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Home Networking Tips – What Should You Get?

 

The internet is something we all need in our daily lives and we rely on the internet to do almost everything we do these days. Some of these things include online banking, working from home, running a business, kid’s homework, gaming, watching TV shows or movies plus much more. The internet is essentially the center of all of our lives.

The internet is the central point of our customers lives and it’s connected through a home network, usually with just one router. But many of our customers need help with choosing the right type of router or modem router for their home and are not sure which is best for them. There’s also the option of getting a Wi-Fi mesh router for homes that are quite large, or need something extra to get the signal around thick walls or large furniture.

What is the difference between a router and a modem router?

A modem router contains everything needed within it such as the modem, router and access point. It is suitable for ADSL and VDSL connections and acts as a bridge between the internet and the home network. But may not be necessary if you already have a modem. A router on the other hand enables wireless connectivity in a home and sends content from the modem, through the router and then to the devices connected wirelessly to the router in the home. Routers are usually connected to modems via an Ethernet cable.

What is mesh Wi-Fi or Whole home Wi-Fi?

When you have router or a modem router in your home, it is just one unit that sits in one part of your home and the signal from it needs to travel from that point to every room in the home. Many people will find often when they have just one router in their home, that in some places the signal is great, but maybe in the bedroom upstairs, the signal isn’t so great at all, in fact it may be awful there. Maybe you are able to stream something like Netflix really well in your living room, but when you go to your bedroom to do it, it buffers and it’s slow. Many will think it’s their internet speed and will call their internet provider on the phone, but actually it may just be that the router in the home isn’t able to reach the bedroom that well. It’s just too far away.

A mesh Wi-Fi router will be able to deal with the issue of distance and improve signals in hard to reach areas. A mesh system consists of a single router that connects to your modem. But it comes with a series of satellite devices that can be placed around the home which can connect to the router and broadcast a stronger signal. A mesh network will be able to reach more devices and has far greater range than a single router. It is also much more adaptable than traditional routers as the satellite devices that make up the mesh system can be placed virtually anywhere in a home allowing the Wi-Fi signal and thus the internet to be reachable in every single room.