WiFi, to most of us, whether you love it or hate it has become a constant need in our day-to-day lives. If you are at home, in a restaurant or even walking around town. We have all become used to having a consistent connection to the internet and ensuring we are always online.
Unfortunately, we can’t always have the luxury of a strong connection. It could be a particular office in your building or the garage in your home. These blackspots (areas with no WiFi signal) can often leave us frustrated and eagerly awaiting a return to a strong, connectivity-filled haven we have become so used to.
Fortunately, there are some simple and effective ways to fill these blackspots and ensure you are always online.
1. Wireless Access Points (WAPs)
An access point is a device that creates a wireless local area network, or WLAN, usually in an office, garden, or large building. An access point connects to a wired router or switch with an Ethernet cable and projects a WiFi signal to a designated area. For example, if you want to enable WiFi access in your company’s reception area but don’t have a router within range, you can install an access point near the front desk and run an Ethernet cable through the ceiling back to the server room.
This is considered the most effective way of getting WiFi to a blackspot area. The wireless access point will project a WiFi signal in the area as strong as your router and in some cases, even stronger.
The downside to these access points is they need to be directly connected to the network via an ethernet cable, which can often require cables to be run through the building.
2. WiFi Mesh Systems
WiFi Mesh systems consist of ‘nodes’ which are placed around the property. The parent node will share it’s WiFi signal wirelessly to the next node, which will further project that signal to the node after that, effectively daisy chaining the WiFi signal around the nodes in the building. The benefit of this system is it runs completely over wireless. The nodes only need a connection to a power source, meaning you do not need to run any network cables around the property. Your devices will also select the node with the best signal to connect to, meaning you can roam the property with a consistent WiFi connection.
You can often purchase a pack of Mesh nodes with an easy to setup mobile app making setting this solution up fast and simple.
The downside to a mesh system is the sacrifice of speed. Although coverage is vastly improved, the further you are from the source of the original connection (eg. The parent node or router), the connection will be slower.
3. WiFi Range Extenders
WiFi Range Extenders are small devices that plug directly into your mains power sockets. These devices will pick up your existing wireless connection and extend it further. It is worth noting that although this is the cheapest of the 3 options. It is limited by several factors such as the speed of your internet connection, the distance the range extender is placed from the router, and the building materials that make up your home.
WiFi range extenders are ideal for a small home or to improve the WiFi coverage in an area that the router is only just reaching.
All 3 options tackle the same problem differently depending on your budget. If you would like the perfect solution suited to your business and to ensure you always stay connected. Feel free to contact Southern Solutions on 02382 022 099.