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.

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.

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 😅👍

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 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.

Just to chime in, I have the prior version of Google’s 1Gb router that I bought before we got fiber and it’s been great. We got a few extenders just to maximize signal but it really hasn’t had any problems. I imagine the new one is even better

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 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. 

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.

I’m curious about this because I have the OG Google WiFi and it’s been rock solid. I’m scared to upgrade, but I do want to get to WiFi 7 and off of Google at some point.

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.

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.

That’s been my experience, old Google WiFi working very well so I’m reluctant to mess with 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)

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!

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’