[jrref]

I ran across a Villager who was complaining of their TVs buffering. The Quantum Wifi signal was very good throughout the home. What I found was they were using a IPTV streaming service. There are many out there that offer basically everything for a very inexpensive cost. Not questioning the validity of such a service I wanted to point out the problem they do not necessarily have enough capacity to service all of their customers which can cause buffering.

So, in this case it wasn't the Quantum fiber internet service, it was the IPTV Sreaming service causing the buffering.

[jrref]

Quantum fiber was installed in a friend's Premier home here in the Villages today where the home is around 4,000 sqft. It's way larger than the usual home here in the Villages so an Extender Wifi pod was necessary. The plan was to pre-wire the main WiFi7 pod in one of the rooms as close to the center of the home as possible and then put an extender WiFi pod in a bedroom on the other end of the home. In this specific case, there was an ethernet/phone jack next to where we wanted to install the Extender pod so I pre-wired it.

If you can wire the Extender Wifi pod you don't have to rely on the main Wifi pod communicating with it wirelessly and you will get a stronger Wifi signal giving you more coverage.

Now you will have two wired ethernet connections in the white data cabinet in the garage so what do you do with them? The Quantum SmartNid consists of the Fiber Optic termination and router and it also has a two port ethernet switch/hub built in. So, in this case all we had to do was plug in the two wired ethernet cables, one from the Main Wifi pod and the other from the Extender pod into the SmartNid. Works perfectly.

I can tell you some techs are not aware of this setup so if your home has the ethernet jacks to support this, then ask the tech to hook it up this way.

[MorTech]

If you order the 960mbs or higher service, it will come with the 6500 SmartNid that has one 10gbe port. Lower speeds will be the 5500 model with 1gbe ports.

My Xfinity price-for-life just increased...Now I have to wonder whos "life" they were talking about The life of the CEO's hamster?

I guess I will go with the 500mbs Quantum for $50. It is far more bandwidth than I will ever need. At least it comes with WiFi 7 main and one pod at no extra charge. $50 is more than I want to spend but Xfinity NOW is "now" off the table. I am looking forward to single digit latency and jitter even though I doubt I will notice it.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by MorTech

If you order the 960mbs or higher service, it will come with the 6500 SmartNid that has one 10gbe port. Lower speeds will be the 5500 model with 1gbe ports.

My Xfinity price-for-life just increased...Now I have to wonder whos "life" they were talking about The life of the CEO's hamster?

I guess I will go with the 500mbs Quantum for $50. It is far more bandwidth than I will ever need. At least it comes with WiFi 7 main and one pod at no extra charge. $50 is more than I want to spend but Xfinity NOW is "now" off the table. I am looking forward to single digit latency and jitter even though I doubt I will notice it.

The 500mbs and 1Gbs speeds come with the 5500 model with 1gbe ports. In some areas in the Villages Quantum offers 2Gbs, 3Gbs, and 8Gbs and for those customers they use the Q1000K model with the 10Gbs ports.

Which Village are you located?

[DrMack]

We are completely satisfied with their service.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by jrref

The 500mbs and 1Gbs speeds come with the 5500 model with 1gbe ports. In some areas in the Villages Quantum offers 2Gbs, 3Gbs, and 8Gbs and for those customers they use the 6500 model with the 10Gbs ports.

Which Village are you located?

I was over at a Villager's home this morning hard wiring his computer in his office who has the 2Gbs Quantum Internet service. The SmartNid looks the same but its a Q1000K.

The Q1000K combines the functions of a modem and a fiber-optic network terminal into one device. It decodes the optical signals that make your fiber internet work just like the 5500 unit.

The Q1000K is a high performance, 10G/1G XGSPON/GPON fiber SmartNID with a two-port LAN switch.

The Q1000K SmartNID is tested and certified to run at speeds up to 10 Gbps on the Quantum Fiber network. Talk about future proofing your home!

Plugging into the Q1000K or the Main Wifi7 pod, using my iPhone 16 I was able to measure 2gbs download and 1Gbs upload which is what is advertised for this service. Using the Wifi and my iPhone I measured slightly less than the wired speeds which I expected.

