Technology is developing at a rapid pace and every year we get to see new advancements in the field.
High tech devices even found its way into real estate with the rise of smart fridges, lighting, CCTV cameras, cameras, and mirrors. In some countries, homes are already completely automated!
It is clear that modern residents want a connected home where every aspect of their lives are linked to wireless services, and property developers are looking at ways to ensure that homebuyers get exactly what they are looking for.
In 2016, the global smart home market was valued at around $24.1 bn and it is expected to reach approximately $53.5 bn in 2022.
The Middle East and Africa are expected to be the fastest growing regional markets for smart homes in the coming years. The major factors causing this growth is mainly awareness amongst consumers for energy consumption, on-demand services, and rising disposable income.
This has changed expectations worldwide!
Property developers have already won half the battle
Property developers invest a lot of resources to ensure that tenants have a great living experience in their homes, flats, or sectional title units.
However, residents of today expect even more for the rent that they are paying each month. They no longer see the owner as just the landlord, but they view him or her as their network service provider!
That means that landlords are expected to sustain a large number of smart devices and other high-bandwidth wireless applications. The network experience will have to be as reliable as the water and the electricity every month.
These are a lot of technical challenges that need to be overcome and your current/future residents are not interested in how difficult it is to provide functioning Wi-Fi throughout the home.
All they know is that the house down the street has free Wi-Fi – so does yours?
Wireless dreams can quickly turn into nightmares
A unit that includes network access in the monthly rental payment is becoming a huge attraction for residents, but this can soon turn into a disaster – for both the landlord and the tenant – especially if it is a business property.
Wi-Fi is not always reliable and the resident’s love to Wi-Fi will soon turn into hate if they struggle to connect or if they constantly have to provide credentials to log back into the network again. Landlords also need to make sure that sensitive information is protected at all times.
As a property owner investing in a Wi-Fi friendly property, one should look at the following:
- A high-performance network should be delivered to all units and thousands of users – even in environments with mixed indoor/outdoor spaces.
- Access points and wireless solutions that support many simultaneous devices and higher bandwidth applications should be deployed. This goes for challenging environments as well. In nerd-talk, that’s patented Beamflex+ antenna technology adapts for interference and other wireless challenges that tenants might face.
- Secure on-board management of Wi-Fi services should be executed so that it doesn’t become the most complicated thing on the property. Landlords should find a solution where residents can connect to any device, anywhere on the property, within seconds. Ensure that they only have to log in once and that they can do all of this through a secure platform with the strongest wireless encryption.
The Wi-Fi trend is becoming more and more popular among different types of housing, whether it is condos, apartments, homes, and student accommodation.
Young professionals are eager to work from home, students need to access course materials, and seniors want to communicate with healthcare providers – and as a landlord, you can make this all possible.
