Learn > WiFi > Mesh Wi-Fi vs Wi-Fi Repeater – Which is Better and Why?

When your Wi-Fi isn’t performing like you know it can – slow speeds, dropped connection, dead spots with no connection, etc. – then it is time to look into improving your home Wi-Fi. We have some quick tips you can follow to improve your Wi-Fi, which includes relying on Wi-Fi boosters.

There are a handful of types of Wi-Fi boosters on the market. Here, we are comparing Mesh Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi repeaters (also called Wi-Fi range extenders).

Mesh Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi repeaters are both forms of Wi-Fi boosters. One works as a system throughout your entire home, while the other is a device that works with your router to extend the Wi-Fi signal. Mesh Wi-Fi is the whole-home system, including a mesh router and nodes placed throughout all rooms in your home. A Wi-Fi repeater is a hardware device that sits between your traditional router and the hard to reach spot.

 

Mesh Wi-Fi pros & cons

Pros:

• Better coverage over your entire home with a Wi-Fi signal to get rid of any dead spots.
• Multi-point access so if one node goes down, another can pick up seamlessly.
• A single network compared to a repeater which creates a separate network.
• A mesh network can be as big or small as you need.

Cons:

• Mesh Wi-Fi can be expensive.
• Requires specific hardware devices that won’t work with traditional devices
• Each node’s range is less than you would get from a router or an extender, so you will need a number of nodes to cover your home.
• Still vulnerable to slow speeds from points that are far away from the router.

 

Wi-Fi Repeater pros & cons

Pros:

• A more cost-effective solution.
• Ability to select a better channel to get better speeds.
• Sits between your router and the dead spot to eliminate the Wi-Fi dead zone.
• Great for smaller homes.

Cons:

• Creates a separate network, so you have to manually switch your device over to the second network.
• Depending on your router, you could face compatibility issues. Whereas, mesh Wi-Fi devices are designed to work together seamlessly.
• Not the best solution for large, multi-floor homes.

The answer to which is better really comes down to your living situation, your budget and your home network preferences. Whichever you choose, you can find a solution for your slow Wi-Fi network.

If you are in the market for Wi-Fi repeaters or range extenders, Hitron’s offerings of Wi-Fi Boosters are easy to use to eliminate dead spots inside and outside of your home. They are flexible solutions to getting the fast and high-performing network you want. It doesn’t matter if you are on Ethernet, MoCA, or Wi-Fi. Ask your Internet service provider about Hitron’s Wi-Fi boosters today.

Want more like this? Check out Hitron’s Learn Page.