It's time to change your home Wi-Fi network to live better

If Wi-Fi cannot cover every corner of the house, the best solution is a mesh Wi-Fi mesh system.

Recently, Wi-Fi mesh is a phrase that is mentioned quite a lot when the demand for Wi-Fi is increasing. The benefits are given when using Wi-Fi mesh: wider coverage, easy connectivity .

So what is Wi-Fi mesh, pros and cons? All will be answered in the article.

What is a Wi-Fi mesh network?

Basically, a Wi-Fi mesh is a system of two or more devices, including a main router and one, two or more auxiliary devices that work to create a unique Wi-Fi network name that covers the entire home . When moving from the ground floor to the upstairs, you don't need to reconnect to any closer model to have a strong network. Mesh will do it for you and help the house almost no dead spots Wi-Fi. Equipping a strong enough Wi-Fi mesh system also helps smarthome devices operate better, minimizing latency.

A Wi-Fi mesh system consists of 2 or more devices, including a main router and auxiliary transmitters.(Photo: The Verge).

Wi-Fi mesh has been around for quite some time. Eero was the first company to introduce a Wi-Fi mesh system for general users in 2016. In March 2019, Eero was acquired by Amazon but still operates independently.

After Eero, many big companies in the field of network equipment such as Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link . also introduced their own Wi-Fi mesh system, the price is also more comfortable for end users.

If the house has the following characteristics, it's time to consider equipping a Wi-Fi mesh system:

1. Area larger than 250m2.
2. Special room design (L-shaped, .).
3. The rooms are separated by thick walls.
4. There are separate guest houses, separate rooms or areas with no internet access.

Benefits of Wi-Fi mesh

Compared with Wi-Fi extender, Wi-Fi mesh is easier to set up, doesn't require a lot of network names. All users need is to plug in the power and follow the instructions in the application provided by the manufacturer. Besides being easy to set up, managing a Wi-Fi mesh system is not as complicated as a Wi-Fi extender.

Here are the reasons you should have Wi-Fi mesh:

Wider coverage area

Wi-Fi signal is usually strongest when the router is placed between houses. But most of us put the router where the network wire is coming (usually the corner window), so half of the Wi-Fi signal is covered . outside the house causing speed in some parts of the house will be very weak, sometimes unable to connect (also known as a "dead zone").

An illustration of coverage when there is no Wi-Fi mesh and a Wi-Fi mesh.(Photo: Medium).

With Wi-Fi mesh, devices will play back the original Wi-Fi signal in a unique network name, providing a wider range of connectivity for users.

Stable speed

Traditional Wi-Fi routers can only transmit maximum signals at certain distances. If the connection is farther away, the signal will weaken, which means that the speed is also worse.

With Wi-Fi mesh systems throughout the home, you will no longer experience slowdowns because wherever you connect, they are still within range of nearby devices.

The speed of mesh Wi-Fi systems when moving to different areas of the house.

Not only in the home, businesses can use Wi-Fi mesh with multiple hubs to help keep the network speed stable throughout the company.

Easy to manage

Most Wi-Fi mesh comes with the smartphone app provided by the manufacturer. With that application, you can set, rename, view a list of connected devices or block devices with an intuitive, easy to use interface.

In short, people who are not too familiar with the Internet can also set up mesh systems easily with the included application.

Better security

One of the most concerned issues is whether or not Wi-Fi mesh is secure. The answer is very safe.

Most mesh systems are equipped with new encryption technologies, which automatically install security patches as the manufacturer provides, without manual installation. Timely patching, equipped with new technology helps the system to avoid network attacks.

The Wi-Fi mest system is equipped with many new security technologies that help prevent network attacks.(Photo: CNN).

Some manufacturers use Google accounts to log into the management page, so the possibility of bad guys logging in to reset, changing passwords is very low. Of course, you should still change your password the first time you set it up to avoid unfortunate consequences.

Only need to invest once

The biggest plus point of Wi-Fi mesh is that you only need to pay once for the whole system. If you need to upgrade, just buy one or two additional hubs instead of the new system.

Of course, if the house area is large, you will need to spend more money to buy more hubs than usual. After payment is completed, you will not have to spend any extra cost.

What is the difference between a Wi-Fi mesh and a Wi-Fi extender?

