Meet the Pocket Gadget Built to Help ISPs Fix Your Wi-Fi Troubles
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A new pocket-size device promises to help internet service providers better detect and fix customers' Wi-Fi and network performance issues.
The device comes from Ookla, which runs the free Speedtest.net to rate your internet speeds at home or on mobile. Its Speedtest Pulse device, which has been in development for at least two years, is specifically designed to help ISP technicians diagnose Wi-Fi and networking issues at customers' homes or businesses.
ISPs can already buy specialized equipment to diagnose networking issues, but the systems usually cost thousands of dollars and focus on collecting technical data, rather than offering a quick solution in real-time.
"They may provide gargantuan volumes of raw data through CSV or Excel format," says Ookla analyst Luke Kehoe. "And there's a big process of going in and trying to make sense of that. It really requires a properly trained Wi-Fi engineer."
In contrast, the Speedtest Pulse is intended to be more affordable, compact, and easy to use. Kehoe notes that ISPs are increasingly facing more customer issues related to indoor Wi-Fi connectivity at people's homes, rather than the actual fiber network.
The Speedtest Pulse can diagnose a surrounding Wi-Fi network and environment, collect the technical data, and then pinpoint the cause of the connectivity issue in an easy-to-read report that'll advise on the solution.
"You can imagine, you might see on the device that it has detected that you need to reduce Wi-Fi contention ," Kehoe says. "And then there will be natural language, something like 'Your network is on channel 36, which is crowded and experiencing severe interference. Action: Change the radio setting or Wi-Fi setting to channel 149.'"
"It's quite a step change from those solutions that just give the raw data and require processing," he added. "It's about lowering the barrier to entry and we see this being particularly advantageous to ISPs that want a scalable solution… Because they may have a huge amount of technicians and different contractors, but they all absolutely have varying skill sets and capabilities, and they don't want to have to re-train for a new product."
Kehoe also described Speedtest Pulse as a "mini network analyzer" that's purely focused on tracking network performance issues—not users' traffic. Perhaps the device's most distinguishing feature is how it can scan the surrounding radio frequency environment. "So analyzing things like signal strength, interference, so co-channel, and adjacent channel interference, and channel utilization, and the security configuration of the network," Kehoe says.
In addition, Speedtest Pulse can connect to a home's Ethernet line. While in a home, the device run various speed tests as well, including those that simulate online gaming or video streaming with the goal of measuring the actual user experience, not just download rates.
The company is also working on a second mode for the device called Continuous Pulse, which will arrive next year. When this mode is activated, the product can be left at a customer's home or business to monitor network performance and diagnose any problems that pop up over time, cutting down on the need for repeat visits from a technician.
In terms of specs, Speedtest Pulse features its own 2.1-inch AMOLED touch screen, a Wi-Fi 7 tri-band radio, an Ethernet port, and USB-C charging. The device can also attach to an Apple iPhone through MagSafe.
Unfortunately, Ookla won't be selling the hardware to consumers or tech enthusiasts. For now, the company is focused mainly on internet service providers and enterprise Wi-Fi customers. "But I would say, 'never say never,'" Kehoe says.
Pricing was not announced, but Ookla plans on pricing it "very aggressively" to disrupt the market, Kehoe adds. The company plans on demoing Speedtest Pulse this month before kicking off sales by year's end through Ookla's website .
Disclosure: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.
