Think your home broadband is saving you mobile bills? You’re right

If you’ve had broadband piping into your home, and the various devices within it, for a while now, you might have forgotten what it was like to have your phone on a mobile network only.

Imagine what it would be like if you tried to use as much data as you do now in that scenario. Scary right. That’s why tech research company Gartner has come to the same conclusion as many of us: a network that shares a robust, reliable and fast fixed broadband access in the home will provide a cost-effective alternative to a metered mobile data plan.

“Until three or four years ago, consumers primarily accessed the Internet through PCs and laptops but at the beginning of 2013, the picture is very different,” says Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Consumers use multiple screens to perform various activities that require both fixed and mobile internet connectivity, from watching and sharing videos and photos, to playing games, to accessing social networks, to banking and paying bills online. Consumers are screen-agnostic — they will use whichever screen is convenient, as long as it is ‘connected.’”

Gartner reckons that global mobile devices — other than smartphones with a mobile data plan — per household will increase by more than eight percent annually through 2016 while 60-million Wi-Fi-only devices (mostly tablets) per year will be added to the household around the world.

The take-up rates of other video-specific internet-connectable devices, such as TVs, set-top boxes, digital video recorders (DVRs), video players, game consoles and cameras, will also grow as manufacturers progressively make connectivity a default feature in most devices.

“There are almost 10 potentially internet-enabled devices in the home today and while consumers primarily use the home network to share and view video content, the home network also enables other applications, such as home protection, monitoring and security, as well as fitness and health monitoring,” said Fernando Elizalde, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Households are migrating to higher-bandwidth-speed broadband packages as internet providers worldwide upgrade their networks to increase bandwidth throughput. However, improvement in bandwidth throughputs must be matched with the right technology for home networking. Older Wi-Fi/wireless routers may have limited capabilities and may not be providing the required bandwidth or be able to prioritize traffic to the connected device to provide an optimal experience. Additionally, there can be interference from other wireless devices in the home or in the area.

“The increase in connected devices will require reliable broadband connectivity that is networked throughout the home,” says Sabia. “The fixed broadband connection enables the most reliable and robust online experience within the home that can be shared, via a home network, to multiple devices in the home.”

Gartner also believes that home automation solutions will become an integral part of the home network. The main challenge is the multiplicity of home automation wireless standards. Wi-Fi is widely deployed in homes today, but the high power consumption of devices using this technology is a challenge in home automation. Hence, several wireless technologies other than Wi-Fi that use a lot less power are currently being used.