Knowing what's happening on the end-user's in-home network is essential for service providers and network operators. In this article, we move into the engine room and look at the technology that takes troubleshooting to the next level.
When speaking about network monitoring, most people traditionally think of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). But in fact, streaming telemetry is a much more effective way to measure network performance.
Three key advantages of in-home monitoring with telemetry streaming:
1. Pushed data at pre-defined intervals
SNMP is a pull-based mechanism – the device only sends data when requested. And for many years, SNMP has been the primary way of collecting and organizing network information.
But as digital transformation has started to dominate software development, technology and online services, SNMP can no longer keep up with the required speed and scale.
– When working with Wi-Fi, you need a constant flow of real-time data. No interruptions. And SNMP is not able to deliver the data immediately because it needs to go through the available data source first. And by the time the data is ready, it might not be accurate anymore, explains Jens Bundgaard, Technical Program Manager at Icotera.
He elaborates:
– With telemetry streaming, the data is automatically and continuously pushed from the CPE (customer-premises equipment) to the front-end, where the data is displayed. So, instead of the service provider having to ask for the data, the CPE automatically sends the data at a constant, pre-defined interval. This results in a much more accurate in-home monitoring setup – both for the end-user and the supporter.
2. A snapshot of reality
With streaming telemetry, you're done making assumptions and guesses.
According to Jens Bundgaard, streaming telemetry can push the data as soon as an event occurs.
– Streaming telemetry gives real-time access to analytics-ready data. This means that when an end-user calls the help desk, the supporter simply pulls up the data from the specific CPE and then has insight into the network's behavior and performance at that very moment.
– In this way, there's a much greater chance of identifying and fixing the problem on the spot. And when the support call ends, the supporter can once again revoke access to the data. In this way, it's completely GDPR compliant and you will no longer have to deal with delayed data transmission, the Technical Program Manager says.
3. Proactive troubleshooting
Telemetry streaming does not only enable instant troubleshooting. It also stores the data, so the service provider or network operator can detect potential problems and solve them before they affect the customer.
– With telemetry streaming, the service provider can store the data for two weeks or more. In this way, the supporter can look back in time and see how the Wi-Fi was performing the last time a problem occurred.
– With these historical insights, you can proactively offer specific solutions to the issues before they occur. In this way, you will have a much happier customer and cut down on support costs too, Jens Bundgaard ends.
- When a customer calls and complains about a completely locked CPE, without telemetry streaming it’s often too late to investigate what's wrong, since the CPE is offline and connection is lost. Using telemetry streaming historic data from just before the lockdown of the CPE has been stored and saved in a database and can be reviewed.
FAST TRACK.....
- Telemetry streaming is a push-based mechanism, which means data is automatically pushed from the CPE to the front-end, where the data is displayed. This results in a much more accurate customer support tool setup – both for the end-user and the supporter.
- Telemetry streaming gives real-time access to analytics-ready data, so when an end-user calls the help desk, the supporter has insight into the network's behavior and performance at that very moment.
- Telemetry streaming saves data in a database, which makes data available - even if the CPE is offline.
- Telemetry streaming allows for proactive troubleshooting. Because data is stored, the service provider or network operator can detect potential problems and solve them before they affect the customer.
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