Huawei announces Wi-Fi Q2 mesh network system at CES

[Polycount]

Mesh Wi-Fi systems have been getting more popular recently with sales numbers to match. As reported by TechCrunch, these network systems now account for roughly 40 percent of all new Wi-Fi router sales. Recognizing the trend, many companies have started to get in on the action.

Netgear jumped on the mesh networking train a while back with the release of their Orbi Home Wi-Fi system and now China-based smartphone company Huawei is following suit.

Announced at CES 2018, Huawei's "Wi-Fi Q2" mesh network will be composed of one main satellite hub and several smaller satellite access points which allow customers to bring full network coverage to virtually any part of their home, largely eliminating Wi-Fi dead zones.

"We are streaming more content than ever before, more music, more movies, and more social media on more connected devices, which makes fast and reliable Wi-Fi an essential need," said Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei Consumer Business Group. "The Huawei WiFi Q2 offers today’s families a hybrid whole home Wi-Fi system with a reliable, flexible solution that expands Wi-Fi throughout our homes."

This technology is nothing new, of course. As previously stated, other companies already sell similar systems. What makes Huawei's mesh Wi-Fi system stand out is its use of a "powerline" network system which will allow network traffic to be directed throughout your home via the existing electrical system, eliminating the need to use Ethernet cables.

If you're interested in checking out the Wi-Fi Q2, you'll be able to pick up a three-pack containing three main Wi-Fi hubs for $349 or a separate starter kit featuring one hub and two satellite devices for $219. Huawei has not announced an official release date for the system just yet.

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[DelJo63]

Background info on Mesh Networks: (not a review of any given product)

Mesh Networks couple multiple wifi devices so as to provide a broader coverage area.
From the Wiki:

Architecture
Wireless mesh architecture is a first step towards providing cost effective and low mobility over a specific coverage area. Wireless mesh infrastructure is, in effect, a network of routers minus the cabling between nodes. It's built of peer radio devices that don't have to be cabled to a wired port like traditional WLAN access points (AP do. Mesh infrastructure carries data over large distances by splitting the distance into a series of short hops. Intermediate nodes not only boost the signal, but cooperatively pass data from point A to point B by making forwarding decisions based on their knowledge of the network, I.e. perform routing by first deriving the topology of the network.

Wireless mesh networks is a relatively "stable-topology" network except for the occasional failure of nodes or addition of new nodes. The path of traffic, being aggregated from a large number of end users, changes infrequently. Practically all the traffic in an infrastructure mesh network is either forwarded to or from a gateway, while in wireless ad hoc networks or client mesh networks the traffic flows between arbitrary pairs of nodes.[2]

If rate of mobility among nodes are high, I.e., link breaks happen frequently, wireless mesh networks will start to break down and have low communication performance.[3]

Due to the need for multiple devices, a failure in one has a major impact in the access to the internet gateway router, as some portions of the network will suddenly just disappear. Another issue is the bandwidth that a mesh network can sustain is typically 1/2 that of a normal router or access point and as we all are streaming more and more, that can become a limiting factor.