A patents battle may be brewing in WiFi mesh software, which is in the limelight as operators around the world move to support multiple WiFi access points in each home, potentially doubling or even trebling the number of devices involved in next generation WiFi. A side-effect of this is likely to be more robust in-home WiFi, a dramatic reduction in sales of retail WiFi devices (improving operator control), and a reducing need for wired backhaul in most homes. And it all comes down to technical improvements which have been building up over the past 6-7 years. Eight months ago, Comcast came out with a surprise announcement at the CES show, saying that by the end of 2017 it would offer…