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Mesh WiFi for brick, plaster and thick walls

Updated September 18, 2026

Mesh does work through thick walls, but you need more nodes placed closer together. Our rule plans about 600 sq ft per node for brick or concrete and 900 for plaster, against 1,200 for drywall. The same 2,500 sq ft two story house goes from 3 nodes with drywall to 5 with brick inside walls.

Why these walls are hard

eero's placement page names brick, stone and metal as hard for WiFi to pass. It adds that older houses with plaster, lath or chicken wire in the walls are particularly hard for WiFi. Its answer to thick walls is plain: you may need more eeros. The Orbi 770 listing on Amazon says the same kind of thing, that coverage varies with building materials.

For a 1,600 sq ft one floor home the counts are 2, 2 and 3. These come from the node calculator. Pick "Plaster, or a mix with some brick" if only the outside walls are brick. Pick "Brick, concrete block or stone" if the walls between rooms are.

Where to put nodes in a thick-walled house

• Use doorways. eero suggests placing nodes near doors, since wood is less dense. A node that sees the next one through an open doorway beats one behind a solid wall.
• Aim for line of sight. eero also says to aim for a direct line of sight between nodes wherever possible.
• Check the link. TP-Link says to check the signal between Decos during setup and aims for 2 bars. On an Orbi, NETGEAR says an amber light means a fair link and magenta means the satellite failed to sync. Move closer in both cases.

The fix that beats more nodes: a wire

TP-Link's backhaul guide calls Ethernet backhaul a strong choice for spaces with thick walls, because the link between nodes then does not pass through them at all. You only need to wire the nodes that are hardest to reach. The rest keep linking over the air. Running cable inside walls can fall under local building codes, so hire a licensed installer if you are unsure.

Kits that fit

• TP-Link Deco X55: add-on units are easy to find and every node has three ports for wired backhaul. Caveat: you may need five units, not three.
• TP-Link Deco BE63: the listing says it runs wired and wireless backhaul at the same time, which suits a house where only some rooms can be cabled. Caveat: more speed than most plans can use.

Compare all six in the full list.