One might think that this topic is beyond the scope of seniors and tech, but I’m here to tell you it’s not. Many of us use Verizon’s internet access products and for the most part they work fairly well. But my specific problem was a need to wirelessly ‘extend’ my network, with my Verizon router sitting in the 1st floor library, to my office in the basement. And since several PCs are attached to the basement ‘network’ hub, I needed a reliable way to get a wireless signal to my basement hub.
At first I thought just getting a wireless extender to connect to my Verizon router would solve the problem, but that proved to be very unreliable. The extender kept degrading and dropping the signal. Not good.
So, taking advantage of my son’s expertise in such matters (while he was visiting for a week from CA), we decided to invest in a TP-Link router which would replace the Verizon router completely and which supports the EasyMesh standard which the TP-Link extenders use.
After a fairly painless installation process which included bypassing the original Verizon router (which can now be returned to Verizon) the resulting network has been working falwlessly for a few weeks. My configuration includes a TP-Link Dual-Band AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Router Archer AX55 and two TP-Link AC1900 WiFi Extenders (RE550). One extender is wire connected to a single PC. The other is connected to a hub which serves 9 wired devices. Wired and wireless speeds are very good and are stable. One other feature of this configuration is that the mesh displays a single SSID to all clients. This makes connecting wirelessly extremely simple.
In closing, with the mesh installed, PCs, smart lights, doorbells, security systems, cameras, Alexa and Google devices, SONOS sound systems, smart TVs, etc. all work well regardless of where they are located in the home. So, if you’re fighting the age old problem of unreliable connectivity within your home, and you’re using the router Verizon provides, you might consider an upgrade. Ain total, I spent $122 on this upgrade and the investment was absolutely worth it.
PS – As critical as my home network is, I believe it’s important to have a backup router on hand should the current router fail. So I’ll invest $45 in a second identical router as insurance. And like most insurance, when you have it you’ll never need it. That’s my hope and I’m OK with that.
