Internet Coverage in a large home here in the Villages
Several Villagers have reached out to me asking how to get good Internet coverage in a large home here in the Villages.
For a Villa up to the size of most Designer homes, most current WiFi devices, especially one of the new WiFi 7 devices should give you adequate coverage throughout your home If installed correctly. That means installing the main WiFi device as high as possible and in a location as central in your home as possible to limit the number of obstructions as possible. In most cases extender devices are not necessary.
If you have one of the larger Designer or Premier homes then a single WiFi device generally will not surfice. In these cases, an Access Point or Mesh WiFi system will be necessary. Access Point systems such as from Ubiquiti for example can be expensive because they require hard wired connections in your home where you place the devices and you need someone with the technical knowledge to install, configure and maintain the system. For a DIYer with some technical knowledge, these systems can be fun to deploy and will work well. For the rest who have limited technical knowledge, WiFi Mesh systems such as Amazon EERO, Netgear Orbi and TP-Link Deco systems can be a solution since you only need one wired connection to the main router then the rest of the equipment is connected wirelessly.
All this said, what do Internet providers here in the Villages provide?
Spectrum and Xfinity both have new WiFi7 devices that they call "advanced networking". They are single unit systems that have complex antenna arrays to maximize coverage. This advanced networking is an additional cost unless you subscribe to the highest package. They seem to work very well.
Verizon and T-Mobile fixed wireless also provide single unit WiFi solutions. These work incredibly well but are still limited to a single device.
Quantum Fiber provides a Mesh WiFi system consisting of a main and extender devices but they only give you one extender now for free. Additional extenders have an added cost.
Centric Fiber provices a single WiFi device solution and extenders are available for an additional cost.
Given all this information, when you are considering an Internet provider that's available in your Village, make sure you think about the WiFi and or wired distribution of the internet service you are getting in your home because this will make the difference of you being satisified with the service or not.
My opinion on the topic is if you can use the equipment from the Internet provider then go with that. If you can't because you have a large home, then consider implementing you own WiFi system. Be aware, if you want to use your own WiFi system, most if not all internet providers will install the fiber termination or modem then it will be your responsibility to connect it to your equipment and make sure it works. Recently, I helped a Villager with a large Premier home with a professionally installed WiFi system connect to Quantum Fiber. I needed to do some pre-wiring in order for the Quantum Tech to connect the fiber service to the customer's system.
There are some companies such as Galaxy Home Solutions and some other small tech companies that can help install a professional WiFi system in your home with all the wiring if needed but be prepared for a one time fairly large expense. I'm also available to help to enable connecting to an existing system, help with deploying a Mesh WiFi system or for helping anyone looking to deploy a system themselves.
I hope this information helps when considering an Internet provider and not forgetting about your home WiFi set-up to get good coverage in your home for a "once and done" experience.
Last edited by jrref; 03-13-2025 at 10:59 AM.
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