Nest (Google) - Google Wifi (AC1200)

4 Google wifi pods for a 1800sq ft house. Awesome

Google home Wi-Fi is garbage… find something you can manage.

I had the original Google WiFi mesh ones, the pucks that aren't curved on top, and they were fabulous. Used them for many many years, I just recently switched to 2x Unifi U7 Lite bc I wanted to be able to control more. I never had issues with any of my Chromecast devices or other devices dropping. The ability to set schedules for the kids' devices was also really easy. At this point I'm time though, they are getting a little old and you might want to try newer tech if spending that amount of money on a router/mesh setup.

I had the original Google WiFi mesh ones, the pucks that aren't curved on top, and they were fabulous. Used them for many many years, I just recently switched to 2x Unifi U7 Lite bc I wanted to be able to control more. I never had issues with any of my Chromecast devices or other devices dropping. The ability to set schedules for the kids' devices was also really easy. At this point I'm time though, they are getting a little old and you might want to try newer tech if spending that amount of money on a router/mesh setup.

Linksy WRT1900ACS was great for it's time. However it is WiFi 5 and old. In the U.S. the Linksys MX4300 WiFi 6 is what I'd recommend especially at the bargain basement price of $25. You maybe able to find it or it's foreign equivalent cheap before it gets popular again. If you are on a budget then just want a cheap OpenWRT thing for you to play with, the Google WiFi 1st gen is everywhere and dirt cheap. Support of it ended years ago and I'm sure you can pickup 2 for $40... even less. Just be sure to get the one with USB-C. Both that I suggested are QualComm based with hardware accelleration support with custom builds. I personally use them and they are SOLID. I'm still waiting for woot to have more of the MX4300s. With Amazon's backing, it's just a matter of time. They have already restocked twice, maybe three.

I definatley would replace since it's hasn't received updates in over 2 years. If you are technically inclined OpenWRT is available for onHub. Performance was shockingly good with OpenWRT off GoogleWiFi puck except for SQM (for bufferfloat). It caps out around 190mb/s. If your Internet is below or around that it it'll be fine. Point being, you may not be able to enable SQM on onHub since it is even older and IIRC dual core instead of quad core like GWiFi, but at least it's been updated for vulnerabilities. As for buying, perhaps try OpenWRT on it if you are technically inclined. It isn't for everyone, but is rewarding.

I recommend a Google Wi-Fi router because you can add mesh points if you have problems with your coverage. I live in a three-bedroom apartment that was built in 1969 and because the walls were so thick, a single router will not cover everywhere. Once I picked up the Google Wi-Fi router and added a single mesh point, my signal issues were resolved.

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.. I've set up large networks where there was no real planning and things were just placed where it was convenient. Sometimes it works flawlessly and you can roam the entire property without any hiccups or drops. Sometimes I have to go back and spend a ridiculous amount of time tweaking power levels (If it's a system you can do that with) or moving access points around in order to get it optimal. Sometimes that's not possible. Either due to construction materials or interference. Sometimes you can only get it as good as you can get it. In those cases the solution to the problem would be, a different location lol. A lot of times it depends on the device you're using while roaming and the brands of equipment you got for your network / Wi-Fi. Some networking equipment has built-in protocols to assist with handing off while roaming. Some have less and some have none. Then there's the device itself. IPhones tend to hang on to access points even after they basically lost the signal for a long time before switching over to a stronger signal. Not all Android phones are better. I've noticed a lot of the newer Android phones are starting to do the same thing. I think it's a bad hack to make the battery life last longer. I'd rather have a little less battery life and better Wi-Fi management but that's me. I'm sure the marketing departments for Apple, Google, Samsung, and so on would disagree with me lol. The best system weirdly enough, when it was working properly lol, for roaming around a property while doing a video call or even a voice call over Wi-Fi.. was the original Google Wi-Fi system. If laid out properly, and there wasn't some weird interference, and all the access points were wired, roaming was flawless. I say was, because they seem to have broken that a few firmware updates ago. There will be any more firmware updates for that system so now that it's broken, it'll stay that way. The next best brand of system I've personally tested when it comes to roaming and Wi-Fi is ubiquiti. I haven't tested everything they have but their higher end products seem to work great! Sometimes it takes tweaking a few settings and that can be a bit of a hurdle for the average person. However, I think it's worth it. I'd say about half the systems in the last 3 years I've been installed were ubiquiti and out of all of the systems I've installed, I've never really had any clients call about issues with their ubiquiti system. At most I'll occasionally get a call from a client that manages their own system and normally it's just a question regarding if they should do a software or firmware update. Not really a question about a problem. I have had a few people screw up their own system by messing with settings but that's normally pretty easy to fix, especially if they had giving me prior remote access. Plus I tend to make and keep backups of clients configurations. Good luck and for overall reliability, I would avoid systems sold in stores. That's not to say that the brands that are sold in stores are bad but it's actually very common for TP-Link and other companies to make a slightly different cheaper version of a model to ship to and sell in stores. This is normally to increase the profit of the store and without doing it the store typically would refuse to order and sell the product in the first place. Just spend the same money and either buy whatever it is on Amazon or directly from the manufacturer. Good luck! Once you get something that works you'll forget it's even there 😅👍

