA Expo 2024, the company has signed up over 90 home integrators for pilot tests of its groundbreaking product.
The netMESH solution, built on the cutting-edge Bluetooth Mesh standard, offers a superior alternative to traditional smart home connectivity standards. Bluetooth mesh allows individual devices to work together without a central hub, enabling instantaneous communication with no latency, according to the company.
This redundant, hubless network design is a key advantage of the netMESH technology. As CEO Stan Podolski noted, the elimination of a single point of failure ensures smart home devices remain fully functional, even without internet or Wi-Fi connectivity.
In addition to its reliability, netMESH also boasts robust security features such as dual networking security keys embedded in every device. This closed-network approach is particularly appealing for enterprise and government customers focused on cybersecurity.
The positive response from home integrators has been accompanied by growing interest from smart home manufacturers. Several companies have expressed interest in incorporating netMESH to expand the connectivity options for their devices, further solidifying BleedIO’s position in the market.
Coming from the commercial world, PerfTech is quickly gaining traction – and fans – in the custom residential integration channel.
At CEDIA Expo 2024, the company followed up on its enterprise-grade Island Router with the even more robust and feature-rich Island Pro.
The router offers updated aesthetics, delivers 13 million packets per second, and features 6 2.5gig boards and four 10 gig boards, as PerfTech’s Director of Communications Kathy Donzis explains.
Plus, of course, with the company’s pedigree in commercial applications, the Island Pro is well-suited for mission-critical situations that help eliminate dealers’ truck rolls at least in the home networking department.
“It goes through some really heavy-duty testing,” Donzis says, adding that the Island Pro can handle 600,000 connections per second. That’s far more than what’s made by nonenterprise-level solutions on the market and nearly 5x as much as the Island Router.
“The best thing you can do for your network is put in a really fast router, that’s going to boost everything,” she asserts. “We hear from people that their IoT devices all of a sudden become unstable and that’s because they all have to go through the router.”
Also among the differences in Island Pro compared with the original is a redesigned form factor that fits in with rack systems.
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