Nokia WiFi Beacon 1 now official

Nokia has announced a new addition to its whole-home mesh WiFi portfolio, the WiFi Beacon 1.

The Nokia WiFi Beacon 1 is an AC1200 system which covers approximately 1500 square feet (140 sq. m) per Beacon. Basically, it solves WiFi blindspots in our home to make sure that devices get uninterrupted connections.

It is designed to complement the Beacon 3 which was released last year and comes with several new features:

• Pre-pairing — a software enhancement from Nokia that pre-configures beacons sold in 2-pack and 3-pack configurations, eliminating the need to install each individually. Consumers simply install the first Nokia beacon and the other beacons automatically recognize each other and self-install.

• Intelligent Channel Selection — The beacons detect both Wi-Fi and non-WiFi interference and use Intelligent Channel Selection to always choose the best WiFi channel and band. So, if there is any interference from your neighbor’s WiFi, your microwave oven or a Bluetooth speaker, the beacons know how to avoid it, and will always give you peak performance.

• Nokia WiFi Mesh technology — based on the industry-leading Unium capabilities acquired in 2018, Nokia beacons deliver field-proven, carrier-grade mesh technology that allows all beacons to work together to give every device the best connection possible. Nokia WiFi Mesh automatically and seamlessly combines Ethernet, 5 GHz Wi-Fi and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi to connect beacons. When needed, it automatically reroutes traffic to another beacon.

• Nokia WiFi Mobile Application — Delivering an intuitive, simple interface that provides a visual representation of your WiFi, including a heat map to easily locate and manage dead zones. Customers can also quickly access device lists and management capabilities or activate a guest network. The application also gives users access to a wide array of network care and troubleshooting capabilities.

• Bridge mode function allows users to quickly connect a beacon to an existing gateway with routing functionality. While in bridge mode, the existing residential gateway will perform the basic routing function, while the beacons provide WiFi to ensure optimal performance throughout the home.

The new Nokia WiFi Beacon 1 and existing Beacon 3 whole-home WiFi systems are available for purchase on Amazon.com. The Beacon 1 retails for $129.99 and is available in single or three-pack configurations.

source: Nokia