About two weeks ago Amazon had their annual Prime Day 24+ hour sale, and like many Prime members I was looking for some bargains. Recently my family had been complaining that the WiFi signal in the upstairs of my home was not strong enough. At times they would find a better data signal on the cellular network causing everyone to use a ton of extra data each month. I decided I was going to give the Securifi Almond+ a try if it was on sale during Prime Day.
If you read my blog regularly you may have noticed I wrote an article regarding Google’s mesh Wifi System. The Google system is excellent and I highly recommend it for most home users, and at $270 for 3 units the price is great too. However in my case Google Wifi was not going to cut it because I wanted to keep my primary router. (Google wants to take over the entire home network)
RELATED READING- GOOGLE WIFI ONLY FOR BASIC USERS
Introducing the Securifi Almond+
Of all the routers in the world, why this one? Why not an Asus, Dlink, Linksys,
etc. You get the idea. Initially I was intrigued by the touch screen on the front of the unit. So weather I wanted to use it as a range extender or access point, or a full fledged router, setup was going to be quick and simple. You don’t have to connect it to a computer first to configure the unit.
Almond+ as a range extender
I already have existing Wifi in my house and just needed a boost on the second floor so I initial configured the unit to work as a range extender. A few pushes of the touch screen, told the Almond+ about my existing Wifi & passwords and it was ready to go. The unit worked great and was repeating my main signal to the outer reaches of my home.
Almond+ as an access point
Thinking how I can even make this better, I realized I could create my own mesh network. Some of the rooms on my second floor have hardwired Ethernet connections. Taking the Almond+ as far away from the existing access point, I switched the mode from extender to access point. I set the SSIDs and passwords the same as my existing Wifi and that was it, instant mesh network. Mobile devices simply connect to the access point with the stronger signal, and can switch between access points as you move around the house.
Other cool features
Since there is a cute little display on the front, no sense in wasting it. The Almond+ can display the current date and time, or pull the weather to create a mini weather station. The display can even be locked to prevent your kids from messing with it
For more advanced users, this device works with ITTT (If This Than That) and can have rules programmed in to trigger smart home devices. For example if you have a smart porch light, when you approach your home and your mobile phone connects to the router it can turn on the lights! Tons of sensors can be paired to the system making it very versatile. The system can even integrate with Amazon Echo.
Final Thoughts
This device is very easy to setup, however has a full suite of software so it can be configured for almost any home network. It makes a great home router, access point, range extender, and can even extend the capabilities of your home automation! At a bit over $100 this is a recommended buy! Almond+ at Amazon.com $123.99
Related Reading- Poor WiFI at home? an extender can help!
Thank you for reading my blog,
Joe