Why I upgraded to xFi Advantage

xFi Advanced Gateway

This post is sponsored by Xfinity. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have been a longtime fan of Xfinity’s xFi. In my house, I have profiles for both my kids. I use these profiles to group their devices (iPhone, computer, etc.) so I can have more control over their internet usage.

For example, I use xFi’s bedtime controls to restrict internet access on their devices starting at 10 p.m. on weeknights. On weekends, I let them have a few extra hours. I also use xFi to pause my kids’ devices when I feel they need a break or if they need to focus on their homework.

xFi Advantage

Recently, Xfinity released an upgraded version of its xFi service, which is called xFi Advantage. With xFi Advantage, you get all the benefits of xFi service with a few extra bonuses. Here’s a brief rundown of the additional features you get with xFi Advantage:

Unlimited data: xFi Advantage removes the 1 TB monthly data cap and gives you truly unlimited data. Before I say another word, let’s be clear about something: 1 TB per month is an enormous amount of data, but I have two kids who love to stream videos and music, play massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) and communicate over video chat. In other words, their habits often put me at risk of going over that 1 TB monthly limit. With xFi Advantage, I no longer have to worry about that.

Advanced security: If you haven’t noticed, internet security often feels like the wild, wild west. It can be a real challenge to stay on top of things in order to avoid becoming the victim of a malware or phishing attack. Thankfully, xFi Advantage provides additional security layers to help keep your internet usage safe and secure. The additional security features include the following:

  • Safe browsing: Prevents users from inadvertently visiting websites that are known to be malicious.
  • Intrusion detection and prevention: Prevents unauthorized access from the internet to any device in the home.
  • Internet of Things (IoT) traffic anomaly detection: Real-time detection of any unusual behavior from your in-home IoT devices, which can often indicate a malware problem or an attempt to breach your network security.
  • Smart quarantine and self-healing: Upon detection of a threat, xFi Advantage automatically isolates compromised devices to prevent them from affecting the rest of the devices on your network.

If you aren’t worried about these things, you should be. In the first few weeks of using xFi Advantage in my home, I received at least a half-dozen notifications informing me of detected (and blocked) threats, along with “tip cards” to help me troubleshoot and resolve each issue.

xFi Advantage Security Notification

What do you need to upgrade to xFi Advantage?

xFi Advantage is an extension of Xfinity Internet. You must currently be subscribed to Xfinity’s Performance Starter, Performance, Blast, Extreme, Extreme Pro or Gig service to upgrade to xFi Advantage.

You’ll also need to use or upgrade to Xfinity’s xFi Advanced Gateway. When I upgraded to xFi Advantage, I did not have the xFi Advanced Gateway, but it was a simple swap: I unhooked my existing gateway and plugged in the new one. I just made sure to assign the same wireless network name to the new xFi Advanced Gateway. That way, I didn’t have to reconfigure any of the devices in my house.

However, I did need to run a quick reconfiguration of my xFi Pods. This was all handled through the xFi app on my phone, and it was relatively painless.

xFi Advanced Gateway and xFi Pods

If you feel the need for speed, one bonus feature of using the xFi Advanced Gateway is that it can adequately handle Gigabit Internet. For those of us who don’t quite need 1-gigabit-per-second speeds just yet, it’s still comforting to know the xFi Advanced Gateway will be ready when we are.

By the way, xFi Advantage’s monthly charge includes the xFi Advanced Gateway. That’s another nice bonus!

Ready to upgrade? Check out Xfinity’s website to learn more about xFi Advantage.

Bonus: Xfinity Refer-a-Friend program

If you’re an Xfinity customer who loves the Xfinity service as much as I do, you might as well put some money in your pocket by sharing the good word with your friends. With Xfinity’s Refer-a-Friend program, you can get up to $500 in Visa Prepaid Cards when your friends use your unique referral code to order online and install a qualifying Xfinity service. Visit here for more details.