On Jan. 3 Comcast announced its xFi Advanced Gateway unit, which incorporates WiFi 6E technology, offering customers faster, more reliable wireless broadband connections.
Billed as Comcast’s most powerful WiFi device to date, the new gateway will boost capacity in the home with three WiFi bands – 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and the new 6 GHz band. Together, these WiFi bands reduce interference and increase bandwidth in the home by 3x to support the massive influx of connected devices used by consumers today, as contended by the operator.
The gateway unit is also Comcast’s first to support symmetrical Gigabit speeds to more effectively serve connected homes going forward.
Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast Cable, commented:
“The next generation gateway underpins our commitment to providing the best whole-home WiFi experience with the fastest speeds, ultimate control, advanced cybersecurity protection and broad coverage in the home. We’re also making the latest advancement in WiFi available to our customers today, so their home networks are ready for all of the WiFi 6E capable devices that hit the shelves in the future.”
Combined with Comcast’s efforts to evolve its network to 10G, the operator emphasizes that the new WiFi 6E Gateway delivers multigigabit upload and download speeds to help ensure every game console, streaming TV, VR headset, laptop, and more, receive the speeds they need, with ultra-low lag times for those moments when response times matter most like playing video games, virtual reality, or videoconferencing.
Further, the WiFi 6E Gateway is set to furnish IoT connectivity for emerging smart homes. Zigbee and Matter compatible, acting as a central connector for IoT and home automation devices like smart lights, plugs and locks, and more, the operator says the gateway ultimately delivers ultra-low lag, faster speeds, more bandwidth, plus IoT support, at a fraction of the cost of WiFi 6E devices available in retail which can cost more than $1,000.
Customers who lease Comcast's xFi Advanced Gateway receive a full suite of complimentary services and products, including: Xfinity xFi WiFi controls via digital dashboard; and xFi Advanced Security, which helps protect all connected devices at the gateway level from malware and other cybersecurity threats.
Customers can also qualify for one of Comcast’s WiFi extenders, xFi Pods, to extend WiFi coverage to hard-to-reach corners of the home. Finally, Comcast's Xfinity Flex is included, a 4K streaming device with award-winning voice remote to seamlessly watch and search for content from the Xfinity Stream app, Peacock, Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and other channels.
Comcast said the xFi Advanced Gateway will begin rolling out to customers over the coming months, starting with those subscribing to the company's Gigabit Internet service or its xFi Complete package.