WHY YOUR NEXT WI-FI SETUP SHOULD BE A MESH NETWORK
THE next time you upgrade your Wi-Fi equipment, take a bold step: Throw out your stand-alone router and instead consider investing in a so-called mesh system.
A mesh network could solve most, if not all, of your Wi-Fi problems. It’s basically a system of multiple Wi-Fi stations that work together to blanket every corner of your home with a strong wireless data connection.
Unlike stand-alone routers that lose signal the farther you move away from them, mesh stations piggyback on one another to create a continuous wireless link throughout your home, minimizing the possibility of dead zones. The network technology is quickly becoming popular: After the startup Eero released a mesh system last year, bigger brands like Google and D-Link followed with similar products.
Obviously, large houses with many rooms would benefit from multiple Wi-Fi hubs. But based on my tests with several mesh systems over the last year, I would go a step further and recommend a mesh network for most people, including those with modestly sized homes, for a variety of reasons.
For one, mesh Wi-Fi systems like Eero and Google Wifi include intuitive smartphone apps that make managing your network easier to understand. For another, some mesh systems are aesthetically pleasing — unlike traditional routers, which are bulky contraptions of hideous antennas that look as if they were made on the Death Star.
Most important, mesh networks better accommodate a shift in how people use technology today. We carry mobiles devices like smartphones, smart watches, laptops and tablets from room to room. Internet-connected gadgets like smart speakers, bathroom scales and smart televisions are also increasingly scattered throughout the home. With mesh networks, your Wi-Fi coverage has less chance of being interrupted.
“It’s really nice to see the router vendors doing something that is properly useful for once,” said Dave Fraser, the chief executive of Devicescape, a tech company that helps make public Wi-Fi networks more reliable for mobile phone service. “It’s like they’ve finally realized it’s human beings buying these products rather than IT staff.”
I tested three popular Wi-Fi systems: Eero, Google Wifi and Netgear’s Orbi. All were solid, though my favorite was Eero. Here’s what you need to know about mesh networks when picking one that suits your home.
ADVANTAGES OF MESH
First, a primer on how a mesh system works. You connect a primary base station to your broadband modem. From there, you connect satellite stations in rooms where you might get weak coverage.
Let’s say your primary base station is in the downstairs living room, and you have a satellite station in the upstairs office. When you are in the office and loading a webpage on a laptop, the primary base station retrieves the webpage data and bounces it to the satellite station, which then beams it to your computer in the office in what’s known as a hop.
“It’s like taking a flight where you can’t fly direct, but you can fly indirectly through a hub,” Fraser said.
In addition to expanding your Wi-Fi range, a mesh system helps your device automatically connect to the strongest station as you move about the house. When you’re in the living room, your smartphone will automatically pull a signal from the station there; when you move to the bedroom, your smartphone will seamlessly switch to the station there.
That’s better than what we could do with older router setups. With a traditional Wi-Fi router, your signal would degrade the farther you move from the base station. You could boost a Wi-Fi router’s connection with an extender station. But in that situation, you would have to manually connect your device to the extender’s Wi-Fi network, and when you moved away from the extender, you would have to manually switch back to the main router’s Wi-Fi network.
IT ISN’T PERFECT
The main downside of a mesh network is that you lose some speed with every so-called hop.
Let’s say that your primary WiFi station is in the living room, you have a satellite hub in the basement, and in between those two rooms there is another satellite hub in the garage. In the basement, your speeds will be slower, because the primary router makes a copy of the data as it hops to the satellite in the garage, and then the satellite in the garage produces another copy that reaches the satellite in the basement. As a result, it will take more time for that data to travel to your device via the basement hub.
Despite the sluggishness, that is still better than getting a crummy signal or no connection at all in the basement if you had just one router.
Netgear’s Orbi works differently than traditional mesh systems. It has a dedicated Wi-Fi band, or connection, in which only the router and satellites can talk to each other; no other devices can interfere with their connection. Hence Orbi’s hubs can transfer data more quickly to one another than systems like Eero and Google Wifi can.
The other downside of a mesh system is they are not cheap. A pack of three Eero devices costs about $400, Google Wifi costs about $300 for a pack of three, and Netgear’s Orbi with a router and one wall-plug satellite costs $300.
TEST RESULTS
In my tests with Eero, Google Wifi and Netgear’s Orbi, all were quite fast in each room. The Orbi delivered the speediest results overall, and Eero and Google Wifi performed roughly the same. Yet speed isn’t everything. Eero’s app was the easiest to understand.
Consumers would probably be happy with any of these systems compared to a traditional router. If speed is your top priority, consider the Orbi. If price is a concern, go with a Google Wifi package. Or if your goal is to make Wi-Fi less of a headache for you or a loved one, buy an Eero system.