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[] MESH NETWORKING EXPLAINED[ HOME NETWORKING ]Mesh networking explained
WE EXPLAIN HOW NEW MESH NETWORKING GEAR CAN PROVIDE
WHOLE-HOME WIRELESS COVERAGE.
[ NATHAN TAYLOR ]IF YOU’VE BEEN in the market for a new
wireless router lately, you may have come across
the term ‘mesh network’. It’s something boasted
by a range of new home Wi-Fi products,
including Ubiquiti’s AmpliFi, eero, Netgear’s
Orbi, Linksys’ Velop, Google Wifi, Luma and
others. It’s pretty much the hottest networking
tech around, and this month we thought it
would be a good time to talk about it.SO WHAT IS A MESH NET WORK?
The funny thing is, whether these products
qualify as true mesh networks is somewhat
debatable. A mesh network, in the engineering
sense, is not really something that you buy, but
rather something that your create: a network
full of devices that are both clients and relays
and that you can plug into at any point (as
opposed to the ‘star’ configuration of a typical
network with a central communications hub).
However, the term ‘mesh network’ has
stuck, referring to range extension devices
and kits that support seamless handoff and
dynamic and independent backhaul. They’re
used to create home Wi-Fi networks that cover
your entire house, but without some of the
serious drawbacks of normal range extenders.OLD-TIMEY RANGE EXTENDERS
So let’s look at a typical range extender scenario.
If your regular Wi-Fi router signal doesn’t reach
all the way through your house, you might get
yourself a range extender and place it to provide
better coverage. What a normal range extender
does is set itself up as a regular client node on
your main Wi-Fi network. So it connects to the
main router just like any other device would.Google Wifi Netgear Orbi Linksys VelopThe eero is one of a new range
of mesh networking products.Then the range extender creates its own,
independent Wi-Fi network centred on its
location. This Wi-Fi LAN potentially has
its own network name (SSID) and password. It
then relays messages between devices attached
to its own network and the main network.
When you’re connecting to the network from
a device like a mobile or laptop, your device will
try to connect to whichever network has the
strongest signal — either the range extender
network or the primary network.
Now, this has some serious problems.
Three are of particular note:
* 1. Your devices will ‘stick’ to whatever
network it originally connected to, even
if you move to a location where the other
network might offer a stronger signal.
You have to manually disconnect and
reconnect to fix it. (There are some Android
and Windows apps that will do it for you
automatically once signal power reaches
a chosen threshhold, but you’ll still get
a few seconds of no-network as yourSome vendors have added mesh-like roaming to
their existing router and extender product lines.
D-Link has its Whole Home Wi-Fi range (the
pictured DAP- 1620 is one), while Linksys has
Seamless Roaming in its MA X-STREAM products.device transitions from one network
to the other).
* 2. There is a performance hit of 50%.^
Most range extenders relay messages in the
same channel as they receive them. So it’s
both receiving a message and repeating that
message in the same radio band, halving
the effective throughput.
* 3. Your device will choose a network
entirely based on signal strength. Because
of Point 1 above, you ideally want to always
connect to the primary router, even if its
signal power is slightly less than that of
the extender. Given those issues, range
extenders aren’t ideal, but mesh networks
solve some or all of them.WHAT’S AROUND?
In Australia, we don’t have access to the full range
of mesh products yet, but some of the early mesh
network solutions include: