Still rocking your ISP router? I don't blame you if you don't have the time to sort out your own firewall and access point solution. ISP-provided hardware is usually pretty good by today's standards, but it can oftentimes limit what you can achieve with your local area network (LAN). Your Wi-Fi may feel sluggish or inconsistent. Advanced features such as virtual LAN (VLAN) and access control lists may not be available, and the whole thing may feel slightly underwhelming.

If you're also struggling with a weak signal in certain parts of the home, this is where mesh networking comes into play. Using multiple nodes can help alleviate any issues with too many clients and buildings with thicker walls and odd layouts, where the router cannot be strategically positioned for maximum broadcast potential. That all said, there are a few tricks you can try on the router before looking to spend a fair chunk of change on some shiny new mesh networking nodes.

Before switching to a custom firewall, I made the most of my ISP-provided router by ensuring that MU-MIMO was active and working, as well as adjusting channel width to help with stability. Although slightly less obscure, Quality of Service (QoS) is always worth checking out.

You may not need mesh at all

Unless your wireless is really bad

There's a good chance your home doesn't really need mesh networking. Your router is a powerful device with some very capable antennas that can produce long-reaching waves for wireless devices to receive. A mesh system is simply a router and a few satellite nodes. You could consider them a bit like repeaters (though they're very distinct), which take a connection from the main router and broadcast that around their proximity and to each other. This makes mesh networking great for larger buildings where multiple floors and walls have to be passed.

But mesh networking won't solve all your network-related problems, especially if it's caused by the type of traffic you have going over the air and how the hardware handles all the requests. That hasn't stopped mesh networking from becoming quite the popular choice. We've reviewed a few here at XDA and found them to be easy to set up, offer seamless coverage, and be great for large homes. I didn't want a mesh network, and so I turned to the tried and trusted router to see if there was some way to solve things.

The issue with mesh networking is the extra upfront cost. Even smaller packages with just two units aren't cheap, especially if you wish to replace the router and not drop to slower wireless speeds. It's also more complex for those less tech-savvy to use and troubleshoot. I'm not around 24/7 and wouldn't want family members to struggle to work out why the Wi-Fi has suddenly stopped working. There's also an issue with bandwidth sharing on the backhaul on some bands, depending on the mesh hardware you use, which can cause latency to increase and speeds to drop.

Check if MU-MIMO is enabled

It should be enabled by default

I've not tried every router out there that supports MU-MIMO, but this feature should be enabled by default. If it's not, consider activating it right away. Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) allows the router to handle multiple data streams simultaneously, which is a massive upgrade over how Wi-Fi used to work with Single-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (SU-MIMO). If you have numerous wireless devices at home, such as TVs, phones, and laptops, MU-MIMO can make a world of difference.

Depending on the router brand, it may be disabled by default. Like any other setting we'd change on the router, you'll need to have access to the firmware. This can be achieved by using the official app available for iOS and Android or through a browser on a PC. The easiest way would be to grab your laptop and enter the gateway IP into your address bar. It's usually 192.168.1.1, but you can quickly check this on Linux and Windows to be sure.

MU-MIMO support should be listed on the specs of your router, which a quick search should be able to bring up. Once in, navigate to the wireless section of the control panel. This should be where anything relating to MU-MIMO will be present. After activating MU-MIMO, you'll now have parallel streams running to reduce congestion. One thing to note is that MU-MIMO only affects how a router talks to multiple devices and not the other way around in Wi-Fi 5. With Wi-Fi 6 and above, though, it's supported both ways.

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), which is what would allow for MU-MIMO to effectively work both ways, is supported through Wi-Fi 6 and above, though not all routers and devices actually support it. But really, if your router supports this feature, it should just be on, regardless.

Alter your wireless channel width

Less crowded bands can lead to better speeds

Something you may not have attempted is to consider reducing your channel width. Wi-Fi frequencies are split into channels. The width of these channels determines how wide each chunk is. The wider the chunk, the more data that can be packed in, but this can result in interference, especially when bands are crowded. Wider channels can overlap with neighbors, causing drops and retries, which ultimately reduces the performance of your wireless network.

It's possible to use an app to see what wireless channels are crowded. Some routers and access points (APs) will even have the means to do this themselves, so it's also worth checking their respective control panels. Should you notice specific channels being deemed as crowded, changing to 20 MHz on the 2.4 GHz band and 80 MHz on the 5 GHz band can make a substantial difference. Reducing the width limits how much data can be sent through, but if a clearer connection is established, you'll notice better performance.

Don't forget other better-known settings

Quality of Service is your new bestie

Gaming, video calls, streaming, and large data transfers can all take a toll on your network as the infrastructure attempts to handle everything. Quality of Service (QoS) can make a difference by prioritizing specific traffic types. This isn't as obscure as channel width modifications and MU-MIMO, but it's something to bear in mind when configuring your household to get everyone online. The more devices you connect to the Wi-Fi, the more congested it's going to be.

Even with the channels adjusted and MU-MIMO activated, you could still endure sluggish performance with everyone doing something at once. That's where QoS can help by resolving the issue of bandwidth saturation, prioritizing traffic that can't deal with high latency, such as online gaming. Your router may have other tools at hand to help deal with more traffic on the network. So long as your signal strength is pretty solid throughout the home, mesh networking may not be required.