Most people in an average-size home or apartment won’t need Mesh WiFi and a regular router should provide adequate WiFi coverage. But for those with large homes (2,000 to 5,000 square feet), or multiple floors to cover and you’re looking for better WiFi coverage, mesh WiFi is a great solution.
WiFi mesh-networking systems typically include a mesh router and pods (also called nodes) that connect to one another to create coverage throughout your whole home.
Mesh WiFi and Ethernet
Not all mesh WiFi systems come with Ethernet ports to provide a wired backhaul or backbone, and can only provide a wireless connection. With mesh WiFi systems that offer Ethernet ports, creating a wired backbone connection offers a faster, more reliable Internet connection and advanced security.
Mesh pods wired via Ethernet can still be used wirelessly if you want or need them too. However, connecting nodes with a wired Ethernet connection will greatly improve your Internet speed and connection performance overall. A wired Ethernet connection is more than seven times faster than the highest throughput of any wireless network. Regardless of the wireless or wired connection, with a mesh system you’ll still be able to expand your Internet signal to hard-to-reach areas such as the garage or basement or even your yard.
Mesh with Gigabit Ethernet Ports
The best mesh WiFi systems support WiFi 6 and have at least two LAN Gigabit Ethernet ports to offer reliable Ethernet backhaul. This gets you faster transfer speeds to your end devices and consistent, reliable Internet all the time. Sending data back to your modem via Ethernet will always be faster than using WiFi bands, and it doesn’t matter how far you are away from your router.
Ethernet
- Ethernet
- Consistent speeds
- Low latency
- Higher security
- Simple connection
- Less convenient
- Run wires
- Can be more expensive
WiFi
- Convenient
- Wireless connection to move around
- Flexible
- Inconsistent speeds
- WiFi signal vulnerable to interference
- Higher latency
- Deadspots or dropped connections
Gigabit Ethernet Speeds
Hitron’s mesh WiFi system has two Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) ports. The Internet speed connection to your end devices is determined by the Ethernet port capability on your router or mesh system. With two Gigabit Ethernet ports, you can create two separate Gigabit network connections to add flexibility to your home network set up.
Using Two Gigabit Ethernet Ports
Using two Ethernet ports is for anyone who wants to create two separate network connections – their main network and a separate network.
To create the second separate network connection, you will need a second IP address from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). It’s important to note, that not all ISPs will provide a second IP address as a subscribed service for residential subscribers, so please check with your ISP.
Using two Ethernet ports provides flexibility to your network for things such as:
- Working from Home– You need to create a separate network connection for your computer to access your Employer’s backend systems when working from home.
- Security Cameras– You have a security camera system that you want to run on a separate network connection for storage of data.
- Network Sandbox– You want to create a network “sandbox” to test configurations or settings of devices without having them interfere with your main home network.
- Backup Network– You want to create a “redundant” network to use as a backup network in the event your main network has issues.
- Website or Email Server hosted– You want to host your own web or email server and would like to keep it separate from your main home network.
Hitron’s mesh WiFi system is unique in that it continuously optimizes your networks’ performance by using artificial intelligence to auto select the best connection path in your mesh network for maximum speed performance to every device, everywhere in your home.
No more worrying about dropped Zoom calls or lagging videos, and more brilliant 4K HD video streaming, fast online gaming, and video conferencing can all be done at the same time.
Hitron’s OS2210 Dual-Band WiFi 6 Mesh System will soon be available on Amazon. For new members, enjoy a 1-year membership with the Plume HomePass™ app for easy setup, controls, and whole-home management.
Want to learn more about mesh WiFi? Checkout the resources on our Learn Page.