Mesh Wi-Fi is a whole home Wi-Fi system. The term “mesh” implies that all of the devices are working together. A mesh system includes a mesh router that connects directly to your modem and series of devices often called nodes that are placed throughout your home. These nodes create a “blanket” of Wi-Fi that provides full coverage in your home.
Even though the router, modem and nodes are placed in separate places in your home, they all are part of a single mesh network. They all share the same SSID and password, unlike a traditional Wi-Fi router network.
Traditional Wi-Fi vs Mesh Wi-Fi
The difference between a traditional Wi-Fi network and a mesh Wi-Fi network is that on a traditional network your device connects to a single router. All communication passes through that single router. The farther you are from the router, the weaker the Wi-Fi signal. With mesh Wi-Fi, communication passes through the whole system, including the router and nodes throughout your home.
A mesh network creates a blanket of coverage in your home. On a traditional network, you can use Wi-Fi boosters like range extenders to get more coverage.
How Mesh Wi-Fi works
With mesh Wi-Fi, you place the nodes in whichever rooms need the added coverage. If you need to extend the reach of the Wi-Fi signal, you add more nodes. The pro is that mesh Wi-Fi is flexible and scalable. The con is that it can be expensive.
The other thing that a mesh network can do is “self-heal” and re-route communication if one point goes down. Since all of the nodes are connected, communication will reroute itself to still get from point A to point B.
Does Mesh Wi-Fi work on a wired network?
Mesh Wi-Fi typically works wirelessly. However, some mesh Wi-Fi systems can still connect nodes together using an Ethernet cable if your home is already wired with Ethernet cables in each room. Whether a mesh system is wireless or wired, you will still be able to get a signal to the difficult places, like the garage, basement, backyard or other far away rooms.
Is it wrong to use a range extender instead of mesh Wi-Fi?
No way! You can still get reliable Wi-Fi using a Wi-Fi booster like a range extender. Mesh Wi-Fi is just a different solution to the same problem: weak Wi-Fi coverage.
Wi-Fi range extenders are also a more budget-friendly solution and are a better option for those that have a temporary living situation such as when renting an apartment.
Hitron’s offerings of Wi-Fi Boosters eliminate dead spots and work with Ethernet, MoCA, or Wi-Fi. So, if you are on a traditional router network, ask your Internet service provider (ISP) about Hitron’s Wi-Fi boosters today. Want more like this? Check out Hitron’s Learn Page for more.