Better Wi-Fi
Are you struggling with WiFi? Perhaps, it doesn't reach to all of your rooms, keeps buffering, or drops completely when several people are streaming? We can help!
We Rely on Wi-Fi for Everything!
Wi-Fi has forever changed the way we live, work and play. We can surf the internet on the couch or by the pool, look up a recipe in an instant, and even connect our lights to voice control. It’s no wonder it was accepted with open arms, but is your Wi-Fi as good as it needs to be?
- A few years ago, typical households rarely had more than a laptop, tablet and a of couple phones. Demands on WiFi were low as streaming high definition content and gaming wasn't as popular
- Nowadays, most households have more than five devices being used at the same time - couple laptops and a Smart TV (or two!). Every member of the household usually have their own smartphone and may be even a tablet
- Smarthome appliances and gadgets, like thermostats, security cameras, doorbells,smart locks, and even light bulbs and vacuums, also rely on WiFi
Your Internet Service Provider Router Is Not Enough!
Providers like Spark and Vodafone still provide routers that were ok 5 years ago but can't keep up with modern demands
- When you sign up for a broadband package, you will usually get a router that is good enough for a small apartment or house with less than five devices
- Many of these routers are still using older technologies, like 802.11n, limiting the maximum WiFi speeds to what was acceptable in 2012!
- Most routers only have one or two internal antennas , making the coverage almost non-existent in bedrooms, through walls, and upstairs in your house
- Some providers, like 2 degrees, have better routers. They use 802.11AC technology, come with multiple antennas (MIMO) and typically provide good enough coverage for 100-150 sq meter homes
Cheap and DIY Solutions
If you go to any electronics retail shop, you will see plenty of solutions designed to alleviate WiFi troubles...
- One of the easiest ways to get better signal strength is by moving your router to the middle of your house or the living room, where most of your WiFi devices are. Also, place the router as high as possible and further away from walls
- The most common way to increase the WiFi coverage is by buying a WiFi Extender. These can extend the usable distance, but if your router is too slow to serve reliable WiFi, the extenders are going to slow it down even more
- Some people add an extra router or access point connected with an Ethernet cable to the original router. This usually creates two separate networks, making connecting all your devices to the same network far from seamless
- Powerline Extenders (Ethernet over Power) can send signal through the electric wiring of your home, making it travel further and remove restrictions of walls
Wi-Fi Features You Will Love!
We recommend Ubiquiti Amplifi for most homes. They come with several features that will appeal to families
- Great design, compact size, and ease of operation. You can manage these with a simple app on your phone or tablet
- Parental controls. You can temporarily pause WiFi on any device - perfect for family time and unruly teenagers! You can set up a schedule when WiFi is not available for certain devices
- Guest WiFi. Rather than sharing your WiFi network with guests and visitors, you can give them a temporary access with no password, active for specific time!
- Troubleshooting and Performance test. With a touch of a button, you can check the performance of your WiFi network. If something doesn't work right, you can find out what's wrong and most likely, fix it right away - from the same app
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Typical Wi-Fi scenarios
Standalone Router. Enough for houses under 100-150 sq m
Central router with two mesh points. Suitable for large homes up to 300 sq meters. Can be used to cover separate floors
Mesh multi-hop. Very similar to central routetr setup, but can be used if your Fibre connection is located in the basement or garage
Best WiFi Solution for Small Homes
If you already have a fibre (UFB - UltraFast Broadband) connection but your WiFi coverage isn't sufficient, we can help!
- If your house is less than 75 square meters, we recommend a Ubiquiti Amplifi Instant Router. It looks great, has a very compact and discreet design and covers distances up to 10-15 meters.
- If you house is less than 100 square meters, we can add an extra mesh point. It can connect to the main router via WiFi or cable (best!).
- Both of these feature 802.11AC WiFi, a dual-band antenna, and provide up to 300 Mbps for older devices and up to 867 Mbps for newer devices. Those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt but trust me - they are very capable devices!
Best WiFi Solution for Medium Size Homes
If you live in a typical New Zealand home, you'll probably need something more robust
- For houses less than 150 square meters, we recommend a Ubiquiti Amplifi HD Router. They are bigger and have more throughput due to having three dual-band antennas. These provides up to 450 Mbps to older devices and 1300 Mbps to newer devices - theoretically, faster than most fibre connections!
- For every extra 100 square meters, you will need an additional mesh point. These can be located anywhere within 20-30 meters from the main router and perfect for expanding coverage to your basement, attic, or bedrooms
- The mesh points connect to the main router using a slightly different frequency and adjust themselves for the optimal performance. They can be connected to any outlet and you can move them around the house if needed
- Even though you can have as many mesh points as you want, you will only see two Wi-Fi networks - one for older devices (2.4Ghz), and the other for newer (5Ghz). Instead of remembering which access point you are supposed to connect to, you have seamless roaming and switching between access points happens automatically - similarly to how cell phones get signal from different towers
- All the devices connected to your Wi-Fi network are on the same subnet - meaning, you can print, scan and share content easily!
Best WiFi Solution for Businesses
Offices, restaurants, bars, coffee shops and cafes need a separate public WiFi network
- It's important to have casual visitors, guests and customers to be on their own network where they don't have access to any of your computers and devices. Public WiFi allows them to access just the Internet
- Your business could be serving dozens if not hundreds of customers daily. Many customers expect you to provide free and reliable WiFi. Needless to say, a typical cheap router from your provider won't keep up!
- With public WiFi, you can set up several tiers of service - free and slow for casual guests, and fast for those who need to download and upload a lot of data. You can provide a great experience for your customers and make more money!
- Want some free advertising? Our business WiFi solution allows guests to get access to WiFi after checking-in on Facebook. Their friends will see the check-in on their news feed and it spreads the awareness. Free advertising, why not?!
