What are Whole Home Wi-Fi pods and how do I use them?

Whole Home Wi-Fi pods are additional Wi-Fi access points that are placed throughout your home. They work together with our Giga Hub, Home Hub 4000, 3000 or 2000 modems to create a seamless, powerful Wi-Fi network in every room.

You can choose between two different types of Wi-Fi pods depending on your Internet speed.

• Wi-Fi Pod – Recommended for customers who subscribe to Internet speeds above 150 Mbps.
• Wi-Fi Pod Mini –Recommended for those who subscribe to speeds below 150 Mbps.

Both types of pods offer extended, mesh Wi-Fi coverage throughout your home.

How to install Whole Home Wi-Fi pods

You can use the Bell Wi-Fi app to install your pods if you subscribe to the Whole Home Wi-Fi service from Bell and have a Giga Hub, or a Home Hub 4000, 3000 or 2000. To do so:

1. Search for Bell Wi-Fi in the app store for your mobile device.
2. Download and install the app.
3. Open the Bell Wi-Fi app and log in using your MyBell username and password. Get help logging in to the Bell Wi-Fi app.
4. Ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your device. The app uses Bluetooth to communicate with the pods during setup.
5. Plug in the pods around your home. The empty hexagons indicate how many pods you can plug in.
6. Keep your mobile device near your pods as you plug them in. The Bell Wi-Fi app will confirm when they’re connected.

Adding a pod:

1. Ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your device. The app uses Bluetooth to communicate with the pods during setup.
2. Touch the Menu icon (bottom right)
3. Scroll down to the Access points section and touch Add a pod
4. Follow the on-screen prompts to add your Pod.

Locate and name your pod(s):

1. In the Adapt section of the home screen, touch the pod you want to name
2. Touch the three stacked dots in the top right corner.
3. Touch Locate and name pods.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Follow these installation tips for best performance:

• Keep your mobile device near your pods as you plug them in
• Ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your device. The app uses Bluetooth to communicate with the pods during setup. The Bell Wi-Fi app will confirm when they are connected.
• Space the pods evenly

  Your pods work as a team, so they need to be close enough to communicate with one another. Try to space them evenly, no more than 5 to 7 metres apart for Wi-Fi Pod Minis and 10 to 14 metres apart for Wi-Fi Pods.

• Install pods on interior walls

  Ideally, place the pods along the interior walls separating the rooms rather than exterior walls. If you have both Wi-Fi Pod Minis and Wi-Fi Pods, use the Wi-Fi Pods in the centre of your home and spread the Wi-Fi Pod Minis outward to the furthest rooms. For best performance, check that your Wi-Fi Pods connect to the modem without connecting through a Wi-Fi Pod Mini first.

• Keep the pods in the open

  Wi-Fi signals travel through the air and generally weaken over distance, but their strength can also be affected by:

  • Building materials: Concrete or metal make it harder for the Wi-Fi signal to move freely, ultimately slowing down your Internet speed.
  • Appliances: Certain appliances, like microwaves or even baby monitors, can interfere with the Wi-Fi signal, possibly slowing down your speed.
  • Ventilation: Pods should not be covered by furniture or placed in an electrical cabinet, where they can overheat and impact performance.
• Wait 24 hours for best performance

  Bell Whole Home Wi-Fi continuously optimizes your network based on when and where your devices access the Internet in your home. This helps ensure they always get the strongest signal. After installing pods, or any time you unplug them, it may take up to 24 hours for the pods to complete the optimization process.

Good to know

• Your device may not always connect to the pod that is closest to it. The network will determine the best connection based on a variety of factors, such as interference and traffic.
• While Bell Whole Home Wi-Fi determines the best connection, sometimes devices need some help connecting. Turning your device’s Wi-Fi off and back on may solve performance issues.
• If your pods have a poor connection to the modem, try moving them to different locations to see if this improves performance.

Naming your Whole Home Wi-Fi pods

Naming your pods can help easily identify them in the app.

1. Open the Bell Wi-Fi app and log in with your MyBell username and password. Get help logging in to the Bell Wi-Fi app
2. In the Adapt section of the home screen, touch the pod you’d like to rename.
3. Touch the three dots at the top right of the screen and select Rename access point.
4. Touch the X to the right of your current pod name, enter a new name and touch Done.

Checking pod connection quality

The Bell Wi-Fi app monitors your network to give you a connection quality rating for each Wi-Fi pod, and to show you when there is a problem. Your pods work as a team – if one pod has poor connection quality, any other pods connected to it will be affected. You will get the best performance when all pods have excellent connection quality.

To view pod connection quality:

1. Open the Bell Wi-Fi app and log in with your MyBell username and password. Get help logging in to the Bell Wi-Fi app
2. In the Adapt section of the home screen, touch a pod to view its signal strength:
   • Excellent – All applications should run perfectly.
   • Good – All applications should run without any major impairments. You may see some buffering for high-speed applications, like 4K video streaming.
   • Fair – Not ideal for real-time applications or high throughput applications, like 4K video streaming. Try moving your pod closer to your modem or away from anything that might be causing interference.
   • Poor – Your pod is not communicating well with the network. Real-time applications such as video calling or streaming may suffer. Try moving your pod closer to your modem or away from anything that might be causing interference.

For more information on how to improve your Wi-Fi speed, visit the Optimize my Wi-Fi speed page.