Stay connected with mesh extenders

At GFiber, we are committed to providing you with a great internet experience at every point in the network, both outside and inside your home. You should have access to quality internet anywhere in your home, not just in certain areas. Having a strong Wi-Fi signal throughout your home is important for seamless browsing, streaming, gaming, and working. If you’ve ever dealt with dead zones or slow speeds, you know the struggle. Mesh extenders can be a game changer by boosting your signal and expanding your coverage. Let's dive into what they are, how they work, and why you might need one. (For GFiber customers, our plans come with GFiber Wi-Fi 6E Mesh Extenders included at no extra cost.) 

Mesh extenders strengthen your home network by capturing the Wi-Fi signal from your router and sharing it in hard-to-reach spots. They create additional access points in your home, expanding your network’s reach. This is especially helpful when your router’s signal can’t cover every room or area, which can happen for many reasons, like if you have thicker walls, several floors or the home is more spread out.

A mesh extender can be added to your network in just a few simple steps 

The GFiber App can also help you pair the router and mesh extender, easily find the best spot for your mesh extenders and also check your mesh extender’s internet connectivity, speed, and coverage with the app’s Network Health feature. If eligible (not all routers are compatible) to use Network Health, you can tap on “Show my network’s health” and it will run a test and score the spot either excellent, good, or poor. If the signal isn’t quite as strong as you’d like it to be, you can adjust the extender’s position for optimal coverage.

Once the mesh extender is connected to the network, you need to find the perfect spot for your mesh extender, which is key to a strong Wi-Fi signal. The sweet spot is usually halfway between your router and the area with poor Wi-Fi coverage. 

Start by placing the first mesh extender no more than one or two rooms away from the router and close to the area with weak coverage, ideally 5-10 feet high and away from obstructions like walls and furniture. Pro Tip: Placing the extender in the dead zone won’t work, since the mesh extender needs a strong signal from the Router to be effective. 

If you have a large home with multiple dead spots, you can add additional mesh extenders. Remember, thick walls and materials like concrete and metal can interfere with the signal, so place your mesh extenders carefully. 

Each extender adds to the network’s workload. While mesh extenders are generally better than traditional repeaters, too many Mesh Extenders close to each other can actually slow your Wi-Fi down and lead to lag, interference, and other annoying issues. Plus, managing a large number of extenders can be a headache if you need to troubleshoot issues or tweak your network settings.

Also, you’ll need to make sure your mesh extenders are compatible with your router. For GFiber customers using the GFiber provided router, the included mesh extenders will work with your system, but you can also use your own compatible multi-gig router. Just make sure you get mesh extenders that are compatible with your particular router.

Mesh extenders are a great way to expand your home’s Wi-Fi coverage and performance by eliminating dead zones and improving your online experience.  If you’d like more information or still have questions, head over to our GFiber Help page or contact us.

Posted by Ishan Patel, Product Manager