CommScope Holding Company Inc. today introduced a new wireless access point, the R770, that can be used to provide Wi-Fi coverage at locations such as hotels and factories.

Nasdaq-listed CommScope is a major provider of networking equipment that generated more than $9.2 billion in revenue last year. Within the hardware supply chain, it largely operates upstream from the likes of Cisco Systems Inc. and Juniper Networks Inc. CommScope mainly makes components such as cables, antennas and interference mitigation modules that other companies use to build communications gear.

CommScope also has a presence in certain downstream sections of the market. The R770 access point that the company debuted today is made by its Ruckus Networks subsidiary, which sells Wi-Fi equipment and data center products such as Ethernet switches. Ruckus Networks operated as part of hardware maker Arris International Ltd. until 2019, when the latter company was acquired by CommScope for $7.4 billion.

The tentpole feature of the new R770 access point is that it implements Wi-Fi 7. That’s the latest and fastest iteration of the Wi-Fi wireless connectivity standard. Theoretically, access points based on the technology can provide more than four times as much bandwidth as earlier equipment. 

“Emerging use cases in many challenging environments will benefit tremendously from Wi-Fi 7 in coming years,” said Ruckus Networks Senior Vice President Bart Giordano.

The R770 is based on Qualcomm Inc.’s Networking Pro Series Gen 3 wireless chip. The chip can provide up to 33 gigabits per second of bandwidth for wireless connections. In practice, speeds vary depending on how network equipment makers implement Qualcomm’s silicon. 

The R7700 supports many of the features that make Wi-Fi 7 faster than earlier iterations of the wireless standard. One of the most important features on the list is a technology called MLO, which is short for multilink operations.

Until the introduction of Wi-Fi 7, a device could only exchange data with a nearby router or access point via a single radio signal stream. MLO enables devices to send data via multiple streams at once. This significantly increases the rate at which information can be transmitted, which translates into faster connections. 

The R770 combines the technologies included in the Wi-Fi 7 standard with features developed by CommScope. According to the company, the access point features an artificial intelligence engine called Ruckus AI that can detect technical issues and prioritize them based on severity. Moreover, CommScope says, its software generates troubleshooting suggestions for each malfunction that it spots.

The company has also equipped the R770 with a cybersecurity feature called Dynamic PSK. In a typical Wi-Fi network, all the devices that have access use the same password to sign in. The R770’s Dynamic PSK feature makes it possible to assign a separate password to each endpoint, which allows administrators to regulate user access in a more fine-grained manner. 

Though it’s designed mainly to provide Wi-Fi connectivity, the R770 also supports other wireless networking technologies. The device includes a radio that can send signals via BLE and Zigbee, two wireless protocols commonly used by connected devices. CommScope also plans to add support for two additional protocols, Matter and Thread, that focus on the same use case.

The company envisions customers deploying the R770 in a wide range of environments. CommScope says that the access point lends itself to providing Wi-Fi coverage at hotels, plants, residential buildings and schools. Plus, the R770 is capable of operating outdoors, which means it can also be used in stadiums.

Photo: CommScope