Technology - Blue Stream Installed - Updated 11/23//2025
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ATTIC / FURNACE CLOSET WORK
The Blue Stream attic crews have been hard at work. If they have been in your unit, you will now have a box for a Blue Stream optical connection in your furnace room. On some units the furnace closet isn't finished with a sheet of drywall on the inside. Inside those closets the drywall you see, is the backside of the drywall of another room. I know this to be the case on 2/2 A unit condos (102,202,106 and 206 units) in most of the buildings here. In those units, if the Blue Stream box is screwed into the drywall, the tips of those screws will most likely will be protruding into the hall bath. I have never seen the inside of the furnace closet in any of the one bedroom units so I don't know if those condos have this same quirk. After your building has been wired, you will get information from the Vista Royale Office on how to sign up to get an installation appointment. See: Blue Stream Get Ready |
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SERVICE INSTALLATION
My Blue Stream service has been installed. I received numerous reminders of my installation appointment and I was prepared. I had my information written out, had my list of questions and knew exactly where I wanted my equipment installed. The Blue Stream technician arrived on time, and unlike the attic crew, he wore booties and didn't leave a mess behind himself. He was very knowledgeable. After the install he showed me how to use the Plume App to control my network.
My Blue Stream service has been installed. I received numerous reminders of my installation appointment and I was prepared. I had my information written out, had my list of questions and knew exactly where I wanted my equipment installed. The Blue Stream technician arrived on time, and unlike the attic crew, he wore booties and didn't leave a mess behind himself. He was very knowledgeable. After the install he showed me how to use the Plume App to control my network.
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EQUIPMENT
The little device here is a WiFi Plume. Blue Stream used one Plume in my unit. The Plume plugs directly into an electrical receptacle. It is then connected to the ONT modem via an Ethernet cord. It only covers one of the outlets in the receptacle, leaving the other free for your surge protector. This plume runs hot and needs a lot of room for ventilation. If a unit needs more than one Plume to get coverage, it then becomes a mesh network. |
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COSMETICS
For those of you who went to a great deal of trouble to hide AT&T's invisi-line and have been fretting about the new install, Blue Stream can reuse the invisi-line inside your condo IF you want to install Blue Stream's wall mounted ONT modem next to the place that your AT&T modem router plugged into the wall. They mounted my ONT modem in the master bedroom, behind the dresser. This required my dresser to be pushed a few more inches away from the wall to allow air space for ventilation. Having all the AT&T equipment removed from the top of my dresser looked nice, but there is a price to pay for that. |
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SPEED
The wired speedtest through the Plume App gave a blazing 1013 Mbs download and 900 Mbs upload speed. The wireless speed was significantly slower, sometimes annoyingly slow. In my chair in the living room the speed was 57 Mbs download, 18 Mbs upload. The dramatic difference between wired and wireless speed is caused by WiFi interference. I identified the slowdown as physical interference and was able to get much better speeds throughout my condo.
The wired speedtest through the Plume App gave a blazing 1013 Mbs download and 900 Mbs upload speed. The wireless speed was significantly slower, sometimes annoyingly slow. In my chair in the living room the speed was 57 Mbs download, 18 Mbs upload. The dramatic difference between wired and wireless speed is caused by WiFi interference. I identified the slowdown as physical interference and was able to get much better speeds throughout my condo.
INTERFERENCE
There are two kinds of WiFi interference, electronic and physical. Electronic interference comes from other WiFi signals and other consumer electronics, like baby monitors, microwaves, security cameras, cordless home phones (not cell phones). Electronic interference is more likely to be a problem on the 2.4 band. Physical interference refers to obstacles that are between the WiFi sender and the WiFi receiver.
Electronic interference is really bad in my unit at Vista Royale. During the "season" my speed on the 2.4 band usually tops out at 11Mbs. The best solution for electronic interference is to use the 5GHz WiFi band. Since I first became aware of the existence of 5GHz WiFi in 2014, I have made a conscious effort to ensure that any new equipment I purchase is dual band equipment so that I can avoid the 2.4 band.
The other kind of interference is physical interference. This refers to passing through walls, furniture, people and range. The 5GHz band greatly suffers from physical interference. Even in a small condo, you can have 5Ghz dead spots, but the 2.4 GHz might not have any trouble.
There are two kinds of WiFi interference, electronic and physical. Electronic interference comes from other WiFi signals and other consumer electronics, like baby monitors, microwaves, security cameras, cordless home phones (not cell phones). Electronic interference is more likely to be a problem on the 2.4 band. Physical interference refers to obstacles that are between the WiFi sender and the WiFi receiver.
Electronic interference is really bad in my unit at Vista Royale. During the "season" my speed on the 2.4 band usually tops out at 11Mbs. The best solution for electronic interference is to use the 5GHz WiFi band. Since I first became aware of the existence of 5GHz WiFi in 2014, I have made a conscious effort to ensure that any new equipment I purchase is dual band equipment so that I can avoid the 2.4 band.
