POD not connecting

[brightonjohn]

My POD arrived a couple of weeks ago and despite having tried it in every spare socket in the house the LED never gets beyond pulsing. Some of the sockets are even in the same room as the router. I have a number of ethernet over tp-link mains extensions running from one tp-link source but these all have their wifi section disabled. I'm still wondering though if this is the problem with the POD or whether it is a faulty unit? Does the POD communicate with the router via the mains or by wifi and if by mains should the router be plugged directly into a wall socket?

[g0akc]

Did you look at the 'information' pages (link and quote below)

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/broadband/intelligent-wifi-pods-new

Our new Intelligent WiFi Pods connect to the Hub wirelessly, via the WiFi connection. They offer faster and more reliable coverage. They use cloud technology to learn how you use WiFi (where you use it, what devices you connect and the time of day you use them), and constantly update themselves to create the best conditions for your household.

So the new PODs connect over Wi-Fi whereas the old 'boosters' connected via the mains wiring.

The mains connection shouldn't matter.

Is there an issue with Wi-Fi in your house? (presumably there's some issue since you've ordered a Pod).

Try using a free Wi-Fi analyser app to see if that shows anything.

[brightonjohn]

Yes, I have read the information.

Yes, I had worked out that it uses the existing WiFi and not in fact as MESH does, create it's own.

No I didn't have a black spot but then NO I didn't order the POD - I was initially offered a more advanced one to try but there was a **bleep** up in the ordering system and this was the compensation prize!

Given all of that I still think it should connect and not just sit there pulsing.

[Paul_DN]

Hi John, 

Thanks for reaching out to us in our community and welcome back, I am sorry to hear you aren't able to get your pod set up, 

Looking our end I can see you haven't called in to get this looked into, please give us a ring so we can either help resolve this or arrange a replacement.

Regards

Paul.

[brightonjohn]

Hi Paul, when you say give us a ring is there a number please?

[DinoParry · Accepted solution]

I had the exact same issue.  It was because I had "customised" the wifi settings on the hub away from the defaults.

Make sure you have both 2.4g and 5g enabled, same, single SSID and channel optimisation switched on.  After that the pods started to work (takes about 5 mins for the pod to connect and then settle down).

The wifi speed on them is pants though so I consigned the pods to the drawer and use a proper mesh system instead.

[brightonjohn]

Thanks for this. All I changed is the SSID and my password. So if I reset to the defaults (something NOT recommended?) the POD will work?

[DinoParry]

Yep.

On hub.  Go to Wireless Signal page.  All you need to set are:

Enable 2.4G

Enable 5G

Enable Channel Optimisation

On Wireless Security page:

Same SSID for both 2.4 and 5

Wifi broadcast on

Security - I have mine set to WPA-WPA2-Personal but don't know if that makes a difference or not.

Save settings on hub and wait for a couple of mins for them to apply.

Plug in Pod wait for the pulsing light to go out. Wait though as it is then in 2nd stage of "optimising connection" or something along those lines.  The light comes on again for a bit and once light is out for good the connection is working.

I used "Wifi Analyzer" on my Android phone to confirm that it was seeing both pods and the hub..

The pods max out at 350mbps (theoretical maximum) so you can use that as a baseline when deciding the best location.

Hope this helps!

I forgot to say above that I changed the SSID and password to my own so no need to stick with the out of the box SSID/pwd.

[brightonjohn]

Yep - that's done it - stupid question now. Why don't Virgin make that clear in their instructions? Because that's what Virgin does I guess. All I had done was change the SSID and password to things that meant something to me. Now I've got a SSID and Password that mean nothing.

Thanks for your help.

[brightonjohn]

That's all I had changed - the name and the password although my network analysers still think I've got the name I gave the router but the laptop and the FireTv don't.

I'm going to lie down in a dark place now!