Can you recommend a good whole-home mesh wireless system?
The options for home networking have evolved so much in the last couple of years. There are now several powerful systems that are sooooper-easy to set up.
As usual the Wirecutter has already done the hard part for me way better, with both explanation and product recommendations.
The upshot is: the Eero system, recently purchased by Amazon, is the best and easiest, and has been since they brought mesh Wi-Fi to the consumer market a few years ago.
I’ve rarely recommended it to a client who didn’t have it all set up for themselves by the next time I talked to them.
The most likely reason one wouldn’t opt to buy the Eeros is a dislike of Amazon owning the cloud control of one’s internet connection and home network. In which case, while I haven’t gotten hands on the D-Link Covr pack recommended by that article, but they say it’ll cover up to 6,000 sf.
I do know and deeply love their “Also great” pick, the nerdier, not-drop-dead-simple Synology. The Synology is also the only one of these systems I can recommend in a business environment, as it is more configurable and flexible, and offers possibilities for remote access.
The Wirecutter ranks Google Wifi as lesser, but I think it’s well worth considering if one has any toes dipped in the smart-home pool. I had previously disregarded the units not because they’re not great, but because they offer just slightly less performance than their competitors. But they recently released the Google Nest Wifi models, which have better specs. You can get the pack called “Google Nest Wifi Router and Point” — the Point being both a mesh wifi access point and a smart speaker a la Alexa but using the very good Google Assistant — or you can just get two of the Router units, which offers better performance and no microphone.
Separate point because I can’t help myself: I really enjoy the smart-home stuff, and most recently we invited a couple of Apple HomePods into the family. We love them almost as much as the dog. I’ve also tried and really liked the Google Home, Home Hub screen, doorbell, and other Assistant devices. I know the Amazon Echo system is popular and very capable, but all the tech reporting around them gives me privacy concerns that I don’t (currently) have about Apple or Google.
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