Rock Space Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System Review

Is there a magical spot in every home where routers send out strong signals to all corners of the house? No. But if Wi-Fi extenders aren’t really working for you, the Rock Space Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System may be the solution you’ve been searching for. Mesh systems are much easier to set up than extenders and often provide better coverage.

I had the opportunity to try Rock Space’s mesh system. As someone with multiple dead spots throughout her home, I was curious if this could work better than the extenders (from other brands) I’ve tried that have failed to deliver.

Overview of Features

Rock Space’s system is a full system designed for larger homes and can provide coverage for up to 5,380 square feet. The system includes three units or nodes. Your devices automatically connect to the closest one. The best part: there’s only one SSID, so it’s much easier to connect and set up.

They’re designed to replace extenders, repeaters, and routers. Simply connect the main node to your modem and set up your new mesh network.

The system supports speeds up to 1200 Mbps and uses MU-MIMO technology to ensure multiple devices get the same speeds when connected at the same time. This helps reduce network lag when you have multiple devices all vying for bandwidth. The system provides a combined dual band, including 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The speed is actually divided between the two bands with 2.4 GHz having up to 300 Mbps and the 5 GHz having up to 867 Mbps.

You’ll need the RS Wi-Fi app to set up the system. You can also use the app to manage your nodes and network.

A Look at the Nodes

The Rock Space Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System includes three small boxes that are approximately four inches square. The simple black design helps them blend in well on shelves and in rooms. Rock Space recommends placing each unit as high as possible for better coverage.

Each node includes three ports: power and two gigabit Ethernet. Only your main node needs to be connected via an Ethernet cable to your modem. However, you can connect other devices directly to your other nodes. Please note: only one Ethernet cable is included in the system.

My favorite part of these lightweight nodes is that the cables connect underneath. A small slot in the back allows the node to sit flat while keeping the connections more secure. This makes running the cables and hiding them much easier.

Setting Up the System

If you’ve ever worked with extenders before, you know it’s not always the easiest process. There are two main steps involved with this mesh Wi-Fi system. First, download the RS Wi-Fi app (iOS / Android). Second, connect one of the nodes to your modem. It doesn’t matter which one is your main. The lights on each node will turn green, yellow, or red based on your connection strength.

I highly recommend following the detailed instructions in the included manual. For one, it’s a tech gadget manual that describes the entire process step-by-step without leaving you wondering: “Did I miss something?”

You’ll need to disconnect your modem from its power supply before connecting the node. This is a safety precaution.

Next, reconnect the power to your modem and connect the power for your first node. Then, open the app and follow the prompts to set up the network. It can take up to a minute for the system to set up and be recognized by the app, so be patient.

You don’t have to set up an account to set up the system. You can do the account part later if you’d like. I appreciate not having to set up an account just to get my system going initially.

The SSID and password are located on the bottom of each node. And yes, you can change these. Remember, whatever you choose becomes the SSID and password for all three nodes.

You can use the app to check how many devices are connected to each node at any given point.

Using the RS Wi-Fi App

The app isn’t anything special. However, that also works in its favor. It’s simple and gives you just what you need to manage your Rock Space Wi-Fi products. You don’t need to download separate apps for each Rock Space Wi-Fi product you own. You can manage mesh systems, routers, and extenders all in a single app.

All you have to do is select your product from the main screen to view details.

Improving Coverage

I don’t have the fastest Internet speeds, but weak or dead spots drastically reduce how well my Internet works throughout my home. This is true even with my router in the center of the home.

The directions recommended placing the nodes no further than ten meters (~32.8 feet) apart with no more than two walls between them. I kept the first node in the center of my home and placed the other a few rooms away where I typically have trouble maintaining a stable connection. In the above image, “h” is my normal network, and “rock space” is the mesh system. You can notice the difference in signal strength.

In a week of testing, my signal stayed strong and consistent. I can finally work from the comfort of my bed now without the Internet being slow or cutting out.

As a bit of a stronger test, I actually placed the third node in a different building just outside of my home. I’d love to be able to stream music without using my phone’s data, but the Wi-Fi signal is typically too weak to handle it without buffering and cutting out. While the building is outside of the recommended range, the Rock Space Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System had no problem recognizing it and connecting. And yes, it did provide a much stronger signal, allowing me to stream with no problems.

Final Thoughts

If you’re struggling to conquer dead spots in your home, Rock Space’s mesh system may work well for you. It works better than extenders and actually performed better than expected in my tests.

Overall, I’d recommend this system. It’s incredibly easy to set up, even if you have zero expertise. Between the manual and app, it’s a straightforward process. Plus, you’ll instantly get a better signal throughout your home along with better speeds when using multiple devices simultaneously.

You can buy the Rock Space Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System yourself for $149.99. It includes three nodes, but you can combine six nodes (two sets) to cover areas of up to 9,000 square feet. For smaller spaces, you may only need two nodes.