Epik Mellon - the QA Cafe Podcast

In this episode, I chat with Jason Thompson of TELUS, one of the major Canadian ISPs, about the customer Internet experience, what ISPs are doing with new tech, and why connecting real people and making their lives better is what broadband networking is all about.

Another person I love to work with that is as passionate about standardization as I am, Cristina Radelscu-Banu and I sit down and talk about the reality of deployed networks vs. bleeding edge, and taking a high-level view of technology. 

I have known so many great people who have not just made a difference in the industry, but a difference in my life, and Gavin Young from Vodafone is no exception. In this episode, we discuss a holistic view of technology, the era of smart CPE and smart networks, and how operators face an exhausting goal of ensuring things “just work” for everyone, all the time.

Listeners know that I love diving into the real stories behind who makes your Wi-Fi and Internet work. I can think of few more interesting stories than Aleksandar Radivojša from Serbia Broadband (now Yettel). In this episode we fly all over the map talking about language, being “in between the hammer and the horseshoe” of CPE quality and customer satisfaction, and how even bees have their own network protocols. 

Fritz! Box, the router with the great name deployed in Europe, always had a great story for me when it came to really owning a product line and the impact it has on end-users. In this episode, I chat with my friend Eric Van Uden of Fritz! (formerly AVM) about how customers view their Internet service, the retail router market, and what we love about being bridges between the worlds of technology and commerce.

While at the Fall 2025 Broadband Forum meeting in Tuscon, I sit down with Jeevithan Muttu, where we dive into the implications of LLMs for coders, for broadband, and for culture. Special thanks to @Viodi for recording!

It’s always rewarding to find someone with as much passion and energy for networking standards as I do. In this episode I chat with Pedro Mouta of the Wireless Broadband Alliance about the human side of standards, how we make the business case, and how Wi-Fi and broadband are really about one thing: the end users’ experience that is in the hands of operators.

A fantastic episode with one of the founding minds behind Broadband, Jason Livingood and I chat about luck, experience, the shifting landscape of broadband speed and content, and the good work of people like the late Dave Taht that has changed the way we treat the “old ideas” of how Internet services should be delivered.

In this episode I sit down with Tim Winters (QA Cafe CTO) and Steve Scapicchio (VP of Global Sales) ahead of our trip in 2 weeks to Paris. We talk about the things we’re excited to see, people we can’t wait to meet, and how QA Cafe loves standards and technology! Heading to Network X or prpl Summit? Come and find us. 

In this episode, I got to chat with Ronan Bracken of Condor Technologies, who is as much if not more passionate about technology marketing as I am. We talk about the world of BSP operational support services (OSS) and how it affects the end-user, plus our beards and the booming tech scene in Ireland.

I’ve wanted to get Craig back on the show since so much has been happening at the Broadband Forum in the last year, and so much more to come. Now is the time to get involved! We talk about the latest challenges facing service providers, the new OMDIA report coming soon, and what the BBF needs to hear from the industry at large. 

Is it possible that Anthony James is the “Most Interesting Person in Networking?” In this episode I got to hear some of the craziest stories I’ve ever heard about troubleshooting network issues: from the jungles of the Philippines to mine shafts deep below the earth and everything in between. And what does it all boil down to? Packets are truth, and if you’re trying to solve problems without them, you’re just guessing. And oh yeah, he’s a stunt pilot too. You have to watch this one!

In this episode, I got to sit down with one of the mavericks of consumer network technology, Wouter Cloetens, and talk about his work at the prpl Foundation, the inevitability of open-source and standardized technologies, and how an excitement for nerdiness is what pushes us all to drive further. 

Fresh on the heels of Angacom, I had the opportunity to sit down with Tiffany “Tiff” Groves of the Broadband Forum team to discuss rewarding work, impostor syndrome, and how, perhaps someday, we may no longer need to say the phrase “women in tech.” 

