Your device could become obsolete before it even hits the market. The days of purchasing a static module firmware that lasts for decades is gone. New and wonderful ecosystems are being developed such as Apple’s Airplay/Home kit, Google’s Thread, Amazon’s Alexa/Echo to name a few. Forward-thinking Wi-Fi providers understand that the landscape is evolving and they need to have features to allow for future enhancements to be OTA downloaded into the Wi-Fi module/radio.
Support
Different Wi-Fi module suppliers offer different levels of support. You can negotiate support up front as part of you purchase agreement. You’ll also need to ask the turn around time for support. In some cases if it takes several days for the manufacturer to get back to your engineers, you can miss deadlines. It is also helpful to use a company that has offices in different parts of the world which happen to be local to your office.