It’s definitely holding it back. Moving to a wifi6 setup or greater would be ideal. I swapped out our google wifi pucks for a dual asus xt8 setup and it’s night and day in throughput for us in the further locations. The problem with the google wifi was the lack of customization. I can map out the signal strengths and place the pucks correctly but not being able to pick the channels or assign devices to a specific puck really does limit your ability to manage the coverage the way you want it to be. You want to be able to force a band for the backhaul. Google was constantly swapping to 2.4ghz as a BH so that alone will gimp your 5ghz fronthaul to 2.4ghz like speeds. Having more control of your network topology is a must.

I have a 3 pack google wifi 5 router, these ones: [https://www.amazon.com/Google-Wifi-System-Router-Replacement/dp/B08GG9CMLR?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Google-Wifi-System-Router-Replacement/dp/B08GG9CMLR?th=1) and I have a Rogers 1.5 gbps home internet plan. When I test the speed in google home it usually gets 800 mbps, thats almost half the speed lost. Plus when the mesh actually reaches upstairs, which is where my xbox series x, pc, etc. are, they only get about like 60mbps to 130 mbps. I am thinking it's my wifi 5 router bottlenecking the potential speed but is that true? If so what should I upgrade to that isn't so expensive?

So google wifi is bad from the beginning? I believe back in 2016 is when I got these and at the time I was just using a singular rogers router in my basement, and the signal was bad on the 2nd floor. So I found the wifi 5 google home router 3 pack, and that's what I've been using till now. Back then I didn't have that 1.5 gbps plan, but now it's been like 3 years with the 1.5 gbps plan and I finally want an upgrade because I realized I wasn't using all the speed that I'm paying for. I'm planning to get the tplink deco x50 or x55 router 3 pack

Still running Google AC1200 mesh with the main point as the router and 2 points.

I just scrapped mine for being flaky and useless.

Those first gen google mesh’s are still solid af just replaced mine with Nest pro 6e’s

I have in my household four of the mesh points with no assistant, and the acting as router. Two displays, 12 speakers and a small smattering of Chromecast and TVs. Even their devices have Wi-Fi issues with their mesh points... I've been building the collection over the years... I appreciate the ease of setup monitoring and control and the really nice integration with the apps and whatnot. But if I could get just as easy of setup and control with another system and I knew that I probably would have got the other system..

I use the original Google Wi-Fi units with some wired units and some wireless. Never had any issues. I have about 40 connected devices.

I have the same Google WiFi. If your goal is to get 1.5 Gbps speeds to your devices upstairs, then you'll have to get a mesh system that has a 2 Gbps+ Ethernet connection (like a TP Link Deco AXE5400), and you'll need to have a wired backhaul to the point upstairs.

Asus xd5. I’m a big fan of Wireguard vpn for sharing video services like YouTube tv and Netflix . I was a Google Wi-Fi gen 1 before this.

1. Wanting to be more privacy focused and de-googleify my house. To get back to owning my media and be able to consume it anywhere on any device with no restrictions. To be able to preserve family photos and videos without incurring high storage costs and potential privacy issues. Probably my home automation setup. Home assistant integrated aspects of lives in a non-intrusive way with remote access via the app and reverse proxy. Most expensive part is probably the storage 2. I am running Google Wi-Fi hardwired throughout my house but it can't keep up with my demands. I really need Wi-Fi 7 to handle the non non-hardwired devices. I travel a lot for work and having remote KVM access to manage my home server as well as be able to provide a secure hotspot and network in my hotel would allow me to truly be at home while on the go. 3. Maybe mix it up and add an AI accelerator PCI Express or m.2 card cases on winner preference? I think a good mix would be the tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router as that is the biggest issue for me right now., The non-poe KVM seeing as I am not set up for Poe right now.

You want a wired backhaul mesh system. Then you can hard wire what you want and have 2 access points (one being the router). You want a router/access point(s) that has two ethernet connections. I still use the original google wifi which gives me 1 gbs wired speeds between devices. Cat 5e is all you need but since you are running it new, just use cat 6.

