On 25/09/2020 16:43, Tricky Dicky wrote:
I am using a Sky modem/router which generally gives quite good WiFi
throughout the house even outside and in the garage. However in the
kitchen there is one smart socket that seems to lose its WiFi
connection on occasion and given time will usually re-establish a
connection. However it has sometimes been down when we required it
which meant waiting till it sorted itself out or manually reconnect
it. So I am looking at a solution to make it more reliable. I am
however confused about some of the hardware supposed to make the
system work better and have a few questions for those in the know.

1. What is the difference between a wireless access point, a WiFi
extender and a Mesh system?

A wireless access point is the "base station" if you like - its what
allows wifi clients to join a network. There is one built into all wifi
routers, however you can get then as stand alone devices that can be
connected to a network via ethernet or a homeplug data over mains link.

A range extended is a kind if wifi repeater. Its intended to be placed
in an area of good signal, to then rebroadcast to an area with a poor
signal. Many only have the one radio, and so will have to swap between
the uplink and downlink devices, in effect halving the throughput.

A mash system is a collection of smart access points that can use
multiple paths to make a connection. So a wifi client may end up being
connected to the main router via a chain of access points using radio,
or cable, or (in some cases) homeplug connections. They usually have
more intelligent routing to maintain a dynamically updated map of the
best route between points. They will likely also have sophisticated wifi
capabilities like beam forming (to direct the connection in the
direction of the device being communicated with), and band steering (to
automatically nudge capable devices onto free channels / frequency
bands). The hardware normally has multiple radios, and also the
capability of maintaining multiple concurrent conversations (MiMo).


2. Which of the above would give the me the best result, crucially
without affecting the performance of other WiFi connected devices?

This may be one of the rare cases where a simple range extended would be
adequate. You would place it somewhere between the main router and the
smart socket.

3. What is involved in the installation of each of the above such as
connections and powering?

1) New device in the area with poor signal, then a cable or homeplug
link back to the main router. Configure the new WAP to use the same SSID
and passphrase as the existing network, and probably to configure a
different channel.

2) Join the extended to the network, then place somewhere that it can
get a decent signal, but is closer to the poor signal area.

3) Depends a bit on brand, but in many cases, power up one device -
connect to it with your phone and follow the prompts. Once the first
device is active, add further as required.




--
Cheers,

John.

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