Understanding Mesh Networks for your Home and Office

When building a wireless network for your home or office, it's important to know what kind of wireless technology you want to go with.  If you plan on covering a larger home or office, you'll need more than just a wireless router to cover the entire area.  To ensure that you can cover your entire home or office with a strong wireless signal, the two best options available today include using wireless repeaters, or building a mesh network.

Wireless Repeaters vs. Mesh Network

Wireless repeaters and mesh networks both can be used to extend network coverage over a large area.  Repeaters and Access Points work by taking the wireless signal from a wireless router and re-broadcasting it.  Mesh networks see every device without the use of a central router.  Access points are usually best for extending the range of a smaller wireless network.  Mesh networks however are often better suited for bigger, more high-performance networks.

Mesh Networks

A mesh network is made up of wireless devices called nodes.  Each node generates it's own wireless signal, and syncs with other nearby nodes throughout the network.  If you want to extend the network you simply add a new node.  Management is made simple, as you can log into each node separately to manage them separately, or to make larger changes to the overall wireless network.  Mesh networks are far more reliable than repeaters because there is no single point of failure.  If one node fails, then it can be replaced without bringing down the overall network.

Consumer grade mesh networks are even easier to manage than their business class-counterparts.  ASUS for example offers a hybrid Mesh Network by allowing consumers to mix and match ASUS routers and access points using technology they call aiMesh.

Natural Networks offers and manages a truer Mesh Network experience using the previously mentioned nodes.  Your mesh network is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by experienced technicians as well, so you have peace of mind with your wireless network.

Wireless Repeaters

Wireless repeaters work by extending the wireless signal generated by your current wireless router.  If you are building a wireless network for a home or small office, using a wireless repeater is usually best to extend your wireless signal to an area where the signal is weak or dead.

Wireless repeaters are less complex than building a mesh network with nodes, however they aren't as reliable.  Unlike mesh networks, wireless repeaters rely on the router to extend the wireless signal.  If the wireless router fails, then the wireless signal will fail as well.

Wireless repeaters and access points are more easily managed.  Repeaters can help scale a wireless network, increasing the range while ensuring that devices on the edge of the network receive reliable service.

When deciding what network is best for your home or office, taking into consideration scalability, reliability, and complexity are key.  Work with Natural Networks network expert to find out what the best network solutions will be for your home or office.