You might have issues with WiFi signal strength in some parts of your home or office, the problem isn’t your router, it’s just that not all routers are built with signal strength that can cover a whole house – an average router has a limited broadcast range of about 30m indoors. In some cases, signal strength gets weekend by thick wall, metal, and other Bluetooth devices.
Usually, the best solution to this kind of challenge is to add a Mesh or a WiFi extender. They receive WiFi signals from your router and re-broadcast them to areas in your home or office where your router signal wouldn’t reach.
WiFi extender
WiFi extenders are very easy to use since all you have to do is connect It to your existing network to broaden your router’s signal. It is perfect for houses that aren’t very big, it is very affordable when compared to a Mesh WiFi system. However, its downside is that it is not easy to configure.
Mesh Network
Using a mesh system means you must have separate hubs placed around the house that will communicate with each other to provide WiFi in range of each of the hubs. The Mesh network works better compared to the WiFi extender in that as long as the hubs are close enough to each other to connect, each one can provide a full signal in every area they are situated in the house (each hub works like a separate router). They are perfect for large homes or office spaces and are very easy to set up compared to extenders. They are also much more expensive.
How to choose the best for your home of office
First thing to do is to gauge the size of the building and find out areas in the house where the router signal drops or isn’t available. If the only issue you have is that your WiFi signal drops often, then getting an extender is all you need to boost your signal a little.
However, if you notice your signal is weak even when close to the router and there is still plenty of room still to cover in the house, or if your house has several floors and many bedrooms and your router isn’t capable of reaching those areas because of thick wall and other obstructions, the best option is to upgrade your signal with a Mesh system. Using a mesh system will work perfectly because all floors or rooms will have its own WiFi hub which will serve as an independent router.
There is also a huge difference in price between the mesh system and WiFi extender. A good WiFi extender costs between ₦11,000 and ₦15,000 ON JUMIA while a mesh system costs around ₦40,000 also on Jumia depending on the brand you choose to go for.