I was using OG Google Wifi until it started capping to <200mbps a couple months ago. I loved TP Link but found a cheaper Linksys mesh system I decided to go with.

I got the TP-Link BE9300 and it made a huge difference for me. Before I was using a Google WiFi (WiFi 5) mesh router and I wasn’t getting very good performance. After upgrading I was able to play most games at max settings at God Like in virtual desktop with my 4090/7800x3D.  The first game I played after upgrading my router was Half-Life Alyx and all of the stutters went away. Outside of buying Virtual Desktop, upgrading my router made the biggest impact on my VR performance.

I just retired my Google puck WiFi. I had 1Gb service and with G WiFi I got a fraction of that speed. One room isn’t too far away from main router had horrible signal despite having a puck in there. The few tests I ran the mesh didn’t seem to do much. I’m in a single floor home, around 1700 sq ft. I recently upgraded to 2GB plan (I don’t need the speed but was part of the plan I got to reduce overall cost), and bought new modem and router that can keep up. I got the Asus Rogue GT-AX6000 router and now I easily get over 120mpbs on iPhone all over the house. On a MacBook near router it actually hit 1.5GBps! The router is twice as much as the Nest but well worth it. My old router was holding me back from the service I paid for.

So others will steer you into changing everything about your current smart home. And while they aren’t necessarily wrong, I’ll try and help you out with your ask. If a lot of your smart devices are Wi-Fi then you have some options. If you have Wi-Fi devices spread across your entire house and outside, you are going to want to invest in a decent mesh system. Specifically one where you can fine-tune the different Wi-Fi networks. You want a system where you can create different Wi-Fi networks as well as assign the bands to each network. I use a Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway and their access points. I have my main network, a guest network, an IoT network, and dedicated WFH network. The IoT network is 2.4 only to make setting up those devices easier. That network can’t reach into the other networks but the main network can reach into the IoT network. I haven’t worked out all the kinks, as I’m still learning myself and tweaking as I go. Another option would be to find a more consumer grade mesh system where you can have multiple access points, nodes, or whatever the brand you choose calls it. The big thing there is to ensure your 2.4 GHz network is named differently than your 5GHz. The mesh helps with coverage, and the unique name for the 2.4 again makes adding your smart devices a lot easier. You should be able to do this with your google Wi-Fi pucks now. Advice would be to leave the 2.4 network the same so you don’t have to read those devices, it can be a pain, the name your 5GHz something different. Phones and laptops are a lot easier to change networks on. The big thing that will help with speed in the consumer grade setup is having wired back haul capabilities. Google Wi-Fi does, I don’t think Nest does. That changes your access points from repeaters to the same speed as your main router, but in more places in your house. The caveat being you need to have Ethernet access in the places you want to add those wired Access Points. I’m sure others will chime in, and correct anything I got wrong. 🤣 Edited: Because I skimmed and missed that you already have a mesh system capable of naming the bands differently and google Wi-Fi supports wired backhaul.

I had Google WiFi (3 mesh network) and it was spotty at best. Finally, swapped to Eero and it’s substantially better. I’ve heard netgear’s Orbi is also quite good. Can get either around 350ish for a 3 mesh network usually.

I had Google WiFi (3 mesh network) and it was spotty at best. Finally, swapped to Eero and it’s substantially better. I’ve heard netgear’s Orbi is also quite good. Can get either around 350ish for a 3 mesh network usually.

Google Wi-Fi is literally the worst Wi-Fi on the market. No wonder they are getting out of it.

Do you realise you will automatically get upgraded to that tier free of charge in September? https://leaptel.com.au/nbn-speed-upgrades-are-coming-heres-what-it-means-for-you/ Unless you plan to go higher than 500 I would stick with the Google mesh and see how you go.

I've used my Google Nest mesh wifi hubs for the past 2.5 years with TMHI. I just connect the primary access hub into the TMHI hub (G4AR) via ethernet cable. It's worked fine since we got TMHI. I have over 40+ IoT devices connected to my Nest mesh wifi. All work well. I have a primary and secondary mesh access points. The primary is in the house and the secondary is in another small building about 80ft away with no problems. I also have a TP-Link extender for the back yard which also works well. FYI. PS Not sure where JasonDJ is coming from. I've been in tech for over 35 years with multiple wifi networks both residential and commercial. I would say the majority are solid, reliable, and stable. A few had problems but were either quickly updated or replaced.

Yes it will. Just remember you have to plug the primary access point into the TMHI hub via Ethernet cable.

