Best DIY Mesh Wi-Fi: Build 100% the Fastest System Today! | Dong Knows Tech (2024)

While shopping for a home Wi-Fi system, we often overlook DIY mesh options and opt for a purpose-built—or “canned”—solution. And that can be a grave oversight.

Wi-Fi mesh: The best lists

You’ll find in this post five of the best do-it-yourself Wi-Fi mesh approaches—encompassing multiple Wi-Fi standards—that will give you super-fast speeds, reliable performance, or a ton of customization.

Most importantly, they all allow you to start with a standalone router and scale up the coverage seamlessly as your needs grow.

Dong’s note: I first published this post on January 18, 2023, and updated it on October 11, 2023, with up-to-date information.

DIY Mesh Wi-Fi systems: The top-five list

It’s important to note that DIY mesh systems are not meant to be easy. All of the Wi-Fi ecosystems below will require some work.

But in my experience, none of the below options are too complicated, either. If you’re willing to spend some time and have enough interest, you’ll be able to figure one out with the help of the linked related how-tos and reviews. And knowing one likely means you’ll be able to take on the rest. They are all the same in principle.

Making your own mesh Wi-Fi gives you the best control over the hardware and, hence, the performance, features, and, most importantly, the cost. Below is the list of the best DIY mesh Wi-Fi systems that will give you all those benefits and possibly more. I’ve used all of them, with great success, in various configurations and locations.

This list is sorted by the level of recommendation, from the least to the most. However, they are very similar and only differ by flavors and nuances—all options are semi-equally excellent.

Name	Ubiquiti UniFi Mesh’s Rating	EnGenius FIT DIY PoE Mesh’s Rating	TP-Link Omada-based DIY PoE Mesh’s Rating	Synology Wi-Fi Mesh System’s Rating	Asus AiMesh’s Rating
Price	–	–	–	–	–
Rating
Description
Statistics	Performance Features Design and Ease of Use Value and Privacy	Performance Features Design and Ease of Use Value and Privacy	Performance Features Design and Ease of Use Value and Privacy	Performance Features Design and Ease of Use Value and Privacy	Performance Features Design and Ease of Use Value and Privacy
Buy this product	Buy UDM on AmazonBuy UDR on AmazonBuy UDM-SE on AmazonBuy UniFi APs on AmazonRead UniFi hardware reviews	Buy EnGenius FIT Access Points and SwitchesBuy EnGenius FitCon100 ControllerRead the in-depth review	Buy Omada hardware on AmazonRead the in-depth review	Read more on Synology MeshBuy Synology Mesh on Amazon	Read more on Asus AiMeshBuy AiMesh on Amazon

5. Asus’s AiMesh: The most versatile ecosystem

AiMesh is by far the most flexible in custom-built home mesh Wi-Fi systems thanks to the sheer number of available hardware—virtually all Asus Wi-Fi 6 and later routers support this feature.

Asus also has the ZenWifi family of canned systems built around the AiMesh feature.

Consequently, there are countless mesh combos, and since an Asus router generally has comprehensive network settings and features, an AiMesh system is also feature-rich.

But that hardware flexibility and versatility also translate into a big shortcoming: the likelihood of unreliability or unexpected bugs. To avoid those, it’s crucial to pick the correct hardware combo and set it up properly.

4. Synology Mesh: An enterprise-class mesh by home-grade hardware

Synology Mesh is the way I call the no-name feature that turns select Synology routers into a mesh system—similar to Asus’s AiMesh. You start with a standalone router and add more to increase the coverage.

On the one hand, Synology Mesh tends to be a lot more stable than AiMesh, thanks to its enterprise-class firmware, called Synology Router Manager (SRM). On the other, it has only a few hardware options, and currently, none supports Multi-Gig wired backhauling.

3. TP-Link Omada: A robust access point-based mesh with lots of hardware options

Omada is a family business access point. You can use a controller—in the form of a standalone hardware controller or computer running controller software—to manage multiple units as a robust mesh Wi-Fi system.

Like EnGenius FIT below, this approach is standard in business and enterprise Wi-Fi applications, available in known brands such as Cisco’s Meraki, Netgear’s Insight Managed, or Zyxel Nebula.

What sets Omada apart is its affordability—the hardware tends to cost significantly less than similarly-specced equipment from competing vendors. Additionally, the Omada family has access points to all popular Wi-Fi standards, including Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, and the upcoming Wi-Fi 7.

Generally, it’s cheaper to go with Omada than with any canned system. Most importantly, you won’t need to pay a subscription to use all of its features.

On the downside, you’ll also need an existing router, preferably a non-Wi-Fi one.

2. EnGenius FIT: A flexible access point-based mesh approach

The EnGeinus FIT is a newcomer in the router + access points mesh crowd. It shares the affordability with TP-Link’s Omada above but has a bit more flexibility.

Specifically, all you need is two or more access points to form a mesh system, thanks to the fact the cloud-based management is built-in within the hardware’s FitXpress firmware. Additionally, it also has a hardware controller option that offers better performance, more features, and a larger-capacity network.

First introduced in October 2022, EnGenius FIT currently only includes Wi-Fi 6 access points, but there will likely be hardware support for Wi-Fi 7 in the future.

1. Ubiquiti UniFi: The most advanced all-in-one ecosystem for the home and SMB

UniFi is Ubiquiti’s enterprise family of hardware. Initially, it’s only relevant to home users via the Dream Machine (UDM) and, subsequently, the Dream Router (UDR). As the need for faster local networks and broadband grows, the Dream Machine Special Edition (UDM-SE) has now become the ultimate option.

You can use any of the routers as the controller for a network and add UniFi access points or wireless extenders, such as the Enterprise U6 or the BeaconHD or U6, to scale up coverage. Alternatively, you can also use third-party access points, including those mentioned in the Omada option mentioned above.

An UniFi mesh system is best-in-class in customizability and features. However, it requires networking know-how to figure out its advanced features.

Additionally, networking is just one of the many things an UniFi controller can do, such as VoIP phone or IP camera support, so things can become either exciting or overwhelming depending on the situation.

Extra: Amazon’s eero PoE hardware—the easiest way to get multi-Gigabit performance at a stupidly high cost

The combo of eero’s latest PoE hardware, including the Amazon eero PoE Gateway and the eero PoE 6 access point, qualifies as a robust router + access points mesh approach.

While individually, each is greatly overpriced and limited, when working together, they become the easiest way to create a modern network with multi-gig wired backhauling. But as hardware from eero, this approach is poor in customization and includes lots of big and small surprises, ranging from subscription nags to severe privacy risks.

Make sure you read their reviews to be aware of the catches before making the purchase.

The takeaway

Pick any of the options above, and you will get a mesh Wi-Fi system far better than any canned option of a similar price point.

And the fact that you can say you build and maintain it yourself is a satisfying bonus.