I have the standard router my ISP gave me, and honestly I don’t know if it’s bad or if my apartment layout is just annoying.
The router is in the living room because that’s where the fiber box is. When I’m near it, speeds are good. But in my bedroom, which is only two rooms away, the speed drops a lot. Sometimes I get half the speed, sometimes even less. Video calls are mostly fine, but downloads are slower and streaming occasionally buffers.
I started looking at better routers, but then I saw people saying mesh is better if the router can’t be placed centrally. I don’t want to overbuy, but I also don’t want to replace the ISP router with another single router and still have the same problem.
Would I be better off getting one better router, or should I try a small mesh system?
Before buying anything, I’d try modeling the Wi-Fi network first instead of guessing. A tool like NetSpot is perfect for this. Just upload your floor plan, add the walls, and test different setups virtually. You can see if one powerful router works or if you actually need a mesh system. If the app shows a single router won’t cut it, buying another one to replace your ISP box is a waste of money. But if a second virtual node fixes the dead zones, go with mesh. It completely saves you from buying gear blindly.
Depends less on “ISP router bad” and more on where it is and what your walls are made of. A better router might help a bit, but if the router is stuck at one end of the apartment and your bedroom is behind a couple of thick walls, you’re still asking one box to do too much. Mesh makes more sense when you need coverage in multiple areas and can place the second node somewhere with decent signal, not inside the dead spot.
@Ok-Image6120 Oh, thanks, interesting idea.
People obsess over getting the full speed everywhere, but that’s not always realistic over Wi-Fi. If you can get a stable 200–300 Mbps in the bedroom with low latency, that’s already plenty for normal use. The real problem is when the connection is unstable, drops, or jumps around.