Netgear expands AV-over-IP skills training in APAC
Netgear has expanded its Netgear Academy training platform with free courses from 12 audiovisual and broadcast technology suppliers, aiming to help address a regional skills shortage in AV-over-IP networking.
The platform is positioned as a single learning environment covering networking basics through to AV-over-IP deployment. Content is supplied by Netgear and partner organisations, spanning audio, video transport, control systems, and related AV networking technologies.
Participating manufacturers include Allen & Heath, AVB Academy, Crestron, Dante by Audinate, Lightware, MuxLab, NDI, Powersoft, PTZOptics, Q-SYS, SDVoE Alliance, and Sennheiser. All training content is free and available on demand.
Skills gap
The expansion comes as organisations across Asia Pacific increase their use of IP-based infrastructure in enterprise workplaces, education, government facilities, and live production. This shift is changing how AV systems are designed, installed, and managed, and increasing demand for staff who can work across traditional AV workflows and network engineering practices.
Integrators and in-house teams also face added complexity when projects combine products from multiple vendors, different transport protocols, and varied control environments. Training has traditionally sat within individual supplier programmes, which can leave gaps when technicians and engineers need to understand how devices and software from different manufacturers behave on the same network.
Netgear positions the academy as vendor-agnostic, with partner training alongside its own course catalogue. Topics include networking fundamentals, AV-over-IP protocols, configuration, troubleshooting, and deployment approaches used in field installations. The aim is to give learners a broader view of how technologies work together, regardless of brand selection on a project.
"Asia Pacific is one of the fastest-growing markets for AV-over-IP, and the demand for skilled professionals is outpacing supply," said Gus Marcondes, Global Training Manager at Netgear. "NETGEAR Academy was built on the belief that the AV industry thrives when knowledge is shared across the entire ecosystem. By offering free training on the full AV over IP ecosystem, including a growing roster of third-party manufacturers, we're giving integrators, IT teams, and broadcast engineers in APAC the end-to-end education they need to deploy and manage modern AV systems with confidence."
Accreditation
The platform holds AVIXA accreditation, allowing learners to earn Renewal Units towards CTS and ANP certifications. These credentials are widely used across the AV industry as markers of professional competence in installation, design, and networking.
For employers, accredited training can support internal development plans for technicians and engineers who need to keep pace with project requirements. For individuals, Renewal Units can reduce the burden of maintaining professional status as technology refresh cycles shorten and skills requirements extend further into IT networking and security.
The multi-manufacturer catalogue also reflects how AV-over-IP systems are typically assembled. Live production and corporate AV deployments often combine audio transport technologies, video distribution formats, control platforms, and endpoint devices from different suppliers. A unified training approach may appeal to integrators and managed service providers that need consistent onboarding for staff across multiple client environments.
Market focus
Netgear has increased its focus on professional AV in recent years, particularly networking products used in AV-over-IP installations. It sells switches, routers, and access points into business markets, alongside software and AV-over-IP-related products. Training is designed to build familiarity with the network configuration and troubleshooting practices used in AV deployments.
Across Asia Pacific, demand for networked AV has risen in campus upgrades, hybrid-work meeting spaces, and government modernisation programmes, as well as in broadcast and live events that rely on IP transport. The shift has increased the need for personnel who can manage multicast traffic, bandwidth planning, and device discovery alongside conventional AV commissioning tasks.
The academy content is available on demand, and Netgear is expected to continue adding courses and partner material as the programme develops.