Why we pull mesh out, and what we put in instead.
The difference in mesh Wi-Fi vs wired comes down to one thing. Mesh Wi-Fi uses a wireless hop between nodes, and a wired access point does not. On brick, concrete and foil-insulated homes across Sydney’s North Shore and northern suburbs, that hop is why the study drops out while the living room is fine. Hills Electrical, a third-generation family business based in Roseville since 1948, surveys the house, removes the mesh kit when it is the wrong tool, and installs UniFi access points on cable.
The white node on the shelf in the photo is doing the job the patch panel above it was built for. The cable path is already there. The mesh node is the workaround. On most of the homes we wire, that workaround comes out.
Why mesh Wi-Fi gets bought
Netgear Orbi, TP-Link Deco, Google Nest and eero are easy to find, and for a good reason. Three nodes, an app, and whole-home coverage in an afternoon. For a unit, or a rental where we cannot open the walls, that is often a fair result, and it is better than the modem left on the floor.
It is a poor fit for the houses we work in. Brick veneer, a concrete slab, foil sarking, a study over the garage, a media room at the far end of the plan. Homeowners have often already spent $400 to $1,000 finding that out. We pack the kit carefully and suggest it goes to a smaller home, where it can do the job it was designed for.
How mesh Wi-Fi actually works
Each node is an access point. The one beside the modem is wired. The others talk back to it over Wi-Fi, then rebroadcast to the phone and the television.
That link between the nodes is the limitation. On a dual-band kit the same radio is serving the laptop and carrying traffic back to the router. A node two rooms away can show full signal and still deliver about half the speed, because half the airtime was used on the hop. A second hop uses it again. A tri-band kit keeps a radio aside for that hop. That is better, and it is still a radio trying to pass through the same wall.
The bars on the phone measure the last two metres. They do not measure the path back to the street.
What we see on site
The pattern is consistent.
- The study drops out. The room with the modem does not.
- The television buffers on a plan that tests at full speed beside the router.
- Cameras fall offline when a large download starts.
- The phone stays connected to the garage node all the way upstairs.
- Nodes sit wherever a powerpoint happened to be: behind the television, in a robe, or on the bottom shelf beneath a metal rack.
The app has chosen a channel. So has every other mesh kit on the street. Moving the nodes does not fix foil-backed insulation.
Mesh Wi-Fi vs wired access points: the real difference
| Mesh kit | Wired access points | |
|---|---|---|
| Link back to the router | A Wi-Fi hop | Cable |
| Speed at the far end | Falls with each hop | Holds |
| Brick, concrete and foil | A struggle | The design works around the building |
| Cameras and televisions | Share the air with phones | On copper |
| Moving between rooms | The phone holds the wrong node | Handover is controlled |
| Best for | A unit, a rental, or a home where cabling is not allowed | A house we are wiring, or a proper retrofit |
What wired backhaul means in brick and concrete homes
Backhaul is the link that carries each access point’s traffic back to the router. With mesh, that link is another Wi-Fi signal. With wired backhaul, it is a Cat6 cable run through the roof space, underfloor or walls to a PoE switch in the comms cupboard.
In a brick or concrete home, the difference is significant. Double brick, concrete slabs and foil sarking all absorb and reflect Wi-Fi, so a mesh node in the next room may be working through two or three masonry walls just to reach the router. Ubiquiti, which makes the UniFi equipment we install, says that each wireless hop reduces throughput by at least half, and that hardwiring access points is the ideal method. You can read Ubiquiti’s own guidance on wireless meshing.
With cable, the walls no longer matter for the backhaul. Each access point receives the full connection over copper, and its radios are free to serve the phones, laptops and televisions in that part of the house. The same cable also powers the access point over PoE, so there are no plug packs or power injectors to fail.
A typical retrofit
Many of our Wi-Fi calls follow the same pattern. The family has already bought one or two mesh kits, sometimes spending up to $1,000, and the television in the back room still shows “No Internet Connection” most evenings. We survey the house, mark the dead spots on the plan and find the cable routes. In an existing home, that usually means running new Cat6 through the roof space or underfloor, or reusing existing cabling where it is in good condition.
We then install two or three ceiling access points cabled back to a PoE switch, all managed from one UniFi controller. The mesh kit is packed back into its box, and we suggest the family pass it on to a relative or friend with a smaller home or unit, where it will work well.
What we install instead
Cable to the access point. Wi-Fi only for the last few metres, from the ceiling to the phone.
On a house we are already roughing in, that is Cat6 back to a patch panel, a PoE switch, and ceiling access points placed from the plan rather than from the nearest powerpoint. We install UniFi Wi-Fi with wired backhaul: one controller, one network name, and the phone moving between points instead of holding the wrong one. Televisions, cameras and the intercom stay on ethernet. Guest and camera traffic stay off the family network.
Each access point is set so the coverage overlaps, rather than every radio reaching across the suburb. Two or three wired points usually serve the house better than five mesh nodes. Where a spot cannot be cabled, a single wireless uplink is noted as a compromise. It is not the design.
When mesh is the right tool
A rental. An apartment with plasterboard walls and no ceiling space. A client who does not want a hole cut. Even then, one well-placed access point often does more than a three-pack. Mesh is a retrofit. It is not the backbone of a house we are already cabling.
What a Wi-Fi install costs
Most whole-home UniFi installs we complete are between $3,500 and $6,000. The figure is set after a survey, not before it. Cable runs, ceiling access and the number of points all move the price. The survey is a walk-through: dead spots marked on the plan, access point locations, cable routes, and a written price before any drilling.
Frequently asked questions
Why does mesh Wi-Fi drop out in one room?
The node in that room is talking to the router over Wi-Fi. Brick, concrete or foil weakens that hop. The phone can still show full signal, because the signal only measures the last two metres.
Is a mesh kit the same as an extender?
No. A mesh node is an access point, and the nodes coordinate with each other. An extender only repeats the signal. Both still rely on a wireless hop unless they are cabled.
Does tri-band mesh fix it?
It helps. A dedicated radio for the hop is better than a shared one. It is still wireless, and cable is still the more reliable path through a masonry wall.
Can you leave the mesh in and add cable later?
Sometimes, if the nodes accept a wired connection back to the router. In most homes the kit comes out. The cable is the lasting part. The node is not.
Do you install UniFi on the North Shore?
Yes. We survey the house, then install access points, PoE switching and wired backhaul across Roseville, Wahroonga, Warrawee, St Ives, Turramurra, Lindfield, Killara, Pymble, Mosman, Balmoral, Terrey Hills and Beecroft.
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