Wi-Fi mesh

Beginning with Wi-Fi mesh, a rich interconnection of devices or nodes, wireless mesh networks usually consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways. Wireless mesh architecture is a first step towards providing cost-effective connectivity over a specific coverage area. It is a network of routers with peer radio devices that do not have to be cabled to a wired port, unlike traditional WLAN access points.

Mesh infrastructure carries data over large distances by splitting the distance into a series of short hops. Intermediate nodes both boost the signal and cooperatively pass data from point A to point B by making forwarding decisions based on their knowledge of the network, meaning that they perform routing by first deriving the topology of the network.

While wireless mesh networks are stable and great for static applications like homes and small offices, one needs to keep in mind that this technology is mostly designed for applications where no more than a couple of nodes are required. Mesh networks could slow down with too many nodes, so it’s recommended to keep the number of nodes to less than 6.  

Mesh routers forward traffic to and from the gateways which may – but need not be connected to the internet. The coverage area of all radio nodes working as a single network is sometimes called a mesh cloud, access to which depends on the radio nodes working together to create a radio network.

A mesh network is reliable and offers redundancy. When one node can no longer operate, the rest of the nodes can still communicate with each other, directly or through one or more intermediate nodes. Wireless mesh networks can also self-form and self-heal and are not restricted to any one technology or protocol.

Mesh clients are usually laptops, cell phones, and other wireless devices. Rather than force every device to wirelessly connect to the internet through the same router, with mesh Wi-Fi systems reliant on multiple Wi-Fi nodes, in some situations mesh Wi-Fi can allow for faster speeds, better reliability and greater wireless coverage than a conventional router would.

The difference between a Wi-Fi extender and a Wi-Fi mesh is that Wi-Fi extenders are used to rebroadcast routers’ Wi-Fi signals whereas mesh Wi-Fi uses multiple nodes to create a single, large and seamless Wi-Fi network that covers the whole area. Even though both improve wireless coverage, mesh networks are a lot smarter, work much better and can expand your Wi-Fi signal much further than extenders.

Generally speaking, each unit can be placed as far as nine to 15 metres from each other. If you have a long sized property, an average of three hardware units in a daisy-chain setup should deliver signal from one end to another.

A frequent question is whether mesh Wi-Fi replaces a router. The answer is that the modem is what connects to the internet; the router transmits the connection over Wi-Fi so while a mesh system will replace the router part, you still need to rely on the modem.

The TP-Link Deco E4 from MiRO has received critical acclaim. This whole-home mesh Wi-Fi system is the ideal choice for homes with an internet connection that is not faster than 100 Mbps (For internet speeds above 100Mbps the TP-Link Deco M4 is recommended) and for people who want to remote control their mesh Wi-Fi system from a mobile app. It also affords excellent parental controls to protect children online. Above all it is lowering the price of entry in the mesh Wi-Fi ecosystem for consumers and this new model is extremely affordable and works with other models in the Deco line-up.

Wi-Fi extenders and boosters explained

Wi-Fi extenders capture an existing Wi-Fi signal using one Wi-Fi antenna, amplify and transmit it using another Wi-Fi antenna. Good Wi-Fi range extenders are able to cover a wide area with a strong Wi-Fi signal and effectively eliminate all dead zones and areas of signal weakness – but the location of the extender is critically important. It must be close enough to the router to get a strong signal, but far away enough to broadcast signal into the desired areas.

The term Wi-Fi booster, used to be a catch-all phrase for devices that extended a Wi-Fi signal, but a Wi-Fi booster is now more accurately defined as a wireless range extender. Central to Wi-Fi boosters is Wi-Fi bandwidth extension so to completely cover a property you may need more than one Wi-Fi booster.

Also bear in mind that Wi-Fi performance can be temperamental with all the architectural features, devices and appliances that can cause typical interference and even the most powerful Wi-Fi router can miss some spots. Wi-Fi boosters, network extenders or Wi-Fi range extenders are extremely affordable and a very simple way to add performance to network coverage.

There is a plethora of different boosters and extenders on the market, from the Wi-Fi 5Ghz extender, dual-band Wi-Fi extender, wireless range extender, Wi-Fi network extenders, Wi-Fi ultra boost extender and WiFi signal booster.

