STACK #229 November 2023

SMART HOME

TECH FEATURE

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MAKING A MESH Modern homes are filling up with things that need to connect to the internet – and not just teenagers, but toasters too! So how can you keep an entire smart home full of devices online with a reliable, lightning-fast connection? A mesh Wi-Fi network might be the answer. Words Michael Irving

What is a mesh network? A mesh network is a system of routers or nodes spread around your home, office, or business to provide a stable internet connection throughout the premises. It can help you patch up dead zones and slow speeds caused by having too many devices connected at once. Why would I need one? Most people connect to the internet with just one router, placed right next to their modem, but the problem is that’s not always the best spot in the house for it. Your router broadcasts Wi-Fi in a circle around it, with the signal fading away the further you get from it. If you have thick walls or other objects getting in the way, the range can be even shorter. For example, if your router is in a room at the front of the house, you might find your Wi-Fi is patchy down the back of the house where you want to use it a lot, while you get a fantastic

connection in your front yard where you almost never need it. A mesh Wi-Fi network lets you spread a strong signal around your whole home. Extra routers, or nodes, can be placed wherever they’re needed, to make sure everyone and everything can stay online. If you need to cover a bigger area, you can easily just add more nodes. Benefits for a smart home Regular extenders or boosters can get the job done, but a mesh network maintains higher speeds and keeps everything on the same network rather than creating new ones. That’s perfect for a smart home – it doesn’t matter which node a specific device is connected to, they can all communicate with each other easily. A unified mesh network is smarter too. They can automatically adapt to the data usage of different devices, adjusting the configurations

and moving things between bands to keep up the fastest speeds possible. A lamp that only needs to be told when to switch on and off, for example, can be kept on a lower-speed band, while the TV that’s streaming 4K movies can be bumped up to the highest band. On an important video call but need to take it somewhere quieter? When you walk around your house with a phone, laptop or other portable device, the connection will jump between nodes so seamlessly you (and the other people on the call) won’t even notice. If a node drops out or loses power, the network can reroute traffic around it to keep things online. Mesh networks also give you more control. Built-in security measures keep unauthorised devices from connecting, and prevent malicious software from being downloaded. Parental controls allow you to block certain types of content from different profiles, and set usage timers for specific devices.

16 NOVEMBER 2023

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