Issue using Wifi Pod and Giga Hub: defaulting to single SSID and WPA3 encryption

[peppy]

I thought I'd share my experience in trying to connect a wifi pod to a Giga Hub modem given my specific set-up in the hope that it can save someone in a similar situation some time and trouble.

I ordered a wifi pod the other day with the hope of having better coverage in some areas of our house where the signal can be weak and somewhat inconsistent, even if usable all told. The pod was delivered earlier and I was expecting a quick, plug and play experience consistent with installing additional nodes for a mesh router. Was I ever wrong. 🙂

I currently have my Giga Hub set-up to broadcast separate SSIDs for the three wifi frequencies, as recommended by a Bell tech that had come to my home to replace a defective modem, as having a single SSID for all the bands was resulting in some devices frequently switching between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies resulting in connection instability and latencies. In that configuration I have the encryption type set to WPA2 for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and for the 6 GHz band, the only option is WPA3, which is neither here nor there as I don't have any wifi 6e compatible devices on my network. In our home we have about 50 devices connected to wifi.

Now, when installing the pod, the only option is to install it via the app which then resets the modem to have a single SSID across all bands along with the encryption type set to WPA3. As a result, a significant number of the devices on my network were unable to connect as they only support WPA / WPA2 and not WPA3, which is a problem. A conversation with Tech Support agent confirmed that with the pod, no separate SSID naming by band or configuration of encryption type to WPA2 is possible.

My only solution then was to remove the pod, go back to being able to connect all of my devices, and live with some coverage challenges, which I may look to address by connecting up a second wifi router to my modem with a different SSID.

The pod is now being returned mere hours after it was delivered.

[Vanadiel]

It supports the following WiFi standards and data rates:

Supported Data Rates

802.11a	6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps
802.11b	1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps
802.11g	6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps
802.11n (WiFi 4)	6.5 Mbps to 300 Mbps (MCS0 - MCS15, HT 20/40)
802.11ac (WiFi 5)	6.5 Mbps to 1.7 Gbps (MCS0 - MCS9 NSS1/2, VHT 20/40/80/160)
802.11ax (WiFi 6)	7.3 Mbps to 2.4 Gbps (MCS0 - MCS11 NSS1/2, HE 20/40/80/160)

[marcco]

hello Peppy ...this particular pod discussion has been quite informative. i also have had issues with some disconnecting devices with the Pod installed ....after constantly restarting the modem and several of my wifi devices, i also decided to remove the Pod and separate the bands. so far i am seeing encouraging results ....nothing is disconnecting. i will keep monitoring.

[Baguk]

I just had a long conversation with a technician, trying to make my WiFi Pod  working with dual band (2.4 and 5.0) and they gave up and said that it is not supported. I wonder why Bell does not acknowledge this limitation, that would save many people a lot of time.

[Baguk]

I figured out it would not. Spent a lot of time trying and on calls with Bell technical support.

[dks]

You are correct. To use the Bell pods you have to have Whole Home Internet enabled in the Giga Hub. They will not work if that setting it turned off to separate wifi bands. Normally, this is made clear.