LAS VEGAS—Comcast will deploy a cloud-based smart home-networking solution that will allow its broadband customers to better control and monitor their residential internet usage.
Making the announcement at CES, Digital Home will be a free service to users of Comcast’s XB3 gateway, as well as the DOCSIS 3.1-capable XB6 gateway the company is about to deploy.
Comcast said 10 million of its customers already have the hardware to use the service. With CB6 rollout starting in this first quarter, the MSO expects 15 million eligible users by the end of 2017.
Customers can access Digital Home through a website or mobile app, as well as through the X1 Voice Remote.
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Using the service, parents can direct the network to disable the Wi-Fi access of their children at specific times, or put the whole house “to bed,” if they so choose.
Customers can also monitor who is using their network at any given time and how much data is being used. The service also has optimization features that help customers position their gateway and any associated Wi-Fi extenders to maximum reach within a domicile.
“Most consumers want to connect the products and devices in their home, simply and easily,” said Chris Satchell, executive VP and chief product officer for Comcast Cable, in a statement.
“By creating this new, home solution and offering it to millions of people as a part of their existing internet subscription, this combination of devices, speed, personalized controls, and features has the potential to accelerate IoT and the Digital Home into the mainstream in a simple, unique and impactful way,” Satchell added.