A mesh network is a network in which devices -- or nodes -- are linked together, branching off other devices or nodes. These networks are set up to efficiently route data between devices and clients. They help organizations provide a consistent connection throughout a physical space.

Mesh network topologies create multiple routes for information to travel among connected nodes. This approach increases the resilience of the network in case of a node or connection failure. Larger mesh networks may include multiple routers, switches and other devices, which operate as nodes. A mesh network can include hundreds of wireless mesh nodes, which allows it to span a large area.

In a full mesh network topology, each node is connected directly to all the other nodes. In a partial mesh topology, only some nodes connect directly to one another. In some cases, a node must go through another node to reach a third node.

The connections in either a full or partial network can be wired or wireless mesh networks. The decision to use a full or partial mesh depends on factors like the overall traffic pattern of the network and the extent to which nodes or connections are at risk of failure.

Nearly all networks appear to be full mesh networks because everyone on the network can connect with everyone else. This full connectivity is a property of the network protocols, not the topology; any network can appear fully meshed at the logical level if data can be routed between each of its users. Mesh networks are where the difference between logical and physical topologies are most important.

The most common full mesh network is the data center fabric, a local area network (LAN) designed to provide full bandwidth connectivity to each connected device. Wide area networks (WANs) are typically partial mesh networks or tree topologies.

Nodes in a network are programmed with software that tells the node how to handle information and interact with the network.

Mesh networks use routing or flooding techniques to send messages. In routing, a message hops from node to node to get to its destination. The mesh network must have continuous connections and reconfigure itself if a path is broken, using self-healing algorithms. There will often be more than one path between a source and a destination.

Flooding techniques rely on distributing data from one node to the rest in a network. Data is sent by a subset of the nodes because all nodes may not be available at one time. Each node possesses a subset of the data. A protocol chooses the senders for every data transmission to maximize throughput.

Mesh networks can be used in small home networks or large organizations. They are best for larger spaces, however.

Mesh networks enable many devices to share internet connectivity, and for devices to communicate directly without first going through the internet. The utility of a mesh network over other network types, such as a hub and spoke network, is that if a node is too far away from the hub, it can still communicate via a closer node until it reaches a router.

Mesh networks can be used for:

For example, a monitoring system can have multiple sensor nodes set up in a mesh configuration and spanning a broad area.

Mesh networks include the following benefits:

Mesh networks come with some drawbacks. For example, these include:

The biggest difference between Wi-Fi and mesh networks is that with Wi-Fi, a traditional router acts as a centralized access point, while mesh networks are decentralized. Traditional Wi-Fi has single network connections where requests from devices are granted permission to connect to a central router.

All the traffic is funneled through the one access point. Rather than relying on a single access point, mesh networks allow devices to link together to route data between clients.

Traditional Wi-Fi is recommended for users on a smaller budget and in smaller spaces. However, if a larger area needs to be covered, and cost is not a factor, then a mesh network is worth considering.

Three examples of other mesh network products include the Asus ZenWiFi AX, Google Nest Wifi and the Netgear Orbi AC3000 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi System.

Business networks can be set up with mesh networks or other types of networks. Learn more about how to set up a new business network, including how to choose the right architecture and build a network diagram.

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