Pods being disconnected every morning

[Bergie]

Hello,

I am experiencing issues with my wifi disconnecting. I recently had an issue where my internet/wifi dropped during a google video meet at work. Before I could do anything, it came back on its own but I later rebooted the modem anyhow. 

I’ve noticed since then they even though my speed tests are totally fine in my office, it’s been choppy on google meet regularly. 

Now, it seems every morning that I’m waking up to my two pods being disconnected and the only way I’m able to get them back is by rebooting the modem and power cycling each pod. 

My setup is basic and nothing has changed while this has been going on;  home hub 3000 + pod on main floor + pod upstairs. 

any ideas?  

[RoadhogTime13]

Tonight is the 3rd event of what im going to be calling " bell server crash event" where my pods kept going out repeatedly and thus NOT JUST OPTIMIZING WHERE THEY'D ONLY CUT OUT VERY BRIEFLY ONCE AND NOT CUT OUT COMPLETELY FOR TWO MINUTES, COME BACK ON AND THEN CUT OUT FOR ANOTHER TWO MINUTES OVER AND OVER ON A NEAR ENDLESS BASIS! When is this new, unique and special problem gonna get fixed? A couple months back, it was a spotty connection that nobody at Bell could see or identify as an issue besides telling me for the umpteenth time to get a new modem and my modem is basically brand new and hasn't been touched or seen any faults and has been running smoothly the entire time, even during these new issues. I will explain it yet again since all i seem to get is the same default answers, Every few nights, the bell servers drop out. I know its the servers because the app starts having issues as well when this happens. Only my pods are affected and my modem is fine. This problem always happens no earlier than 3 am, no later than 5 am. The issue is 10000% NOT on my end as once again, my modem is unaffected during these events and as explained, it is NOT a mere optimization process as the pods cut out repeatedly and minutes at a time and not just once for a very brief moment. Once you accept this reality, you can get to finding this umpteenth unique problem. If there can't be accountability around here for some of the issues that occur with the internet, im just gonna plain switch because this is ridiculous. I keep getting hit with mysterious issues i can't report on a call or a live chat because they either are too unique for agents to properly understand what im trying to explain or they only happen during after hours. If someone could just check the bell servers status during this time period that this goes up, you'll see the drops. Im at my wits end here! Im fed up with customer service and maintenance. 

[dks]

Thank you or your concern. I understand your frustration. I have to ask if any of your pods have been replaced. If not, I wonder if the pods are the core issue. You said that the pods attempt to optimize but then try to do so over and over again and the modem is unaffected.

My understanding of the Plume pods is that the optimization is a task between the pods and the modem. The pods actually do the optimizing with the modem as the connection between them. It is, I believe, an entirely internal process and has no connection to "Bell servers" other than to validate the pods. The fact that it happens between 3:00 and 5:00 AM is also consistent with the pod's internal optimization timing. This also reflects the principle of Occam's Razor, which says that the simplest explanation is more likely to be the correct one. Your thoughts? Have your pods ever been replaced?  

[Vanadiel]

What do you mean "Bell servers cut out?" The connection between the modem and the pods is local, there are no Bell or other servers involved.

Do you mean you loose internet connectivity?

If you do, or think you do, the easiest way to verify this is log into the modem and run a speed test: Speed test home hub That will provide a clear indication if your connection is going down, or just the pods.

[Aptic]

There is clearly an issue with the Pods.  I am now on my third replacement Pod and they are all doing the same thing.  The Pod will randomly disconnect - usually once a day and the devices that are connected to it go offline as well.  Any device that is close to the Pod and can't be moved (my desktop for example) , will not reconnect to the hub, it continually tries to connect to the Pod that is offline.  I have to wait for the Pod to come back on online or unplug the Pod to get internet access.  As others have stated as well, I can no longer get 6 Ghz at all.

[Vanadiel]

Sounds like another firmware issue of some sorts.

[Aptic]

My Pod  is 5.8.0-87-gc76b7f-prod-ig; no 6Ghz connectivity

[BellPatricia]

Hey there @RoadhogTime13  

Thank you for keeping in touch with the Bell community.

We wanted to follow up and make sure your service is working now.

If you are still having trouble please run the Virtual repair tool and then let us know the results. 

