How To Set Up Xfinity Xfi Pods

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If you're a Comcast Xfinity cyberspace client with poor WiFi in parts of your home, Comcast's mesh WiFi xFi Pods, which are designed to piece of work out the box with Xfinity routers, would seem to be the perfect solution. We were not impressed past the first-generation xFi Pods, which had poor throughput. The new-and-improved xFi Pods Gen 2, all the same, which measured five times faster than the originals in our tests, are a great option for well-nigh Xfinity customers.

What'south the departure between Gen 1 xFi Pods and Gen 2 xFi Pods?

Xfinity xFi Pods Gen 2 (left) and Gen 1 (right).

The styling's the same – nevertheless a six-sided puck that plugs into an AC outlet as unobtrusively equally a night-light or air freshener. Still, the Gen 2 xFi Pods are bigger than the first generation xFi Pods (Gen 2 on the left and Gen one on the correct) and spot air vents on the sides and rear to dissipate heat.

Comcast has significantly upgraded the WiFi inside, more doubling the throughput of the original Pods with an upgraded tri-band AC3000 radio. The maximum throughput is now 500 Mbps instead of 200 Mbps, and in addition to a 2.4Ghz band and 5Ghz band, at that place's a third (5 GHz channel) radio devoted to back-channel communications and service optimization. The new Pods also pack a pair of ethernet ports (instead of just one) for 2 hard-wired devices, like streaming boxes and smart home bridges.

The cost has increased, with i Gen two Pod costing $119 and two arranged for $199 on Xfinity. Original Pods were priced at 3 for $119, six for $199!

Setting upwardly Gen 2 xFi Pods

Xfinity xFi Gen 2 Pods setup

Exclusively designed for Xfinity internet and equipment customers, xFi Pods simply work with an Xfinity Gateway serving as the main WiFi router. Similar the offset-generation Pods, the Gen 2 Pods are piece of cake to install. Setup is performed with the same Xfinity xFi app you lot'd utilise on a smartphone or tablet to monitor and control other Gateway-connected devices (from computers to game systems to lights) and supervise elements in an Xfinity security system. Once plugged in, an xFi Pod is automatically recognized and and so awakened by holding your smartphone half-dozen inches away.

Annotation that the Gateway must be in the (default) non-bridge mode.

Our Gen ii xFi Pods speed tests

To put the Gen 2 Pods to the exam, I returned to the scene of our before Techlicious Gen 1 xFi Pod test to witness an equipment upgrade. Namely, the 4,000 foursquare foot suburban habitation base of operations for my friends Meg and Gary Jones, their two young adult daughters, and Gary's pop foodie website – The Reluctant Gourmet.

The Joneses have a centrally located XB6 Gateway stationed in their kitchen and Smash-grade service that puts out a tiptop WiFi bespeak in the same room at 357 Mbps. (The Speedtest by Ookla tracking was done on Gary's iPhone xi Pro Max and my new iPhone 12 Pro four days afterward these self-maximizing new devices had settled in and learned the territory.)

Xfinity xFi Pods: Gen 1 (top) and Gen 2 (bottom)

With a Gen ane xFi Pod plugged into power 25 feet from the Gateway at the bottom of a staircase, the WiFi download speed clocked in Gary's part (one flight and another 25 anxiety up) measured 57 Mbps. After subbing in a new Gen two xFi Pod, the role download speed leaped to 282 Mbps – literally five times faster!

Equally staggering before-and-afters were clocked with our 2d Gen 2 xFi Pod placement – a pretty straight 25-pes shot in the other direction from the Gateway to a location simply outside One thousand thousand's office. In our initial tests, Meg was getting 65 Mbps inside her office. But after installing the Gen ii xFi Pod, Speedtest reported 350 Mbps in Meg's office – virtually the same speed as directly from the Gateway.

Clearly, your results may differ. Xfinity still plants a alarm in the production folio FAQs that "Pods help extend the range of WiFi coverage in your dwelling to hard-to-reach areas or areas with poor WiFi signals. They are not intended to provide the maximum speed of your Internet speed tier throughout the dwelling house." Still, in our case study with Gen two xFi Pods deployed, the signal shrinkage was a mere 21 percentage at worst. That's meliorate than anyone could have dared to ask for and is unlikely to be bettered past any other third-party mesh network gear.

xFi Gen 2 Pods aren't the best WiFi extender for these Xfinity customers

There are a few cases when the Gen two xFi Pods aren't the best option. First, if you are using your own router for Xfinity service and don't want to pay the monthly fee for an Xfinity Gateway, you can't use the Gen 2 xFi Pods.

When you lot install the Xfinity Gen 2 xFi Pods, one network is created with two bands, instead of 2 networks with split up network IDs (SSIDs) and passwords. The Xfinity Gateway and Pods automatically steer traffic to one of the two bands, 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz. So the 2nd group that shouldn't use Gen two xFi Pods are those that have onetime WiFi devices that don't support 5Ghz. Without manual control, you can't tell your devices to apply the aforementioned band and can can go into situations where devices tin can't "see" each other because they are operating on different bands.

Third, some people will desire to choose which devices utilise each band to allocate bandwidth. For instance, you might want a gaming system or your streaming services to be set up on one band to ensure maximum throughput while other devices use the other band.

The bottom line

Xfinity xFi Pods

If you desire plug-and-play simplicity to extend the reach of your Xfinity WiFi service with maximum throughput, the new Gen 2 xFi Pods are the all-time selection for most people. Only those who don't want to pay for an Xfinity Gateway or need to manually control which band their devices employ should consider choosing another mesh WiFi system.

The Gen 2 xFi Pods are bachelor for $119 for a one-pack and $199 for a two-pack on Xfinity. Note that currently Gen two xFi Pods are on backorder for a few weeks. So if y'all run into xFi Pods on sale, make sure you're getting the Gen 2 Pods. The Gen 1 Pods are still available from retailers.

[Image credit: Comcast, Jonathan Takiff/Techlicious]