iphone and xfinity mesh network connectivity issue (xfi pods & iphone)

Been having a similar issue to other posters. Have xfinity gateway wireless and four gen 2 xfi pods. All up to date software, ios, etc. Everything works when is stays in the same place, but iphones cannot move throughout the house and stay on wifi. Two different iphone 15 pros will not connect to the xfi pods, they "lock" on to the gateway until I move out of range, then they drop wifi and switch to cellular, even when standing next to a pod. My home network shows up in the list of wifi networks, but it will not connect to the iphone until I get back into range of the gateway. It says "unable to connect to network". I can forget the network and enter the password, then it will work until I get back within range of the gateway, and the process starts again. I have spent hours on chat and phone support with Xfinity, which is beyond useless. They're sending a technician here Sunday but after reading others' issues on this forum I'm not hopeful of it going well. I've spent hours with Apple iphone support and engineering and we found one interestingf thing. They asked me to download a "profile" that would log issues on my phone for them to see. When I was using the profile it worked perfectly. Problem is that is generating a log file while active so it's not ideal to keep it going 24/7, and apple says the profile doesn't actually do anything to the ios, but the phone moves seamlessly throughout the mesh network when the profile is active. This also means it's impossible to recreate the issue for apple techs, since they need that profile active to log the issues. It's definitely an issue with the Xfinity mesh network, and it's been reported by many on this forum. Anyone been able to get this to work?

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user_323c89

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8 Messages

22 hours ago

Four xFi Gen 2 Pods is quite probably doing more harm than good, but that’s a topic for after you get the iPhone connection issue sorted.

First, I’d completely forget all instances of your home network from both iPhones.

Next, go into the Xfinity app, tap the “WiFi” tab, then tap “WiFi details” followed by “Edit WiFi settings” and ensure than “Security Mode” is set to “WPA3-Personal-Transition” or you’ll see all sorts of issues with iPhones and the Pods.

Update us when you can.

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user_pz686s

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4 Messages

bloody he11 - user_323c89 - you did what no one from apple or xfinity support could do, actually gave a helpful answer! Thank you so much! Done and done, worked a charm. As for the 4 pods, it's a long house and we need end to end coverage. Tried with 2 and that didn't cut it at all. 4 finally did the trick to cover all areas well with "strong" signal, except the garage only has "fair". what is the issue with having 4?

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21 hours ago

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user_323c89

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8 Messages

Sweet! Glad it worked.

The Gen 2 Pods have far greater reach than the Gen 1 Pods, which were designed to have multiple in use. With the Gen 2, layout dependent, they can actually create issues when the coverage overlaps.

As an experiment, if you’re interested and it’s workable for you, you might try a single Gen 2 Pod, but this time connect it back to the XB8 (or XB7) using an Ethernet cable (preferably a quality Cat6). No issues with using a 50ft cable and being the full 50ft from the gateway, either. See whether the coverage improves. The speeds will definitely improve, since it’s using the Ethernet for backhaul. If the coverage still needs improvement, and you have another open port on the gateway, you could add another in similar fashion. Good luck

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15 hours ago

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user_pz686s

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Thanks for the suggestion. I've got them all spaced minimum 30'-40' apart and there's walls and doors separating them, so I don't think there's a lot of overlap and I haven't had any issues with connectivity or signal strength, except for the iphone issue. I will try the test you laid out at some point, but if it was to be a permanent solution I would need to have the cat6 run under floor or through the walls and ceiling, which is more of an undertaking than I can manage myself. I will give it a try though, and if there's a marked improvement I will update here. What would be the signs to keep an eye out for the overlap issues?

Thanks again for your help

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6 hours ago

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iphone and xfinity mesh network connectivity issue (xfi pods & iphone)

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