Author: keenanj

Many times someone asks me if the Wi-Fi system will mesh. What they really mean is will my Wi-Fi devices automatically roam throughout my areas.

For Wi-Fi roaming to work you really only need to specify the same SSID and encryption for all your wired Access Points they can even be from different vendors. The client devices are responsible for the roaming if you notice your devices are connecting the a farther away Access Point you might want to turn down the power or move them.

Wi-Fi meshing is something all together different and not a feature you want to use often. Wi-Fi meshing will backhaul the network connection wirelessly between Access Points. This might first sound like a great idea you do not have to run ethernet and can located your Access Points wherever you want Wi-Fi. In reality meshing just does not work well. First you lose %50 of the available bandwidth for every wireless mesh hop. Second you have to place the Wi-Fi mesh repeaters in a area that has strong signal for them to work at all. Then if anything in your environment moves or you have a new source of interference the network will drop.

So there is the difference Wi-Fi roaming is something that is easy to setup and should be used. Just say no to Wi-Fi meshing if you wire your Access Points in the first place you will eliminate problems from the get go.