By Steve Gorretta, Product Manager, NMTG

Do you know how fast the Internet connection is coming in and out of your house?  If you are like most broadband subscribers in the US, the answer is "no."  You probably also share the sentiment (and pain!) that regardless of how much you are paying, your ISP isn't delivering the promised broadband speed.

These are just examples of what you'll learn in our Bandwidth Consumption and Broadband Reliability whitepaper, published last year but now brought to life in this creative Cisco infographic which provides a visual snapshot of the challenges subscribers face with respect to the evolving connected home network.

When we conducted this research we gained insights into three main areas:  

1. The continued growth in connected home devices and services.  For example, the number of people who have four or more Internet-connected devices went from 32% to 44% in one year!
2. Broadband speed, contention (too many devices sharing one Internet connection), and outage issues.  Almost half of the respondents claim to experience an Internet outage on a monthly basis.
3. Consumer broadband preferences such as flat-fee or usage-based billing and reasons for switching providers.  Overwhelmingly subscribers still prefer a flat-fee broadband subscription.

There are many conclusions we can draw from this research.  For me, it confirms that while there is still a gap between the connected home subscriber's expectations and their overall actual experience, there are some very concrete opportunities for ISPs to immediately improve and differentiate themselves.  For example, better communication on outages combined with greater transparency on speed and bandwidth contention within the home would certainly make customers feel more informed about the service for which they are paying.

These concepts are driving the Cisco Prime Home vision of remote management for the connected home, and in fact our newest Bandwidth Monitor application takes direct aim at some of the challenges highlighted in this study.  Feel free to share your thoughts on the evolution of the home network, and while you're here perhaps take a tour of Cisco Prime Home!