Mesh Wi-Fi Router: How to Choose the Best One for Your Home

Having a good Wi-Fi network is more and more important. With remote work, online classes, gaming, movie and music streaming and cloud services, homes need solutions as good as those used by businesses. In this article, you will learn the best practices and how to choose your mesh router.

When expanding the local network, the ideal is to run cables from the access points (APs), which are the devices that broadcast the Wi-Fi signal, to the router. However, this is only possible when the network is planned during construction or a renovation. Once the house is finished, running cables gets complicated.

Until a while ago, the solution was to use Wi-Fi signal repeaters. They pick up the signal from the nearest AP and retransmit it for devices to connect to. This type of repeater has a serious performance problem: it cuts the network's data rate by up to 50% with each repeat.

What is mesh technology?

A mesh network is a Wi-Fi system with several APs that talk to each other by radio and form a single network, with the same name and password, to bring the signal to the whole house. Because the APs have two or more radio bands, the performance loss is smaller than with ordinary repeaters.

In a mesh system, each AP connects by radio to the main router. In high-performance models, called Tri-Band, one 5 GHz band is dedicated to the link between the APs (the backhaul). And if the house has network cable between the points, take advantage of it: many mesh systems, such as TP-Link Deco, let you connect the APs by cable (wired backhaul), which leaves the radio free for the devices.

Before evaluating the main mesh routers on the Brazilian market, you need to know that a good Wi-Fi experience requires combining good local network infrastructure with a good external link, provided by your internet provider.

If either part fails, the internet connection will not work. I say this because users often ignore the quality of the local network hardware and put the blame only on the provider's link, believing that all routers are the same.

Just as when you buy a computer, which has many specifications, the router, the access point and the switch also need to be chosen according to the job they will be doing.

And, speaking of the provider, understand that the equipment it supplies is actually a "combo": the modem, which makes the link to the provider's network; the router, which manages the network; and the access point, which creates the Wi-Fi network.

If you want to use automation devices or need a stable network for work and study, and also want to bring the signal to the whole house, you should disable the router and access point functions of the provider's equipment and use it only as a modem, in bridge mode.

Ask the provider's installer to configure the equipment this way, so you can take full advantage of your router and your mesh APs.

If the provider's equipment cannot be set to bridge mode, the solution is to put the mesh system in bridge mode, using the provider's equipment as the router. This is not the ideal solution, since the router you are going to buy usually has better features, as well as more stability, memory and processing power.

Be careful: do not leave both devices with the routing function enabled. This creates a NAT over NAT network (so-called double NAT), that is, two local networks, one beneath the other, which is not the right way to configure the local network.

So, in both cases, turn off the Wi-Fi on the provider's equipment and choose which device will be the router: yours or the provider's. Go with yours whenever you can.

With that cleared up, on to the comparison!

Router comparison

The three most popular brands in Brazil are D-Link, TP-Link and Intelbras. Of course there are other brands, such as Ubiquiti's UniFi line, but since those are superior products in hardware and software, I chose to leave it out of this comparison.

I chose three plug-and-play products: with just a few taps in the app, you get the network up and running. The three models in this comparison are very good, and the students in my automation course use them in their projects.

The comparison was made in March 2021, with Wi-Fi 5 (AC standard) models, data from the manufacturers' websites and the prices at that time. Further below, see what has changed since then.

The main difference between them is that the Intelbras kit comes with two units. This reduces the range but makes the kit's price more competitive. If you go with the Intelbras kit, it is worth buying one more unit, for a total of three, which is ideal for most homes over 100 m².

• D-Link Covr 1103: coverage area of 464 m² (as stated by the manufacturer); 3 APs; 2 Gigabit ports on each AP (WAN and LAN); Dual-Band AC1200 radios; MU-MIMO; up to 100 devices; 2 antennas; data rate of 300 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps on 5 GHz; power consumption of 8.55 W; bridge mode; WPA2 and WPA3 security; automatic band steering; firewall; expandable; kit price in 2021: R$ 1,499.00.

• TP-Link Deco M5: coverage area of 510 m² (as stated by the manufacturer); 3 APs; 2 Gigabit ports on each AP; Dual-Band AC1300 radios; MU-MIMO; up to 100 devices; 4 antennas; data rate of 400 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps on 5 GHz; power consumption of 12 W; bridge mode; WPA2 security; automatic band steering; firewall; expandable; kit price in 2021: R$ 1,599.90.