Before Wi-Fi mesh, Wi-Fi extender was a simple solution to eliminate "Wi-Fi" dead zones in the house. However, setting up and using Wi-Fi extender is quite complicated.

The first difference is that the Wi-Fi mesh replaces the entire existing Wi-Fi system, while the extender supports the router in use.

With the included application, managing Wi-Fi mesh is also easier. You can change the name, change the password, view the list of connected devices or block the device right from the interface of the application instead of accessing a series of confusing links on the management page of the router or extension.

Mesh systems often come with intuitive, easy-to-use management applications.(Photo: Google).

Next, the mesh system allows multiple hubs to communicate with each other, while the extender can only connect to the main hub, unable to connect with each other if there are multiple extensions. Communication with each other helps hubs locate connected devices to optimize network coverage.

For example, if you set up 2 indoor Wi-Fi mesh hubs, the third doesn't necessarily set the first one because it can receive signals from the second one.

Finally, the Wi-Fi mesh combines multiple Wi-Fi waves from hubs into a single network name with the ability to switch connections manually. While the Wi-Fi extender requires a private network name, forcing users to switch manually when moving between devices.

Compare the speed when using Wi-Fi mesh and the connection extender.(Photo: Best-meshnetwork.com).

Some D-Link or Xiaomi extensions have the ability to combine 2 networks (the original network and the network from the extender) into one but the speed will be slower. Deliberately setting the same username and password will cause interference that reduces the signal strength.

Disadvantages of Wi-Fi mesh

Besides the advantages of coverage, speed and stability, Wi-Fi mesh has some minus points that you need to be aware of.

First of all, the cost of a Wi-Fi mesh system is usually more expensive than the Wi-Fi extender. On average, Wi-Fi mesh ranges from 2 to 7 million dong for a set of 3 hubs, while a Wi-Fi extender costs only a few hundred thousand, some new high-end types are over 1 million dong.

Wi-Fi mesh usually has a higher equipment cost than a signal extender.(Photo: Engadget).

Second, most mesh systems do not have as many advanced features as traditional routers. Some devices have more advanced features such as guest mode, access restrictions, child management . Of course, if you are not a network expert, Wi-Fi mesh is the most suitable system when it's easy. Medium use for higher coverage.

Some of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems available today

Compared to previous years, the current price of Wi-Fi mesh is no longer too expensive. For only VND 4 million and more, you can own a mesh Wi-Fi system to increase indoor Wi-Fi coverage.

Here are some of the highest rated Wi-Fi mesh systems from CNET for users to reference their homes.

Google Nest Wifi

Nest Wifi is the next generation of Google Wifi. New version for higher speed, better design, each hub also integrated Google Assistant smart speaker for music playback, voice control.

Google Nest Wifi.(Photo: CNET).

According to CNET, the Nest Wifi coverage area of ​​2 hubs is completely stable in an area of ​​500 m2, not disconnected when moving indoors.

Although there is no Wi-Fi 6 standard, Nest Wifi still supports WPA3 security protocol, group device management and 4X4 MU-MIMO technology for devices that use multiple antennas such as MacBook Pro.

In Vietnam, users can buy Nest Wifi through orders from abroad, the price is about 4.5 million for a single hub, 7.9 million for 2 hubs and 11.9 million for 3. hub.

Eero

Thanks to Amazon's support, Eero's Wi-Fi mesh systems are much cheaper, only about VND 2.3 million for a single hub and VND 6.8 million for 3 hubs to ensure coverage for homes up to 500 m2.

Eero mesh Wi-Fi system version 2019. (Image: CNET).

In addition to wide coverage, the advantages of Eero are stability, high performance, simple application, regularly receiving security patches from the manufacturer.

Netgear Orbi

Compared to the first generation, Orbi 2nd generation is much cheaper. To cut costs, the manufacturer eliminated Alexa speakers, the third band is only for Orbi in addition to two regular network bands. Even with only 2 bands left, Orbi Generation 2 still gave good speed in the test of CNET.

Netgear Orbi new version.(Photo: CNET).

The downside of Orbi lies in the non-intuitive management application, but overall, Orbi is still a good solution from the famous name in the field of network equipment.

Reference price for Netgear Orbi 2 hub set is about 3.8 million.