Thread effectively forms a separate, long-range, low-power network for smart-home devices that operates independently of your Wi-Fi.Īll ports on Nest Wifi Pro devices are 1 gigabit, so anyone with an internet connection speed above 1 Gbps should not buy this system. Matter aims to be the unifying smart-home standard and should make it easy to add devices to your home network, significantly boost stability and performance, and potentially free up some bandwidth for devices like your phone and laptop. The Nest Wifi Pro can serve as a smart-home hub, boasting built-in Thread radios and Bluetooth LE (low Energy), with Matter support to follow shortly. Apart from a handful of network controls and configuration options, that’s it. Dig deeper into the settings and you will find “Preferred activities,” which allows you to prioritize videoconferencing or gaming. You can also pause the internet on your kid’s devices. You can also set priority devices (for one, four, or eight hours) to ensure they get the bandwidth they need.įamily Wi-Fi enables you to group your kid’s devices, set up Safe Search to block adult websites, and schedule downtime to turn off internet access when they are supposed to be sleeping or doing homework. You can run speed tests, test your mesh connections, and set up parental controls or a guest network. Access the Nest Wifi Pro by tapping the Wi-Fi icon, and you will find a limited set of options. (There’s no web interface yet.) That is a strong hint about where this mesh system fits into Google’s ecosystem-as a smart-home hub (more on that later). This router system works with the Google Home app. Downloading a 30-GB game took 15 minutes. Our family of four is frequently gaming, video calling, and streaming, with everyone online simultaneously, and we have yet to experience any lag, buffering, or glitches in a couple of weeks of testing. My home is around 1,600 square feet, and the Nest Wifi Pro provides a strong Wi-Fi signal everywhere, including my backyard. Performance and coverage have been rock solid in my testing. A wired backhaul, if you can run Ethernet cables around the home, will provide the best performance. However, shifting the backhaul onto the 6-GHz band leaves the 5-GHz and 2.4-GHz bands free for your devices. To enjoy those potentially high 6-GHz speeds, you need devices that support Wi-Fi 6E, and there aren’t many at the moment. As I’ve noted with other Wi-Fi 6E systems, the 6-GHz band is short-range and does not penetrate through walls and other obstacles very well, so your routers will work best with a line of sight or through a single wall or ceiling. The Nest Wifi Pro uses the 6-GHz band for backhaul, which is how the routers and points send traffic back and forth. (Our How to Buy a Router guide goes into more detail.) As we go up through the bands, the potential speed increases, but the range drops, so 6 GHz offers the fastest speeds but the shortest range. The Nest Wifi Pro is Google’s first Wi-Fi 6E router, and it is a tri-band system, so the familiar 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands are joined by the 6-GHz band. I had to move the latter slightly before it turned green and told me, “Great connection.” I added one to the living room at the back of the house and another upstairs. When you add routers (Google calls them points), you get an indication of the suitability of your chosen spot. My three-pack came with a single 6.5-foot Ethernet cable, and setting up was as simple as plugging it into my modem and scanning the QR code on the bottom of each unit. Each can cover up to 2,200 square feet and connect up to 100 devices. I tested the three-pack in white (er, Snow).Īll three units are identical, with two Gigabit Ethernet ports apiece. They are small and unobtrusive enough to sit on shelves and window sills and should fit with any decor. The shiny, minimalist capsule design looks a lot like a giant Pixel Buds case (the company's wireless earbuds), and the routers come in four colors: Snow, Fog, Linen, or Lemongrass.
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