Reliable internet has become a must-have for any multi-dwelling property. What if owners could offer internet service so high-quality that it goes beyond a utility and becomes something that sets their property apart?
AI and cloud platform company Calix partners with service providers nationwide to encourage properties to do just that. As SmartMDU™ on the Calix One Platform expands in the multi-family market, Calix focuses on making the resident experience as strong as the connectivity behind it. TRD spoke with members of the Calix team about how award-winning SmartMDU helps service providers simplify property management for property owners while delivering an exceptional connected experience for residents.
“The first truly purpose-built software platform for MDUs”
Calix has been a leader in broadband technology for 26 years, rapidly expanding from fiber access networks to Wi-Fi systems and now managed services with an end-to-end AI and cloud platform.
The company has brought the same innovation to the multifamily space over the last couple of years. In October 2024, Calix unveiled SmartMDU, which allows service providers to deliver a managed Wi-Fi solution with purpose-built, secure in-unit and property-wide connectivity experiences.
“Calix partners with service providers to deliver high speeds through our network access solutions and Wi-Fi appliance portfolio,” says Jessica Parsons, senior director of solutions marketing at Calix. “We are also focused on helping providers deliver the desired and expected Wi-Fi experience in each market segment with purpose-built managed solutions.”
SmartMDU boasts both resident and property manager-facing tools that let properties of all sizes take advantage of resident self-serve activation, in-home network personalization, and extensive security features. These capabilities are designed to make the resident experience seamless and convenient, starting on move-in day.
To develop SmartMDU, Calix worked closely with its customer advisory board to capture feedback on what the MDU space needed.
“We engaged with service providers, (and their property owner and property manager customers), took the feedback and designed the first truly purpose-built software platform for MDUs,” says Andrew Dunn, Calix regional vice president. “Our best resource in terms of market understanding is our customers.”
Something for everyone: Owners, Property Managers and Residents
As Calix worked with customers, the company identified three core constituencies it needed to satisfy: property ownership, property management and residents.
“Prior to the launch of SmartMDU, there really was no one tool that could address those three core constituencies,” says Dunn, who experienced the process from both sides: first as a customer working for an MDU-focused internet service provider and later as part of the Calix team. “Calix took our feedback and the feedback of others and really tailored this solution to address all those needs.”
For building owners, Calix focused on structuring the product to support today’s highly connected lifestyle to reduce resident churn and increase NOI.
Property managers benefit from the multitude of capabilities available in PropertyWorx, an intuitive property management portal within SmartMDU.
“PropertyWorx enables those simple network tasks to be completed quickly and easily, such as branding your guest network with the property logo, changing network passwords and connecting devices to the IoT network across the property,” says Parsons. “If the property is not doing resident self-serve activation, they can also manage resident network activation with a few clicks.”
Property managers can also see the status of the Wi-Fi system in each unit if residents are having connectivity issues. Each resident has access to an app, which gives them control over their personal, in-unit Wi-Fi experience, allowing them to quickly set up Wi-Fi, parental controls, device prioritization and review security features.
“We’ve heard very strong feedback on how simple it is to onboard residents onto the property-wide network,” says Parsons. “When our service provider customers follow up with residents about that experience, they’re seeing customer satisfaction scores as high as 4.99 out of five.”
Flexibility for the future
For buildings seeking a Wi-Fi service provider, Dunn emphasizes the need to think ahead.
“The most important thing, in my view, is scalability,” he says. “These folks are looking for operational efficiencies throughout their business, and they don’t want to do something bespoke or new every time they deploy. The Calix One platform delivers on that promise in that it’s structured to allow for deployment realities.”
Calix has a software update cadence of every 91 days, and the SmartMDU solution will continue to improve with the multi-family environment. And there’s no need for service providers to send trucks every time a building wants to expand its networks or add new features, which can be deployed and managed remotely through Calix AgentWorkforce Cloud.
The scalability of Calix’s SmartMDU, which won the 2026 Internet Telephony Product of the Year Award and the 2025 Brilliance Award for Property Management Software, ensures buildings can handle whatever technology or market changes are coming so that properties can continue to differentiate and increase NOI.
“I’m asked all the time, ‘What’s going to happen in MDU connectivity in five years?’” says Dunn. “No one knows. But the beauty of the Calix One platform is that its evolutionary nature compensates for that. So, whatever is coming, whenever preferences change, whatever desires are different, we can address those evolutions along the way.”
To learn how Calix can level up your MDU’s connectivity experience, visit their website.