FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Maravedis Research Announces Winners of the Inaugural MDU Connectivity Awards 2026
Nine companies and deployments recognized for advancing managed Wi-Fi, PropTech, and resident connectivity in multifamily housing.
MIAMI, October 8, 2026. Maravedis Research, the leading research firm specializing in managed Wi-Fi and multifamily (MDU) broadband, announced the winners of the inaugural Maravedis MDU Connectivity Awards 2026, presented by Calix. Winners were revealed during a live online ceremony attended by operators, owners, service providers, and technology vendors from across the multifamily connectivity ecosystem.
The program drew 40 entries, and 25 finalists were shortlisted across nine categories. An independent panel of industry experts, drawn from property owners and operators, REITs, consultancies, analyst firms, and trade media, scored each entry on innovation and uniqueness, end-user experience impact, partnership strategy, measurable results, future growth vision, and overall impression. Sponsorship had no bearing on the outcome: every entry, including those from program sponsors, was evaluated by the same independent panel under the same criteria.
"Our inaugural winners reveal the future of multifamily connectivity, with networks that are measured by how well they serve residents, built to work in existing buildings, and directly linked to owner economics," said Adlane Fellah, CEO and Chief Analyst at Maravedis Research. “Every winner backed its entry with real deployment data, which is exactly what this market needs more of. Congratulations to the winners and to all 25 finalist entries for raising the bar in the first year of the program.”
“We're honored to be recognized by Maravedis with the Resident Experience Award. As resident expectations continue to rise, connectivity is becoming a key driver of satisfaction, retention, and differentiation in multifamily communities. Calix is committed to helping service providers innovate and deliver the secure, personalized experiences that enhance everyday life for residents and create lasting value for property owners." Jess Parsons, Sr. Director of Product Marketing– Calix
“Connected Building was developed to help multifamily properties modernize connectivity without the cost, complexity, and disruption traditionally associated with retrofits. We saw a clear market need for a more practical, scalable approach to property-wide connectivity upgrades, so we developed technology purpose-built for multifamily communities to address that challenge. We’re grateful to the dedicated teams across Xfinity Communities, as well as the customers and partners who helped shape and bring this innovation to market, and honored to see that work recognized by Maravedis.” Erica Sivertson, VP of Product Marketing & Strategy, Xfinity Communities
“Winning the Technology Excellence Award is a tremendous recognition of the work our team has done to remove one of the biggest barriers to broadband deployment in legacy MDUs. Positron’s GAM reuses existing in-building wiring, provides multi-subscriber OMCI integration to PON OLTs, and enables seamless provisioning and activation of gigabit-plus bandwidth and smart building applications without the cost, time, and disruption of rewiring. We are very proud to have this innovation recognized by Maravedis and its independent judging panel.” — Pierre Trudeau, President & CTO, Positron Access Solutions
The 2026 winners
BEST MANAGED WI-FI DEPLOYMENT
CBX Connect | Hub Knoxville
A high-density managed Wi-Fi deployment that supported nearly 2,000 residents, more than 10,000 devices, and 60 TB of traffic during move-in, with only nine support tickets and no system-wide outages.
MSP INNOVATION AWARD
GFiber and Quext
A partnership that brings multi-gig fiber, Wi-Fi 7, automated onboarding, personal networks and smart-building technology together on a single platform, validated through a relationship with Irvine Company.
BEST RETROFIT DEPLOYMENT
Xfinity Communities | Connected Building
A purpose-built multifamily gateway that delivers community-wide Wi-Fi over existing coax, avoiding a full overbuild, while adding PMS integration, smart-building capabilities and significant first-year deployment scale, including senior housing communities.
EMERGING COMPANY TO WATCH
Elauwit Connection
A Network-as-a-Service model in which Elauwit builds and funds the network, removing the capital barrier for owners. The company has grown to more than 37,000 units across 25-plus states in just over two years.
BEST PROPTECH TECHNOLOGY
SmartRent
An operating platform for multifamily that combines smart hardware, cloud software, AI-enabled workflows, automation and portfolio intelligence across 1.2 million connected apartments, with an estimated $6.7 million in damage prevented.
BEST PROPTECH DEPLOYMENT
Quext | The Collective at Norman
A Wallet Access deployment in which residents enrolled within hours of launch and now make more than 3,300 digital unlocks a day with zero reported lockouts, delivered with Preiss, IRIS Technologies, Allegion, Schlage, Apple and Google.
RESIDENT EXPERIENCE AWARD
Calix | SmartMDU and CommandIQ
A personalized resident connectivity experience that gives residents control over their network, security, device priority and guest access, with private networks that roam property-wide.
TECHNOLOGY EXCELLENCE AWARD
Positron Access Solutions | GAM
Gigabit services delivered over existing coax and telephone wiring where overbuild economics would otherwise prevent deployment, integrated with XGS-PON environments and supporting multiple services and providers.
BEST WLAN VENDOR IN MULTIFAMILY
RUCKUS Networks
A WLAN platform with MDU-specific features including adaptive antenna technology, DPSK-based resident security, Wi-Fi 7, cloud management and AI-driven operations, backed by a broad global partner ecosystem.
Congratulations to all finalists
Maravedis also congratulates the 2026 finalists, whose entries demonstrated the depth of innovation now present in the multifamily connectivity market: Aervivo, Calix, CBX Connect, Discernity, Elauwit Connection, GFiber and Quext, Internet Subway, Positron Access Solutions, Quext, RUCKUS Networks, Seldin LLC, SmartRent, WiBUZ and Xfinity Communities.
Platinum Sponsor
The Maravedis MDU Connectivity Awards 2026 are presented by Platinum Sponsor Calix. Maravedis thanks Calix for supporting the inaugural program, and thanks the judging panel for the time and expertise they contributed to evaluating this year’s entries.
About Maravedis Research
Maravedis Research is an independent research and advisory firm focused on managed connectivity. Through market forecasts, vendor and MSP profiles, and industry analysis, the firm supports property owners, operators, service providers, and equipment vendors in navigating the fast-growing MDU connectivity market. Visit www.shop.maravedis-bwa.com.
About the Maravedis MDU Connectivity Awards
Launched in 2026, the Maravedis MDU Connectivity Awards honor the most significant innovations and achievements across the multifamily connectivity ecosystem. Categories span managed Wi-Fi deployments, MSP innovation, technology excellence, resident experience, emerging companies, PropTech, retrofit deployments, and WLAN vendors. Details at shop.maravedis-bwa.com/pages/award-categories.
Media contact
Maravedis Research
info@maravedis-bwa.com
#mduawards #MDU #MultifamilyTech #ManagedWiFi #ConnectivityAwards #proptechawards
###