In this episode, I get to sit down with one of my heroes, Gerald Combs, who created and has maintained Wireshark for decades - one of the most critical projects to everything we do today in a connected world. We talk about a passion for problem solving, the magic of open-source, the old days of pre-standardized networking, and how so much of what society relies on is held together by a few very dedicated people.Donate to the Wireshark Foundation here: https://wiresharkfoundation.org/donate/Find the Wireshark Foundation Podcast on YouTube: @SharkBytesWireshark

In this episode, I talk with long time friend and colleague Alexandre Martins of Automa Networks in São Paulo, Brazil, about the broadband knowledge gap, the complexity of this little box we call “Wi-Fi Router” and what operators can do to get out of their own way as bandwidth alone isn’t a place to grow.

In this episode, Randy Krull brings me up to speed on the state of television in a world of streaming and cable-cutting. We chat about local channels, licensing, fragmented user experiences, and the future of content distribution. 

In this episode, I sit down with Peter Mackenzie, a Wi-Fi training guru with MQ Training Services, about the excitement of wireless technology, the necessity of community, protocol analysis and magic. 

In our 50th episode, I chat with John Barlow from Consult.Red, who, like many of us, came into the industry because of where their passions took them. He’s started his own podcast called “Simply Connected” and we discuss our work on the smart home, smart CPE, and why our industry is so fun. 

Direct from the 2025 Hong Kong Broadband Forum meeting, Peter and I chat about the global impact of standards, how it relates to the open-source community and prpl Foundation, and how what makes networks go is the people and relationships behind them.

In this episode, I chat with Donovan Smith of Open Network Technical Solutions, who has 20 years of experience helping ISPs deliver successful service, especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 operators in the Caribbean. We talk about what users want, the power of the “quality of experience” view, and what operators can do to be successful. 

I was able to get the illustrious Dave Taht back on the show, where we talk about how things have changed for networking even in the last year, the importance of redundant systems, and the “perfect storm” required for technology advancement and adoption. Also recorded from his boat, as the first ever podcast recorded over Starlink. 

In this episode, I got to sit down with Marcel Sponder from Vodafone, who has been working directly on the new services operators offer subscribers, most notably Vodafone’s Secure Net. We chat about how cool it is to see one’s own work benefit millions of people, the things made possible by more powerful home gateways, and more. 

I was very excited for this episode! I got to chat with Chris LaPré from the CSA, one of the leaders behind the Matter protocol that is unifying the smart home. We talk about how he got into the business, how the smart home market has evolved, and what providers and end-users can expect to make this stuff actually work together.

In this first episode of 2025, you experience my FOMO of missing out on CES firsthand. Instead, I live vicariously through Ken Pyle, who got to experience the very broad spectrum of the latest technology at CES, from smart home to localized nuclear power plants.

A handful of people, maybe fewer, understand pcaps like Chris Greer. There are a handful that are responsible for making the Internet work through that understanding, too. In this episode, I chat with Chris about the state of packet-level analysis, how important it is to successful problem solving, and why anyone can - and should - start looking at pcaps.

At the Broadband Forum Fall 2024 meeting in San Diego, I got to sync up again with Paul Keator from DISH Networks, one of the people in the “room where it happened” when we decided to make the podcast. We chat about how the industry has changed and a bunch of best practices that operators of all sizes should consider when building out their networks for the future.

I finally got to chat with Dmitri Vellikok, VP of Embedded Security at F-Secure, who have found a sorely needed niche in providing network security solutions to the broadband and mobile consumer market through ISPs. We talk about the risks posed to consumers, what people are doing about it, and that all-important home gateway!

Back in the studio, Bob Carrick and I talk about the tradeshow circuit, the struggles and opportunities of tier 2/3 operators, and how most broadband users just need a great service experience at all levels.

In this episode, we were on the floor of Network X 2024 in Paris! I got to sit down with Peter Steinhaeuser, CEO at embeDD Gmbh, and Mika Lehtinen, Research Director at F-Secure, to talk about the history and future of the home gateway, the security threats that target them, and what companies and open-source communities are doing about it. 

