In a recent edition of the Bravas Luxury Living podcast, we talked to Bryce Nordstrand from Access Networks about upgrading our home networks. While there was a lot of good conversation about Wi-Fi 6 and wired vs wireless and technology trends, one issue caught many people’s attention. How do you keep up with all the changes in technology? Bryce had a great insight.

So, you are watching a YouTube video, and it’s just brilliant. Everyone in the house should see something – but rather than just all gather around your iPad, is there a better way? The answer is, of course, yes, but only for some. If your TV is enabled for Airplay2 (meaning it’s probably not much more than a year old), you can stream from your Apple device straight to the TV. If it is older than that, you may need an Apple TV – but that’s for another blog. Older versions of AirPlay may be supported on some devices, but you need AirPlay2 for the whole experience.

And just like that, human-centric lighting went mainstream. If that means nothing to you, let me catch you up.

Human-centric lighting is artificial light modified to behave more like natural light. Because our bodies have adapted to operate under natural light, this technology is expected to improve sleep quality, mood and productivity, while also reducing risk of heart attack, lowering blood pressure and more. Companies like Ketra and USAI have been on the forefront of creating the technologies allowing light to automatically track the color of the sun throughout the day.

It’s frustrating for sure. You’ve taken all the steps to get the fastest connection possible; you purchased the 1GB plan from your service provider, got the latest Wi-Fi system installed, and have the latest phone model in your hands. You gleefully open your speed test app only to see 450Mbps instead of the 1GB you’ve been striving for. It may seem like a travesty to only get half of what was advertised, but the fact is you will never see 1GB speed on your phone (for now), and the difference between a 450Mbps and 1GB to a single device is absolutely nothing in the real world.

We spoke with the experts in this field, Access Networks, who know through a combination of math, physics and properly engineered Wi-Fi standards-based safeguards that the achievable connection for most mobile devices in real-world situations is typically 30-40% of the negotiated connection rate. In this blog, we’ll discuss how we got to those numbers, limiting factors, and what key performance indicators to use when sizing up a home network.