What we need to remember is at these speeds your device such as your computer, iPhone, etc, has to have the capacity to run at these speeds. My friend's laptop was an older model and although hardwired, was not able to reach the 2gbs download speed provided by Quantum.

[MorTech]

Originally Posted by jrref

The 500mbs and 1Gbs speeds come with the 5500 model with 1gbe ports. In some areas in the Villages Quantum offers 2Gbs, 3Gbs, and 8Gbs and for those customers they use the Q1000K model with the 10Gbs ports.

Which Village are you located?

Ahh, yes...2gbs and above...The Q1000K is the new model. The WiFi 7 main (W1700K) has one 10gbe port. The WiFi pods (W1701K) have dual 2.5gbe ports. I can plug my Emby/NAS (2.5gbs ether) in the main 10gbe port (I don't own a television). I doubt I will need a WiFi pod but as long as it is no extra charge.... It is amazing to me that an Internet provider provides leading-edge WiFi 7 equipment included in the PFL price. My smartphone is WiFi 7 and my computers are all WiFi 6E.

Maybe I will order the 2gbs service just to get the Q1000K and then downgrade to the 500mbs...Would that be unethical

I am just south of 466a and have CenturyLink fiber pulled. I did not get CenturyLink cuz I did not want their large ONT box hanging on the side of the house. Xfinity cable modem was just simple and cheap way back then. I assume they will put a small outdoor to indoor fiber box (non-powered) on the house.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by MorTech

Ahh, yes...2gbs and above...The Q1000K is the new model. The WiFi 7 main (W1700K) has one 10gbe port. The WiFi pods (W1701K) have dual 2.5gbe ports. I can plug my Emby/NAS (2.5gbs ether) in the main 10gbe port (I don't own a television). I doubt I will need a WiFi pod but as long as it is no extra charge.... It is amazing to me that an Internet provider provides leading-edge WiFi 7 equipment included in the PFL price. My smartphone is WiFi 7 and my computers are all WiFi 6E.

Maybe I will order the 2gbs service just to get the Q1000K and then downgrade to the 500mbs...Would that be unethical

I am just south of 466a and have CenturyLink fiber pulled. I did not get CenturyLink cuz I did not want their large ONT box hanging on the side of the house. Xfinity cable modem was just simple and cheap way back then. I assume they will put a small outdoor to indoor fiber box (non-powered) on the house.

Correct they will install a small outdoor non-powered fiber box on the side of the house. Yes, I agree it’s pretty incredible Quantum is offering the WiFi 7 equipment included in the price. Most people don’t realize how valuable this is. And the fact that Quantum is offering all these speeds whether you need it or not, is blowing cable away.

[jrref]

Please be aware homes here in the Villages Circa 2012 and earlier that are wired for Quantum Fiber have the old style telephone jacks installed around the home. These jacks look like the Ethernet jacks but they are smaller so the ethernet plug will not fit. Fortunately, there is Cat5E cable going from these jacks to the white data cabinet in the garage.

That said, in order to use these wired points around your home to install the Wifi pods, you need to replace the Telephone faceplate and jack with an Ethernet faceplate and jack and wire it properly.

If your home is newer, most have the Ethernet RJ45 jacks installed BUT they are never wired properly for Ethernet. In order to use them, you need to remove the faceplate and jack and wire them correctly.

When you get Quantum Fiber installed the tech is supposed to do this all for you but there a some customers who want to move the Wifi pods around after the install and many are running into this problem.

If you need help, please PM me.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by rws333

Installed Quantum 2G, but the Cat 5 cable will not handle that much bandwith. Need to install Cat 6 cable. Do you know of a good contractor to run Cat 6 ?

I'm glad we determined that your existiong Cat5 cable worked perfectly and you were able to get the full 2Gbs speed over it. I think the Quantum techs are new to these higher speeds and don't know the proper way to test.

