Does Pod extend VIP7802 range?

[Nikki]

We are getting poor signal strength on one of our TV receivers and the technician recommended installing a Pod.  I have done this and as far as I can see, the Pod does not extend coverage for the VIP7802 - rssi is the same with or without a Pod.  It does however extend wifi coverage for internet.  Can someone please confirm?

[BellAntgio]

Hey @Nikki. Welcome to the Bell Community, and thanks for your post.
Are you able to try using a wired connection to see if that makes a difference?

[Nikki]

Hi BellAntgio, no unfortunately we do not have ethernet in the basement HT room.  I have a wireless AP through our own internal Mesh but I don't think that will work for FibeTV.  I suppose I could use a Pod as a bridge to the HT and connect the receiver to its ethernet ports?

[BellPatricia]

Hey there @Nikki, thanks for your reply. 

Did you have a chance to test connecting the TV receiver to the Ethernet port on your Pod?

Please keep the Community posted on the results 🙂

Looking forward to hearing from you.

- Patricia

[Nikki]

Hi @BellPatricia.  Yes I did try the Pod's ethernet port and it seemed to work fine, except for one channel - CBC Ottawa (1205) which I noticed by random chance.  I know it wasn't a problem with CBC as I was able to watch it when connected through wifi, but going through ethernet would give an error.  It was ok by the following day so I have no reasonable explanation.

I am going to try using another router as a bridge on my own internal mesh and see if that works better - my home mesh has overall better coverage and speed than the Hub 4000 so this would be preferred.  I will post the result once I have time to test this.

[Nikki · Accepted solution]

Using an older router as a bridge for the 7802 with ethernet connection works great.  Initially I tested using my own mesh network as the router, but Fibe TV is not happy with that configuration and cuts the video within a few seconds.  Connecting the bridge to the HUB4000 worked fine and was a better solution than through the Pod.  Much faster connection, even though the HUB4000 was not as good as my internal mesh - I am getting about 400Mbps which is plenty for Fibe TV.  Pod was less than half the speed but still sufficient.  So if your 7802 has poor signal strength and you have an old router sitting around (I picked one up on Kijiji for $35), it should be able to provide additional coverage for glitch free viewing.

[Baylor]

Can I use the Ethernet cable to connect the box into the pod?  Or will that still now work to boost signal.

[Nikki]

Ethernet into the Pod should work fine.  I prefer using a separate bridged router to the Bell Hub - more stable connection and speed and ultimately cheaper than renting a Pod from Bell.

[Ak75070 · Accepted solution]

It seems like since the recent 7802 upgrade, the old "hidden" FIBETV wi-fi networks are gone - box now connects to your primary wi-fi and will also connect to pods.