Plume SuperPods Wi-Fi 6 review: subscription-based mesh Wi-Fi

Plume won’t be a very acquainted title in house networking, however was one of many first corporations to carry out a mesh Wi-Fi package again in 2016.

It has launched improved variations over time and has just lately made its Wi-Fi 6 SuperPods accessible within the UK, having been within the US for some time.

The Pods, which look slightly like they’ve been taken from the set of Star Trek, are smaller than you’d anticipate and are designed to plug straight into mains sockets. In contrast to most mesh Wi-Fi methods, there’s a compulsory subscription service known as HomePass, a subscription service which incorporates sensible safety features, an ad-blocker and 24/7 technical assist. Plus, you get a lot of the normal options we’ve come to anticipate from the very best mesh Wi-Fi methods. 

The unique SuperPods, which you’ll be able to nonetheless purchase at the moment, featured the older Wi-Fi 5 commonplace, and a more moderen Wi-Fi 6E mannequin is obtainable within the U.S. now. These Wi-Fi 6 variations, also referred to as ‘SuperPods AX’, are what we’ve reviewing right here. 

There’s rather a lot on supply right here, however does ‘renting’ your mesh Wi-Fi make sense long run, and the way do the prices stack up should you want extra protection? And what kind of efficiency are you able to anticipate from the Wi-Fi 6 SuperPods anyway? 

Design & construct

• 96 x 87 x 40mm 
• Two Ethernet ports per system
• Spend money on extension leads if you wish to reposition SuperPods

Plume’s hexagonal SuperPods are fairly curious-looking units. There aren’t any exterior antennas; every thing is tucked away into models which plug straight into the wall, very similar to an old style Wi-Fi extender. 

However, whereas they’re small and nifty, they’re additionally relatively awkwardly formed. The casing followers out from the bottom, which implies that they will block adjoining sockets that you just want for different home equipment. 

You might also have a dilemma should you’re trying to set up a SuperPod in a room the place you need additional protection, however the place of your mains sockets simply so occurs to be lower than optimum for wi-fi networking functions. 

For the very best outcomes, wi-fi entry factors have to be positioned someplace out within the open, as far-off from bodily objects, which can impede radio frequencies, as potential. This can be tough in sure rooms, reminiscent of kitchens, the place there are sometimes plenty of pretty RF-impeding steel objects mendacity round, and plug sockets are positioned beneath wall-mounted cupboards.

In excessive instances, you may must get an electrician in to put in some new SuperPod-specific mains sockets for you. 

However as an alternative of doing that, you may join an extension result in a mains socket after which plug your Plume SuperPod into that. That is what I needed to do within the first occasion, because it wasn’t sensible for me to have the first SuperPod jostling for place with the modem’s energy provide. 

This considerably spoils the SuperPods’ neat and tidy aesthetic, as you may see beneath, however at the least there’s no likelihood of your pets knocking the issues over. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Setup 

• Trouble-free set up
• Increasing protection is kind of actually a case of plug ‘n’ play

Most trendy mesh Wi-Fi merchandise are very straightforward to arrange, however the Plume SuperPods are presumably the simplest I’ve examined thus far. That is all a part of the ‘self-optimising’ and adaptive a part of HomePass – it handles every thing for you.

Whether or not you find yourself getting two, three, 4 or extra SuperPods, you’ll want to attach the primary one to your modem /router by way of Ethernet, as you usually would with any mesh system, to behave as the principle node. 

You’ll want Plume’s HomePass app (iOS and Android) to finish the set-up course of, so obtain and set up that first, after which create an account.

You’ll then join the primary SuperPod to your modem by way of Ethernet (Plume features a 150cm Ethernet cable within the field), plug the Pod into the mains, after which restart your modem / router. 

The HomePass app ought to detect the SuperPod and, as soon as an Web connection is established, you may add new Pods to the community. It is a easy case of plugging them in, turning on the facility, and ready a number of seconds for a connection to be established. That’s it. 

There’s no faffing round, pairing units by way of Bluetooth or scanning in QR codes in your cellphone so as to add the brand new Pods, you simply plug them in and so they join virtually immediately. 

As soon as completed, you’ll be prompted to rename the community and create a robust password. Any updates which can be found might be put in at this stage. The entire course of took lower than ten minutes to finish. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Options and utilizing the HomePass app

• Distant community administration out of your cellphone – however not your desktop 
• Visitor Wi-Fi with Web-only mode, port forwarding and menace detection options
• Sense movement detection characteristic is intriguing, however not tremendous helpful

Like many mesh Wi-Fi apps, HomePass offers you a fast overview of every thing that’s occurring on your private home community. You possibly can see which units are related to which SuperPods, and to additionally assign units to non-public profiles and apply restrictions like blocklists to these profiles and units, if you wish to. That’s just like how Eero Safe on the Eero 6 Professional works. 

