How to get my free xFi Pods?

Hi all,

I'm going through this experience myself and have highlighted to the relevant teams the experience gaps I've encountered. I'm not the product owner or expert of xFi Complete / Pods. Your best bet on your individal status is to chat/call in.

Here are a few things to note:

• You must have xFi Complete as part of your plan.
• Once you activate xFi Complete, the wifi assessment takes 2 weeks to complete.
• You must have an eligible xFi gateway (modem/router).
• The results are sent to you in the email and we have an event log of the outcome.
• The results may at times indicate you may not need Pods. 
• I recommend chatting/calling between 11AM - 8 PM Eastern time, and the frontline representatives can discuss the issue with the specialists who work on Pods fulfillment to check on your status. There is no direct line to the specialists as they cannot be reached by phone.
• Retail stores cannot provide you with complimentary pods, they follow the same escalation process as chat/phone agents.
• You should not purchase an xFi Pod and expect to get one reimbursed as part of xFi Complete.
• If you cancel xFi Complete within 90 days, you will be charged the amount of the xFi Pods.
• There are two types of xFi Pods, the first generation and second generation. They can be differentiated based on a few identifiers:
  • Gen 1 xFi Pods
    • One ethernet port
    • Has the model number "XE1"
    • Smaller
  • Gen 2 xFi Pods
    • Two ethernet ports
    • Has the model number "XE2"
    • Larger/heavier
• One Gen 2 should cover the work of 3 Gen 1 pods. So if you got 1 and not the 3, it's because you received the 2nd generation one with more speed and coverage.
• Spec-wise:
  • Gen 1 xFi Pods
    • Tops out at 300Mbps (higher at the 5Ghz frequency)
    • Dual-band antennas 
  • Gen 2 xFi Pods
    • Tops out at 500Mbps (higher at the 5Ghz frequency)
    • Tri-band antennas (better range and signal reliability)

Sometimes, it's not just all about xFi Pods, or any 3rd party mesh system, that will fix your issue, double check the fundamentals:

• Position your gateway somewhere high and central in your home.
• Don't bend your coaxial cables more than you would around a mason jar. Bending at an angle will create impedence.
• Tighten your coaxial cables, loose ones will cause ingress and noise.
• Remove/replace splitters (they can be pretty terrible)
• If pods won't cut it, and you have one device you need to have good signal and need to extend the range for, consider buying a wireless USB adapter that extends the antenna, the ones in your laptop may also be older and weaker. You can also hardwire from your pod into the laptop if your laptop has ethernet ports.

Things to note about speed:

• If you have 300Mbps as your service plan, that's your maximum speed shared across devices. If you have Gig service and are using an iPhone 7 and run a speedtest, you're not going to see 1Gbps or even 900Mbps, you're topped at 450Mbps because of the WiFi radio capabilities of the phone.
• Don't run your speedtest when Timmy is gaming on his PS5 you got him for Christmas. He's taking up some of the bandwidth.
• As far as specs go, if you're gaming like me, I'd recommend running hardline/wired ethernet for the lowest latency and fastest speeds. If you have an XB7 (there's one 2.5Gbps port), Gig service, and a 2.5Gbps NIC, you may be able to get above 1Gbps in your Speedtests.
• Also if you're going to run a speedtest, use ours https://speedtest.xfinity.com/
  • It's more accurate (speedtest.net uses servers that include other customers who host the server, and the speeds may not reflect what you're actually experiencing)
  • It's logged (we actually can see the speedtest results you ran before to help the agent as you troubleshoot)
  • It educates you on your device speed limitations

I've been stuck in exactly the same state for weeks. Called xFinity support last week and they told me my case was being escalated and I would recieve a call back the next day (since "the Pods group already went home today"). No call back for days now, no ability to order, and no ability to even call xfinity again and get an agent (evidently when there's a network problem in your area, the voice-response system just tells you to sit tight, and won't let you get to an agent).  So, I'm paying for extra service that they advertised comes with free Pods, but they refuse to hold up their end of the deal.  I want a refund for this month's extra fees, and next month's too assuming they don't get them to me.