The other kind of interference is physical interference. This refers to passing through walls, furniture, people and range. The 5GHz band greatly suffers from physical interference. Even in a small condo, you can have 5Ghz dead spots, but the 2.4 GHz might not have any trouble.
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LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The general rules for WiFi router placement are place the router or plume in a central location. It should be raised off the floor so it doesn't have so many obstacles to pass through. It should be in a well ventilated area away from the wall as much as practical. The Plumes are being plugged directly into the wall outlet which is only 15 inches off the floor. In my case it is sandwiched between the dresser and the wall, and on the other side of the wall there is an overstuffed sofa bed. Is it any wonder that the WiFi signal is having trouble getting out? |
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RAISING THE PLUME
I do not like to plug expensive electronics directly into a wall socket, especially here in Florida, the "lightening capital of the world." So I bought this light duty, 900 joule Tessan surge protector with a 5 ft cord and anti-skid feet for $18. I moved my Plume to the top of the dresser. My 57Mbs WiFi download speed jumped to 357Mbs! Another benefit to this was I gained physical access to the Plume. When it was plugged directly into the wall outlet behind heavy furniture if I needed to reboot it, there was no way for me to move the dresser by myself to unplug it, and there is no restart option in the Plume App. So the only way I could power it on and off was at the circuit breaker, and then I would have had to reset all the clocks! Now it is easy access the unit if it needs to be powered off. The other benefit is the Plume runs very hot, and now it will get better ventilation. Overheating can cause poor performance.
I do not like to plug expensive electronics directly into a wall socket, especially here in Florida, the "lightening capital of the world." So I bought this light duty, 900 joule Tessan surge protector with a 5 ft cord and anti-skid feet for $18. I moved my Plume to the top of the dresser. My 57Mbs WiFi download speed jumped to 357Mbs! Another benefit to this was I gained physical access to the Plume. When it was plugged directly into the wall outlet behind heavy furniture if I needed to reboot it, there was no way for me to move the dresser by myself to unplug it, and there is no restart option in the Plume App. So the only way I could power it on and off was at the circuit breaker, and then I would have had to reset all the clocks! Now it is easy access the unit if it needs to be powered off. The other benefit is the Plume runs very hot, and now it will get better ventilation. Overheating can cause poor performance.
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CLOSING OUT YOUR AT&T
When you close your AT&T U-Verse account, they will send you an email that tells you the name of the equipment along with the serial number of the equipment that they want back. You have 30 days after you close your account to bring that equipment to a Fedex or UPS Store along with the barcode included in the email. Failure to return the equipment on time will result in a $150 charge per each piece of equipment that they want back.
When you close your AT&T U-Verse account, they will send you an email that tells you the name of the equipment along with the serial number of the equipment that they want back. You have 30 days after you close your account to bring that equipment to a Fedex or UPS Store along with the barcode included in the email. Failure to return the equipment on time will result in a $150 charge per each piece of equipment that they want back.
Questions
Q. I have a follow up question related to reusing the ATT equipment- it seems like that would be the preferred option- are there any downsides to reusing this equipment?
If you don’t reuse the ATT invisi-line equipment- would BlueStream have to run all new wiring or ??
A. The downside to using the AT&T fiber optics line is that your AT&T internet is now disconnected.
If you want to move your router to a better location or preserve the connection to your AT&T service point, Blue Stream will glue down an additional optical line. When I had my AT&T service installed, I chose the location based on WiFi coverage for the 5GHz band. The criteria I used was the fewest number of walls, and the shortest distance to the places I use WiFi. So in a 2/2 B, I chose the master bedroom even though we don't compute in there. This was a very simple fiber route, just 10 ft along the baseboard from the furnace closet.
Some people have a very complicated route to their AT&T service point. They had the fiber going up and over several doorways including unfinished doorways and then worked very hard to conceal that so that you don't know it is there. These people were understandably upset at the prospect of doing this all over. On the other hand, many people located their AT&T modem in the worst possible place to get good coverage in their unit.
The Vista Royale floor plans are shown below.
If you don’t reuse the ATT invisi-line equipment- would BlueStream have to run all new wiring or ??
A. The downside to using the AT&T fiber optics line is that your AT&T internet is now disconnected.
If you want to move your router to a better location or preserve the connection to your AT&T service point, Blue Stream will glue down an additional optical line. When I had my AT&T service installed, I chose the location based on WiFi coverage for the 5GHz band. The criteria I used was the fewest number of walls, and the shortest distance to the places I use WiFi. So in a 2/2 B, I chose the master bedroom even though we don't compute in there. This was a very simple fiber route, just 10 ft along the baseboard from the furnace closet.
Some people have a very complicated route to their AT&T service point. They had the fiber going up and over several doorways including unfinished doorways and then worked very hard to conceal that so that you don't know it is there. These people were understandably upset at the prospect of doing this all over. On the other hand, many people located their AT&T modem in the worst possible place to get good coverage in their unit.
The Vista Royale floor plans are shown below.