In this episode I got to sit down with Michael Shaw of Axiros NA, a long time friend and one of the people I consider “most interesting people in the world,” on how everything you learn in life, from anywhere, will prepare you for a career in networking (and then some!)

Our first ever live stream episode from Durham, NH, at the UNH InterOperability Laboratory. Tim and I talk about the 20th anniversary of TR-069, why collaborating with other engineers matters, and what things look like for the future of the home network.

In this episode I set down with QA Cafe’s Tom Peterson, the working hands behind most of our network analysis solutions including CloudShark and Packet Viewer, about how network packets are how we learn how things work, how they solve problems (especially in cybersecurity), and what 20 years in technology looks like. 

In this episode, I chat with Joday Botham from the UK AltNet “Brsk” about how he got his start in construction and what struggles ISPs face when delivering quality broadband to end-users who want it to just work.

In this episode I sit down with Wojciech Romek at Icotera about getting the “networking bug” early on, always having something new to learn, and how Wi-Fi has stood the test of time.

In this episode I chat with Patrick Moreno, Western Regional Sales Account Manager at ZyXEL Communications, about the realities of rural broadband, what it’s like to be on the tradeshow circuit, and how cutting-edge tech aligns with the needs of connected consumers.

In this episode, Jason sits down with Brian Dubreuil, one of the magician’s behind customer success and support here at QA Cafe. They chat about Wi-Fi, being an extension of our customers teams, and why The Princess Bride is the greatest movie of all time.

In our first multi-guest episode for Epik Mellon, we sit down with Brennan Martin, Technical Leader at Cisco Meraki, and Alex Burger, Principal Engineer at Cisco Meraki, about networking expertise, pcaps, and working remotely both before and after covid.

Alright, it’s time for a deep dive into the standards organization I work with most: the Broadband Forum. CEO Craig Thomas and I sit down and chat about the future of the connected home, why we love standards, and why getting involved pays off for companies.

In this episode we sit down with Massimo Zefferino of zfactor, the digital marketing firm that handles our work at QA Cafe and many others in the broadband and computer networking industries, about finding a niche, sticking with it, and making sure that everyone everywhere is always thinking about the end-user first when designing their brand and their messaging around technology. 

In this episode, I talk with Tzvi Skapinker of Friendly Technologies about the evolution of home network management for ISPs and how something that seems like a failure can turn out to be the change you need to get in on the future you were meant for. 

In this episode I sit down once again with Tim Winters, our CTO at QA Cafe, to talk about all of the changes we’ve experienced in the last year, the challenges with making complex test and network information accessible to everyone, and flying to Australia for IETF meetings.

Almost exactly one year after Epik Mellon began, I chat once again with Jeremy Brown of Trinity Cyber about the newest threat landscape, the technology skills gap, and doubling a company's size in a single year. 

In this episode I got to talk with Elizabeth Parks from Parks Associates, the premier research firm for the connected consumer industry, about the pace of technology over the last 40 years and how everyone, everywhere in the supply chain, needs to have their mind on the consumer experience.

In this episode, Josh Seidemann of the NTCA joins me to talk about the state of broadband in rural areas and how independent ISPs act as technology leaders for their neighbors and their communities. 

In this episode, I chat with the famous Dave Taht, one of the top minds working on improving how the Internet handles the applications we use more and more every day. We talk music, bufferbloat, and the double-edged sword that is network latency. 

In this episode, I chat with Evgueni Tzvetanov of Verizon about our work at prpl Foundation, the future of the home gateway, and what we all want out of AI and home automation. 

In this episode I chat with Steve Scapicchio, one more denizen of the “fun zone” at QA Cafe and our VP of Global Sales about moving from engineering to sales, keeping strong relationships, and customer success as a vision.

In this Episode, Diana Bikbaeva of Marashlian and Donahue, a boutique law firm focused on telecomms and startups, talks about her passion for AI law and the brave new world we find ourselves in. 

In this episode, I chat with my good friend Mauro Tilocca of Telecom Italia about the new world of automation for broadband, the benefits of AI, and how our love of language translates to a love of networking.