There’s a built-in advert blocker, though I with it turned on, YouTube movies with paid promotion which I attempted to observe on my Pixel 6 have been blacked out. I turned the blocker off, reset the app, and the movies labored as they need to.

There’s additionally menace detection, which notifies you should you’ve visited any web sites which might harbour malware. It’ll additionally block any suspicious incoming visitors, and quarantine IoT units in your community which can be behaving suspiciously.

Whereas helpful, you’ll wish to lean on a devoted safety software program package deal for extra complete safety on your laptops, PCs and telephones: this doesn’t change Norton, McAfee or different antivirus software program.

There’s a Visitor Wi-Fi characteristic, which is not any shock, however Plume has an added twist. You possibly can decide from a ‘Visitor’ mode, which lets you share entry to issues like set-top bins and sensible audio system by way of a Visitor Wi-Fi community or, an ‘Web solely’ mode, which is self-explanatory. 

There’s additionally a pace check and a breakdown of which units are consuming essentially the most bandwidth in your community. 

Extra settings embrace port forwarding and first and secondary DNS particulars. You possibly can’t arrange a VPN on the SuperPods themselves, though you can put the units into bridge mode and permit your current router (with VPN assist) to do all of the work of routing information across the community. 

Frustratingly, there’s no management over Wi-Fi past setting a community title and password. You possibly can’t separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, an issue we discover on many mesh methods. This isn’t normally a dealbreaker: it’s a bonus typically. However when you’ve got Wi-Fi units that may solely use 2.4GHz and you may’t pressure your cellphone onto that band, setting them up and utilizing them may be problematic, if not inconceivable.

Thomas Newton / Foundry

There‘s a desktop portal you may log into together with your Plume account settings which supplies you entry to a lot of the data that’s accessible by way of the cell app. Nonetheless, you gained’t be capable to configure something from this interface, so it’s extra of a dashboard than a management panel. 

As talked about, Plume Sense can be careful for interruptions in Wi-Fi indicators brought on by individuals, pets, and different issues shifting across the house. It is a sort of camera-less house safety characteristic.

You possibly can have Sense notify you of movement in your home when no person is at house, which may very well be helpful. And like comparable methods in different mesh Wi-Fi kits, there’s an choice to dial down the sensitivity in order that it doesn’t notify you if pets occur to set off the movement.

I discovered Sense to be fairly efficient, however not significantly helpful. In case you get a movement alert and also you’re not house, you wish to see what’s occurring. In case you can’t, then merely figuring out there’s movement just isn’t useful.

In the meanwhile, Plume’s not saying what else it may need in retailer for Sense. In case you don’t wish to use it, you may merely flip it off.

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Efficiency

• Peak speeds in extra of 1,000Mbps at shut ranges
• Anticipate nearer to 500Mbps in adjoining rooms and on older units
• Protection from three SuperPods is OK, however massive houses will want extra nodes

Speeds recorded in testing have been in keeping with expectations –  you’ll be capable to get above 1,000Mbps on trendy Wi-Fi 6 units if that system is near a SuperPod. For essentially the most half, anticipate to see speeds inside 500-600Mbps. 

These SuperPods are ‘AX6600’ units. Particularly, they’re tri-band that includes a 2×2 MIMO 2.4GHz antenna and a 2×2 MIMO 5GHz antenna. The third band is a 4×4 MIMO 5GHz radio.

Theoretical prime speeds are 574Mbps on the two.4 GHz band, 1201Mbps by way of the two×2 5GHz band, and 4804Mbps on the 4×4 5GHz band. 

It’s unclear which of the 5GHz antennas have been put aside for devoted wi-fi backhaul, or if the 2 antennas mechanically swap, like on the Eero 6 Professional.

Regardless of repeatedly asking Plume for this data, I by no means bought a solution.

Mesh methods with devoted wi-fi backhaul have a separate 5GHz channel that’s reserved for the entry factors to ship community visitors between them, in order to not congest the 5GHz radio bands utilized by your units. Ethernet backhaul can also be supported, however I wasn’t in a position to check this out. 

Regardless, speeds have been respectable.

Google says that proactive band steering directs your units to radio channels with the very best efficiency. This largely bears out in testing – in just about each case, wherever I’ve carried out a pace check, the system has been steered in direction of Channel 36 on the 5GHz band.

Solely the Huawei Mate 10 Professional was placed on Channel 11 on the two.4GHz band, and this was out within the backyard with a brick wall, a closed door and 5 metres distance between me and the node. In different phrases, I might anticipate to be shunted right down to 2.4GHz, as larger frequencies are much less good at passing by means of strong objects. 

