4 simple home networking mistakes I wish I’d never made

Using a cheap standalone router in a big house

Weak range will always come back to bite you

Okay, the first house my wife and I bought wasn't actually that huge. But since we were moving in from an apartment, nothing we had fit, and unfortunately that included our Wi-Fi router. It may have even been the first Wi-Fi router I ever bought after moving to Texas, in which case it was definitely outdated by the time we got the keys.

The main issue was the router's reach. Since it was not only a standalone model, but a budget one at that, its signal wasn't very strong beyond the living room. You could get a functional connection upstairs, but nothing better. And as smart home accessories started to enter the picture, it was pretty clear that the router wasn't going to be able to handle the traffic load, much less extend Wi-Fi beyond our front and back doors.

If you're moving into a house, you should almost certainly buy a mesh system instead of a standalone router.

If you're moving into a house, you should almost certainly buy a mesh system instead of a standalone router. There are standalone units that may be good enough to reach every corner, but some of those corners will inevitably have mediocre reception, especially in a multi-floor home.

Choosing Wi-Fi 5 when Wi-Fi 6 was available

Better specs can save you money

To deal with range issues, mostly in relation to smart home gear, I made the upgrade to a mesh product: the Google Nest Wifi. In some ways, it was an advanced solution. It was unusually easy to set up, and its "point" (secondary) routers doubled as Google Assistant speakers. My wife and I found it convenient -- and once he grew into a toddler, our son became obsessed with talking to "Gooble."

I inevitably had to upgrade again once I realized what was going on.

For whatever reason though, Google thought it was fine to ship the product with Wi-Fi 5 instead of the brand-new Wi-Fi 6 standard. I didn't think much of the difference initially, but the more time went on, the more obvious it was that Wi-Fi 6 was essential for a smart home. My Nest routers couldn't handle many simultaneous connections, and the result was that they would regularly drop older devices to make room for something new. I never had trouble keeping a phone, tablet, or laptop connected, but smart home accessories would regularly fall offline, breaking automations and remote access.

The lesson was one I should've been familiar with as a tech journalist: sometimes, spending more upfront on the latest tech will actually save you money in the long run. I inevitably had to upgrade again once I realized what was going on, whereas I could've held out for a few more years if I'd bought into Wi-Fi 6 immediately.

Using Wi-Fi for gaming when Ethernet was an option

Wires are not evil

In the summer of 2022, my family and I moved from Texas to Alberta. Ahead of that, I decided to migrate from a desktop PC to a fully portable setup, including a Razer gaming laptop and a Thunderbolt 4 dock. I didn't trust the prospects of my tower surviving a shipping container -- and even if it did, it would've sat in storage for weeks, preventing me from working. The laptop was awkwardly huge, but at least I could work from anywhere.

I didn't transform into an ace sniper or anything, but it's ridiculous that I was sacrificing a rock-solid connection for the sake of having one less cable.

I think I took that mobile philosophy too far, in retrospect. At some point after settling into a new house, I decided it was fine to keep my laptop on Wi-Fi, despite having the option of Ethernet. It made for a "cleaner" office setup, and it meant not having to worry about threading a cable through the cluttered and claustrophobic space under my desk. Most of the time, there weren't even performance issues -- Wi-Fi 6E was more than good enough for work and most gaming sessions.

When I finally caved, Ethernet really did make a difference. Not so much in terms of speed, however, as reliability. That 6E signal varied enough that it had a noticeable impact on games like PUBG, where being even a few milliseconds slower can mean the difference between victory and defeat. I didn't transform into an ace sniper or anything, but it's ridiculous that I was sacrificing a rock-solid connection for the sake of having one less cable.

Relying on Wi-Fi smart home accessories instead of hub-based options

With some exceptions, that is

Smart home tech was my journalistic specialty for a little while, probably because I was one of the few people in the field who was both experienced and a homeowner. I ended up accumulating quite a few review products, some of which ended up in permanent use if I didn't have to send them back.

Many of the products I tested were Wi-Fi-based. For most people, that's acceptable, or even ideal. Wi-Fi accessores are simple to configure, and there's no need to install anything extra. There's no great reason to invest in a hub-based system if all you're doing is trying to add a few bulbs and panels to your gaming den.

A hub can keep automations going 24/7, regardless of whether you have internet access, and the tech imposes a much lower burden on your Wi-Fi network.

As I've learned, though, hub-based accessories are just inherently more dependable. A hub can keep automations going 24/7, regardless of whether you have internet access, and the tech imposes a much lower burden on your Wi-Fi network, since it's just one device connecting instead of several. That second benefit only intensifies if you want to make your whole home smart -- it's one thing to have three bulbs on Wi-Fi, it's another to have a dozen.

I've tried to transition to hub-based products whenever I can afford to. Some devices can't be transitioned, of course -- security cameras consume way too much bandwidth for a Thread or Zigbee hub -- but I'm looking forward to a smart home that's as dependable as I originally hoped for.