Mesh network versus a simple Wi-Fi extender

As I don’t have a very big house, at this point I’m thinking using an extender with a good Ethernet cable to my streamer might work fine and is cheaper/simpler than a Mesh setup.  Thanks for sharing all the good thoughts/experience.

Ok, what I’m getting here is that if distance from the router is involved a Mesh system is the preferred setup. But, in my situation I’ll be fairly close to my router but just not in a way to make it convenient to run hardwired directly from the router. So, in a situation where both an extender or Mesh could provide a solid signal, is one better than the other for sound or are they pretty much identical assuming both extender and Mesh are of comparable quality? Thanks again for all the good info/experience. Most helpful.

Lotsa good info here. Thanks! I found it interesting, although completely common sense, that in addition to longer distances if you have multiple users a Mesh system is probably preferable. Also, the ability to prioritize which node gets preference is significant. I mean, I love my two teenage boys and all, but my audio needs preference to their gaming sometimes. They’ll live (and they also won’t know — heh heh). Us parents still have some power.

That said, I’m still a little iffy on the specific question about the sound quality (not including dropouts or signal strength) in using an extender versus Mesh.  I’ve not heard a pure A/B comparison just on sound quality assuming both generate a sufficiently strong signal.  Sorry if I missed something.  Right now I’m gleaning that absolute sound quality with a wired Ethernet connection from the extender/node to the streamer is similar given a sufficient signal as in both circumstances people seem to be very happy with either.  A direct A/B comparison in good conditions would be most helpful.  Learned a lot of good info here already though!  Keep it coming. 

@jetter I’m not experiencing dropouts. In a perfect world I’d like to run an Ethernet cable from my router to my streamer, but that’s just not doable so I’ve heard people say running an Ethernet cable from an extender sounds much better than just using Wi-Fi. I was just curious if, assuming both have a sufficiently strong signal, a Mesh system has sonic advantages over an extender. Thus far it seems more of a signal strength/distance thing more than sonic differences, but…

A Wi-Fi extender will cut your speed in half. A mesh system satellite has a separate backhaul channel so it runs at full speed.

@grover30 This is the first I’ve heard about an extender possibly cutting speed in half. If I’ve got 1-gig service it seems I’d still have plenty of speed left to successfully stream music (assuming other family members aren’t simultaneously streaming movies I guess). Or does the slower speed affect performance regardless? Thanks for your interesting thoughts.

@designsfx Thanks for the good info, and Ouchee on your internet speed! That’s awful, and frankly I’m surprised you can even stream hi-res music without dropouts but glad it works for you. Where are you BTW — northern Alaska???

@designsfx Get out!!! 15 min outside the second-largest city in the US and you can’t get 1-Gig speed??? That’s just astounding. I’m 20 min outside NYC and have several providers for 1-Gig service. What up with that? Somebody’s seriously failing you guys.  Maybe consider moving to northern Alaska?  Weather’s a little cooler, and yeah you lose the sun for several months, but you can probably get better internet service, cut your living expenses in half, and completely avoid traffic forever other than the occasional moose blocking the road.  Jeez.