I used the WiFi Pace Take a look at Professional app on an previous Huawei Mate 10 Professional (a Wi-Fi 5 system), a RealMe X50 5G (a Wi-Fi 6 system), and a Google Pixel 6 (a Wi-Fi 6E system), to show the vary of speeds you may anticipate to see on completely different units. 

As you may see, precise speeds you get rely in your proximity to the SuperPods, and bodily objects, like partitions, flooring, and ceilings. 

Sign energy, recorded utilizing the NetSpot software program, was just like that of the Linksys Atlas Professional 6 and the Google Nest WiFi Professional. You possibly can see this within the warmth map beneath the place crimson signifies a robust sign, inexperienced is OK, mild blue is ok for basic shopping (i.e. not streaming), and darkish blue areas imply unhealthy or no Wi-Fi in any respect.

Right here’s how one can examine your individual Wi-Fi sign energy. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Throughout testing, I didn’t encounter any points. I used to be in a position to take video calls on Groups upstairs and downstairs on my work laptop computer and on my Pixel 6. The map above reveals that the first node (arrange close to the underside proper nook of the bottom flooring) was in a position to simply attain units within the rooms instantly above it.

I might watch YouTube and stream music upstairs and out within the backyard, or a least in most locations – on the prime proper nook of the backyard, Spotify and Bandcamp streams did lag a bit when launching, however that’s the one actual drawback I had.

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Worth & availability

Plume SuperPods can be found within the US and UK.

Within the UK, Plume is operating a promotion with Virgin Media, which incorporates two free Wi-Fi 5 SuperPods (not the Wi-Fi 6 fashions examined right here) and a one-year subscription to HomePass for £8/month, or £96 in complete. Extra Wi-Fi 5 SuperPods may be added for £90 every.

That’s not a foul deal in any respect, particularly should you don’t have full fibre broadband as they’ll be lots quick sufficient. You don’t must have a Virgin Media broadband service to get the SuperPods; they’re ISP-agnostic. 

If you need the Wi-Fi 6 SuperPods, you’ll want to move to Plume’s web site as an alternative. The unhealthy information is that they’re fairly a bit dearer at £159 every.

You’ll want to join that HomePass subscription as effectively. There are alternatives for one-, two- and three-year plans, that are priced at £99, £179, and £249, respectively. There’s at present no choice to pay month-to-month, like you may with the Virgin Media deal. 

Likewise, within the US, you may join HomePass subscriptions on a one-, two- or three-year foundation. These are charged yearly, and value $99, $179, and $249, respectively. No month-to-month fee plan is obtainable.

Once more, the {hardware} must be purchased on prime of this. The older Wi-Fi 5 SuperPods price $99 every, the Wi-Fi 6 SuperPods price $159 every, whereas the newer and at present US-exclusive Wi-Fi 6E SuperPods are $299 every. 

SuperPods will proceed to work should you cease paying for the subscription, however you’ll lose an entire bunch of options. A few of these are apparent: the superior community safety goes away, as does ad-blocking, parental controls and movement sensing. However Plume additionally hobbles the system so you may’t add extra SuperPods, and also you lose the band steering, which appears a bit unfair. You’ll discover extra particulars on Plume’s web site.

Verdict 

Plume’s proposition with the SuperPods and HomePass is an attention-grabbing one. The HomePass app has a number of helpful options, makes it a breeze for even techophobes to arrange the system and the subscription imply you get fast entry to technical assist, must you want it.

In case you’re within the UK, the Virgin Media deal may very well be tempting should you suppose you may improve and purchase one other mesh Wi-Fi system in two- or three years’ time.

However most individuals don’t try this, and in order for you Wi-Fi 6, SuperPods are merely not good worth. Some HomePass options are good, however others you gained’t use or gained’t discover helpful.

Even should you suppose you’ll want solely two Wi-Fi 6 SuperPods, they’ll set you again £318, plus the subscription. With the most cost effective one-year subscription going (£99), that involves £417 – costs are the identical in {dollars} within the States. Over a few years, the associated fee isn’t far off different tri-band Wi-Fi 6 mesh methods, however after that you just’ll find yourself paying a good bit extra.

The principle rival is Amazon’s Eero 6 Professional which additionally has subscription-based safety features, though you’ve got the choice of paying month-to-month with that.

If all of it sounds too costly, think about the Linksys Atlas 6 which affords comparable efficiency for a lot much less cash. The models even have 4 Ethernet ports, and aren’t tied to the place your mains sockets are within the house.

Specs

• Dimensions: 96 x 87 x 40mm

• 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) tri-band AX6600 (2.4 GHz as much as 574Mbps, 5 GHz as much as 1201Mbps/4804Mbps)

• 1 x Ethernet 100/1000 WAN port

• 1 x Ethernet 100/1000 LAN port

• Distant management and administration with HomePass

• WPA2 Enterprise (coming in a future replace)

• WPA3 (coming in a future replace)