For everyone else reading this, I went to Ron's home and plugged in my iPhone 16 directly into the main Wifi pod in the living room connected to the Cat5 cable that the Quantum tech said didn't have the capacity and that he needed Cat6. I was able to get 2Gbs download and 1Gbs upload as advertised. I then ran the speed test using the Wifi and got speeds slightly less than the wired speeds which I anticipated. The problem was, Ron's iPhone was an older version where it couldn't run at the 2Gbs speed. I then hardwired his computer in his office and everything worked fine.

The point here is, as long as the ethernet cable length is less than 100 ft. which most are here in our homes in the Villages, the existing Cat5E cable will be able to carry speeds close to 10Gbs as long as the connectors and jacks are wired correctly so there is no need to spend money re-wiring your existing ethernet cable. Of course, if you are having an electrician run a new ethernet cable, use Cat6 since that's now the norm and costs the same as Cat5E. But be aware, not all devices will go over 1Gbs. Also be aware, although you can still buy Cat5E ethernet cable, it's harder to get because Cat6 is "standard" these days.

[jrref]

When placing any Wifi device in your home, always look on the other side of the walls to see what's there. I'm seeing more people placing the router in a room where on the other side of the wall is the refrigerator. While the Wifi will still work, the signal will be diminished because it needs to pass through the refrigerator which is all metal. This can be especially true in a Courtyard Villa where the typical floor plan may cause this to happen.

If possible, try to place the Wifi device on the top of your desk or on the top of a bookshelf if possible. The higher the better because there will be less obstructions for the wifi signal to pass through and you will get significantly better coverage. You will need an ethernet patch cable, sometimes a long one to move the wifi device in some cases. You can get these ethernet cables on Amazon. Cat 5E or Cat 6 is fine for this short distance.

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by jrref

Did anyone with Quantum Fiber ever make changes to their installation or come up with a better arrangement?

yes I canned their 'wifi' router and went Orbi mash otherwise you aren't getting full 1GB on wifi.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by midiwiz

yes I canned their 'wifi' router and went Orbi mash otherwise you aren't getting full 1GB on wifi.

Nice! Which Orbi did you get? and at a high level what problems were you having with the Quantum equipment?

BTW, I have Orbi as well and it's one of the best systems out there today for home Wifi.

[jrref]

On some recent installations the tech mentioned that they are instructed not to install an extender Wifi pod unless it's absolutely necessary. I can understand this as a cost cutting measure and less equipment means less potential problems. Also, if the remote pod is not placed properly, it can interfere with the Main Pod.

Because our floor plan layouts vary quite a bit, you can't make a blanket statment as to if an extender pod is needed or not. In some cases the Main Wifi pod works great and in other cases it only covers 90% of the home.

That said, If possible, try to place the Main Wifi pod on the top of your desk or on the top of a bookshelf or furniture vs the standard installation where the Pod is installed next to the SmartNid/router on the wall near the floor. The higher the better because there will be less obstructions for the wifi signal to pass through and you will get significantly better coverage. You will need an ethernet patch cable, sometimes a long one to move the wifi pod in some cases to the desired location.

The best method to get this done is to purchase a long ethernet cable before installation. Measure the distance from the Ethernet jack in the room to where you want the pod placed in your room. If you are in a home that doesn't have ethernet jacks, measure from where the fiber box is located outside your home. Then go on to Amazon and order an ethernet cable, either Monoprice or Cable Matters. Cat 5E or Cat 6 is fine for this short distance but get Cat 6 because that's what Quantum wants. Both are inexpensive. You can get a longer cable than necessary so you have the freedom to move the pod to several locations. When the Quantum tech arrives, explain what you want to do and give them the ethernet cable you purchased. The tech will usually use their experience to suggest the best location to place the Wifi pod for the best coverage. It's easier for them to install and they will want to give you the best Wifi coverage so they will be happy to do this for you.

Although, the standard installation is to mount the Main Wifi pod on the wall next to the SmartNid/router, you can lay it down on any surface like your desk or furniture when you move it. It's designed to be installed either way. Just note there is a small fan in the pod so make your you leave some air-space around the pod.

You can also move the Main Wifi pod after the installation yourself but it's best to have the tech do it for you.

[jrref]

I haven't seen any new posts about good or not so good experiences with Quantum fiber installation and service.

Please post your experience to see if there is anything else we can learn.