The difference between mesh and WiFi

The Wireless mesh network (wireless mesh network), also known as the "multi-Hop (multi-hop)" Network, is a new wireless network technology that is completely different from the traditional wireless network. Wireless mesh Network is a new type of network structure based on multi-hop Routing and Peer Network technology, which has the characteristics of mobile broadband, and it can expand dynamically, self-network, self-management, automatic repair and self-balance. Compared to Wi-Fi, wireless mesh has great improvements in networking, transmission distance, and mobility, especially with Wi-Fi-compatible features, so wireless mesh networks can be a great help in extending Wi-Fi applications for increased transmission distance and mobility. At the same time, the universal application of the terminal will bring benefits to the rapid popularization of wireless mesh. As a result, Wi-Fi and wireless mesh networks can complement and fuse with each other.

In traditional wireless local area networks (WLANs), each client accesses the network through a wireless link connected to the AP, and if the user wants to communicate with each other, it must first access a fixed access point (AP), a network structure known as a single-hop network. In a wireless mesh network, any wireless device node can be both an AP and a router, and each node in the network can send and receive signals, each of which can communicate directly with one or more peer nodes.

The biggest benefit of this structure is that if the nearest AP is congested due to excessive traffic, the data can be automatically rerouted to a neighboring node with small traffic traffic. The packet can also continue to be routed to the nearest next node, depending on the network situation, until it reaches its final destination. The way to access this is to multi-hop access.

Compared with the traditional switched network, the wireless mesh network removes the cabling requirement between nodes, but still has the redundancy mechanism and rerouting function provided by the distributed network. In a wireless mesh network, if you want to add a new device, simply connect the power supply, it can automatically self-configuration, and determine the best multi-hop transmission path. When adding or moving devices, the network automatically discovers topology changes and automatically adjusts traffic routes to get the most efficient transmission path.

Wireless mesh is a wireless area network solution that is ideally suited to cover large areas of open space, including outdoor and indoor areas. The wireless mesh network is characterized by a set of wireless APs, including a network distribution, APS are connected by the point-to-point way through the wireless relay link, the traditional WLAN wireless "hotspot" Expand to a truly large area of wireless "hot zone".

In addition, because the transmission distance of each short hop is short, the power required to transmit the data is also small. Since the multi-hop network usually uses lower power to transmit data to neighboring nodes, the wireless signal interference between nodes is also small, and the channel quality and channel utilization efficiency of the network are greatly improved, thus enabling higher network capacity. For example, in high-density urban network environment, mesh network can reduce the interference of neighboring users using wireless network, and greatly improve the efficiency of channel utilization.