D-Link Covr 2022 REVIEW

In a cruel twist of fate, the one part of our home where Wi-Fi is vital also happens to be where reception is close to zilch.

Our upstairs study happens to be the room most distant from the router. It is also closest to a neighbouring block of flats. The upshot is that our neighbours occupy every Wi-Fi channel. Their wireless signal also drowns out our own routers weak signal at the far end of our house.

I’d resorted to range extenders, mains networking and all manner of other gizmos. their results were at best mixed. At my wit’s end, I tried D-Links’ Cover 2022 Mesh networking system. It not only fixed the problem but proved to be the simplest to set up and the most reliable option I’ve tried.

So, what is the magic sauce that makes the COVR-2022 widgets work?

In non-geek-speak, it’s a combo of a dedicated router and satellite nodes. Nodes can get added as needed, and they’ll connect to each other to form a mesh. Using well-located nodes, you can fill your house with Wi-Fi coverage. The beauty of this approach is that you avoid the headaches created by Wi-Fi range extenders. You get one a Wi-Fi network with a single password that you can connect to throughout your house. In each room of our home, the Wi-Fi signal is close to 100%.

In short, Wi-Fi dead zones are gone burgers. It is also flexible. If you need to expand coverage into another part of your home or even outdoors, add more nodes.

From a design perspective, The Covr 2022 is good-looking gear. Its tower design is white with copper-gold accents. The COVR Logo lights up. This not only provides D-Link with free advertising but gives you the status of your mesh network. Unlike most range extenders, there are no ugly external antennas. they’re located inside the Covr units. Any concerns I had around them sticking out like dog-bollocks proved unfounded.

Performance-wise, the Cover 2022 packs some nifty tricks. These helped to ensure Wi-Fi was fast. The Covr 20222 switches to the faster 5 GHz band for devices that support it. Another neat trick is what D-Link calls Smart Roaming. It connects widgets to the strongest signal when you’re on the move about your home. As this happens without any random disconnections, everything works without a hiccup.

A factor figuring in the Covr 2022’s performance is dedicated Wi-Fi (2.4 or 5Ghz) which gets used for moving data. This means that the bandwidth used to connect isn’t gobbling up your connection speed.

Getting Setup was pain-free too. This is thanks to D-Link’s Wi-Fi app (IOS/Android). After connecting and following some simple on-screen instructions, I was good to go. Total setup time was around 5 minutes. Not too shabby at all.

Under the hood, there is also a lot to like. There’s a bundled copy of D-Link Defend. It appears to be a re-branded McAfee network security utility. Anything that helps keep my network secure is only ever going to be a good thing. On the radio front, the Covr 2022 features Tri-band AC2200 Wi-Fi. That plus dedicated backhaul ensures what bandwidth is available gets used efficiently. MU-MIMO technology is there too, and each node comes with 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports.

On the software front, Parental controls are available. This means internet access for specific devices can get scheduled. The Covr 2022 also plays nice with Google and Amazon Smart speakers.

All told. I am impressed. The Covr 2022 not only sorted our Wi-Fi issues but sped up the wireless around our home too. Parental controls aren’t needed at our place, but network security and smart speaker integration is useful. If you’ve got Wi-Fi coverage issues, the Covr 2022 is definitely worth investigating.

www.dlink.co.nz