And, by the way, why do I have to "order" them?  Why don't they just arrive without me doing anything special at all? I'm already paying for the service. There was nothing in the offer about "You also have to keep logging in and pushing the button, day after day, until it happens to work.  Ha ha ha."

And, also by the way, why does it seem that people who want to pay $110 for the Pods have no problem entering their orders?  I already paid, and xFinity is prioritizing other orders in front of mine? Something is rotten in Denmark.

How many days after you activated your xFi did you get your Home evaluation email?

XFi Complete order confirmation email received 8/11; "WiFi Evaluation Complete" email received 8/29.  So, 18 days later.

It has now been over 40 days since my order, and I'm still unable to even ask for, never mind recieve, my "Free xFi Pods".  I want a refund for the month.  I want the call-back I was promissed.  I want the Free xFi Pods I'm entitled to. I want Comcast held responsible for "bait and switch".

We need to take this out of xfinity forum to an open social media platform.  All of us are having this problem.  All of us get the same run around with customer service.  The one person who got theirs shipped went to Twitter.

OK!  Today, the ordering link worked!  More than a month later than receiving the "Your Home WiFi Evaluation is complete" email, but it looks like the landing page has changed, and the Pods pictured appear different, and in fact are labelled as "New and Improved!"

So, maybe they were just out of the old model and awaiting the new; would have been nice if they had reached out to tell us so.  In any case, let the ordering commence!

Well, my shipment arrived today, but there was only ONE xFi Pod in it.  I was supposed to get 3. What is wrong with Xfinity?!?

Just to answer your post. the ones you recieved  actually will cover the same amount as 3. You got the ones that support the higher speed up to 500mbps rather than the older ones that max out at 200mbps. They go with the new modem the XB7 thats for Extremepro and higher. meaning with the new Wifi protocal Wifi 6 and they have 2 ethernet ports.  @drf57 

Thanks for your reply.  My confirmation email from Comcast explicitly says "Your Whole Home WiFi evaluation is complete. Our results show that your home WiFi coverage will benefit from xFi Pods. Three xFi Pods are available to you at no extra cost" (bolding Comcast's). So, they said I should expect three.  There's absolutely nothing on the packaging, or in the box, or in any follow-on email to indicate that they were just kidding and that things had changed during the month between the confirmation email and when they shipped the Pod. But, a look through the current xFi Pod marketing pages indicates that you are correct about the new-generation xFi Pods.  Thanks, that saves me a bunch of undoubtedly-frustrating calling.

Hi everyone. Sorry to hear about your troubles with the xFi pods. For those of you that have had the Whole Home WiFi evaluation results completed where the xFi pods were recommended but you're having trouble receiving them, please let us know. For those of you that want xFi pods outside of the Whole Home evaluation, eligible customers can buy xFi Pods at https://comca.st/2IyOxrg or through the xFi mobile app.

Morgan,

I have been on a call with a rep for an hour.  After I signed up for your xFi Complete service (which clearly includes pods), he's telling me I can't get pods.  Supposedly my house has excellent coverage without need for pods.  I don't know how Comcast can make that determination remotely without seeing my house and equipment setup first.  I currently have a 3 unit google mesh network that can't seem to manage good connections in a 3-level, 3500 sq ft house.  I know I will need 3 pods to get good 500 Mbps coverage if they work as advertised.  As a loyal 15 year customer, I don't understand why I can't get what was advertised.  I'm willing to pay for xFi complete, but I want the pods...... Please!

Hello @ComcastMorgan. We have not received our free xfi pods. I was told now that this is because we aren't renting the modem. Which is completely not true. We have two modems, andour internet is handled by your modem, which comcast recently installed and charges us monthly for. But for some reason, even though both modems show up inour account, with the internet through the xfi rented one, when I go to order the recommended xfi pods, it says we dont qualify because we dont have the xfinity modem and we are using our own! There appears to be no way to edit this in our account. So we have a download speed of 3 GB in half of our house without the pods and were told they would be provided. Please help!!