If there’s one room in your home where WiFi struggles, buying an extender can seem like the obvious answer. They’re widely available, relatively inexpensive and usually straightforward to set up.
And in the right situation, an extender can be useful. But it isn’t quite the same as having a mesh WiFi system around your home.
What does a WiFi extender actually do?
A traditional WiFi extender sits somewhere between your router and the area where the signal is weak. It connects to your existing WiFi and rebroadcasts that signal, helping it reach further.
If you’ve only got one troublesome spot – perhaps a spare bedroom at the other end of the house – that may be enough to give you a usable connection without changing the rest of your setup.
But extenders have drawbacks.
It still needs a good connection back to your main router to start with. Put it too far away, and the only thing it’s rebroadcasting is a weak signal.
Depending on the extender, you may also end up with a separate WiFi network. And even if you get one that replicates your existing network name and password, your devices may not move between WiFi points as smoothly as they would with mesh.
The connection through an extender can also be slower than the connection close to your main router, particularly with older or more basic equipment.
And if you start adding multiple extenders around a larger home, the setup can quickly become complicated.
How is mesh different?
A mesh system is designed to use several WiFi points together, starting with your router.
Rather than having one router with separate devices simply repeating its signal, the different points of a mesh – your router and additional WiFi points – form a single network and work together to provide coverage around your home.
That means one network name and password, with your devices able to connect through different points in the mesh as you move around the house.
So if you walk from the living room to an upstairs bedroom, you shouldn’t have to think about switching networks yourself. Your device can move between different points in the mesh as you move around your home.
At a glance
WiFi extender
Rebroadcasts your router’s existing signal and can be useful for one troublesome spot.
Mesh WiFi
Uses several WiFi points as one joined-up network, helping your devices stay connected as you move around.
Mesh can be particularly useful in larger homes, homes with thick walls, or anywhere where the position of your main router makes it difficult for WiFi to reach every room.
That doesn’t mean everybody needs it. If your router already gives you a strong, reliable signal everywhere you use WiFi, there’s nothing to fix.
But if coverage is the problem, mesh is usually a more joined-up way of solving it than adding additional extenders.
Already with Zen and struggling with WiFi?
If you’re already with us and have weak WiFi spots around your home, we may be able to add a mesh solution to your existing setup.
If you use a FRITZ!Box, that could mean adding EveryRoom for £9 a month. EveryRoom adds a FRITZ!Repeater which works with your router as part of the same mesh network.
If you already use eero, get in touch and we can talk you through the eero options available with your setup.
It’s worth checking with us before changing router type yourself, particularly if you use Digital Voice, as that service needs a compatible FRITZ!Box.
What about our current full fibre packages?
The setup you get with a new full fibre package partly depends on whether you want Digital Voice.
With Full Fibre 500 or Full Fibre 900, if you don’t take Digital Voice, you’ll get an eero 7 as your router. If you need wider coverage, you can add another eero 7 for £10 a month and the two devices work together as a mesh network.
If you do want Digital Voice, you’ll get a FRITZ!Box 7530 AX instead. If you also need better WiFi coverage around your home, you can add EveryRoom.
Full Fibre Max uses eero, with no FRITZ!Box or Digital Voice option. If you want wider mesh coverage, you can add an additional eero, with the options depending on your existing setup.
So while EveryRoom and eero can both give you mesh WiFi, they fit into our broadband packages in slightly different ways.
Want to improve your WiFi?
If you’ve got weak WiFi spots at home, talk to us about your WiFi options and we can help you find the right fit for your setup.