When choosing which extender or repeater to buy, keep in mind that while both improve your Wi-Fi signal and range, they do this in different ways. A Wi-Fi extender connects directly to your router and creates a new Wi-Fi network. A Wi-Fi repeater connects to your network wirelessly and rebroadcasts your existing network signal.

Again, TP-Link has a solution to fit any profile. The offering encompasses the TP-Link powerline extender, TP-Link av600 and av600 setup, TP-Link powerline adapter, TP-Link 300 Mbps av500 Wi-Fi powerline extender starter kit, TP-Link ac1750 range extender, TP-Link re450 and TP-Link repeater. As with its co-products, the TP-Link ac750 series contains the spectrum of Wi-Fi signal solutions, all easy to set-up and manage with one-touch connection.

With ample stock levels and great local support from MiRO, the TP-Link range of products are great alternatives to other brands such as the Netgear AC1200 Wi-Fi range extender, the D-Link Wi-Fi extender Dap-1325, the Netis Wi-Fi extender and Netis range extender and the Ultra-Link n300 range extender.

Enter powerline adapters

A powerline adapter is a device which uses a home’s electric wiring to transmit network packets. At least two adapters are needed which plug into the wall sockets and use Ethernet cables to connect to the router at one end and the device such as a TV or laptop at the other.

It is important to note that because powerline adapters use the legacy wiring that already exists in the home to create a powerful high-speed wired network, even in houses with old or worn electrical wiring in most cases this type of network should function and send data with no hiccups as long as the copper is still in reasonably good condition and both points are located on the same distribution board.

Powerline adapters create a reliable and stable internet connection that should not give users slow internet speeds or ‘spotty’ connections. Powerline supports distances of up to 300 metres, but bear in mind that adapters do not communicate in a straight line. Data must pass up and down walls and through ceilings, adding unseen distance.

On average a 500Mbps powerline is around twice as fast as 200Mbps powerline kits and the gigabit 1,000Mbps or 1,200Mbps are about a third faster still. Other factors in speed include Ethernet connection speed. The 200Mbps and 500Mbps powerline adapters with 10/100 Ethernet ports have a maximum rate of 100Mbps.

While you can use powerline and Wi-Fi simultaneously and combine connections together, powerline actually frees up your Wi-Fi, taking some load off your WiFi network also providing more capacity for other devices.  Powerline connects to one of your router’s LAN ports via Ethernet cable and provides a stable and faster connection.

Wi-Fi versus fibre, ADSL, LTE and fixed wireless

The topic of Wi-Fi versus fibre, ADSL and LTE is mostly uncalled for as Wi-Fi can be seen as a complimentary technology to connectivity mediums such as fibre, ADSL and LTE. What is fibre without Wi-Fi in the house or office? What is ADSL without a Wi-Fi access point to connect to? The same can be said for LTE, although a wireless technology, most laptops and tablets require Wi-Fi connectivity to connect to the LTE network. Wi-Fi is thus a great medium to offload capacity from LTE and uses less battery power for mobile phones, laptops and tablets.  Let’s look at the different connectivity mediums – fibre, ADSL, LTE and fixed wireless. 

Fibre uses fibre-optic cables which are installed in trenches leading to homes and businesses. They work by emitting and receiving a light signal through the cables that represents binary code (light = 1, no light = 0). The bottom line is that fibre has the capacity to work at the speed of light and what you really need at the end of your fibre connection is a Wi-Fi router in order to wirelessly connect to your high speed fibre service. 

While Long Term Evolution (LTE) is not as fast as fibre, it does offer the freedom of mobility, so as you move, it easily can move with you and still provide connectivity. LTE is a standard for mobile wireless data transmission but because it is a very easily accessible shared medium wireless technology, congestion is a real problem in urban areas and coverage a problem in rural areas. 

With fixed wireless broadband technology, service providers can deliver cost-effective connectivity to homes and businesses inside the coverage area of their wireless networks. The down side to these types of networks are that it’s normally required to have line of sight to the wireless tower and it requires a wireless radio to be mounted on the outside of the building. With fixed wireless broadband it is once again important to note that a Wi-Fi access point or WiFi router is required to seamlessly connect to your high speed internet service.  

