When people think of home network upgrades, mesh Wi-Fi or a fancy router is usually what they think about. After all, the marketing around mesh networks makes it seem that they’re a silver bullet to every Wi-Fi problem. However, many mesh systems cause the exact problems that they promise to solve. Even Wi-Fi 7 routers boast blazing-fast speeds and better coverage than ever, but they a Wi-Fi 7 router won’t fix what’s truly wrong with your home network. Before you rush to buy a fancy Wi-Fi router or invest in an expensive mesh system, consider some other upgrades that deliver way better performance per dollar. Your home network might not even need a dedicated mesh network; it might just need a few optimizations to perform dramatically better.