Building on its continued efforts as a connectivity provider, Comcast is tackling whole-home WiFi coverage with the launch of its new mesh WiFi system offering, xFi Pods.
Xfinity internet customers can plug the approximately 2-inch-wide hexagon-shaped pods into indoor electrical outlets and self-install using the xFi app to pair the pods with either the xFi Wireless Gateway or xFi Advanced Gateway, extending WiFi coverage to hard to reach places in the home.
While Xfinity’s gateways, when properly placed, will cover approximately 75-85% of an average home, the new pods are designed to be “the sprinkler” to fill holes in coverage where users may not be able to use devices today, explained Eric Schaefer, SVP and general manager of broadband, automation and communications at Comcast Cable, in an interview with CED.
Schaefer pointed to homes with unique layouts like urban townhomes, as an example of good use cases, which not only have three stories, but poor RF environments also because of hard to penetrate building materials like plaster with metal mesh behind it. The pods could also be utilized in bigger suburban or ranch style homes, or by customers who are seeking better WiFi coverage in their garage, basement or back patio.
Customers can buy a three-pack of pods for $119 or a six-pack for $199, available online, from the xFi app or in select Xfinity retail stores. While situations will vary, Schaefer said typically a 3-pod pack will work for an average 2-3 bedroom home.
The pods are powered by a cloud-based enterprise grade remote radio resource management platform that evaluates the WiFi system and shifts a device from one pod back to the gateway or vice versa as a user moves through the home, to ensure numerous connected devices are using the most optimal signal bands and WiFi channels.
“The real benefit of the way we’ve developed this technology is we moved all of the processing for that radio resource management up into the xFi cloud,” Schaefer said, noting that then Comcast can leverage on-demand processing.
“We optimize based on [users] usage patterns in [their] home and the RF environment surrounding you, so it’s really brining enterprise-grade radio resource management to the consumer,” he added.
The latest product fits into Comcast’s continuing focus on integrating automation and whole-home connectivity. Broadband is now Comcast’s largest business in terms of subscribers, with the company ending the first of 2018 with 24.21 million residential high-speed internet customers.
Comcast has rolled out availability of 1 Gbps internet speeds to 90 percent of its footprint using DOSCIS 3.1 technology. While speed is of top importance, Schaefer explained the second and third “pillars,” when it comes to the xFi platform, are coverage and control of WiFi, respectively.
So while yes, a user can definitely stream a 4K Netflix show off of a pod that is two rooms away from the gateway, Schaefer said, the mesh technology is more about filling coverage holes than hitting 500 Mbps on a speed test.
He also indicated that Comcast will be launching some automation features on xFi later this year.