Asynchronous digital line subscriber (ADSL) is the slowest and not the most reliable way to connect to the internet, but it is pretty much available anywhere where a Telkom voice line is available. It would be unwise, however, to expect ADSL infrastructure to improve anytime soon, given the availability of newer, better technologies and the focus by providers on these. Digital Subscriber Line Services (DSL) is the generic term for DSL and ADSL is simply one of its types. ADSL allows for downloading data faster than uploading, which is why it is called asymmetric.

Very-High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) also uses copper but can sometimes achieve speeds of up to 40Mbps, depending on the distance between your premises and the nearest Telkom infrastructure. It is important to also note that as with fibre and fixed wireless broadband, a Wi-Fi router or access point is still required in order to wireless connect to the internet with a mobile device, laptop or tablet. 

Choosing between the connectivity options discussed depends entirely on best-fit reasoning around budget, availability and speed. The one universal aspect with all these connectivity technologies are the need for Wi-Fi inside the home or business. Without Wi-Fi the end user device will have to be cabled into the modem, and most modern devices do not support LAN cable connectivity, but come as standard with built-in Wi-Fi.

Choosing a Wi-Fi router

Choosing the best Wi-Fi router is not hard. There are many really good products readily available at different price points, from under R500 to over R10 000 for heavy-duty users.

As of 2021, the TP-Link Archer AX50 is generally regarded as the best Wi-Fi router from TP-Link, but if this is unavailable, the runner up is the TP-Link Archer AX20. To fit budgets and environments of smaller spaces or fewer devices, you cannot go wrong with the TP-Link Archer A7 or Archer C7.

Also available in the TP-Link range from MiRO is the AC1200, the WR841HP, the TL WR841HP, the WR840N and the TP-Link 300Mbps wireless N router.

Mixing it up with a MiFi router

Both MiFi and Wi-Fi have their own roles in the world of wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi provides connectivity to devices using fixed hotspots, whereas MiFi is a mobile hotspot device that provides connectivity to other devices on-the-go via a process called tethering. A MiFi device connects to the 3G, 4G, 5G or LTE mobile networks and uses this connection to create a mini wireless broadband cloud or hotspot which can then be shared between Wi-Fi-enabled devices within range of its signal, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and games consoles.

There are many MiFi options on the market and MiFi devices can be cheaper than Wi-Fi devices, MiRO offers options from TP-Link like the TP-M7200, M7300 and the M7650 all supporting 4G LTE mobile connectivity. MiRO also offers options from Tenda with the Tenda 4G180 and Tenda 4G680.

Understanding Wireless Cards

Almost all mobile devices have a built-in Wi-Fi card of some sort and you can quickly see type sampling by perusing the spec sheet.  However, some mobile devices have older generation Wi-Fi cards or these built-in Wi-Fi cards can also go faulty after a while. Gamers need to note that unless they have Ethernet ports where their gaming PC dominates, they will need a Wi-Fi card to connect it to the internet.

A high-speed wireless network card is used to access a WLAN network through a USB port on a computer or laptop. Most wireless USB LAN adapters look like small flash drives and are typically  based on the 802.11n standard which provides a data rate up to 300Mbps in a WLAN environment.

A USB Wi-Fi adapter overrides the computer's built-in wireless functionality, giving you a faster, more reliable connection to your available network signals. In addition, the plug-and-play convenience means you can remove the device when it's not needed to use in another computer.

When choosing a Wi-Fi adapter for your computer, take the time to look at the specs on the box or web page, particularly the wireless protocols it supports (b/g/n/ac/ax), the generation of USB port it plugs into, be it 2.0 or 3.0, and what bands it uses, either 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

The distance between your wireless adapter and router can affect your internet speed so a general rule is that if you double the distance between the router and client or device, throughput decreases by one-third of its original strength. To obtain a strong signal, move any objects that may be hindering wireless waves.

