Forum Discussion

peterts's avatar
peterts
Tuning in
2 months ago

Problem with WiFi Pods

I have a large house and three white WiFi pods. On the VM connect app one shows as great (green dot), the other two as 'Fair' (yellow/orange dot). I have tried relocating them but cannot get better WiFi.

My house is unique in age and layout. Half dates back to 1800, the rest to 1992. However, the Hub is at one end so this and the solid brick walls affect WiFi.

A VM engineer who visited on another matter told me that the only answer is to replace the pods with higher strength black pods. However, these are incompatible with the white pods and VM will only supply black pods on a sequential basis (i.e. one after another) not simultaneously.

To say this would be inconvenient is an understatement as we do not wish to be a WiFi desert for a couple of weeks or more. We'd be happy if VM could supply all pods at the same time or even if an engineer came to do the replacement. 

Any solution? Not sure how this problem fits with the VM WiFi speed undertaking?

23 Replies

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  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    2 months ago

    With older houses and thick walls, you may need to use PLA’s to distribute the signal via the house wiring.

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person
    2 months ago

    I presume you are using only WiFi for the pods. To get the best signal the pod should be mid way between the sending station and the receiving device. You can make them much better by Ethernet wiring each one back to the hub. You can then place the hub in the room where the target device is located and get a much better signal.

  • peterts's avatar
    peterts
    Tuning in
    2 months ago

    Adduxi - OK but VM don’t do this as far as I am aware?

    Tudor - I fully understand this but the size of the house makes this a challenge. Also I have not heard of VM doing Ethernet cabling to pods.

    Again, how does the restricted WiFi I am getting fit with the VM WiFi guarantee?

     

  • peterts's avatar
    peterts
    Tuning in
    2 months ago

    I’m not getting the 30Mbps - I never have done in the years I have been with VM.

    • jpeg1's avatar
      jpeg1
      Alessandro Volta
      2 months ago

      You really need to run a Cat 6 ethernet cable to the old part of the house, connecting to one of the pods.

      BTW keep an eye/finger on those white pods - there have been reports on here of property damage due to overheating and smoke.

    • Martin_N's avatar
      Martin_N
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      2 months ago

      Hi Peterts,

      Thank you for your post. We're very sorry to hear about the issue with your WiFi signal. 

      As confirmed in your original post we wouldn't be able to swap all 3 at once. It would be a case by case basis which would need testing of speed through pods and in different area's of the property. 

      You have mentioned as well that you haven't got 30mbps. Is this for all pods and for connecting to the hub directly? Have you been through the connect app to see if any suggestions are provided for help?

      ^Martin

      • peterts's avatar
        peterts
        Tuning in
        2 months ago

        Hi Martin.

        30mps through one pod. The other rated yellow. Have tried resiting pods but cannot get any improvement. Have tried PLAs but I have two separate primary electrical circuits so these don’t work.

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    It can't be said often enough: wired trumps wireless every time. Hire an electrician to drill through the walls to run Ethernet cables to backhaul every pod to the hub. As for the pods: the black ones are superior as they have two Ethernet ports instead of the one port for white ones, so you need to get VM to replace your white pods.

  • peterts's avatar
    peterts
    Tuning in
    2 months ago

     No pods are connected by ethernet. The length of cables needed would be significant! Around 40 metres I estimate to the furthest. Presently have two working (hopefully!) as a daisy chain. Fortunately the TV (furthest from the Hub is cabled by a coaxial cable. 

    • Tudor's avatar
      Tudor
      Very Insightful Person
      2 months ago

      Length of Ethernet cable is not a problem, max length is 100m (328 feet). Always but, always the best to use Ethernet. My house is flood wired with Ethernet and I used well over 200m.

      • mda99das's avatar
        mda99das
        Up to speed
        1 month ago

        I had the insight to use ethernet cable back in 2000 when I did my extension. That was back in the days when I got my first Pipex ADSL connection. In those days my ethernet cable was used to carry a BT phone line to the rooms as I had the insight to figure that RJ11 would not be needed in the future and I would be repurposing the cat 5e cable. I also installed co-ax at the same time, and now my VM boxes uses that coax and the cat 5e easily gives a gig transfer. I'm sure with time, things will be fibre based, with a quantum box of some description, maybe just maybe ...

  • peterts's avatar
    peterts
    Tuning in
    2 months ago

    Understood but I wasn’t expecting this to be necessary when I signed up to VM several years ago! I expected VM to do whatever was necessary to ensure a strong WiFi coverage - not for me to have to get in a contractor to add more cables! It’s not what I signed up for. If it cannot be fixed I’ll have to look at options at contract renewal. Until last year VM was the only option but Open Reach are now installing fibre cable in our village. I would be sorry to leave though. 

    • jb66's avatar
      jb66
      Very Insightful Person
      2 months ago

      You'll be hard pressed for any ISP to fully own your wifi network, the ones that do your paying £10+ extra a month for equipment you'll never own.

      It might be worth considering taking ownership of your own wifi network and investing into a mod range mesh system

    • Tudor's avatar
      Tudor
      Very Insightful Person
      2 months ago

      "I expected VM to do whatever was necessary to ensure a strong WiFi coverage" You have got to understand that VM do not sell WiFi, they sell broadband connections. They provide users with a very basic WiFi system. With a large property I doubt that any ISP you go to would be able to provide adequate ‘out of the box’ WiFi. I actually have a second ISP connection and all they provide is just an ONT, it’s up to the users to provide their own router and WiFi network equipment, works great with my router which allows for multiple WAN connections. 

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    2 months ago

    With such an old large house I would suggest no ISP will be able to cover the entire property with any normal single Router/Hub.  If you want full WIFI coverage you will need to invest in suitable hardwar, preferably with a wired backhaul to the Router.

  • peterts's avatar
    peterts
    Tuning in
    2 months ago

    OK. So why offer a WiFi ‘guarantee’? So I guess I need to apply for my £100 under the ‘guarantee’….? 

    • Adduxi's avatar
      Adduxi
      Very Insightful Person
      2 months ago

      Absolutely apply.  It’s a one off payment I believe. 

      • Anonymous's avatar
        Anonymous
        2 months ago

        Yes it is a one-off payment, and as soon as the customer accepts it as credit on their account, then that’s it. Don’t complain again about WiFi speeds, don’t expect to use it as an excuse to leave early without penalty - from VM’s perspective (and contract law to be honest), you have been compensated, you have been paid off, now clear off and don’t bother us again.

    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      2 months ago

      You need to read the terms of this ‘guarantee’, At first glance it appears that VM are promising good WiFi connectivity everywhere in your house. That simply isn’t possible to do. WiFi is really a weird, black-art.

      What they do offer, and to be fair this is actually better than most other ISPs, is that they claim that if you don’t get a minimum of 30 Mb/s* throughout your house, then they will supply you with up to three of their pods. And if that still doesn't work then they will offer you a one-off £100 credit to your account, and then wash their hands of the problem - you’ve been paid off, go away!

      * may have changed, but BT et. al. only ‘guaranteed’ 20 Mb/s.

  • mda99das's avatar
    mda99das
    Up to speed
    1 month ago

    The only way to use Pods is to have ethernet backhaul. This is how it's done in business, hotels, public places etc etc. Anything else is just false and leads to increased latency.