Do I need a Router with Citizens Advanced WiFi?
To use Citizens Advanced WiFi, you do need to have an active high-speed internet connection, the Plume HomePass® app, membership, and pods to begin setup. What is the basic setup flow? The Plume HomePass® app will guide you through the easy setup process, starting with creating your Plume account.
How many pods do I need?
The number of pods you'll need will vary based on a number of factors, such as the layout, construction of your home, how many devices you plan on using and the speed of your internet connection.
When you sign up for Citizens Advanced WiFi powered by Plume Home Pass®, you will receive two pods, which is enough to cover a 1-2 bedroom apartment or average single-level home. An additional pod should be adequate for many 3-4 bedroom or multi-level homes. You can always add pods if needed by contacting the Citizens’ Sales Team.
The above recommendations are based on Citizens Gigabit (1Gpbs) Fiber and cable modem Internet connections.
Citizens Advanced WiFi scales pretty well, especially if you can hardwire more than one pod. You can have up to a maximum of 32 pods per location, although this is not a typical use case.
We recommend evenly spreading pods around your home, specifically in areas where you often use Wi-Fi. One pod is typically enough to cover two Large rooms.
All pods like to be positioned towards the center of the home and less on outside walls in order to form a strong core network. If there are large metal objects or furniture between pods, bringing the pods closer together will reduce the connection strength loss between pods.
How do you recommend placing pods?
We recommend one Pod for every two rooms. Spread pods evenly around your home, especially in rooms and open spaces where you often use Wi-Fi. We recommend placing Pods towards the center of the home instead of the outside walls in order to efficiently utilize coverage of the pods to create a seamless Wi-Fi network.
Make sure you use one Pod to connect to your modem or existing router to maximize Wi-Fi performance. Try to place the Pods at the center of your home further enhancing that strong core network. Pods can be spread to reach the furthermost rooms of your home.
How can I fix poor pod connection issues?
If a pod displays “Poor health” on your Plume HomePass® App and you are noticing an impact, there are a few steps you can take to improve its health:
Move pods closer to each other
- Remember that pods work as a team, so they want to be close enough to communicate with one another. Consider distances around 15'-20' for Pods, 21'-30' for PowerPods and 30'-40' for SuperPods, which can still vary largely depending on the building materials used in your home.
- Homes with dense walls need pods closer together than those with lighter construction.
- Even moving a pod to an opposite wall in the same room can sometimes help create a stronger and more reliable connection for that pod.
- Place the pods on the inside walls of the home, to build a strong core network to improve performance.
- When mixing Pods, PowerPods and SuperPods, always ensure the SuperPods are connected to your modem or modem/router and that they are at the core of your network. This will give other pods a higher-performing foundation.
Hardwire pods to your router or switch
If your home is wired and you have available ports that connect back to a switch or router, hardwiring pods to those ports to other areas in your home will improve performance.
Keep Pods in the open and away from metallic objects
- Avoid metal or other reflective objects in between your pods.
- Avoid obstacles in the way of connecting pods (such as kitchen and laundry appliances, metallic piping, metallic waste bins, or large mirrors).
- No large furniture right in front of the pod.
Eliminate sources of interference
- Find sources of interference and eliminate them. Consumer electronics like baby monitors, cordless phones, video senders, microwaves, etc. will cause interference on the same channels used by your Wi-Fi
- Ensure your old Wi-Fi is turned off.
- Move your pods further away from sources of interference.
If an issue arises with the connection health of one of your pods, you will be notified through the App. Otherwise, you can view the connection health of a pod at any time by selecting any blank space of the App’s landing screen, followed by the pod you’d like to check