MiRO offers a wide range of Wi-Fi adapters form brands like TP-Link and Edimax. From 802.11n all the way to dual-band, MU-MIMO, USB 3.0 Wi-Fi adapters. 

As these devices are plug-and-play, similar in the way you would add a Bluetooth dongle to an older PC, these Wi-Fi adapters simply just plug into the PC via the USB port and provides for an instant upgrade in Wi-Fi connectivity and speed. These dongles are convenient as they can be moved between devices and do not take up much space. 

Some of the best dongles can be sought from the Tenda and Edimax ranges. Tenda offers the W311M  and the W311MI, both regarded as best budget options. Edimax offers from EW7811UN to the EW7833UAC WiFi adapters. 

About wireless access points

Most domestic routers are Wi-Fi compatible but if the router you have isn’t, then you need a wireless access point. Wi-Fi access points can also be added to an existing set up for improved Wi-Fi coverage. Essentially an access point is a device that creates a wireless local area network, or WLAN, usually in an office or large building. An access point connects to a wired router, switch or hub via an Ethernet cable and projects a Wi-Fi signal to a designated area.

When using the traditional 2.4GHz band, Wi-Fi access points generally reach the signal up to 45 metres indoors and 80 metres or more in open areas.

Access points can be used to provide a unified wireless network throughout the different types of applications.  Typically used in office, business, hospitality to enterprise applications, access points have become affordable for the mid to high LSM market for larger homes. By offering a central management location either through on premises (on a PC or server) or cloud-based, it makes the setup, management and control of WLAN networks over a large application that much simpler. 

Boost your Wi-Fi speed by choosing the best channel

One of the quickest ways that you can increase your Wi-Fi performance is by simply moving to a different channel. The 2.4GHz spectrums offers three non-overlapping channels namely 1, 6 and 11.  You can access this information by logging into your router and changing the channel.  

When using 5GHz, it is recommended to use at least a 40 MHz channel width, as some client devices may not prefer 5GHz unless it offers a greater channel width than 2.4 GHz. In the 5GHz band, there are channels ranging from 36 up to 165.

There are some disadvantages to going to a 5GHz wireless network, one of which is that the higher the frequency of a wireless signal, the shorter its range. The 2.4GHz networks cover a substantially larger range than 5GHz Wi-Fi networks and 5GHz networks do not penetrate solid objects such as walls as well as 2.4GHz signals. This means that 5GHz can limit an access point’s reach inside buildings where multiple walls may come between a wireless antenna and the user.

If you're upgrading a large wireless network installation, you may want to consider dual band access points that can connect clients on both the 2.4GHz as well as the 5GHz network. The 2.4GHz frequency may not afford as much speed as the 5GHz, but does provide for a larger WLAN cell size, so you can reach customers that are further away from the access point. 5GHz are used for smaller WLAN cells, but does offer greater capacity, so this is then applied for higher density of connected client devices. 

A plug is not just a plug when it is a smart plug

Imagine automating your Christmas lights, enjoying perfect room temperatures, turning your home into a haunted house, tricking burglars into thinking someone’s home when you are on holiday or pinpointing energy-hungry appliances so that these get replaced first by more energy-efficient ones.

This is the era of the smart plug, a small adaptor that can be plugged into a normal electrical wall outlet and the first easy step into home automation. They are considered smart because they enable you control your appliances from an app on your phone from anywhere.

You can even set schedules for your smart plugs so you can turn appliances on and off at set times and on specific days which can really help you save on vampire power – the power your electronic devices use when they are on standby. Vampire power can make up as much as 10 percent of your electricity bill. Among the biggest vampire power culprits are TVs, laptops, printers and phone chargers.

A smart plug can be connected to a Wi-Fi network simply by plugging it in. The TP-LINK KASA Smart Plug is designed for South Africa’s electrical plugs. Not only can you share control with the entire family, but you can turn on/off a group of devices with one tap or use voice control.

MiRO is a trusted distributor of the entire spectrum of wireless and telecommunication products, sourced from leading local and international manufacturers such as Tenda, TP-LINK, Edimax, MikroTik, Cambium Networks and Ubiquiti Networks. MiRO has specialists in these brands and technologies to help you on your WiFi journey.