Cable giant Comcast has launched Xfinity xFi that provides a simple digital dashboard to set up their home Wi-Fi network, find password, see connected devices, manage issues, set parental controls and pause Wi-Fi access on their home network.
Broadband users can control the xFi experience via a mobile app, website and on the TV with the X1 voice remote. Customers need to visit www.xfinity.com/myxfi or download xFi app for iOS and Android. Comcast is offering free xFi to 10 million Xfinity Internet customers with a compatible Xfinity WiFi device.
This year, 86 percent of in-home broadband use will travel over Wi-Fi, and by 2020 Americans will have an average of 50 Wi-Fi connected devices in their homes.
The broadband operator said that xFi is a personalized home Wi-Fi experience that gives customers the fastest speeds, best coverage and ultimate control in their homes.
“The platform will allow us to bring future innovations to our customers, address common pain points and vastly improve the way millions of people interact with their home Wi-Fi network,” said Eric Schaefer, senior vice president of Internet and Communications Services for Comcast Cable.
Comcast said the xFi-enabled device that is in 10 million homes will be called the xFi Wireless Gateway. The company is also introducing a new “xFi Advanced Gateway” to customers on the fastest speed tiers.
Comcast said the xFi Advanced Gateway will be the primary device Comcast uses to provide one-gig speeds to customers. It is capable of delivering gigabit speeds over Wi-Fi and supports Xfinity Voice, home security and automation applications.
Comcast expects the number of xFi-ready homes to increase to about 15 million by the end of 2017.
Comcast will also launch no-configuration, adaptive xFi pods that can be paired with either the xFi Wireless Gateway or the xFi Advanced Gateway, which will help customers extend their Wi-Fi coverage to even the remote areas of their homes.
The company has made an undisclosed investment in Plume, a developer of distributed Wi-Fi software and systems, to combine the technologies of Plume and xFi into a unified experience that improves throughput and consistency to individual devices.
Comcast’s Wi-Fi network has more than 16 million hotspots spread across U.S. homes, businesses, and outdoor locations.
