The Home’s Information Hub
It is becoming more common for individual homes to have IT closets or Distribution Cabinets where all electronic information flows into the home. In addition to the different type of connections, these locations may contain other equipment needed to use each connection. In some homes, these locations also contain the power connection for the home.
Potential Issues
The primary issue with these locations regarding Wi-Fi and where to locate pods, has to do with Wi-Fi signals being blocked. IT closets and distribution cabinets contain racks for mounting network equipment and other equipment. These are usually made entirely out of metal, or reinforced with metal and sometimes have glass doors. In addition to the cabinet itself, a lot or copper wires will be coming into the same location. All of these materials block Wi-Fi signals, reducing range and degrading performance.
When the gateway pod (first pod connected by Ethernet) is placed inside an IT closet or distribution cabinet, the Wi-Fi signals going to and from your devices and other pods are further weakened. This signal loss is in addition to the normal degradation experienced when going through the walls and any other obstructions in the rest of the home.
Another potential issue is the devices that these locations contain can generate radio interference, which can also further impact the performance of Wi-Fi.
The Wi-Fi signal from the pod also has the potential to cause interference to sensitive audio equipment sometimes found in the racks and media centres,
The gateway pod is the most important part of your Plume network and should never be placed inside these cabinets and closets.
Solutions
Many IT closets and distribution cabinets have Ethernet and coaxial connections going to other parts of the home. Connecting the first pod (gateway pod) to the modem, modem-router combination, or router in the IT closet or distribution cabinet using the opposite end of these connections is the best solution for these situations.
It is possible and recommended to connect multiple pods by Ethernet or other hardwired connection to the router or modem-router combination in this manner when the wiring is already available. Having multiple gateway pods (connected by Ethernet) can help improve Wi-Fi performance.