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jbraner's avatar
jbraner
Dialled in
2 years ago
Solved

setting up wifi pods

Hi,

I've just switched to a Volt package (many thanks to the forum admin who helped me with this) so I can get some wifi pods to help with my wifi coverage in my flat (some new wireless hifi stuff needs better connections). I realise that my router is not in a great position and my flat has thick brick walls - so conditions are not ideal. I think the pods will help though. (I bought a TP-Link extender and it does help but I want to take VM up on their wifi guarantee. I don't care about the £100 deal, I just want good wifi coverage in the flat) I know I'll need more than one pod - but I'll play the game and try them one at a time.

My router comes in to the flat in one corner and I need to extend the wifi coverage in to the far ends of the flat. In both of those corners, the neighbour's (otherside of the walls and downstairs) signals are a lot stronger than mine 😉  I don't have a lot of options for places to put the pod(s) but I'll start with one halfway to the two rooms that need coverage. if that works - great, but if not, I think I should move the pod to one of the rooms that needs better coverage and then get another pod for the other room. If that doesn't work (if the pods are too far from the router) then I'll need one pod in the original location, and one in each of the rooms that need coverage. If I could just get the 3 at once, I'd do this - but that's not possible.

Does this approach make sense?

Also, I have a question about 5G wifi. I'm currently running 2.4G and 5G on separate SSIDs, and the 5G is pretty hopeless. If my phone connects to it - I usually have to switch it over to the 2.4G network. I recently let the VM connect app combine these two - into one SSID, and that didn't work out very well. Anything connecting via 5G was dropping out - so I just put the two bands back to separate SSIDs (I'd probably be better off just disabling the 5G wifi).

Hopefully the 5G band will work better if I can boost the signal (with pods) so should I let the app combine the two bands again when I iinstall the first pod? Or should I avoid this (I'll either keep the SSIDs separate or just disable the 5G) until there is good wifi coverage in the flat - and then try setting both bands to the same SSID?

Thanks for any ideas. I don't know who else to ask - I wouldn't bother wasting my time with the phone support.

 Rgds,

John B

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

    See this re pods...

    VM Wifi is now “guaranteed” to 30 Mbps/room it’s now called… Wifi Max
    See if anything in here helps….

    https://www.virginmedia.com/wifi-max

    You call 0800 064 3850 to order the first one after scanning for blackspots using the connect App.- or just wait here for a VM person to respond in a day or two and they will sort the first one for you. If you do call dont get fobbed off by the offshore CS agents' saying you aren’t eligible - if you are - it is clearly stated on the webpage.

    Then,

    See if anything in message 5 in this thread helps to connect Pods…

    https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/WiFi-boosters-needed/m-p/5122436#M497217

    • jbraner's avatar
      jbraner
      Dialled in
      2 years ago

      [quote]However, once you receive the pod(s) you should be aware of the following requirements for the pods to work with any of the VM hubs.

      The Hub must be in 'Router Mode' and not have been changed to 'Modem Mode'
      Channel Optimisation must be left on
      The SSIDs must be the same and broadcast enabled
      The SSID must be password protected
      The Passphrases of the SSIDs must match
      As long as all of the above points are all met then the Pods will automatically connect to your Hub's WiFi and begin broadcasting. The wireless details from the Pods will be the same as the Hub's details, so no additional steps are required to connect up the devices in the home.[/quote]

      So, this comes back to the setting the same SSID for both bands. Maybe I'll just disable 5G to get things working - then enable it later.

      [quote]Just ensure you place the pod in an area of good coverage, keeping in mind it extends the signal it receives.

      So, you want the pod extending a good signal, not a bad one. [/quote]

      Yeah, I get this. The problem is how to know if the pod is getting a good signal (did I put it too far from the router). Maybe the app will help.

       

    • jbraner's avatar
      jbraner
      Dialled in
      2 years ago

      Then,

      See if anything in message 5 in this thread helps to connect Pods…

      https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/WiFi-boosters-needed/m-p/5122436#M497217

      It says

      However, once you receive the pod(s) you should be aware of the following requirements for the pods to work with any of the VM hubs.

      The Hub must be in 'Router Mode' and not have been changed to 'Modem Mode'
      Channel Optimisation must be left on
      The SSIDs must be the same and broadcast enabled
      The SSID must be password protected
      The Passphrases of the SSIDs must match
      As long as all of the above points are all met then the Pods will automatically connect to your Hub's WiFi and begin broadcasting. The wireless details from the Pods will be the same as the Hub's details, so no additional steps are required to connect up the devices in the home.


