Comcast today launched a new and personalized service that provides a digital dashboard for customers to set up their home Wi-Fi network to better control the growing number of Wi-Fi connected devices in the home.
Known as Xfinity xFi, the new service allows customers to find their password, see what devices are connected, troubleshoot issues, set parental controls and even pause Wi-Fi access on their home network during dinner or bedtime.
Comcast estimates 86 percent of in-home broadband use will travel over Wi-Fi this year, and by 2020 Americans will have an average of 50 Wi-Fi connected devices in their homes.
“The adoption and use of connected devices has grown dramatically and Comcast has created a solution that makes it easy to control and manage them,” said Eric Schaefer, senior vice president of Internet and Communications Services for Comcast Cable. “xFi is a personalized home Wi-Fi experience that gives customers the fastest speeds, best coverage and ultimate control in their homes.
The new Wi-Fi control service can be controlled via a mobile app, website and on the TV with the X1 voice remote. The xFi option is now available to the 10 million Xfinity Internet customers with a compatible Xfinity WiFi device – the xFi Wireless Gateway or the xFi Advanced Gateway – and comes at no extra cost for Comcast customers.
“Just as Comcast changed the TV experience with X1, we plan to change the home Wi-Fi experience with xFi,” Comcast’s Tennessee spokeswoman Sara Jo Walker said.
To get started, customers should visit www.xfinity.com/myxfi or download the xFi app (for iOS and Android).
As part of the xFi launch, Comcast is renaming its most popular wireless gateway device. The xFi-enabled device that is in 10 million homes today will now be called the “xFi Wireless Gateway.”
The company is also introducing a new “xFi Advanced Wireless Gateway” to customers on the fastest speed tiers. The xFi Advanced Gateway will be the primary device Comcast uses to provide one-gig speeds to customers.
Comcast said it expects the number of xFi-ready homes to increase to about 15 million by the end of this year
Later this year, Comcast will 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 most remote areas of their homes.
The company has made an investment in Plume, a leading developer of distributed Wi-Fi software and systems, and is working with them to combine the technologies of Plume and xFi into a unified experience that improves throughput and consistency to individual devices.
Comcast is the nation’s largest internet provider and has more than 16 million hotspots spread across U.S. homes, businesses, and outdoor locations.