We all want a good, strong Wi-Fi signal throughout our homes, but figuring out how to achieve it without overspending can be tricky. Even once you’ve decided to replace the router from your internet service provider, do you get a new Wi-Fi router or invest in a mesh system? I covered this briefly in my router buying guide, but I’m going to dive a bit deeper here.
I’ve been testing all sorts of home networking gear for years now, so I’ll break down your options, weigh up the pros and cons, and help you decide.
What Is a Single Wi-Fi Router?
A router is a central hub and gateway where the internet comes into your home. It connects to devices on your home network and directs the traffic. You usually plug a modem into your router using an Ethernet cable (some routers double as modems). While you can connect other devices to a router using Ethernet cables (if it has spare ports), most gadgets link wirelessly using Wi-Fi.
Read our Best Wi-Fi Routers guide to see our top recommendations. These are usually enough for most homes. You might fancy a shiny new mesh, but if you have a home of modern construction, with a timber frame and drywall, and a modest square footage (2,500 square feet or less), a single router should be enough to keep you online.
Pros
- Less expensive
- Easier to set up
- Only one device to configure
- Fast and stable
Cons
- Limited range
- Difficult to place in the right spot
- Dead spots are likely
- Can’t connect distant devices via Ethernet (without running long cables)
How to Get the Best From Your Router
The Wi-Fi signal will always be strongest near the router and will gradually drop off and slow down the further away you get. You should try to place your router centrally in your home and leave it out in the open to get the best performance from it. This could be tricky because you need to plug in your modem, and you need a power outlet, but an Ethernet cable is cheap, and you can always get an extension. Central placement is worth the hassle if you want solid coverage throughout your home.
It’s also better to have the router up high, on top of a bookcase or mounted to the wall near the ceiling on your ground floor. The exact orientation of your router and its antennas (if they are adjustable) can be surprisingly impactful, so try different positions to find what works best with your most important devices around the home.
Top Single Routers
A mesh system consists of a main router that acts as a gateway or hub, just like a single router, with your modem plugged in via Ethernet. But mesh systems also have satellites or nodes that you can place around your home to extend Wi-Fi coverage. Mesh systems present as one single network and decide when to hand-off connections to devices as you move around the home.
Read our Best Mesh Wi-Fi Systems guide for our top recommendations. These models can ensure strong Wi-Fi throughout large, busy homes. If you have a home with thick walls or building materials that interfere with Wi-Fi, and a relatively large footprint (3,000 square feet or above), a mesh system is likely your best bet. Mesh systems can also be great for adding coverage to dead spots or extending Wi-Fi into your garden.
Pros
- Wider coverage
- You can eliminate dead spots
- You can connect distant devices via Ethernet
- Easily scalable
Cons
- More expensive
- Not suitable for smaller homes
- Require multiple power outlets
- Can cause issues with some devices
How to Get the Most From Your Mesh
For best performance, mesh nodes should be connected to the main mesh router with Ethernet cables (wired backhaul), but that’s not always possible, so they can also connect via Wi-Fi (wireless backhaul). The main mesh router and nodes should be placed out in the open; don’t put them inside cabinets or behind TVs.
When placing your mesh nodes, think of your system as a Wi-Fi spine for your home. Rather than placing nodes in a dead spot, place them halfway between your main router and the area you want to cover. If they are too close together, you can end up with interference problems, but if they are too far apart, the connection between router and node will be slow or patchy. The manufacturer’s app will likely guide you about good placement.
Top Mesh Wi-Fi Systems
Should You Choose a Router or a Mesh System?
There’s a lot to weigh before deciding whether to buy a mesh system or a single router, but it’s important to note that mesh systems are not necessarily always better. If you can cover your home with a single router, that is the best option. Better coverage is the only reason to opt for a mesh. With a mesh, the system must make decisions about when to hand off connections and how to direct traffic, and this adds a layer of complexity.
Some mesh manufacturers are better than others when it comes to routing traffic and providing a stable connection. Netgear and Eero are especially good on this score. If you have smart home devices, such as a Sonos system, for example, some mesh systems don’t handle them well and may drop speakers from the network or prevent you from seeing or controlling them via a phone connected to a different node. There are potential snags that you won’t get with a single router.
Consider also that you always get much slower speeds from your nodes than from the main mesh router, unless they are connected via cables. Mesh routers connected wirelessly to nodes must use some of the available bandwidth for traffic between the main router and the node. This can effectively halve the bandwidth that’s available for your connected devices.
After testing more than 60 mesh systems and routers in my last home, a modern two-story, 1,600-square-foot house, I found that single routers generally outperformed mesh systems, providing a faster and more stable connection, transferring files from one device to another on the network more quickly, and working efficiently without smart home connectivity issues. But many of those routers struggled to provide a fast connection in my backyard.
Mesh systems extend your coverage, and nodes can target dead spots. I used a node to extend Wi-Fi into my backyard and to plug in a TV in the back room via Ethernet for a more stable and reliable connection. But it wasn’t until I moved to an old Victorian house that I felt the full benefit of a mesh system. It’s slightly larger than my last home, but extremely thick stone walls can seriously dampen a Wi-Fi signal, especially on the fastest 6-GHz band.
While I haven’t had the chance to test too many systems in this home yet, the couple I have tested make it crystal clear: I need a mesh for this house. A single router struggled to provide a signal for the front upstairs room and the garden, and I had to run an Ethernet cable to get the EV charger connected.
With a mesh, I can decide where I need the coverage, ensuring my big TV and office computer have a fast connection. Depending on where the internet comes into your home, it can be difficult to find a suitable spot for a single router. While there are exceptions to this, the single routers are often ugly devices, sometimes bristling with antennas, which are great for performance but aren’t pretty. Mesh manufacturers have taken the lead on routers that blend into the home better.
What About Wi-Fi Extenders?
Based on my testing, even the best Wi-Fi extenders aren’t worth considering. Cheap Wi-Fi extenders perform very poorly, and the good ones are expensive enough that you’d be better off upgrading your main router or opting for a mesh, both of which will perform far better. A mesh system should give you near-seamless handoff and limit interference; a Wi-Fi extender won’t do either.
Can I Expand Later?
Mesh systems are mostly designed to be easy to scale. You can add additional nodes as and when you need them. Eero allows you to mix and match any of its range. If you have an Asus AiMesh router (most of its range), you can add additional Asus AiMesh routers to create a mesh network, but expect to spend some time on configuration.
The problem with recommending single routers over mesh systems or vice versa is that every home is different. The size, construction, local interference, devices within the home, and other factors will impact how efficient any router is, and the only way you can be sure what will work best is to test. But if you’re on the fence, I recommend opting for something that can be expanded into a mesh later if it turns out you need more coverage. You can also always buy a single mesh router or start with a two-pack and add more if required.
You can find more tips in our router buying guide, or dig into the differences between Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E. Whatever option you end up going with, check out our tips on how to make your Wi-Fi faster.
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