Issues with Ignite WiFi Pods

[Flynn62]

I have 2 pods where the light dims then brightens all the time and one that does nothing?

**Labels Added**

[kenanzebouni]

Hello, I self installed ignite bundle. Was averaging about 200 mbps throughout the house. Few rooms upstairs were getting poor signals. Called Rogers, they sent three pods. I placed them around the house. Wifi speed went down to an ever age of 60-70 mbps if connected through a pod. If I do a sped test right beside the gateway I get 200 plus. Do pods slow down wifi speed? Am I doing something wrong. First pod is less than 10 feet from gateway.

[toolcubed]

From my recent experience (having helped family and friends install Ignite), the pods are terrible.  I have even personally heard a Rogers technician say they are lousy and to remove them.  What speeds are you getting in the rooms with poor signal?  From what I've seen, even if signal is a bit weak from the gateway, performance/speed is still better than using the pods.  Now, if signal is so marginal in those rooms that it's basically non existent and you're getting internet drop-outs, you might want to consider moving the gateway to a more central location in your home (if that's technically feasible and easy to do) or using a 3rd party router (either as your main router with XB6 bridged, or as a WiFi access point).

[Bplayer]

@kenanzebouni just read the previous post in this thread and all your questions should be answered. It does take some effort to optimize your coverage.

[mubashir56]

Same here. Pods were slowing down the Wifi Network. Placing the Gateway to a central location in my three bedroom apartment with concrete walls helped. In the living room, for example, off the Gateway I got about 200 mbps. Upon installing the pod, it dropped to 10-15 mbps! Moving the pod to the kitchen (next to the living room) it fluctuated between 100 to 20 mbps !! 

So? I avoid using the pods now. As a backup for the living room, I have have the old now switched off D-Link powerline!!

[Bplayer]

My base Ignite service operated for a year in my condo without PODs. WiFi service was weak at the extreme opposite location to the Gateway (rerely used) and poor on the balcony. Moderate WiFi was needed the balcony this summer as I was spending more time there. I installed the three PODs at different locations with mixed results. After days of experimentation I found that only one POD was needed at a point that was halfway between the Gateway and the balcony. This provided acceptable WiFi service to all the common locations. The speed is less than 100Mbps in some locations but unless speedtest is run the difference is not noticeable.

[Paulinecarr76]

My pods keep going offline. I got pods last week and not working wifi keeps going off multi times a day

[RogersYasmine]

Hello @Paulinecarr76,

Thank you for joining us here in the community and congrats on your first post with us! 😊

I'm sorry to learn that the WiFi pods haven't been working well for you thus far, that's super disappointing. I'd like to clarify a few things if you don't mind:

- Have you tried unplugging the affected Pod(s) and plugging it back into the wall outlet?

- Are you getting a specific error message via the Ignite WiFi Hub app?

- Since receiving the WiFi pods, have you attempted to place them in different locations of your home to see what configuration works best?

Note: Please ensure you do not have your modem in bridge mode as this will disable any Ignite WiFi Pods in use and prevent you from using the Ignite WiFi Hub.

We look forward to your reply! 

RogersLaura

[-G-]

---

@Paulinecarr76 wrote:

My pods keep going offline. I got pods last week and not working wifi keeps going off multi times a day

---

Where are your Pods located?  You need to place Pods in areas that still have decent WiFi connectivity; the Pods will then extend coverage from there to areas that get poor reception/performance.  If you place the Pod in a room with a poor Wi-Fi signal, the devices in that room will have a good connection to the Pod but the Pod itself will have just as hard a time connecting back to the XB6 gateway as the other devices in the room used to have and that, in turn, would result in very poor Wi-Fi performance on its upstream connection and very unstable connectivity.

[Neildm]

My home is set up with ignite and two wifi pods. I received a third pod with the package but when i originally did the setup i added the first pod, hit the "add more pods" prompt then added the second pod but did not get prompted to add a third even though it was plugged in. The network runs correctly with the two pods but I'd like to add the third for my basement. Trouble is there does not seem to be an option for this in the ignite app. If I add new hardware and try to add ignite pods, it goes back to prompting me to set up the first pod. I tried redoing the setup once (starting with the first pod) but it just confirmed the 1st pod again and auto detected the second one and I was back where I started. How do I do this? I don't want to take down the network to experiment as my family is basically using it all the time.

[RogersAndy]

Hey @Neildm!

Welcome to the community! Wonderful to have you and I appreciate you taking the time to let us know you're having issues with your WiFi pods. These devices are fantastic for sure, but getting them all working is certainly the first step! We'll do what we can to ensure that's as painless as possible for you. Assuming you've reviewed the information pertaining to pods at rogers.com here, can you confirm for us when you're connecting the pods, are you holding your phone next to each pod as you're attempting to activate? This will be necessary to ensure it recognizes it. 

Keep us posted!

@RogersAndy

[markomark]

I recently upgraded to 1G Ignite to get faster service and better coverage. When installed, the coverage was as bad as before the 1G. So the installer put in 3 pods. Marginally better but he told me the pods down throttle my 1G service to 200m. Apparently 1G pods coming. Obviously they know they’ve got a problem. What a scam.

[-G-]

---

@markomark wrote:
I recently upgraded to 1G Ignite to get faster service and better coverage. When installed, the coverage was as bad as before the 1G. So the installer put in 3 pods. Marginally better but he told me the pods down throttle my 1G service to 200m. Apparently 1G pods coming. Obviously they know they’ve got a problem. What a scam.

