HBC GigaHome App Installation and Setup

1. Download the app. You can search either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for HBC GigaHome, then install it on your mobile device.
2. Once installed, launch the application and select Let’s Get Started.
3. Select Sign Up towards the bottom of the screen.
4. Enter your personal information into the form fields, accept the terms & conditions and privacy policy, and then select Sign Up. The password you enter here will be used to access the app. Please wait at least 10 minutes after your GigaHome router has been “turned up” before attempting the next step.
5. If your system is plugged in and connected select YES to continue. Otherwise, select Not sure? and follow the on-screen prompts.
6. Tap the QR code icon that appears within the app. (You will be asked to allow the app to access your camera.) Point your camera at the QR code found on either the bottom or side of your GigaHome router system, or on the sticker that came in your box. Select OK. After you select Submit, you may be asked to enter your account number.
7. Complete the following steps to finish setting up your WiFi. Name your network and create a password.
   1. 1. The Network Name (SSID) is what you will use as your wireless connection name.
      2. Create a password for your wireless network. If you do not want to change it on all the devices in your home, use your existing wireless SSID and passwords from your current router.
      3. Security Type can be left to default setting of WPA – WPA2-Personal.
      4. Place (Optional) is for adding a description of where your equipment is located.
8. Click Done and your setup is complete.

View the HBC GigaHome App Installation Article for more images of the installation and setup process.

Main Dashboard

This is the home screen you’ll see every time you open the app. The Dashboard gives you complete control over the devices in your home. From the Dashboard you can:

• Create profiles for people and places in your home
• Connect new devices
• Setup a guest network

My Network at the top of the Dashboard is where you can:

• Access your WiFi network settings
• Run a bandwidth test
• View all connected devices
• Disable services
• View device usage

You can also access a list of these connected devices, by selecting Things from the Dashboard or in the Tool Bar at the bottom.

-If you are using the GigaHome Gateway you will not have access to the bandwidth test.

Settings

• Account Name—This will allow you to update the name shown on your app and the login password.
• Set Passcode—You can set a PIN in lieu of an app login password.
• Language—This allows you to select your preferred language for the app.
• Alerts—To receive notifications from the app, leave this in the ON position.
• Terms & Conditions—Provides the terms and conditions you acknowledge by using the app.
• Privacy Policy—Provides the Privacy Policy of the app.
• About—Provides a brief summary of what the app does. Your app version will also display here.
• Log out—Provides the ability to log out of the app.

Customize

• People—Connect your Things (devices) with people in your home network. This allows you to set parental controls, content filters, time limits, and so much more.
• Places—Places are a great way to tailor your WiFi to devices connecting to a specific area in your home like an office, media room, patio, or game room. This allows you to optimize your WiFi performance by being able to pause Internet access to devices in locations that don’t need to be on.
• Things—You can easily find your network details here to connect a new device to your WiFi.
• Network—Add a guest network at anytime and keep your main WiFi network and data safe while you have guests over. You can set a duration and even text the WiFi network name and password to your visitors.
• Mesh (SAT)—Extend the reach of your WiFi network by connecting a new mesh.
• Services—Contact HBC to enable these services. Monthly fees apply for use of ExperienceIQ. Your GigaHome Blast router rental includes ProtectIQ service.
  • ExperienceIQ Enhanced Parental Controls—Provides the ability to set profiles, assign devices, schedule offline time, add content filters, app filters and website filters, and view profile usage.
  • ProtectIQ Network Security—Provides network level protection against malware, viruses, etc.

Parental Control (Basic)

To create a parental control file:

1. From the home screen, select the People tab to create a new profile.
2. Enter the name for the profile in the box and select the devices you would like to add to this profile.
3. Select Done at the top of the screen.

Once the profile is created, you can do the following:

• Tap Edit in the profile and add a picture if desired.
• Swipe the Internet Access toggle off to pause all devices connected to this profile. To bring devices back online, swipe the toggle back on.
• Set time limit schedules to turn Internet access off for all devices in a profile during specific times and days.
• Tap Edit and then Add to add more devices to a profile.
• Tap the red minus icon to remove devices from a profile.

-If a device has the HBC GigaHome App, do not add it to a profile, as you may inadvertently cut off your access to these controls. If this happens, switch to mobile data, to restart the profile with your app device. 

Guest Network

When you select the My Network section from the Dashboard you will have the option to create a guest network by selecting Networks.

In the Add Network screen, do the following:

1. Set the name of the wireless guest network as you want it to appear for your guests.
2. Security Type can be left to default setting of  WPA – WPA2-Personal.
3. Set a WiFi password for your guest network. This step is highly recommended to keep your network safe. This will bring up additional boxes for you to set and confirm your password.
4. If you set the network to Endless, it will stay available forever. Alternatively, you can set a Custom Start and End time for the guest login to be valid.
5. Once you have set the parameters for your guest network, select Done at the top of the screen.
6. Select Done to complete setup. You have the option to share your new network with your guests via text, email, or other messaging service.
7. To edit your guest network, select My Network from the Dashboard. Select Networks and select the network you wish to edit or delete.

Device List (Things)

Things allows you to see the devices connected to your network. Tap on a device to see additional details including:

• Device name
• Signal strength
• Internet usage

Device Details

The device details screen will show the device name at the top of the screen followed by a chart that indicates the amount of data that was used by the device over a period of time.

