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Long story short, I upgraded my internet service from the 300 Mbps service to Giga service. The actual speeds I’m getting are one issue but my real problem is coverage, which is next to nothing once I leave the room where my router was installed (by Cox, originally).
Previously, with my 300 service the coverage was pretty good, and I also utilized a hard wired extender in the basement where my office is located, and my work machines all got a great signal and great speeds.
Now, beyond the room where the router is located the speeds are either (really) 18-90 Mbps or in the basement either no coverage or intermittent connection and speeds which are completely unusable for what I do, let alone any “normal” browsing and streaming.
Cox sold me a WiFi “Pod” device for $120 which is supposed to replace my extender. This thing seemingly does nothing to help, and the only place where I can get it to actually connect and be online is in the living room where the router is. Hence I can see why it does nothing but it won’t go online anywhere else. Before I go ahead and buy more of these infernal pod things, will that help? If I say get two more and put one in our kitchen and another on the basement will they connect in a line and help with coverage?
Or even better, can I buy an extender of some sort and simply plug it into the existing coax cable which is already installed in my basement where my old extender was? I understand the one I had, which was rented from Cox will not work with the Giga service but maybe another kind will? Or are these pods the only solution ?
My house is NOT huge, so these coverage issues are puzzling
thanks!
There’s a lot to unpack here... is your modem configured for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless networks? Do both networks use the same network name (SSID)?
I am not sure about this. My last modem had both the 2.4 and 5 and they each had a separate name. When I set up the new modem it seemed to only broadcast one signal, which is the only one I see from my network when I view them on our various devices. The Cox app asked me to name the network and that was it.
Good. The pods only work when the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks have the same network name. The router and the pod create a mesh network, which should help with coverage, not necessarily WiFi speeds. Now to get the pod doing it’s thing....
From your previous post, it sounds like you brought the pod close to the router to configure it. You probably want the pod to be about 20 ft from the router when adding it. Once added, you should be able to unplug it and the move it elsewhere. I can’t find any info regarding the range of these devices but typical mesh network “mesh” points can be further than 20-30 ft from the “mesh” router, i.e. router on 1st floor, mesh point in basement, another on 2nd floor, and so on.
There could be a number of factors why your pod can’t connect to the router. What type wall construction and how many walls between router and pod?
Thanks so much for your help. I've tried to place the pod in various rooms throughout the house, however once the setup process gets to the "waiting for pod to come online" part, its just hangs there no matter what I do. I've reset the router several times, left the pod unplugged overnight, nothing seems to get it online, even when I tried from an outlet literally within feet of the router.
We do have an older home, 1946 or so, and have always had some trouble with WiFi signals, but I am puzzled when the pod won't connect when it even has a clear line-of-sight to the router. I thought once I got that first one online, I could then add a couple more that would hopefully get the signal, in part, to my basement office.
Perhaps I have a faulty pod, so Cox is sending another one so we'll see. UGH.