Your home is more connected than ever. From desktop computers to smartphones and smart home gadgets, a variety of advanced devices now impact every element of your life. If you’re like many tech enthusiasts, however, you’ve probably failed to keep pace with your Wi-Fi router. This negligence may limit network quality and prevent you and your loved ones from enjoying the consistent connection you desire. Thankfully, multiple solutions are available to help your network keep pace.

Why Network Upgrades Are Worthwhile

There’s no denying the important role your wireless network plays in almost every facet of daily life. It’s wonderfully convenient when it functions as intended – and frustrating when it doesn’t work. Unfortunately, conventional networks are often riddled with dead zones. These can be especially prominent in large homes or those with unusual layouts.

If any of the following circumstances apply to your current way of life, you might be a viable candidate for an upgraded network:

You work from home on a regular basis. An upgrade could prove especially valuable if your job requires frequent video conferencing or editing photos.
You attend college online or one of your household members is involved in virtual education.
You regularly attend Zoom happy hours or otherwise connect with loved ones via video calling apps.
You run one or more gaming computers and consoles, which require exceptional functionality to grant players a competitive edge.
The Internet of Things plays a crucial role in your home, which features dozens of smart devices.
Your residence is too large for a standard wireless network to provide full coverage.

Top Options for Upgrading Your Wireless Network

Wireless upgrades are more accessible than ever, but they’re also a lot more complicated. Numerous options allow you to develop and maintain your network exactly as you see fit. Unfortunately, if you don’t understand your home’s needs, you risk spending too much money on an over-the-top approach or investing in an upgrade that fails to deliver sufficient improvements.

While a variety of network enhancements are available, the most effective tend to involve range extenders and mesh networks made up of several nodes. Depending on the scenario or setting, one setup might be preferred over the other, so it’s important to understand your options before pursuing upgrades.

Range Extenders

As the name implies, range extenders boost the range of your wireless router. This solution is ideal if you’re mostly happy with your connection but would like to address one or two minor areas of concern. Perhaps you enjoy a great connection in most locations but are frustrated by a dead zone within a specific room. In general, you’ll have the most luck with a range extender if your home is small and your wireless system is generally functional.

Other key advantages of range extenders? They’re affordable and easy to implement. This approach doesn’t make any significant changes to your existing network, so it doesn’t require major investments. The moment you add an extender to your network, your home’s problem area should see a swift improvement in connection quality.

Mesh Network

While range extenders are capable of dramatically increasing the scope of coverage within your home, they still maintain the status quo in terms of setup and general functionality. The network’s range may be larger, but it otherwise looks almost identical to the wireless setup you’ve always pursued. With a mesh network, however, you’ll discard the typical approach for something far less centralized and potentially more effective for transmitting quality signals across your home.

Mesh-based systems expand on the limited access points associated with traditional networks to form a decentralized setup in which the connection is spread across several nodes. These nodes function a lot like typical wireless routers but are scattered throughout homes to ensure full coverage. Targeted programming informs specific nodes how they should operate within the broader network. The goal? To eliminate dead zones and provide even coverage.

How a Computer Repair Company in San Diego Can Help

Are you ready to upgrade your home wireless network? This could make a huge difference in your day-to-day life, especially if you work or attend school remotely. Upgrades can be tricky to pull off on your own, but as a San Diego resident, you enjoy access to the talented team of experts at NerdsToGo. As a trusted in-home computer repair company, we’re happy to provide suggestions based on the layout of your home and the specific devices you own. From there, we can implement the best solutions to improve your network, including both Wi-Fi range extender and mesh network setup.

In addition to wireless network upgrades, we offer a variety of other residential services. We provide both in-home and remote computer services to accommodate your unique needs. Contact us at your earliest convenience to learn more!