Viewpoints

Let’s talk about your vitals. Yeah, yeah, regularly check cholesterol, heart rate per minute, oxygen levels, blah blah blah. I’m talking about the “real vitals”. Your network’s performance!

By: Bryan J. Rader, President of MDU, Pavlov Media

Everyone is talking about health and wellness these days. Walk 10,000 steps. Sleep up to eight hours a night. Drink eight glasses of water. Eat protein. Don’t stress. Minimize sodium. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink (unless you are at Broadband Communities Summit) …

So many rules for a healthy lifestyle … and all good advice. But why don’t we have “health and wellness” tips for broadband providers? After all, we need mental health and wellness too.

So, I’ve created the first ever health and wellness center for the broadband market, especially helpful for the broadband providers that serve multifamily.

Yes, I know. We need it. We deal with the challenges of building great networks, supporting our subscribers 24/7, along with responding to onsite staffs and property owners as well. All of these factors can put pressure on you and impact your lifestyle, unless you follow these steps.

So, let’s start with nutrition. We all know we should have a balance of protein, carbs and limit sugar intake. That’s a start. But we must also make sure to get a diet filled with “fiber.”

You see, this will improve your performance over the long term, and lead to a healthier outcome.

No, introducing a little coax will not kill you, but it can certainly slow down your bodily functions. Even healthy coax that appears like it can be just as good as fiber is not the same thing. It’s a processed food, an artificial sweetener. Stay away from it. It’s all bad. You want more fiber. It will optimize your performance.

Next is exercise. What is your current regimen? Do you get your steps in everyday? Do you go to the gym? What about the clubhouse, pet walking area, or pickleball courts? Yes, I say walk “all” of it. Look, many of the service providers in our business still think they can sit at their desk all day, take a few Zoom calls, and feel they know how their MDU communities are doing. I say that is the least healthy thing you can do.

How do you know how your residents are feeling, or your property managers? How well is your network performing if you never go on site? Walk your properties. Get your steps in! Often. Get out and test Wi-Fi signals at the pool, the clubhouse, other common areas. Go into a few vacant units and test signals. Re-check your original design. Talk to your customers in person. This will definitely help you lower your blood pressure.

Now, on to your vitals. Yeah, yeah, regularly check cholesterol, heart rate per minute, oxygen levels, blah blah blah. I’m talking about the “real vitals”. Your network’s performance! How reliable is it? What speeds are residents experiencing? Is there latency? What about bandwidth capacity? You have a lot you are responsible for. Make sure these numbers are healthy.

Next, focus on your mental health. Are you taking care of this? The best way I know to maintain a healthy brain is to build strong relationships. Someone you can talk to, listen to, work with, be with. And they must be “symmetrical” relationships!

Who better to do that with than your clients? Spend as much time with them as possible.

Get to know what their strategies are for deploying certain infrastructures in their communities. Listen to their needs and lead your organization to address their concerns. The success of mental health is built around avoiding disputes and service interruptions. If you have a strong bi-directional communication plan in place, you will build healthy long term client relationships.

Finally, I always support “therapy” as a great part of any health and wellness effort. And where are you going to get therapy that reinforces positive thinking and elevated personal gains? At Broadband Communities Summit 2025 in June of course.

Just imagine. It’s your own three-day therapy session, with people from all over the industry there to share their views, ideas, suggestions, as well as to collaborate on solutions to any of your problems. It’s better than an hour on the couch, or a weekend at a med spa. You’ll come away refreshed and re-energized.

Take it from me. All of these steps will form the basis of your broadband mental health and wellness program. But you have to make the decision to get started. Put down that burger … time to go to work!

Bryan J. Rader is President of MDU for Pavlov Media.

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Learn more about Broadband Communities Summit 2025 in Houston.