Liberty Global throws weight behind G.hn standard to bolster wifi game

Liberty Global is the latest telco to join the HomeGrid Forum, having already deployed a G.hn wifi extender solution to improve connectivity in the home.

The wifi extender, which has been deployed in some Liberty Global subsidiaries since 2015 including Telenet in Belgium and Virgin Media in the UK, delivers improved wifi speeds in rooms far away from the residential gateway, with the G.hn standard claiming the praise. In the HomeGrid Forum, Liberty Global is joining dozens of other organizations, including the likes of China Telecom, BT and AT&T.

“Industry collaboration is an important component within the Alliance and Liberty Global are true innovators in investing in and enabling seamless home-networking technology,” said Dr. Len Dauphinee, HomeGrid Forum President. “Liberty Global is a major provider of home networking and we are delighted to welcome them to HomeGrid Forum as we continue to move towards a smart connectivity future.”

“Liberty Global is delighted to be working with HomeGrid Forum and supporting the progress of G.hn technology,” said Peter Joyce, Director of Connectivity CPE Architecture at Liberty Global. “We look forward to working closely with HomeGrid Forum and improving the future of home networking for our customers.”

While wifi has been a consistent part of the connectivity world, it is often overlooked. Frustrations for consumers still persist when it comes to breadth of coverage throughout the home and also weak signal in rooms which are furthest away from the router. This is one of the issues the G.hn standard looks to address.

G.hn is a specification for home networking with data rates up to 2 Gbit/s and operation over four types of legacy wires: telephone wiring, coaxial cables, power lines and plastic optical fiber. A single G.hn semiconductor device is able to network over any of the supported home wire types. Aside from the telcos, the HomeGrid Forum (the non-profit trade group promoting G.hn) also counts the likes of Echostar and Panasonic as members.