Wi-Fi 7 will not fix what's actually wrong with your home network
…Your network infrastructure should be ready for Wi-Fi 7 before you go and buy a fancy new router. This extends from your Ethernet cables, switches, and access points to your devices…
Search
People also ask
Why not buy a proper Wi-Fi extender?
Budget Wi-Fi extenders for $20-$40 seemed like an obvious fix, albeit not without flaws. Those Wi-Fi extenders create a separate SSID, need a strong signal to repeat, and deliver less than half the bandwidth. Placing it to repeat the signal enough in a dead zone to help out while maintaining a usable uplink is trickier than it sounds. The ESP32-S3 sidesteps most of that. I flashed the ESP NAT Router firmware and set it up to act as a NAT router — bridging my main network and working as an access point. No subscription, no cloud account, or dedicated app required. The ESP32 costs $10 while the
I extended my Wi-Fi network with this cheap $10 ESP32I cut Apple and Google out of my smart home with a $5 ESP32, and it was easier than I expected
…Turning the smart home local entirely While most of the smart home devices in my home operate on Wi-Fi, I wanted to try out Thread-certified devices from IKEA, Nanoleaf, Eve…
Here's why your mesh Wi-Fi feels like one step forward, two steps back
…Most users suffering from poor Wi-Fi coverage are tempted to invest in an expensive mesh system instead of Wi-Fi extenders to make up for a subpar router. While a mesh…
I stopped blaming my ISP for bad Wi-Fi as the real culprit was right in front of me
…If you're considering Wi-Fi extenders , check out our separate post first. WiFi Analyzer WiFi Analyzer is one of the best Android apps to optimize your WiFi network. See at Google…
4 networking roadblocks I've faced over the years, and how I fixed each of them
…That's why I refused to spend money on a Wi-Fi extender or a mesh network . I just wanted the router to work as it should. After spending six years with…
The ESP32 quietly became the most important chip in my smart home
…I also built an ESP-NOW mesh , a peer-to-peer protocol, so the ESP32 boards can talk to each other in the courtyard without forcing me to extend my Wi-Fi…
I fixed my home network lag without buying a new router or a mesh system
…Wi-Fi extenders depend on wireless radios alone to send data back and forth from your devices to the router, halving your bandwidth and leading to a worse connection. A wired AP…
I tried Hue Bridge Emulator for my smart bulbs and lights — turns out, I didn’t need it
…strip over Wi-Fi. Also, it adds another layer of Zigbee2MQTT to support the Zigbee devices. I can use my DIY ESP-based hardware with it, since its support extends beyond Hue…
I'd do these 5 things differently if I were setting up my home network from scratch
…I tried a Wi-Fi extender with mixed results, tried (and failed) to route Ethernet to every part of the house , and upgraded to a Wi-Fi 6 router only recently. For…
I avoided powerline Ethernet for years, but it solved the one connectivity gap nothing else could
…The one thing I don't recommend is Wi-Fi extenders, which tend to cause more issues than they fix. Keep track of what works Tracking your network's performance shows you…