How to boost a mesh WiFi signal

What mesh WiFi is, and how it works

A mesh WiFi system uses several units placed around the home in place of one router. One unit plugs into the modem or the NBN box. The others pick up from it and from each other, and together they make one WiFi network with one name, so your phone moves from unit to unit as you walk around.

The part people miss is that the units have to talk to each other as well as to your devices. That link between the units is called the backhaul. A mesh system is only as good as its backhaul. When a mesh signal is weak, the cause is nearly always there, and it is the first thing a WiFi technician looks at on site.

What makes a mesh WiFi signal weak

• Units too far apart. A unit that gets a weak signal from the one before it has only a weak signal to share.
• Walls and floors. Brick, concrete, tiles, mirrors and metal all cut the signal between units.
• Units hidden away. In a cupboard, behind the TV, on the floor.
• Interference. Neighbours’ WiFi, and in older homes the microwave and cordless phones.
• Two networks fighting. The old modem’s WiFi left on beside the mesh.

Check where the problem is first

Check your speed first Test on a cable at the main mesh unit, then on WiFi beside each of the other units. Fast at the main unit and slow at another one means the link between those two units is the weak point.

Eight ways to boost a mesh WiFi signal

1. 1

   Move the units closer and into the open

   Put the main unit as near the middle of the home as the cabling allows. Place each other unit halfway to the area it serves, not in the dead spot itself. Up on a shelf or a bench, in the open, away from the TV and the fridge.

2. 2

   Link the units with a network cable

   A cable between units gives each one a full-speed link and frees the WiFi for your devices. Even one cabled unit, the one furthest from the main unit, makes a big difference.

3. 3

   Turn off the old modem's WiFi

   If the mesh plugs into a provider's modem that is still making its own WiFi, switch that WiFi off, or set the mesh to access point mode. Two networks in one house interfere with each other and confuse your devices.

4. 4

   Update the firmware

   Open the app and install any update. Makers fix performance problems as well as security ones.

5. 5

   Reduce interference

   Keep units away from microwaves, cordless phone bases and baby monitors. Let the system choose its own channel, or run its network optimiser if the app has one.

6. 6

   Add a unit, but only to fill a gap

   If one area is still weak after the units are well placed, add a unit between it and the nearest good one. Do not add units to a system that is already crowded.

7. 7

   Allow for the neighbours

   In a unit block there may be dozens of networks in range. Cabled links between your units matter even more here, because the air is busy.

8. 8

   Use the priority settings

   Most systems let you give priority to a device or a type of use, such as a work laptop or video calls. It does not make the signal stronger, but it keeps the important things steady when the house is busy.

The cable in tip 2 is ordinary data cabling, run and tested by a registered cabler. For a rough cost before anyone visits, see a price range for the cable runs.

Reading the signal between units

Every mesh system has an app, and the app shows how well each unit is connected to the next, as a word, a colour or a number of bars. The steps are the same whichever brand you have, whether that is a Deco, an Orbi, a Nest or an eero.

• Strong or good. Leave the unit where it is.
• Fair or weak. Move the unit towards the main unit, a few metres at a time, and check again.
• Offline, or dropping in and out. It is too far away, or there is too much wall in between.

Move one unit at a time and give it a minute to settle before you judge it. If you would rather someone else did the moving, home tech support can set the units up.

Thick walls and older houses

Mesh WiFi does not work well through thick walls. Double brick, stone, concrete and the tiled walls of a bathroom take far more out of a WiFi signal than a timber-framed wall does. In an older house, a unit one room away can have a weaker link than a unit three rooms away in a newer one.

Two units and a double-brick wall

An older house from above. The rings are where each unit's signal reaches.

Where is the second unit?

Unit in a cupboard Unit out in the open Unit moved past the thick wall

1 3 222 44

1. Main unit
2. Second unit
3. Thick wall
4. Weak signal

1. Main unit
2. Second unit
3. Thick wall
4. Weak signal

1. Main unit
2. Second unit
3. Thick wall

In a cupboard. The second unit spends its signal on the cupboard walls, and with the thick wall beyond it, the back rooms stay weak.

Tip 1: move the units into the open

Out in the open. Up on a shelf in the room, the same unit reaches further, but the double brick still stops it short, and only the doorway lets a little through.

Tip 1: up high, in the open

Past the thick wall. Through the doorway and on the far side of the wall, the same unit covers the back rooms. Line units up through doorways, never against the thick wall.

Where no doorway lines up, tip 2: link the units with a cable

• Use the doorways. Line units up along hallways and through doorways, where the signal has air to travel through.
• Do not put a unit against the thick wall. Put it in the opening.
• Avoid going through bathrooms and kitchens. Tiles, pipes and appliances are the worst of it.
• Between floors, put the upstairs unit near the top of the stairs, where there is a gap in the floor.
• Cable where it will not go. Through a concrete slab or a double-brick wall, a network cable is the fix that works. WiFi will not be talked through concrete.

Does a faster plan help?

Only if the plan is the limit. If a speed test on a cable at the main unit gives you what you pay for and the far rooms are slow, the plan is fine and a faster one will change nothing. If the cable test itself is slow, that is the connection, and no change to the mesh will fix it.

When the signal is fine and it still drops out

A weak signal and a mesh that keeps disconnecting are different problems with different causes. If yours shows good signal and devices still fall off, see why mesh WiFi keeps disconnecting. If it is a smart plug or a camera that will not stay on, it may only work on 2.4GHz. If you are still deciding between mesh and an extender, see do WiFi range extenders really work, and for systems worth a look, the mesh picks in our modem guide.