Wi-Fi Mesh in 2023: All about Wireless Mesh Networks

A Mesh-type Wi-Fi network is a network made up of a router/base station and its satellites or access points that communicate with each other to form a single Wi-Fi network with the same SSID and password for the user.

Mesh systems do not connect us to the closest point but to the one that, although it is farthest from our device, will give us the best Wi-Fi signal based on multiple variables of the home network

A mesh network is capable of redirecting traffic through the network in an optimal way to always guarantee the best possible signal.

Wifi mesh networks calculate to which node/satellite it is better for us to connect according to the status of other nodes, the connected devices, the distance to each of the satellites, signal strength, and many other factors.

What’s best? They’re truly transparent to the user, who doesn’t have to worry about which node it is connected to.

Is Wi-Fi Mesh better than a router? Does it replace it?

The main difference between conventional repeaters and the Wi-Fi Mesh network is that you will not always connect to the closest point, but will be able to decide which is better at each moment. 

While the traditional networking methods end user’s patience with small cuts and continuous jumps between repeaters or repeater and router…

WiFi Mesh will solve this by managing our connection intelligently. Not only taking into account the proximity but also the saturation of the network and the global quality of the connection.  

Think about it: if a repeater or node goes down, we would not be without the Internet but would connect to another in a short time.

Now, we can’t talk about differences without knowing the Advantages and Disadvantages.

Yes. Until now we have only talked positively about mesh networks. And it has many reasons.

A ready-to-use intuitive configuration and its self-reliant signal management are the great advantages of mesh Wi-Fi networks.

After all, you (the user) don’t have to worry about how their Wi-Fi network works.

Wifi mesh devices are also very well-designed network equipment, with internal antennas in most cases, and perfect for integrating them into any room. They are nothing like classic routers, and the extra access points, which we can expand at any time, do not require more than a power cable.

Even in some Wi-Fi mesh equipment, the systems do not use the bands reserved for the Wi-Fi network for their communication or with the router, so it is its bandwidth that is free for the consumer and the Wi-Fi signal itself.

But not everything is green.

If you’ve been searching for Mesh Network systems or solutions before, you might have asked yourself “Why is Mesh so expensive?”

Having a better Wi-Fi network at home with mesh networks has an extra cost and fewer possibilities to choose models, as well as being less configurable.

Wi-Fi mesh network systems often have a much higher price than routers or a combination of routers and repeaters that are equivalent in performance (but they tend to ensure a far better operation and coverage in larger spaces or complicated networks). 

Nor do Wi-Fi mesh networks have the same variety of brands, models, or configurations as current systems, and they are usually systems where the network expert has fewer options to modify since the key to these Wi-Fi mesh networks is usually more on the side of advanced software rather than hardware.

If you are convinced to bet on this technology, you can buy some of the Wi-Fi Mesh systems.

And if your operator does not offer the service or if you simply want a device owned and not assigned, there are many devices that we can use to create a mesh network that improves coverage at home or in the office.

As previously mentioned, these options are generally more expensive, but you won’t have to return them if you change carriers.

• D-Link COVR-1102 (2 nodes) / COVR-1103 (3 nodes)

• TP-Link Deco M9 Plus

• TP-Link AC1200 Deco M4

• ASUS Lyra Trio

• FRITZ! Repeater 3000

• Netgear EAX80

• Tenda Mw6 Nova