What is Mesh Wifi and Why You Should Absolutely Get One for your home!
Do wireless mesh networks actually work
What is Mesh Wifi (& Why You Should Absolutely Get One video power by TheUnlockr.
Do wireless mesh networks actually work?
What do wifi mesh systems do and do they actually work?
Mesh wifi does work and it’s a great development in wifi technology that has really come into its own in recent years.
Each mesh wifi access point (or “node”) acts like a little wifi router / access point. If you are on a laptop it will connect to the node with the best wifi signal and then route your network traffic through the other nodes – this could be back to the main internet router / modem or a printer or whatever.
In addition to the usual wifi radio system, they have a separate radio system to communicate with each other which means they’re not using up some of the wifi bandwidth just to communicate with each other – this was a weakness with earlier version of this system or the older “wifi repeaters”.
They also have software which handles “handing off” your device from node to node as you move around the premises with you device. This means you only need connect to one wifi SSID and it handles the rest. Older systems end up with you having to connect to “Upstairs Wifi” or “Kitchen Wifi”.
it’s not perfect however. it’s still reliant on radio frequency comms for wifi and internode-communication. If you space them out too much or have walls that absorb radio frequencies then they can end up being slow due a weak signal between devices. This effect is additive – if there is a weak signal between nodes 1 and 2 and between 2 and 3 and between 3 an 4 then a signal that needs to travel from nodes 1 to 4 would suffer from the slowness adding up. The software should try to assist by finding the best route but the best doesn’t necessarily mean good. So they’re not generally as quick as wired access points.
Advantages include no network wiring, seamless hand-off and usually smartphone based configuration which makes set up and management really easy.
Do wireless mesh networks actually work
Reference: Neil Chambers ( Managing Consultant at Your Tech Department). “What do wifi mesh systems do and do they actually work?” originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
