When we reviewed the Plume Adaptive Wi-Fi System last year, we were impressed with its aesthetics and how easy it was to install, but not so impressed with its overall performance and lack of basic features such as parental controls, device prioritization, and guest networking.
With Plume's new SuperPod ($199 for the three-pack starter kit) mesh Wi-Fi system, you get powerful tri-band Wi-Fi, MU-MIMO data streaming, increased data rates, and an extra LAN port.
The system also offers parental controls and guest networking, even if you have to subscribe to a membership plan to configure them.
The upgrades are appreciated, but if you're looking for even better performance and more advanced features, we recommend spending $100 more on the Editors' Choice TP-Link Deco M9 Plus Wi-Fi System.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
Plug and Play
The SuperPod three-pack comes with a trio of individual pods that you plug directly into a wall outlet.
They have the same hexagonal shape as the original Plume pods, but at 1.4 by 3.7 by 3.4 inches, they are noticeably bigger.
Color options include Silver, Champagne, Walnut, and Plum.
The three-pack provides coverage for the average three- to four-bedroom home with each pod providing 30 to 80 feet of coverage depending on walls, floors, and other interior structures.
For larger homes, a four-pack is available for $259, and you can buy a single SuperPod for $99.
You can add SuperPods to an existing Plume network that uses the smaller Pods or purchase one of the SuperPod/Pod combo packs for smaller homes.
That's a lot less coverage than the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus, which covers 4,500 feet with its two nodes.
The SuperPods are not only bigger than the original Pods, but they are also more powerful too.
Each SuperPod is an AC3000 tri-band router equipped with one 2.4GHz band, two 5GHz bands, a quad-core processor, and a Bluetooth radio.
The 2.4GHz band is a 2X2 band that can reach speeds of up to 400Mbps.
The 2X2 5GHz band can hit speeds of up to 867Mbps.
The 4x4 5GHz band supports MU-MIMO simultaneous data streaming and is capable of speeds of up to 1,734Mbps.
Each SuperPod contains two gigabit LAN ports, a tiny status LED, and a two-prong plug for connecting it to a wall outlet.
As with many Wi-Fi systems, there are no USB ports for connecting to portable storage devices.
As with the original Plume devices, the SuperPods use Plume's Adaptive Wi-Fi technology, which analyzes your network and optimizes bandwidth allocation based on client demand, but it lacks manual Quality of Service settings that allow you to give network priority to specific clients and applications.
You'll have to pay a membership fee to use Adaptive Wi-Fi and other features including parental controls, HomePass (guest networking), internet speed testing, device monitoring, and pod mapping, which shows what devices are connected to each pod and how they are performing.
You'll also need a membership to purchase add-on nodes.
A lifetime membership will cost you $200 or you can pay $60 annually.
The Plume mobile app (iOS and Android) is intuitive and easy to navigate.
On the Home screen is an animated network map that shows the main router and all installed nodes.
Tiny dots orbiting each node represent how many clients are connected.
To see who is connected, tap any node and then tap a client to see what radio band and channel they are using, the MAC and IP addresses, and how much bandwidth the client has used.
Here you can also run an internet speed test and freeze online access.
To add more pods to the network, tap the + icon at the bottom of the Home screen.
Also at the bottom of the screen is an Up arrow with the number of connected devices.
This opens a screen that shows who is connected and whether they are connected to the Home or Guest networks or if they've been granted Internet Only status.
Back at the Home screen, a three-bar icon at the bottom left corner takes you to a screen where you can manage Wi-Fi and PoD settings.
Wi-Fi settings include Plume's HomePass, which allows you to create a Home password to grant users full access to the network, a Guest network password that provides limited access, and an Internet Only password that lets users access the internet with no additional network access.
Below the HomePass tab is an Advanced Settings tab that lets you choose to operate the system in Bridge mode or Router mode and configure port forwarding, IP subnet, and DNS settings.
Tap the More button to enable the Secure & Protect feature, which protects your network from malware, phishing, bot nets, spyware, and adware.
There's also an Adblocking option that blocks the loading content from known ad servers.
In the Pod settings menu, you can set up, rename, delete, and check the signal strength of your pods.
Respectable Performance
To install the Plume system, I downloaded the mobile app and tapped Set Up Plume, at which point I was asked to create an account and a password.
Once I verified my email address, I followed the on-screen instructions to connect a Plume pod to my modem/router using the included Ethernet cable and to plug it into an outlet.
After 15 seconds, I was prompted to create a name and password for the Plume network and to continue adding pods.
The next two pods were recognized within 30 seconds and I gave them names and was finished.
See How We Test Wireless Routers
The SuperPods turned in some speedy scores on our throughput performance tests.
The main router node garnered 540Mbps on the close-proximity test, which beat the Linksys Velop Dual-Band ($197.95 at Amazon) router, but came in just short of the SmartThings WiFi system and the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus.
At a distance of 30 feet, the SuperPod router node scored 113Mbps, beating the SmartThings and the Linksys Velop scores but not the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus.
The SuperPod satellite node's score of 320Mbps on the close-proximity test was significantly faster than the SmartThings and the Linksys Velop nodes, but couldn't match the TP-Link Deco score.
Results were similar on the 30-foot test: the SuperPod node's score of 220Mbps blew away the SmartThings and the Linksys Velop node scores, but the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus was faster by 77Mbps.
We test MU-MIMO throughput using three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops equipped with Qualcomm's QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuitry.
The SuperPod router gave us an impressive score of 132Mbps on the close-proximity MU-MIMO test, besting both the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus and the SmartThings router.
The Linksys Velop led with a score of 138Mbps.
At a distance of 30 feet, the SuperPod router's score of 67Mbps was faster than the Linksys Velop router, but not the SmartThings and the TP-Link Deco M9 routers.
The SuperPod satellite node delivered a relatively speedy throughput of 96Mbps on the MU-MIMO close-proximity test, outlasting the Linksys Velop and the SmartThings satellite node and coming in a close second to the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus node.
The SuperPod node's score of 82Mbps on the 30-foot MU-MIMO test beat the SmartThings and the Linksys node scores, but could not best the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus.
Powerful and Attractive
The Plume SuperPod system is an easy and attractive way to fill your home with Wi-Fi coverage.
Simply plug them in, let the mobile app discover them, and enjoy relatively fast throughput in every room.
Each pod has two LAN ports that you can use to attach wired devices such as gaming consoles and streaming media components, but there's no USB connectivity.
The thoughtfully designed Plume mobile app makes it easy to see who is connected and how much bandwidth they are using, and you can assign parental controls, but you'll have to pay a monthly fee to do so.
You'll pay $100 more for our Editors' Choice, the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus, but it offers better overall performance and home coverage, robust parental controls and QoS settings, and a built-in home automation hub.