I’ve tried every single WiFi google nest router(google WiFi, nest WiFi, nest WiFi pro) and out of them they all had slow speeds. I ended up getting the eero mesh system and those work flawlessly

I had the Nest mesh WiFi with three points that worked great for years, then started dropping connections almost daily requiring a reboot. My only remaining Nest device is a Nest Protect smoke detector. 

Yes it is bottlenecking your speed. all Gens of Google/Nest Wifi are 1GB wan. So \~800 is about maxing the 1GB. otherwise any number of physical reasons why your mesh isnt as strong as it could be. wiring the access points to a switch and then connecting the switch to the Main GoogleWifi router will help greatly

I just bought one and used it for two days. It's a 2025 and hardware 1.0 version. It took me an hour phone call with the Support to resolve WAN connection issue to be able to start to use it from the get-go. I have Xfinity. For some reason, 2 out 3 times, the WAN light is red after connecting the cable modem to 10G WAN port. I don't have this issue with my old Google WIFI router. So the Support asked me to unplug cable model for 2 minutes and plug it back on and then log onto Web UI and go through "Quick Internet Setup" to detect connection. After this, WAN issue was resolved. I was able to use it. I updated the firmware to the latest version: 3.0.0.6.102\_37548. Over the last two days, it suddenly rebooted four times. The longest hours it's running so far is 18 hours. I am still researching this rebooting issue. It looks like might be a firmware bug somewhere as I couldn't see anything from system log that would explain the reboots. Whenever it rebooted, I touched the router and it wasn't overheating. I can totally understand why the reviews are so mixed. I will probably have to keep it as it's the only WIFI7 router at $200-$300 that supports 2.4G/5G/6G, VPN, 10G WAN port, 4x2.5G LAN ports, and 5G Mobile tethering...

I cannot get my Deco Xe200 to connect to the network despite many hours on the phone with customer support. My OLD SLOW google wifi is rock solid. With the new push from congress on May 15, I'm done fooling with it and sticking with what works.

It depends if the specs meet your needs I still use Google WiFi, it's fine for what I need.

I personally use a Google Wifi, I'm not sure if it can be used as a repeater out of the box tho. The nice thing about that one is you have an Ethernet port on the device itself and it works flawlessly, I used it when I traveled if I was taking my PC with me.

Went from Google WiFi to TP-link Omada. Night and day improvement.

Absolutely true. I just removed 4 Deco X75s (had zero issues with them - just wanted a more advanced setup with VLANs for a hybrid personal/business network) and 3 Google WiFi pucks (had some issues with these). Everyone talks about issues but I haven’t had any with UniFi or with Tp-Link.

Yeah? I’ve got google wifi + 1 extra access point to create a mesh because the google wasn’t covering my whole 2 bedroom apartment. I’m wondering if I should try another brand

To add to what others are saying, in addition to GWifi being quite locked down and having no way to access configuration via a browser (only via the Google Home app), the other problem is support. When Google no longer feels like supporting this version of the hardware, they will essentially brick it. They did exactly that to my old OnHub units. I cannot trust Google for networking hardware.

TP Link Deco 6E - had it for about 2 years and it's been good and super reliable. There were some concerns recently about TP Link routers phoning home to China, so something worth looking into I guess if you're worried. The management app (so take it for what it is, requires a phone app to manage) is decent, although a little annoying with the upsell of the safety suite. The feature set is great - guest network, IoT network, QoS, VPN server and client, 3 ports (only gigabit though) on each device, and 6Ghz wireless backhaul (or wired is also supported). At the time the Wifi 7 model just came out and was much more expensive so I didn't really see the point. If I were buying a new router today I'd probably go for a Wifi 7 model. Another upgrade in that is it looks like the Wifi 7 model has 1x10Gbps port and 2x2.5Gbps so that's some good future-proofing right there. Came from having Google Wifi, which I think was overall a little bit better, but I'm not upset about it. Obviously Ubiquiti is the gold standard if you wanna go that deep into it, but for a more casual (and much more affordable) solution I am not upset with my Deco. It's about $300 for 1 - have a 3-pack (~$700). If you don't need mesh, I've had good luck with Asus routers in the past and last I heard reviews for them are pretty good. Around $300 the TUF BE3600 looks like it might have all modern features you'd want.

i like the Google Wifi pucks cheap available and hefty specs

Yes using wifiman, UCG Ultra, and U6+ access points (that annoyingly do not have secondary Ethernet ports, had to use an older AC Pros in one spots). I have a concrete house with thick walls. Anyway, signal and throughout probably 20% less than before in my trouble spots. Signal is just not as strong as Google Wifi Routers. But they bugged out a lot more so I guess.

