Question:

We currently try to provide WIFI throughout our Guest House for our guests but it's quite unreliable. We have a Netgear Router which will not cover the whole premises so I have added three range extenders which piggy back off of each other. This works to a point but we find that frequently the extenders will give the user the message "limited or no connectivity" despite having a decent signal. This means going round the building and rebooting them all.

I would be interested in a way of reliably covering the whole building but it seems your system is pretty much what I have already set up.

Answer:

Your "Range Extenders" work by connecting to the source wireless signal and repeating it onwards (like having a microphone and a speaker in a little box), but each step it halves the speed.  This uses a system called "WDS", which is designed to propagate the signal only, and each unit has no intelligence. 

Our QuickaNet DIY Hotspot Expanders do not do this, they each take part in creating a wireless MESH network (we call it "QuickaMesh") whereby each of our units is operating at it's full capability and searching for other QuickaMesh units all of the time.  This means that each of our QuickaNet DIY Hotspot Expander units is intelligent (a mini computer in fact) and playing it's own role in ensuring that the QuickaMesh network is maintained.  Should any unit fail the network traffic is re-routed automatically via other nodes of the network without loss of service.

We actually designed the QuickaMesh network system for deployment in locations such as housing estates, and it's therefore designed to scale with hundreds of nodes all talking to each other covering large areas, something you cannot do with "Wifi Range Extenders".  We are also deploying this solution in Coffee shops, Campsites and Corporate organisations throughout the UK.

We market the same solution to the B&B/Hotel market as we realised that it's ease of installation and reliability made it a perfect fit.

I suspect the problem of your Wifi Range Extenders needing to be rebooted is due to the quality of the units themselves.  All home market Wifi routers/extenders are very competitively priced and most of them need to be power cycled once in a while, so I would not say this was a particular fault of the units.

However because your Wifi Range Extenders have to be configured in a "Daisy-Chain" regardless of site layout, should any one fail then all subsequent units also lose internet connectivity.  However, if our QuickaNet DIY Hotspot Expander units have formed a QuickaMesh network then should a unit fail, the network is maintained - AUTOMATICALLY.

This equates to less annoyance for your customers, less downtime and less administration headaches for you.

Our Mesh networking system is built using Linksys/CISCO equipment, which we have found to be the most reliable out of the home market equipment over the past 5 or more years.  We have a number of QuickaMesh deployments in locations that mean it is not possible to power-cycle the units, and they have been in operation for over 6 months at a time without any problems.