mistikempire
Established Member
In peoples experiances, how do they favour having a single very good router, compared to a large house hold, having 2 routers on the same network?
First of all, it's best to clarify the terminology. What people are doing when they use 2 (or more) "routers" is turning the additional router(s) into something called WiFi Access Points (that's the part of a normal domestic WiFi router that provides the WiFi capability). So you have a main WiFi router and additional WiFi Access Points (on different WiFi channels to the main router) that provide improved coverage over a wider area. This will inherently perform better than a single "very good" WiFi router (if such a thing even exists).
That's not to say that there aren't issues with adding Access Points - often client devices will try and "hang onto" the signal from the first access point they connect to, even when moved to where a different access point is providing a better signal. However, this is an issue that can only be addressed with more sophisticated WiFi systems than are normally installed in domestic properties.
I have a centrally placed WiFi router (in a 1970's, 4 bed detached house), plus an additional Access Point in one of the most remote bedrooms - this provides good coverage of the whole house.
Indeed. My "main" router is the TalkTalk supplied VDSL "super" router, it has all the features I require (gigabit Ethernet ports, dual band WiFi) and cost me nothing. It's not the best router available, but it has been stable and reliable, and best of all was "free". For my secondary Access Point I use a (now discontinued) WD MyNet N900 WiFi Router, again, it has the features I require (gigabit Ethernet ports, dual band WiFi) and has an option in it's setup to switch it into Access Point mode (which made it really easy to set up). I think it cost me around £30 a few years ago (because it was discontinued).However, reading what you wrote, would their be any point of spending so much on just one router or instead buy 2x reasonable routers an spread them out.