Virgin Media improves home Wi-Fi with Intelligent WIFI Plus

Virgin Media is offering its broadband customers Intelligent WiFi Plus, a new solution to expand the reach of Wi-Fi networks around the home.

Combining a suite of new features available on its Hub 3 and Hub 4 routers with plug-in WiFi Pods that help to extend Wi-Fi reach and speeds, users should experience the strongest possible signal, regardless of where in the home they are being used.

The new router features and WiFi Pods, powered by Plume, create a unique Wi-Fi ecosystem bespoke to each household. In-home coverage is extended through the creation of a cloud-controlled ‘mesh’ network which constantly adapts and evolves. Wi-Fi speeds are said to be up to three times faster.

Intelligent WiFi features such as channel optimisation, band steering and airtime fairness, have received significant upgrades. These include Channel optimisation 2.0, with more 5GHz channels included to reduce Wi-Fi traffic jams; Adaptive band steering to continuously and adapt device connections to help make sure that they are on the right Wi-Fi frequency at the right time, and In-home roaming, which relies on the WiFi Pods to predict which Wi-Fi Pod or Hub is best for a device to connect to. It uses WiFi signal strength around the home and determines how busy things are at certain times of day to choose the best point of access for each connection.

Intelligent WiFi Plus will help improve in-home coverage in hard to reach areas and is said to be particularly beneficial for those in large households with lots of connected devices.

“Intelligent WiFi Plus is our most advanced and impressive WiFi service to date that will help remove broadband blackspots and bring faster and more reliable speeds throughout the home,” says Jeff Dodds, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media. “Whether our customers are working, streaming, browsing, playing or keeping connected online, the combo of new Hub features and WiFi Pods provides a step change in connectivity that won’t let you down.”

Intelligent WiFi Plus is available at no extra cost for Ultimate Oomph and Gig1 customers with other Virgin Media customers able to upgrade to the new service for just £5 per month.

The Connect app from Virgin Media acts as the central control panel for all Intelligent WiFi Plus features for Hub 3 users, with Hub 4 users set to gain access later this year.