      So, this comes back to the setting the same SSID for both bands. Maybe I'll just disable 5G to get things working - then enable it later.

  • carl_pearce's avatar
    carl_pearce
    Superstar
    2 years ago

    Just ensure you place the pod in an area of good coverage, keeping in mind it extends the signal it receives.

    So, you want the pod extending a good signal, not a bad one. 

    • jbraner's avatar
      jbraner
      Dialled in
      2 years ago
      carl_pearce wrote:

      Just ensure you place the pod in an area of good coverage, keeping in mind it extends the signal it receives.

      So, you want the pod extending a good signal, not a bad one. 

      Yeah, I get this. The problem is how to know if the pod is getting a good signal (did I put it too far from the router). Maybe the app will help.

      • carl_pearce's avatar
        carl_pearce
        Superstar
        2 years ago

        The easiest way is to use another wireless device to check the signal.

  • jbraner's avatar
    jbraner
    Dialled in
    2 years ago

    Sorry about the lousy formatting. I just realised there are quote things to click on - and I can't edit the post.

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

    "I think I should move the pod to one of the rooms that needs better coverage"

    One thing to note, it’s useless putting a pod in the same location as the target device, it should be mid way between hub or other pod and the target device. There is nothing magic about this, if you think about it when the pod is in the same location as the device it will receive exactly the same strength signal as the device. Pods do NOT boost the signal, they just retransmit it to give greater range. The signal can never be greater than the originating source.

    • jbraner's avatar
      jbraner
      Dialled in
      2 years ago
      Tudor wrote:

      "I think I should move the pod to one of the rooms that needs better coverage"

      One thing to note, it’s useless putting a pod in the same location as the target device, it should be mid way between hub or other pod and the target device. There is nothing magic about this, if you think about it when the pod is in the same location as the device it will receive exactly the same strength signal as the device. Pods do NOT boost the signal, they just retransmit it to give greater range. The signal can never be greater than the originating source.

      Thanks Tudor - I do get this, but I have a limited amount of places I can put the pod(s). "In the same room" would mean on one side of the room (nearest the router side of the flat) while the device is on the other side of the room. These aren't huge rooms, but there does seem to be a difference in signal strength form one side to the other.

      Maybe I'll get lucky and the one pod - (almost) halfway between the router and the other rooms will be good. There are still a few walls to get through though.

       

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

    Pods can be very difficult to position correctly. It’s the reason why I use PoE ceiling mounted WiFi Access points that only need an Ethernet cabled back to my router.

  • jbraner's avatar
    jbraner
    Dialled in
    2 years ago

    Well, I thought I'd update this conversation - in case it helps anyone else out.

    I got some help from one of the VM forum admins - and was able to update my package to a Volt package with twice the broadband speed (256 Mbps now instead of 125) and some wifi pods - for less than I've been paying!. The pods do work!

    I'm the first to admit that my environment is not good for wifi. It's an old flat with thick brick walls and the hub is located in a boxroom in one corner of the flat. This location was ideal when I got my 384Kbps (yes that's less than half a meg) broadband from telewest. Wifi wasn't even around yet. Things are very different now - but it would be a big hassle to move the hub.

    My hub is stuck in a box room (with the PC, so it's great for that) in one corner of the flat. The first pod is just out in the next room (bedroom #2) and it covers half of the flat - most importantly the kitchen. (using the VM connect app) The kitchen was getting download speeds over 200 Mbps (faster than my broadband was until last week) but it's down to 150Mbps now with the second pod in place (still fantastic). Before the hubs it was more like 15 - 20 Mbps.

    The second pod is one room away from the first pod (bedroom #1) and it seems to be covering the other half of the flat - most importantly the living room. The living room was getting a little over 100 Mbps yesterday, down to 72Mbps tonight - but still a whole lot better than the 9 - 17 Mbps it was getting before.

    Hopefully I won't get any dropouts now - we'll see over the weekend, when all the neighbours seem to be streaming etc 😉

    The point of this post is just to say - that the wifi pods *do* work - even in a "less than ideal" environment like mine. I don't think you'd normally expect to need 2 pods in a 2 bedroom flat - but they're doing the job here.

    The other point is - once you connect (via PM) to one of the VM admins, they are super helpful (unlike the normal telephone support people).  It's super annoying that this is what you have to go through (every time your contract expires or maybe even more often) to get a decent deal - but that's not the fault of the forum admins, who are on our side 😉