Wifi Extender pods have terrible performance

[the_stig]

Received Wifi extender pods as I have had no end of trouble with Shaw's wifi modem dropping connections. Never had this many issues with a wifi modem before. Not to mentioned my speed is all over the map, the technicians that have come out over the last few years have not been helpful. Did a speed test with a computer directly plugged into the Wifi extender and was getting less than a 100 megs. tested with the PC wifi almost hitting 200 megs., then back to plugged into pod with the wifi on the PC turned off. It is obvious these pods do not have the power to transfer data at AC speeds. Really disappointing where Shaw is going charging $10 a month for something that actually gives you less performance. Locking people into contracts and then not providing the service people signed up for. This has been an issue far too long and really think need to start looking at alternatives. 

Anyone else having issues with the Wifi router dropping connections all the time and the Wifi extenders actually causing your network to preform worse? I know it is not an issue with interference or coaxial cable etc. 

[rstra]

Range extenders will always be slower than connecting directly to your router because the extenders have to split their bandwidth between the router and the clients. 

As far as the drops are concerned, if it isn’t interference, it must be hardware related. 

[mdk]

@the_stig -- really think need to start looking at alternatives

It's a good thing that Shaw is not the only provider of WiFi extenders. Think Linksys by Cisco.

When you get a "drop", is it within your local network, or is it between your cable-modem and the Shaw infrastructure?

What speed are you paying for?

What speed does the Shaw Speed Test report, with an Ethernet connection between the cable-modem and a fast (3.0 Ghz) computer?

If you temporarily put a pod just one room away from the cable-modem, and use an Ethernet cable to connect your computer to that pod, what speed do you get?

[the_stig]

That's not really accurate. These WIFI pods are AC band capable and the router is a MIMO-MU router with more than enough bands to support the pods, it should not result in a drop like I have seen. 

[the_stig]

We should not have to go pay for new hardware if Shaw is stating these pods extend an AC Wifi network. The drop of performance shows these pods are not up to the task. A lot of what you ask does not make a lot of sense. The speed test was done with the shaw speed test, so that will also be testing the WAN network. Also if I am able to get 300 megs on an AC connection from the same computer that is then wired directly to the pod with the Wifi off on the computer and see a ~250mbs drop in speed with these things, something is up with these pods. The pod is about 2 feet away from the computer connected to with a cat7 cable. 

[rstra]

No, it is accurate, you can connect using AC, but won’t get max speeds. From Shaw:

”Pods have a maximum throughput of 50-75 Mbps over a WiFi connection in laboratory settings. Other factors can affect speeds”

[rickatk]

Is your modem dropping connection with the pods in place? Respecting the pod performance they are rated at max 200mbps. More importantly how is your network working over all with the pods in place? 
A mesh network relies on all the pieces working together. Further your devices will decide which pod to connect or even the router directly. That is how the pods work. If you have a poor signal in a distant part of the house a pod can step up to the plate. It will not increase your overall network speed.

[bmason]

Had the same problem.  Found the problem was the modem so I exchanged it with no problems.  Just had to replace my second modem so now I'm on my third.

[theholford_s]

Mine drops my work programs constantly. With working from home it needs to be more reliable. If the dog lays in front of it, it loses connection, if the router is moved onto a shelf , it loses connection, if the router is bumped , it loses connection. Very frustrating

[Tonyfed]

The worst WiFi experience every!!!