How can I boost my wifi signal to get better coverage?
Wifi Boosters:
Wifi boosters (also known as repeaters or range extenders) have been around for a long time. A wifi booster has to be programmed to work with your router, and is plugged into a wall outlet some 30-50 feet away from the router. The wifi booster then connects to the router (like a laptop) and pushes the wifi signal out further. It's a good way to boost your wifi signal in your house if you have a large house, an uncommon floor plan (e.g. L-shaped or U-shaped), or have walls constructed of brick, stone, metal, etc.
Furthermore, boosters can be added to an existing wifi network without much cost.
Mesh Routers:
Mesh routers are the newest router technology on the market. (Truth be told, they are the same old technology). All a mesh router is, is a router with a booster(s) in one box. In the mesh router world, these "boosters" are now called "satellites." They are advertised as being easily expanded, simply by buying more satellite if you need more coverage. Some even claim they can cover 6,000 sq. ft. or better. That's awesome, right? But here's the potential problem.
These mesh routers are meant to be used on a cabled Internet service (e.g., Comcast, AT&T DSL, etc.). That's because they use a wide-spectrum 5 GHz wifi (often 80 MHz wide channels) to cover a large area (e.g., your house and yard). The problem is, you don't have a cabled Internet service, you have a wireless Internet service with a 5 GHz wireless delivery signal (just like the mesh satellites). What that potentially means is that one or more of your mesh satellites may be radar-jamming your incoming Internet signal, and thus slowing/dropping your Internet connection.
We generally have our customers set their router's 5 GHz wifi channel to channel 36 (since we do not broadcast on that channel). But we do broadcast on the rest of the 5 Ghz spectrum. And if your mesh satellite is on a 5 GHz channel with 80 MHz spacing, that means it is transmitting on a large portion of the 5 GHz spectrum, and potentially causing your antenna to slow/drop because it cannot establish a solid link with the transmitter on the tower/relay.
Here's why you have to be careful! We transmit our Internet signal to your Internet antenna on a 20 MHz wide, 5 GHz channel. Let's say we're transmitting on 5800 MHz. And let's say your mesh router network is on 5825 MHz and using an 80 MHz wide spacing. That means your mesh router system is transmitting its 5 GHz wifi on frequencies from 5785 to 5865 MHz. That range includes the 5800 MHz channel we are using to deliver service to you. What you may then experience is, slowing/dropping Internet connection.
If you invest in a mesh system, you may want to call our Office during normal business hours so we can verify that your mesh system and our signal are not interfering with each other. That's why you don't have this problem with cabled Internet services.
Reading/research: