How's your Wi-Fi?

We all have to be connected all the time. We may not think we have to be. But we do.

I thought I could take or leave my connectivity... until I didn't have it.

I went on holiday last week. It was tropical. It was remote. The Wi-Fi was terrible. At first, it was relaxing. Then it was frustrating. Eventually, I wanted to kill.

There's no point pretending we're not all part of the Matrix, so we may as well do a good job of it, especially in our own homes...

 

 

D-Link now offers two new "mesh"-style options when it comes to shedding some brighter Wi-Fi connectivity on your home's dark spots.

Firstly, let's check out the DAP-1860. It looks like one of D-Link's more conventional range extenders... on steroids...

 

The difference here is two-fold - or even four-fold; four fold-out, high-power antennae and mesh capability. The antennae obviously improve the range of this device dramatically and indeed, I found the DAP-1860 to be an extremely effective, instant solution to getting some more oomph into the lower storey of my house (my source modem/router is upstairs)

The real revelation here is, for the first time, I was able to take advantage "Whole Home Wi-Fi Ready" feature. This means instead of my devices having to switch between two different networks (by default, most extenders just add an "EXT" to your network name when connected) both my router and the DAP-1860 share the same name, with your devices seamlessly connecting to whichever is broadcasting the stronger signal.

This is what's known as a "mesh" Wi-Fi system - similar to the setup you might connect to if you work in a large office building.

At just $299.99, the DAP-1860 genuinely offers "Whole Home" coverage. As it is one of the new generation of MU-MIMO enabled devices, it handles multiple devices with ease - be they phones, laptops or TVs. Although the DAP-1860 is only a dual band device, I rarely experienced my connection being choked up and weirdly, when I conducted speed tests my upload speeds often outperformed my download speeds.

While the DAP-1860 was pretty much perfect once it was up and running, getting it going was tricky, for two reasons. Firstly, this thing is large, much bigger than more traditional wall-plug extenders. While those are usually about the size of a double plug, the DAP-1860 is nearly twice as long, yet still plugs straight into the wall socket. This is a bit of a design flaw, because it's almost too heavy to be held up by its own plug and if you're plugging into a dual wall socket, you can pretty much forget about accessing the other one.

It's not pretty either - it's a big, rectangle grey and white box with sticky-out bits, so you're not going to want it anywhere super visible.

My way round these challenges was to plug it into an extension cord and hide it under a cupboard, where it still works brilliantly.

The other setup issue was the same problem I seem to face with many D-Link extenders. The box and manual promise 3 ways to connect, one touch WPS, via the D-Link W-Fi app or through the web-based wizard.

Well, I tried the first two to no avail. It wasn't until I reset the device completely and logged in via a web browser that I was able to connect to my router. Frustrating, but worth it in the end. Like I say, this is the $300 Wi-Fi power-up any large home deserves.

So you'd think I'd learned my lesson, but...

 

...I found the COVR-1203 system equally impossible to install.

Admittedly that was mostly my fault and just confirms, once and for all, that I'm an idiot.

My first mistake was to think the one-touch WPS buttons were for setup - they definitely aren't. Use those for connecting devices once you've got your COVR network up and running.

That leaves the app and the webpage setup. Oddly, they're basically the same thing, as the app is really only a step-by-step walkthrough of how to set up your COVR network using the webpage.

When all else fails, follow the instructions, right?

I think what confused me most is I thought I'd be able to use the COVR-1203 system to add to my existing network. This doesn't seem to be the case. I also got myself into a bit of a tangle trying to set up each unit individually - the extenders are already paired to the base unit straight out of the box, so my extra fluffing around was unnecessary and counter-productive.

The D-Link COVR-1203 system consists of a base unit and two extenders which are, without question, the most subtle, modern-looking, decor-blending Wi-Fi devices I've ever seen. To look at, basically the exact opposite of the behemouth DAP-1860 we were just discussing. If the pink-gold colour plates the units come fitted with aren't quite your style, you can swap these out for the blue or gold ones included in the box.

Each unit is pretty tiny too - not much bigger than a computer mouse. They each have their own separate power supply which connects via USB Type-C.

My inexperience working with mesh systems like these showed through again when it came to positioning the extenders; for some reason I thought I could just keep extending my network further and further away, like telephone poles. This is not the case. Ideally, with a three-storey house like mine, you'd have the base unit connected on the middle storey and have one extender above and one below - either that or spread out across-ways for a more horizontal home.

Good news is, like the DAP-1860, the mesh system means one network name over all three access points - seamless connectivity wherever you are.

Less power and no ugly antennae means less range for each unit, but because there are more of them, you can certainly cover a very large home no problem. I found both down and upload speeds to be very similar to the DAP-1860 and I was able to stream HD video with no problems whatsoever.

All in all, the COVR-1203 system is another effective Wi-Fi solution - and this one looks great too. In fact, it's pretty much invisible with one small niggle; there's an LED display on the top of each unit that shines solid white when you're connected, or blinks if the connection is a bit weak. That's fine for setup, but once you're all go, this light is insanely bright. You can disable this LED via the web-page access, but I could only do this for the base router - no matter how hard I tried I couldn't log into the extenders individually to access this feature. So in the end I just took the cover plates off and unplugged the LED module (probably don't try this at home)

The other nice feature of this system (if you're a parent) is you can choose when certain devices are allowed to connect. So if you're teen keeps secretly binge-watching Stranger Things till 1AM, you can schedule their Wi-Fi access to shut off at bedtime.

I'm sure that won't cause any arguments.

As you'd expect, the COVR-1203 system is more expensive than the DAP-1860, at $549.99 and if I had to choose between the two (and assuming you already have a "Whole Home Wi-Fi Ready" router like me) the DAP-1860 should supply all the extra Wi-Fi you need.

Geez it's ugly though. So if you're starting your mesh network from scratch and you want a pretty one, the COVR-1203 system is the way to go. Either way, there's no longer any excuse for those Wi-Fi dead zones.

Click here for more information and pricing on the D-Link DAP-1860 Range Extender

Click here for more information and pricing on the D-Link COVR-C1203 Mesh WiFi System