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With rising interest rates and the increased cost of homeownership, multifamily communities have become the fastest-growing housing segment in the U.S. Over 44 million people in the country are living in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) and represent nearly one-third of all existing housing.
While this housing segment is rapidly growing, residents are becoming more discerning—and property and building owners have to compete more and more to stand out. What can differentiate a property is a turnkey experience. Nearly 75 percent of residents prefer having their internet already installed, saving them time and providing some peace of mind during an otherwise chaotic move. The first opportunity to make or break this relationship is when they look at their phone to see if they’re able to connect to high-speed internet.
Wi-Fi is as critical as electricity and water.
Today, Wi-Fi is expected to be just as reliable as any other utility. When you want it, it should be there. Spending time figuring out how to set up Wi-Fi equipment, troubleshooting with customer service, or waiting for a technician to arrive can be frustrating for a new resident. Each can be easily avoided by allowing residents to instantly connect. This requires a Service Left in Place (SLIP) process where Wi-Fi stays in an apartment just like a refrigerator or microwave—ready to immediately welcome a new resident. Residents should also be able to quickly make their Wi-Fi their own. If they want to name their network after their favorite team, they should be able to without any difficulty.
Stand out in a sea of sameness.
A booming market for MDUs has brought fierce competition. This can make it difficult for an MDU to stand out in order to attract and retain residents. While some building owners are looking to add or update rooftop terraces, gyms, and pools, others are looking to the future: smart buildings.
With a connected digital ecosystem, property managers can gain efficiencies with smart locks for self-guided tours, leak sensors to alert maintenance staff before a major leak occurs, and thermostats that auto-regulate temperature and save
energy.
Staying ahead means having a dedicated wireless network for building-owned devices to remain connected to the internet at all times, regardless of whether a unit is occupied or not. It means allowing property management to control all these devices at scale. It also means using Thread-enabled technology to improve connectivity between IoT devices and Matter, allowing smart home devices to communicate independently. Just like residents, property managers want a turnkey setup with a simple, intuitive system that just works.
The ISP advantage.
ISPs have the most control over the residents’ Wi-Fi experience—and often provide the property owner with incentives to partner together. Competition among ISPs makes them just as invested in creating a better experience in buildings for residents and MDU managers—often walking a tightrope to find that sweet spot of optimal service, while also keeping prices competitive.
For an ISP, growing its business efficiently means getting into more buildings—minimizing the time spent on setup and maintenance. With SLIP in a building, ISPs can leverage a software-controlled move-in/move-out experience,
troubleshoot from anywhere, and avoid truck rolls or equipment shipments. And with eero’s remote network management software, eero Insight, ISPs can proactively resolve issues, get customers off the phone quickly, and keep networks
healthy—increasing efficiency and saving money.
Community Wi-Fi reimagined.
eero for Communities is the top-tier service that binds the interests of the resident, MDU, and ISP together. For residents, eero networks are ready for immediate activation at move-in. For MDUs, eero delivers the hardware and software they need to create a smart building Wi-Fi solution that works across all their units and common areas. In turn, this provides property owners with the means to attract and retain residents. For ISPs, eero provides greater efficiency with SLIP, and reduces truck rolls and call times with proactive troubleshooting for customer support teams. eero for Communities brings ISPs, MDUs, and residents closer together by solving their unique and shared challenges, creating exceptional experiences for each party.
To learn more about how working across the entire Wi-Fi experience delivers the ideal solution, download our latest eero for Communities white paper or visit eero for Communities.
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