• By selecting Edit in the upper right-hand corner, you can rename the device to something easier for you to identify.
• You can also change the category for this device by selecting the drop down button found within Additional Details.
• Usage shows data used by a specific device. The information below Usage shows additional connection details for this device.
• By toggling the On/Off button on the Internet Access section, you can turn on or off WiFi for this device.
• Network Priority is available with ExperienceIQ and allows you to prioritize traffic and devices on your network. Contact HBC to enable this service. Monthly fees apply for use of ExperienceIQ.  

Network Usage

Network usage is organized by device. From this view, you can see basic information about usage from each WiFi connect device on your network including:

• Device identification and whether the device is connected to WiFi
• What network device it is connected to
• Network usage
• The amount of data that has been used by a specific device

Network Usage is updated each time you run a bandwidth test through the app.

-This feature is only available with the GigaHome Blast.

Network Map

From the Dashboard you can select My Network. This will show any routers, guest networks, or mesh units connected in your network.

• Select your WiFi network, then Map to view connected devices.
• Select the Mesh icon (if you have a mesh unit) to get performance information and to view devices connected to the mesh unit.

Speed Test

1. Select My Network from the Dashboard and then select the Bandwidth Test icon.
2. Select the Run Test button.

The speed test will first run between the GigaHome Blast and the Internet and then will conduct a speed test between any mesh units and your router. Results will show as a notification and update at this location.

-This feature is only available with the GigaHome Blast.

Enable and Disable Applications

When you select My Network from the Dashboard and then select Services, you will see a list of applications that are eligible for download into your HBC GigaHome app. Contact HBC to enable these services. Monthly fees apply for use of ExperienceIQ. Your GigaHome Blast router rental includes ProtectIQ service.

1. Select an item and simply follow the instructions to add the functionality.
2. Conversely, when you select Disable Application, you will see a list of applications that are currently running on your app that you can disable. Select an item that you would like to disable and simply follow the instructions to remove the functionality.

-This feature is only available with the GigaHome Blast.

ExperienceIQ Enhanced Parental Control

If you subscribe to ExperienceIQ Enhanced Parental Controls from HBC, you’ll have additional functionality to help manage access to the Internet within your home.

1. Select the People tab from the Dashboard and then tap into the People section.
2. Create a profile. Assign a name to the profile and assign the devices you want attached to this profile. You can also select the photo icon to add a picture to represent this profile.
3. Select Done and those devices selected are now assigned to the profile you have created. To remove a device from a profile, select Edit, then select the – sign next to the device.

• If you want to manually pause all devices assigned to a profile, toggle the Internet Access button to OFF.
• Select Time Limits to set time limits for all devices connected to the profile.
• Restrictions allow you to restrict access to specific content, applications and websites, and enable Safe Search and YouTube restrictions.
• Parental Controls work while devices are connected to WiFi.

-If a device has the app, do not add it to a profile, as you may inadvertently cut off your access to these controls. If this happens, switch to mobile data, to restart the profile with your app device.

Content Restrictions

Restrictions allow you to restrict access to specific content, applications and websites for a profile you have set up.

• Safe Search blocks harmful or offensive content when searching Google, Bing, and YouTube.
• YouTube Restriction also blocks all comments on videos which often include inappropriate language.
• Content Restrictions allow you to block content by age or specific categories such as violence.
• Applications allows you to block access, approve access, or set time limits for specific applications by entering the name of the application.
• Websites allows you to allow or block specific websites.

Activity and Device Prioritization

From any profile or the Things tab, tap into a device to access Network Priority to view activity and device prioritization settings.

• By default, activity priorities on the WiFi network are organized according to a combination of common activities. You can prioritize the activities by ordering them from top to bottom with the most important activities on top. Once set, My Priorities will do all the work to prioritize traffic to your activities.
• You can schedule an alternative activity list during certain times and days of the week. Up to three different schedules are supported.
• Prefer to prioritize by device regardless of what activity those devices are performing? By tapping Devices, you can select up to 5 devices to prioritize over all others. You can even set a timer to reset the priority once the time is expired. For example, if you want to use your Sonos surround sound while you stream Netflix on your smart TV for family movie night, you can set priority to just those devices.
• Device priorities can also be made permanent. Device priorities work in conjunction with the activity priorities and share the fastest network traffic queue. This means  you get the most bandwidth and lowest latency n the devices and activities you set.

ProtectIQ Network Security

If you subscribe to ProtectIQ Network Security from HBC it is working quietly in the background on your GigaHome Blast to provide an extra layer of protection against malicious traffic.

• Data coming into your network will be scanned for viruses and other malicious content and you will receive a notification if content was blocked for some reason. This will show as a notification within the ProtectIQ main menu item in your app.
• No action is needed when you receive an alert. These threats are automatically blocked from entering your network.

1. To view your security status, select My Network from the Dashboard.
2. Select Networks and then select your home network. The Security tab will display the last update.
3. Select Security to view options including:
   • Trusted List shows items you have selected as trusted in your notifications screen.
   • Skipped Devices allows you to select devices that will be skipped during security scans.
   • Intrusion Settings allow you to enable an added layer of protection. Enable both options for the ultimate protection.
   • Additional Details provides additional information including packets analyzed and the total number of threats detected and blocked.

-Do not remove device level protection for anti-virus and malware.