So, I strapped on a facemask and went to my local Best Buy, where I bought the Netgear Orbi mesh Wi-Fi system. Often, the two nearest Pods would go offline, which didn’t help matters. The Pods still went offline with regularity, and our laptops-mine a Mac, and hers a PC-did not quickly jump to a new Pod. I even bought a second three-pack of Pods, in the hopes that by having more, it would spread out the network traffic or at the least, provide a bit more backup. We’d then have to unplug and re-plug the Pods back in and wait for them to reconnect to the rest of the network. But, after a few weeks, Pods, especially the ones in the attic, would suddenly go offline, often in the middle of one of us doing something important.

The Xfinity xFi app is pretty good, too, alerting you when new devices connect, if there are any security threats, and automatically blocking issues.Īnd it worked, for a while. The Pods were small, easy to set up, and I was able to cover my whole house. It looked like a relatively inexpensive solution.

A virtual router protects devices that don't natively support VPNīecause we have Comcast’s Xfinity internet service, my next thought was to upgrade our cable modem to its xFi Gateway, and to purchase its Pods (about $120 for a three-pack) to set up a mesh network in our house.Secure every device you own with the best router VPN.

It was just too erratic to work properly. Once my wife joined me in the attic full time, this became more of an issue as one of us would have to take our laptop down to the dining room or bedroom if we both had Zoom calls at the same time.

Xfinity home wifi booster