Let’s talk WiFi.

First, a quick introduction to technology, through my own lens. I’m a product of the 80’s and 90’s, having grown up before dial up internet, cable TV, or home computers were a norm. Back then, getting a used PC from a friend of my Dad’s meant learning how to use MS-DOS for the first time. The only things I knew how to do, was launch a game of snake, followed by a copy of scorched earth I scored from school via another classmate.

When a local company began offering affordable dial up internet in the mid-to-late 90’s, my parents opted to finally purchase a new computer with a modem. This involved looking at rebate offers, whether a new bundle offered a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and a printer. I helped my parents choose, by putting Windows 98 to the test with computers at school. I learned the ins & outs of using the OS, and figuring out how to use a “word processor” for the first time. When I knew enough to understand the specifications at the store, we planned a trip two hours away at the nearest major city. We went to approximately five different stores in the San Antonio area where we could try out different manufacturer machines from Hewlett Packard, Compaq (at the time a separate company), Gateway, and various others.

We compared prices, discussed specs with the sales staff, and decided whether we would sign up for any offers from the likes of AOL. At the end of the day, we gathered all our notes at a Mall Food Court, where we stopped for a later lunch. My brother and I ultimately talked my parents into the Compaq, because of the offered rebates providing the best system for the price; it even had a newer 56K modem. We lucked out when we purchased the bundle, and received an extended warranty at no cost, since we came back to the store.

When we finally signed up for internet service, which involved actually visiting the ISP in town to fill out a hand written form and provide payment from a bank account, we were well on our way to getting set up for the new “internet highway of information.” On the way home, we stopped at a Radio Shack and picked up a longer phone cord to reach the computer desk for the modem, some extra floppy disks to save files, and some printer paper for the bundled Compaq printer. This was the early days of technology, home computing, and the internet as a whole offering an entirely new perspective of the world. My Dad was always curious about newer technology, and to this day still tinkers with building another PC. He’s always trying to stay relevant with technology at home, and that means having some awesome WiFi coverage to make those device communicate with his smart home apps.

Let’s talk WiFi. After leaving my office in Austin, TX one day, my Dad called me to complain about slow internet with his new laptop. He expressed his feeling that the sales guy at the major big box store lied to him about the WiFi capabilities of his new computer. His websites were sluggish to load, his Windows Mail was taking forever to sync, and he was noticing issues with a lot of buffering when trying to watch a news story online. He even called his ISP, who had upgraded his cable modem with a fancy new modem/router combo. Even after all that, he was still having issues with his laptop getting speeds close to what he felt he was paying for from his ISP.

After allowing him a moment to go over his options, and how his new laptop wasn’t the issue, we talked about WiFi. His one gripe was simply his slow internet speed while connected to WiFi, and the amount of time it would take to accomplish simple tasks online. Mind you, this was in 2016 and while internet speeds were quickly approaching 100 Mbps standard, expanding WiFi range often required additional hardware to “extend” the network. Ultimately, I determined his ISP provided modem/router combo was on one side of the house, nearest a dining area, where a cable outlet was located on a nearby wall. This was his only internet providing router in the home, and while you could easily and quickly use the internet while using Ethernet, WiFi was only reliable in the area surrounding the immediate area of the dining area.

Having been the leader in a customer support office for a large internet connected thermostat, now owned by Google, I was used to having fast internet all over the office. I was curious to find out how I could replicate this at my Dad’s house to provide coverage where he needed it. So off to our IT team I went. Our Sr. Director of IT walked me through the various Apple Extreme routers, each with a wired Ethernet providing the networked connection, and then broadcasting the same SSID (network name) around the office to allow devices to roam around.

They were essentially all acting as repeaters around the office broadcasting the same SSID, and devices would just roam between them as the signal weakened from each access point. The easiest way to picture this, is how your cell phone works. Your cellular provider is simply provisioning your phone to allow you the ability to connect to their towers. You get fairly similar speeds throughout, and stay connected as you’re on a call on the way home, or using cell data to stream your favorite music or podcast. This is a simple way of explaining how a home WiFi mesh network works in your home. You essentially setup multiple router access points around your home or office, and they all work in unison to provide you with coverage near each of them. With proper setup, you’ll be blanketing your home with WiFi from every corner of the home, and where you need to use it the most.

Here is an illustration I would often use for my clients, when discussing their current network needs, and to get a good idea of the best setup.

With the proper mesh WiFi system, you can achieve near ISP tier speeds with compatible WiFi connected devices. We’ll go over some standards over time, but I wanted to at least give you an idea of what they look like. While I recommend various systems, I’ll provide links where you can check out pricing, compare specifications, and ultimately decide on a system that’s right for you. The links I’ll share may contain affiliate links, which are not paid for by you, and allow us to received a small commission for any actions you may take on their websites. I won’t know where or what you bought, only that an anonymous person made a purchase or signed up for a subscription. This helps us stay focused on creating more content and trying out new WiFi networking equipment to review and recommend.

Thank you for for visiting our website, and I’m hopeful you’ll return for our next product walk through. We’re still somewhat new to this review space, but we’re grateful to our visitors for giving us a try. Oh, and my Dad, he is now the proud owner of a new WiFi Mesh Network at home, and is loving the seamless connectivity in his house. Stay tuned for some recommendations, and we’ll walk through which systems we think are the best.