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Drefsab's avatar
Drefsab
On our wavelength
2 years ago

Ordering more pods?

Hi guys, virgin are currently doing FTTP in my area so im looking to join up when im able to. I see that virgin give's/sell's plume superpods for wifi boosters but only 3 of them? is there an option to buy more? The reason I ask is my house is large and even plume's own planner suggests 4 to 5 pods to full coverage.

My current ISP im using 4 wifi 6e devices for the wifi mesh and it just about covers all areas of the house (with the kitchen having the weakest signal).

So im working out if virgin's hardware will be fit for purpose or will I have to buy my own mesh system the orbi 6e was coming in at just over 1.5k so ideally would like to have to avoid doing that if possible. Also is it possible to order them at point of order, id hate to have to do what I've been through previously IE get broadband and it covers only a couple of rooms, spend ages on a call get 1 booster sent and wait a week, then call back up get another booster sent etc until finally I had full coverage just over a month after broadband activation all the while having the family kicking off at me as its not wokring.

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  • jbrennand's avatar
    jbrennand
    Very Insightful Person
    2 years ago

    No - you can only have a maximum of 3 Pods.  They will never be as good as getting your own equipment  - and using the Hub in "modem only" mode will be the best solution.  But on a new Volt package they would be "free" to you - so perhaps worth a try.

    But, will your current system not suffice?  You mention "Orbi 6e" - is that the Netgear Orbi system? Or something else?  What exact model do you have?  The Orbi 6e should work exceptionally well on a VM Hub in modem mode - its a top end piece of kit.  Or have you not bought it yet ??

    If not there may be cheaper options you should consider.  TP-Link Deco range with 3/4/5 units - for example

     

    • Carley_S's avatar
      Carley_S
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      2 years ago

      Hi Drefsab 

      Welcome back to the community forums. Thanks for getting in touch regarding your WiFi pod query.  

      Unfortunately, we can only provide up to 3 pods per customer/household as jbrennand has already kindly advised. If you would like more information on 3rd party devices and then the community will be able to assist further with any questions and recommendations to help with your own in home set up. 

       

      Please let us know if you are having any further issues or have any questions at all. We'll be here to help on the community forums if needed :). 
       

  • Drefsab's avatar
    Drefsab
    On our wavelength
    2 years ago

    Hi Carley thanks for getting back to me, maybe if the pods with the 5x hub are wifi 6 it might work but it will probably suck having to wait a long time to get enough to cover the home, and having the kid and wife moaning all the while that they get no signal at the opposite side of the house than the router would be.

    @jbrennand currently im using vodafone who provide a wifi 6e mesh system, it works really well better than anything I've ever used before but its tied to the package so if I cancelled service with them the hardware will have to go back to them and the "superwifi" mesh system will be deactivated. I have not bought any other hardware yet as I've not had a need to. I'm just thinking through what it will take to switch to virgins FTTP as they will be the first and currently only provider in the area. I wanted a mesh wifi 6e system, that has muiltigig ethernet ports for wired backhaul, so the Netgear orbi or maybe tp link deco xe75 pro would do the trick.

    The biggest issue for me is from what I can find out modem mode does not work in the 5x hub yet. So until this works that could be a deal breaker because that would stop me using my own hardware properly, double nat will play havock with my remote working and mine and the kids gaming.

    • Vinegar's avatar
      Vinegar
      Up to speed
      2 years ago

      You are right in that currently modem mode doesn't work on the 5x, when it will, who can tell, best to assume never and work from that?

      Double NAT is annoying but can (usually) be worked around if necessary, I don't have a 5x, but for anyone who does, does it have an option to set up a 'DMZ' address? If so then use that as the WAN address of your own router and so any unsolicited inbound traffic will be sent to it to be dealt with by your own kit. Gaming is never as big an issue as it is sometimes portrayed, despite what is often claimed, it should never be the case that ports have to be opened and all sorts of forwarding rules set up - it's just not the way that it all works.

      Now as per the VM pods, yes you are limited to only three, and depending on what tariff you are on, you may have to pay the princely sum of £8 per month for the privilege - they may, or may not work, and if they don't then according to the Ts&Cs, VM pay you a one-off £100 credit to your account and then wash their hands of the whole matter and you are on your own!

      Personally, I don't think they are a particularly good choice, but, as they say, your milage may vary!

  • fibreking's avatar
    fibreking
    On our wavelength
    2 years ago

    You don’t ‘have’ to use Orbi with modem mode. At my parent house just plug into the VM Hub and on the Orbi turn off DHCP. I.e. allow the Hub 5 to issue and manage IP addresses for all devices.