---

You should still see 1 Gb/s transfer rates over wired Ethernet links.  However, the Pods were only designed to expand WiFi coverage and improve the reliability of WiFi connections; they were not built for speed, and even Rogers says that you should only expect a maximum data transfer rate of 200 Mb/s when downloading.  Pods only have two internal radios, one on the 2.4 GHz band and one on 5 GHz, and the 5 GHz link is used for both WiFi clients and the backhaul connection.

I'm not sure what Pods your tech was referring to.  Comcast recently announced new and improved tri-band Pods, which should double throughput and reduce latency.  Rogers is not offering them yet as far as I know... but even if/when they do, you will still only see 500 Mb/s transfer speeds with those, if you are lucky, not 1Gb/s.

[Don_Ca]

If you are only connecting with wifi nothing you do will ever get you the full 1Gb speed. Nothing. That is connected via a network cable speed. If you need that speed away from where you can run an ethernet cable, look into powerline adapters, they can get to you closer to 1 gb but will still probably not get quite there.

[dular125pt]

After connecting a new POD, i guess the wifi connection switches automatically depending on where you are in the house. but as soon as I come upstairs and my phone or any other device connects with wifi pod, intermittent internet issues occur on my devices. how do i resolve this?

I have 1 pod connected upstairs in my house which is right above my modem and near the stairs. 

Thanks

[Don_Ca]

Try moving the pod closer to the modem, that seems like it has a weak signal. Unless I am reading it wrong and you mean the POD is on floor above the modem? I have mine that way, I have 3 pods, and they do work well.

[dular125pt]

Yes, it is right where the modem is but one floor above. I don't have any outlets in stairs. and I don't want to move it far from the current location as it will make it worst. but i will try moving it. 

Does pods transfer signals internally or all pods connect back to modem only? if so i can try extension cord and put a pod somewhere in stairs. 

[Don_Ca]

PODs are a mesh network, so in my case the one on the floor above connects to the router, and the one on the floor above that connects to the first pod.  I think your solution may be more PODS.  

[Artine]

Having IOT connectivity issues with POD. I can see through the ignite apps which devices are connected and things like iPhones and laptops are fine, however cameras (4) and vacuums(2) that connect to them don’t function and constantly need to unplug the pod and wait until they all connect to the gateway.

It’s not a performance issue but a operational issue, where maybe the protocols the IOT devices uses are not supported, nor maybe they’re too chatty and theyre being dropped.

I found there is two pods in Rogers ignite app. One old and one new pod. The new has two Ethernet ports, where can i get those to try?

It’s also in xfinity site


https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/wifi/xfi-pod

[-G-]

---

@Artine wrote:
Having IOT connectivity issues with POD. I can see through the ignite apps which devices are connected and things like iPhones and laptops are fine, however cameras (4) and vacuums(2) that connect to them don’t function and constantly need to unplug the pod and wait until they all connect to the gateway.

It’s not a performance issue but a operational issue, where maybe the protocols the IOT devices uses are not supported, nor maybe they’re too chatty and theyre being dropped.

---

The problem that you (and others with modern Wi-Fi mesh networks) are facing is that the Ignite Pods require that Band Steering be enabled, and this is incompatible with devices with older/simpler Wi-Fi implementations.  Switching to the newer Pods won't make any difference because you will still run into those basic interoperability issues.

One solution would be to eliminate the Pods and switch your Ignite gateway back to a dual-band/dual Wi-Fi network configuration.

Another would be to purchase an inexpensive Wi-Fi access point (something like this) and use that for IoT device connectivity.  (You might also be able to use a Range Extender, but that could potentially introduce other complications.)

The only other options are to either wait for Rogers and Comcast to figure out a way to better accommodate IoT and older Wi-Fi devices OR to disable Rogers' Wi-Fi completely and implement your own alternate solution that can better meet your needs.

[Artine]

Thanks G for your input. However most IOT devices run only on 2.4Ghz so band steering won’t work. Maybe I’m missing the point. But thank you for the reply.

[-G-]

---

@Artine wrote:
Thanks G for your input. However most IOT devices run only on 2.4Ghz so band steering won’t work. Maybe I’m missing the point. But thank you for the reply.

---

Band Steering is a great convenience but it it causes problems for some devices, usually for one of two reasons:

1. For older devices, that passively scan for Wi-Fi network names, they will not see your Wi-Fi network when Band Steering is enabled.
2. It also causes problems for 5 GHz-capable devices that insist on connecting to the 2.4 GHz band because to implement "steering", the access point will only accept connections on the 5 GHz band if that is where it wants the device to connect.

I have posted more information here and here.

You can employ tricks to get some devices to connect.  However, if a device is totally incompatible with band steering, the only solution is to either disable band steering across your network (impossible to do on Rogers Ignite when you have Pods installed) or install a separate 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network just for those problematic devices.

If I remember correctly, the Wi-Fi hardware on the Ignite gateways actually supports up to 8 SSIDs per band, so a possible solution would be to give users a way to enable a secondary network on the 2.4 GHz band just for IoT devices.  You (probably) would not be able to extend the reach of that network through Pods but it would provide another way for old and "stubborn" devices to connect.  It would also be possible to provide support for Guest networks in a similar way.  However, Comcast does not appear to have any interest in providing such a capability, probably because they feel it would be too confusing for non-technical users.  Rogers and Comcast also seem to be trending in a frustrating direction where they are providing fewer and fewer Wi-Fi configuration options so, again, I am not optimistic that we will ever see a fix for this problem anytime soon.