I don't know how much Google Wifi has changed since I tried it and quickly got rid of it, but I found it very unconfigurable compared with most brands. But it might suit someone who prefers not to have settings that can accidentally be set wrong.

Stay away, stay away, stay away. They are crap and google support is useless. You’ve been warned

The ones provided by the ISP are usually shit. I recommend only using the modem from them and then getting your own wifi routers. I've been using Google Wifi for quite a while and love it.

I did that in the past with Google WiFi. The VM did an update and it never worked properly again. I'd really like not to use VM at all, but it's that if 26mbps over copper for me

Interesting. I used to have Google WiFi which worked well until one of the VM router updates stopped it all working. Maybe I should blow the dust off, reset it and try again. I just don't enjoy fiddling with these things any more

I recommend whole home setup either Google or eero

No. I had issues with Google Wifi when they blocked the video signal from the Google Nest Cameras to be displayed on the Google Nest Displays. Now after all their shenanigans with Google graveyard Nest devices, I'd go back to a more open architecture (i.e. DD-WRT with WDS)

No. I had issues with Google Wifi when they blocked the video signal from the Google Nest Cameras to be displayed on the Google Nest Displays. Now after all their shenanigans with Google graveyard Nest devices, I'd go back to a more open architecture (i.e. DD-WRT with WDS)

It’s the Google WiFi. I went from 3 Asus Onhubs (SRT-AC1900) on a 1gig internet plan getting 400meg max over WiFi with all three on wired backhaul to 3 Tp-Link Deco BE11000 maxing out my gig internet (consistently over 900meg to sometimes up against a gig). No change in wires (still Cat 5e) with longest run about 60 ft. The range, and throughput at range, was also a huge improvement. Covered the 1/3 acre property and devices in other buildings with no problem. Costco has them on sale every once in awhile for $399 usd. Highly recommend.

For the average consumer, Eero is a much better fit though. Sure, if you like to tinker or have one off use cases, Unifi is the much better option, but Eero does a great job of providing a product that just works without ever really needing to touch it. I've had Asus, Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link, Google WiFi, and Eero, but I've had meshing issues with all except for Eero. My current setup is Unifi with Eero in bridge mode.

As I recall you'll have to rent a router from Spectrum or supply your own anyway. I switched from Spectrum to Google last year and It's way, way better. I have the Google router in a closet for backup and use my own home-built router. Most connection are ethernet except TV and phone are WiFi. Everything works great!

It’s very unclear what your problem is. The most important question: If you’re hardwired to your Ethernet jack (where the internet in the house comes in), is the internet reliable? If no, investigate different providers. Sonic or MonkeyBrains are probably the best in SF, if they’re available to you. Comcast and AT&T are not bad either, so long as you get symmetric fiber (1 Gbps upload and download). If the Ethernet jack is reliable (I suspect it is), your problem is distributing internet in the house. The first way you should try to solve this is to hardwire everything that can be hardwired. Your house is old enough that it probably doesn’t have Ethernet jacks everywhere in the house and YMMV if you want 100ft Ethernet cables snaking around your house (celibacy is a choice) but at the very least, anyone next to the primary router should be using a cable. You can also investigate things like Powerline and MOCA Ethernet if you really want to go down the hardwiring path. After that, you want to invest in a good wifi system that will replace whatever junk your ISP gave you. Look for two things: mesh and WiFi 6E. Mesh just means multiple access points. You have the primary plugged into your internet provider and then you distribute the others through your house. This brings the WiFi physically closer to your device and around the lead or whatever is in your walls. It’s ideal if each mesh point can had a wired connection but even if it has to be wireless, it will still be an improvement. I like the eero system quite a bit but I’ve used Google WiFi in the past and had good experiences. If you can wait till Black Friday, Amazon tends to have good eero sales. WiFi 6E is important because it allows newer devices to connect using 6 GHz spectrum (in addition to standard 2.4 and 5). This is important because that spectrum is faster and also shorter range. The shorter range is actually a benefit: since 6 GHz is shorter range, it means that your roommates 6 GHz connection across the house is less likely to screw with yours. You can also get wifi 7 but hardly any devices support it right now. I would consider that to just be future proofing. Good luck!

You will be disappointed with just Mesh in a house that big. At a minimum, you should backhaul wire it. I have used several and TP Link, although it is frowned upon by most here being a Chinese product that could be banned, and Google performed the best for me (12ksqft restaurant, 2 levels).

Mesh all day. I’ve got the Google ones. They’re about 5-6 years old. Also, my own surfboard docsis 3.0 modem. I can’t even remember when I bought that one, not sure how much longer it’ll work but it’s still kickin’