Composed of multiple signal repeaters, Wi-Fi mesh networks make it easy to extend your signal. Here’s why
Sometimes it can seem unbelievable, or almost. One moment you’re sitting comfortably in your living room, surfing on your smartphone or watching a streaming movie on your laptop; the next you’re in the kitchen and, despite having moved just a few inches, you can no longer surf.
The reception of the Wi-Fi signal of the home router (but the same goes for the office) has something mysterious about it. It’s not always possible to understand how the signal coverage works and why it’s so variable even if you move between two adjacent and communicating rooms. For this reason, various tricks are studied to extend the Wi-Fi signal and improve the reception of the laptop, smartphone or smart TV. One of these, rather recent, involves replacing the router you have at home with mesh routers that can increase the Wi-Fi signal throughout the house almost instantly.
What are mesh networks
When we talk about mesh networks we refer to a peer-to-peer architecture (as opposed to client-server architecture) in which each node plays an “equal” role. Unlike other types of local networks, there is neither a main element (the Wi-Fi router in the case of “traditional” wireless networks) nor a stratified hierarchy: all elements are placed on the same level and perform the same functions. This allows a more balanced distribution of the workload (i.e. the data flow) and avoids overloading one node of the network rather than another.
How mesh networks improve Wi-Fi reception
This architecture is now used to improve Wi-Fi signal reception in homes. By taking advantage of its features and peculiarities, Wi-Fi router manufacturers have been able to make devices that allow you to extend your home or office Wi-Fi network in a simple and immediate way. In order to do so, the router as we have known it so far has been “retired” (intended as the central and irreplaceable element of the wireless network), replacing it with a series of devices capable of propagating the signal in all environments thanks to a distributed architecture.
Mesh routers are comparable, at least from a purely theoretical point of view, to signal repeaters. Unlike the latter, however, the elements of a wireless mesh network do not simply replicate the signal of the central node, but actively participate in the “sorting” of data and the definition of the network itself. If, for example, one of the elements were to suddenly stop working, the others would “adapt” accordingly to allow packets to still reach their destination. In a normal Wi-Fi network, instead, this could never happen: if the router broke down, it would no longer be possible to navigate, while if the malfunction concerned a repeater, the area previously covered would remain “in the dark”.
In short, a Wi-Fi mesh network is much more versatile and “plastic” compared to a normal network based on a central router. But this is not the only advantage offered by this solution: to add a new node (and increase the area covered by the wireless network) it will be sufficient to connect it to an electrical outlet and wait a few moments. The mesh router will configure itself autonomously and in a matter of seconds, without the user having to waste time on complex configuration procedures. In this way, extending the signal and improving Wi-Fi reception throughout the home will take very little time.