• Intelbras Twibi Giga+: coverage area of 360 m² (as stated by the manufacturer); 2 APs; 2 Gigabit ports on each AP; Dual-Band AC1200 radios; MU-MIMO; up to 60 devices; 2 antennas; data rate of 300 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps on 5 GHz; power consumption of 12 W; bridge mode; WPA2 security; automatic band steering; firewall; expandable; kit price in 2021: R$ 819.90.

A few network precautions

Be very careful with the coverage area stated by the manufacturer! Radio wave propagation suffers a lot of interference and, in almost 100% of cases, the range does not reach half that figure.

Also be careful with the number of connected devices. In real life, I have noticed that we almost never manage to use the number stated by the manufacturers. I like to work with, at most, 60% of the stated figure.

Another important point is the data rate on 5 GHz. If you have a 300 Mbps plan from your provider, like mine, you will certainly use the 5 GHz band to connect the Apple TV, the smart TV, your phone, your laptop and other devices.

The 2.4 GHz band is used by home automation devices and other equipment that does not require much bandwidth and uses simpler chips.

Pay attention to this point during setup: most automation devices only work on 2.4 GHz, and mesh systems like Deco use a single network name for both bands. If the device's app cannot pair, check whether your system lets you create a 2.4 GHz-only network for these devices. On Deco, TP-Link recommends creating an IoT Network. See also how to fix Sonoff and Tuya connection problems.

With that said, all three brands can handle a high-performance network, because they have a Gigabit port (1,000 Mbps) for the wired connection to the provider's modem.

The hidden side of mesh APs

What this comparison does not show is how each system decides when to switch APs (roaming). On more sophisticated equipment, such as Ubiquiti's UniFi, this is configurable: you can set a minimum signal (the "Minimum RSSI") and drop devices that are far from the AP, since they reduce the data rate of all the other devices connected to it.

This happens when you walk around the house and, at some point, your phone, for example, should disconnect from one AP and connect to another. On more sophisticated equipment, the signal strength in dBm for this switch is adjustable. On the three devices in this comparison, the value cannot be edited, and you should test the performance in practice, with each manufacturer's default values.

Band steering, which appears in the comparison, is something else: it steers devices that work on both bands to the 5 GHz band, leaving the 2.4 GHz band freer.

Who is the winner?

My pick is the TP-Link Deco M5. I chose it to teach in the course and also to use in my beach house because of its greater number of antennas, its app with remote configuration and its design, which is discreet and smaller than the competitors'.

But the devices are similar, and you will certainly be well served by any of the three models.

What matters is following the best practices you learned in this post and also placing the APs in central locations, where most of the devices are, not installing them in a vertical position, to avoid directing the signal, and testing the signal strength between the mesh APs after installing them, to make sure the network is balanced. If the signal between two APs is too weak, you will have to move them closer together or to a different spot.

What has changed since 2021: Wi-Fi 6, 6E and 7

The three models in the comparison are Wi-Fi 5. Today, there are mesh systems with Wi-Fi 6 (AX standard), Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7. The last two add the 6 GHz band, and the Wi-Fi Alliance began certifying Wi-Fi 7 in January 2024, with channels up to 320 MHz and Multi-Link Operation, which sends and receives data over more than one link at the same time.

In Brazil, Anatel opened the entire 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi in 2021, but in December 2024 it decided to split it and allocate most of it to mobile telephony. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 still work, with less room in that band.

If you are buying today, start with a mesh system with Wi-Fi 6 or higher. The best practices in this article still apply: the provider's modem in bridge mode, a single router, well-placed APs and, whenever possible, wired backhaul. For an example with Wi-Fi 6, watch the video about the Wi-Fi 6 mesh router.

What is the best mesh router?

There is no single best model for every home: the best mesh router is the one that covers yours with room to spare, with enough APs for its floor plan and walls. To compare today's models, use this checklist:

• Standard: Wi-Fi 6 or higher, with WPA3 security, which the Wi-Fi Alliance requires on certified devices.

• Coverage: count the APs based on the floor plan, not on the area stated by the manufacturer, which, as we have seen, almost never holds up.

• Link between the APs: wired backhaul, if there is cable between the points; without cable, a Tri-Band model, with one 5 GHz band just for the APs.

• Ports: Gigabit, at a minimum. If your internet plan is faster than 1 Gbps, look for 2.5 Gbps ports.

• Automation: the option to create a 2.4 GHz-only network for automation devices.

• App: simple setup, remote access and firmware updates.

If an older automation device will not connect to a WPA3 network, use WPA2/WPA3 transition mode, which accepts both types of device on the same network, with the same password.

If you enjoyed this article, share it with anyone who needs to know this information.