@BellPatricia 

[RoadhogTime13]

My pods have never been replaced. They're the same two i've used since first getting them. The pods most certainly are not the issue as they're two different pods in two different rooms, one is significantly younger than the other one and both have the same issue at the same time. This matches with whenever i have issues with the bell servers which causes the pods to fail but the modem is entirely unaffected. The bell wifi app also experiences issues during this occurrences, again, indicative of an underlying issue with the servers themselves. I have done everything i can on my end. My equipment does not display any issues at any other time, thus, it can be ruled out that my equipment is the issue. Even the spare pods i happen to have exhibit the same behavior during these events. 

[RoadhogTime13]

I have the same issues. It doesn't happen every night but without fail, only after 1 am and before 5 am, i'll experience events where my pods keep disconnecting, rebooting and reconnecting, over and over in a loop. Reboots don't work and neither does unplugging them. My Giga Hub modem is unaffected the entire time with all the lights staying blue as normal. This started about a week ago out of nowhere. I've had pods for a good couple years and the only other times i've had issues with them is when bell servers go down, causing the app and the pods to go down as well. Im at my wits end because i keep getting inflicted by unique connection problems that i can't explain to customer service and this latest one is the most inconvenient because it never happens during the day. It only happens after midnight meaning i can't call customer service to have them check because they'll just see everything as normal. Im reporting it here and hoping its passed onto the right people so they can monitor it and see what exactly is happening during these "events" so it can be fixed ASAP. It is extremely annoying any of my devices that happen to connect to the pods (which most of my devices are going to do so since its the closest to them) lose connection every time they reset whereas my modem an anything connected to it is unaffected. 

[Aptic]

This is exactly the same issue I have been facing for the last week.  I wrote about it in another thread.  I have called tech support multiple times and they can't find any issues.  I am now on my third replacement pod and they all  disconnect as you describe, though mine sometimes does it during the day, not just overnight.  Can't be a defective pod as its been replaced twice.

[RoadhogTime13]

My issues have also started as of last week. Im positive of issues going on with the Bell servers as that is the only thing that's every previously caused issues with my pods working. The fact it keeps happening within the same timeframe overnight however makes it difficult to report and as you mentioned, customer support is unable to help because whatever they use to check for issues doesn't account or every possible issue that could happen and only covers basic stuff like actual equipment problems which i know i can rule out because everything works perfectly fine outside of these particular events and weather related stuff which again, i can rule out because my connection being fine otherwise. It's extra frustrating for me because just around August, i started experiencing bouts of poor, choppy connection that i'd most notice when trying to watch streams or play online games. Nothing i did fixed it and customer service was no help either. Any fix they gave me either did nothing, only worked temporarily or they'd either not see any issue or think it was my equipment which i know it wasn't because my modem is only a few months old and my pods are newish as well. After a while, the bell servers were updated and suddenly, the issue was gone. The problem is, it seems they can't see or don't bother with server related issues causing connection problems. All we can probably do is wait for the servers to get updated for this to stop happening and that could be any time from now. My issues in August didn't end until around the end of September time 

[dks]

I suggest that you return the pods and move to a mesh system which you control. You will likely be more satisfied. The Bell pods are not controlled by “Bell servers”. They optimize themselves once a day.

[Aptic]

Did all this.  Still having issues with pods disconnecting.  Not sure why this thread is marked solved, it is not.  Also, given that I am paying Bell for a service and RENTING the equipment, why do I have to fix it?  It's akin to renting an apartment and the roof starts leaking.  You call the landlord and he tells you to go on the roof and fix it yourself.  Bell refuses to send a tech, and keeps sending replacement pods and has me do the same steps over and over.

[dks]

The behaviour you described earlier, "The Pod will randomly disconnect - usually once a day and the devices that are connected to it go offline as well." appears to be the pod software optimizing itself. This is normal for pods. They don't continuously connect.  

[RoadhogTime13]

I wish i knew what that was because i've never heard of that before, for one. For two, i've not had any issues with the pods for two years prior so i will NOT be getting rid of them to mess with a new system that i don't even know how it works. For three, i needed to use the pods because my games wouldn't run smooth on the modem for unknown reasons and the pods solved that problem. Also, i am now going to report that the issue is happening right now, as i type this, for the first time before midnight. I however was out at the time. THIS time, upon checking the wifi app, my pods have lost their custom names out of nowhere despite me not doing anything to them. This is 100% a bell server issue. I will make a recommendation. Cease telling me what i can do to fix this issue because the issue is not mine to fix. I have determined that my pods are in perfect working order as is my modem. I have no connection issues besides the pods suffering from these "optimization" loops for anywhere between 20 mins to an hour due to said server issues. You can fix this by reporting this exact issue to those in charge of the bell servers.