Home Wifi Buying Guide

Large-scale network solutions are roughly divided into the following four types, and different solutions have different application scenarios.

• WiFi Signal Amplifier
• Power cat
• Router Bridging
• Distributed routing (Mesh) networking

Although Mesh networking is very suitable for solving large-scale network problems, it does not mean that this method is the only way to WiFi problems, and other methods also can be used in some cases.

WiFi signal amplifier

This is the easiest way to expand your WiFi signal. The WiFi amplifier has a built-in WiFi module, the ability to receive signals is stronger than mobile phones, and it has an external transmitting antenna. Therefore, when the mobile phone signal is not good, the WiFi signal can be received and sent out to expand the WiFi coverage.

Simple has flaws. WiFi amplifiers cannot guarantee the quality of the signal, and the effect of long-distance transmission is not good. It is suitable for use when the room is not too big.

Power cat

Power Cats increase the range of a network by "changing" wires into network cables.

Its principle is to modulate the network signal to the wire using frequency conversion and then use the wire to transmit, and finally convert the received signal into a network signal through the power cat, thereby expanding the range of WiFi.

Although the power cat method is better than the WiFi amplifier, it also has certain problems. The long-distance signal is not very good. After all, the wire is not a network cable, and there is still a certain loss in transmitting the network signal.

Router Bridging

This method is a way to connect two or more routers in a wired or wireless way to expand the WiFi range.

It is only suitable for units with a small area or few obstructions and is not suitable for units with a large area or many walls.

Its disadvantage is that it has a small range of applications. Regardless of wired or wireless bridges, the distance between the two routers cannot be too far away. Nevertheless, wireless bridges cannot receive signals if they are too far away. If the wired connection is too far away, the transmission and stability of the signal will be affected.

Distributed routing (Mesh) networking

Mesh networks are said to be the ultimate solution to today's large-scale network problems. And it is designed to solve the coverage problem of the large-area WIFI network.

A mesh network is a set of primary routers and one or more sub routers to extend the WiFi range. The main route and the sub-router paired when they left the factory. By placing the sub router in a location with a weaker signal, you can get the same network experience as the primary route.

The mesh network has an automatic repair function. Even if a node has a problem, it will automatically connect to other networks with higher stability.

After introducing the network solutions, let's check which solutions are best for different apartment types.

WiFi Solutions for Different House Types

According to the scene, I separate the large apartment into three parts, and different parts can adopt different schemes.

• More than 100 square meters, less walls
• More than 100 square meters, with many rooms and walls.
• Houses, villas, etc.

More than 100 square meters, less walls

This situation is mainly suitable for companies, suitable for although the area is large, there are few walls or mostly glass walls.

If The area is less than 100 square meters, then one router can do it. If a router can't cover everything, then in 90% of cases, adding a WiFi amplifier can solve it.

When the area exceeds 100 square meters and does not exceed 160 square meters, and if there are not many rooms, you can use the router bridge method. And If there are many rooms, you can use the power cat method or Mesh network.

When the area exceeds 160 square meters, we recommend a mesh network.

More than 100 square meters, with many rooms and walls

I recommend using a power cat or a mesh network. Because there are many rooms and walls, the method of bridging with wireless routers needs to be very close, and the method of bridging with wired routers is very troublesome.

Houses and villas

Only the Mesh network method is recommended to solve it. The mesh network itself exists for this situation. After a set of mesh networks has been deployed, it can cover any place in the home.

Conclusion

There is no best router, only the most suitable router, taking into full consideration the use of scenarios to achieve the best results.