There were a few 'dead spots' that needed a boost, so I got a 3-pack of Xfinity XFi pods to test, to see if they could help increase speed to those areas that were farthest away from my Xfinity gateway.
Setup was easy. The xFi smartphone app guides you through placement of hte xFi pods, and automatically recognizes them as you go from room to room to install them. The app allows you to add a descriptive name to help you monitor each xFi pod after installation.
My first test installed xFi Pods in the Livingroom, Kitchen, and Den, all are one floor below the Xfinity xFi Gateway (3rd Generation). For my second test, I removed the Livingroom xFi pod and moved it to the third floor bedroom, to be closer to the Xfinity xFi Gateway (3rd Generation). When researching online, I read that the WiFi signal hops from one xFi pod to the other, so having one on the third floor closer to the modem improved my performance.
In my testing, I found that although the xFi pods did increase the speed available at the farthest point from my modem, they decreased the speed in the rooms that are closer to the modem.
xFi Pods Frequently Asked Questions:
Pods will not exceed the maximum provisioned speed of your Xfinity Internet tier of service. Pods have a maximum throughput of 200 Mbps over a WiFi connection in laboratory settings. Other factors can affect speeds.
SPEED TESTS:
CONFIGURATION Prior to xFi Pod Installation
LIVINGROOM
Xfinity xFi Gateway 3rd Generation 120 Mbps
KITCHEN
Xfinity xFi Gateway 3rd Generation 100/110 Mbps
DEN
Xfinity xFi Gateway 3rd Generation 100 Mbps
FRONT DOOR
Xfinity xFi Gateway 3rd Generation 23 Mbps
xFi CONFIGURATION #1
LIVINGROOM
xFi Pod Livingroom 66/78 Mbps
KITCHEN
xFi Pod Kitchen 85/48/24 Mbps
DEN
xFi Pod Den 60/38/38/31/81 Mbps
FRONT DOOR
16/12 Mbps
xFi CONFIGURATION #2
BEDROOM
xFi Pod Bedroom 290 Mbps
KITCHEN
xFi Pod Kitchen 51 Mbps
DEN
xFi Pod Den 85 Mbps
FRONT DOOR
65 Mbps