Does mesh Wi-Fi use more electricity than a router?

If parts of your home have unreliable Wi-Fi, you may want to upgrade to a mesh network. All you need to do is distribute several devices called nodes around your home – this will extend your network coverage and eliminate dead zones. However, the more devices you plug in, the more power you need. This is why it is important to also take into account operating costs.

Solving them is not as simple as one might imagine, because each router and mesh network has different power requirements depending on its hardware and capabilities. One study tested five mesh networking systems, recording power consumption per single node of between 4.04 and 9.15 W, compared to the control router’s consumption of 5.91 W. However, with three nodes connected, the mesh network required 10-25W when idle.

But what about under load? Assuming three hours of real traffic per day, the average three-node mesh network is expected to use 195.6 kWh/year. The router (a TP-Link AX1800), meanwhile, consumed an average of 13.3 W under load, extrapolating to 63.66 kWh/year. Assuming you pay $0.196 per kilowatt hour, the mesh network would cost $38.34 per year and the router would cost $12.48, a difference of $25.86. In short, even a super-fast and powerful Wi-Fi router is more energy efficient than a relatively small mesh network.

Mesh networks have several disadvantages, the high cost of electricity being just one of them. That said, if you’re hoping to get reliable internet access in a home with thick walls or multiple stories, they’re certainly more convenient than running Ethernet cables through every room. If you want to minimize running costs, use as few nodes as possible and consider a plug-in power meter to measure usage for a few days. This will allow you to see how much each node is used and at what times, helping you accurately estimate costs and determine if the benefits are worth it.

If you only have one or two rooms with unreliable Wi-Fi, you might be better off using a range extender (also called a repeater or booster). These still use more power than a router alone, but are much cheaper than mesh networks, with most costing less than $40. Just know that extenders create a second network, while mesh nodes allow you to use the existing network from anywhere in your home. Still, as long as your device is connected to both networks, it should switch between them seamlessly as needed.

Finally, you may be considering turning off your router at night to reduce energy costs, but be careful. This could prevent smart home devices like Ring doorbells and thermostats from working properly, and devices that typically update overnight won’t be able to.