Google Nest Wifi Pro Router Review: An Easy, Imperfect, 6E Upgrade

In October 2022, Google launched the Nest Wifi Pro, a Wi-Fi 6E mesh system with cutting-edge specs and a smooth, trendy look. It’s the successor to the Nest Wifi launched in 2019, and it joins Google’s rising assortment of good house gadgetry sporting a seamless person expertise.

My expertise utilizing a trio of Nest Wifi Pro nodes was principally seamless, however there had been some quirks and peculiar conduct that irritated me, and the simplified controls wouldn’t let me take the reins to repair that conduct. That mentioned, for those who’re not occupied with tweaking router settings and simply wish to improve to a Wi-Fi 6E mesh expertise with none fuss, the Nest Wifi Pro does have quite a bit to supply at an inexpensive value.

{Hardware} and Design: Egg-scellent

While you get the Nest Wifi Pro, you should purchase a single unit, however two- and three-packs can be found as nicely. Every unit or “node” is in regards to the dimension of a giant hand, equivalent except for coloration, and kind of resembles a big, oblong-shaped egg.

That’s a part of the model the Nest Wifi Pro fashions itself on, one among curved corners and light-weight, smooth colours that you simply’ll see in different trendy Google good house merchandise just like the Pixel Watch and Nest Doorbell. The Wifi Pro nodes, particularly, are supposed to mix into your decor. In my case, it does match the inside of my house fairly nicely, although not a lot of the black-and-grey utilitarian model of a lot of the gear I’ve in my workplace proper now. I no less than favored the Pro’s look higher than the “dark Bionicle” look of one thing just like the ASUS ROG Rapture or the recycle bin vibe of the ZenWifi mesh system.

Every Pro node has one WLAN/LAN port and one single LAN port, and since they’re equivalent, you may make any node your major router and the remainder a toddler node. Should you’re shopping for just one node, although, you’ve received just one Ethernet port to make use of. You received’t thoughts for those who don’t make use of wired connections a lot, however I desire to every time attainable, so I’d discover a single unit fairly limiting.

After all, if I wished to get inventive, I may add Ethernet ports with a switch. Competing 6E mesh routers just like the Linksys Hydra Pro, although, supply me no less than 4 occasions the variety of ports a single Pro node would.

You’ll additionally see in Google’s promotion of the Nest Wifi Pro that it features as a Thread border router. Not having any “Built on Thread” tech, I wasn’t in a position to check that performance. Even so, it didn’t appear that urgent since Matter appears to be in a sad state of affairs proper now anyway.

Setup: Very Easy

Organising the Nest Wifi Pro requires the Google House app (for Android or iPhone). I first tried it on a cellphone and not using a mobile knowledge connection, like I’d arrange networks on different routers, however that didn’t work. I switched to a cellphone with a knowledge connection, and from there, setup was (principally) a breeze.

I did hit a wall once I by accident related my modem to the LAN port on the primary node as an alternative of the WLAN port. That made the Google House app throw a imprecise error message once I tried to provoke the setup.

The issue was, after all, my fault, however I want the error message had instructed checking the connection within the first place. That will have saved me a variety of pointless troubleshooting. So while you’re establishing the Nest Wifi Pro, be taught from my mistake and ensure you plug your modem cable into the node’s WLAN port, which is the lefthand one with a globe image above it.

Controls: Possibly Too Easy

The Nest Wifi Pro places comfort and ease of use forward of all the pieces else. All controls are managed by way of the smartphone app. Sadly, you don’t get a lot in the best way of customization and fine-tuning. That’s all automated, and also you in all probability received’t be capable to set up third-party router firmware like DD-WRT both.

Should you’re already a Google/Nest router person, you’re in all probability used to this. Reviews of the Nest Wifi Pro’s predecessors had been vital of the dearth of controls. Should you’re coming from a standard router setup and are used to having advantageous management over all types of networking minutia, you may discover the Google House expertise restrictive.

As is commonly the case with tech, you are inclined to need extra freedom and management of your units, however gadget freedom tends to carry complexity and duty that you could be not wish to cope with. Google desires to avoid wasting you from that complexity and duty with a simplified expertise, shunning fine-grained controls with area of interest functions.

You’ll be able to nonetheless do some fundamental administrative duties, like port forwarding, booting unwanted wireless devices, and prioritizing particular units. If that’s all you want, then you definitely’re in all probability the perfect Nest Wifi Pro proprietor. As somebody whose job it’s to tinker with tech, I desire to have these further knobs and possibly not use them than to not have them in any respect.

Efficiency: I’ve Seen Higher

Virtually talking, my expertise with the Nest Wifi Pro’s velocity was usually good, no less than with all three nodes related. I used to be in a position to stream VR games from my PC to my Meta Quest 2 headset within the subsequent room over Air Link and, on the identical time, wirelessly cast my PC’s desktop to my Roku TV, all with moderately low latency.

Even when I wasn’t glad with the velocity, I may simply arrange a wired backhaul to maximise the Wi-Fi efficiency, because of the Ethernet ports on every pod within the Nest Wifi Pro system. The dearth of Ethernet ports on the unique Nest Wifi extenders made that unattainable up to now, so there’s a particular enchancment there.

That mentioned, whereas the sensible expertise was good, I did discover utilizing the Speedtest by Ookla app on my cellphone I wasn’t reaching fairly the identical wi-fi speeds I may utilizing different routers. The Netgear RAXE300, for instance, let me attain almost the total 1Gbps speeds my plan helps beneath optimum situations. After I recreated these situations (standing proper subsequent to the primary node) I used to be maxing out at nearly three-quarters the velocity, round 750Mbps (although the Google House app’s personal velocity check would report nearer to 850Mbps).

That’s technically more than enough for most activities, and I must also level out that the RAXE300 will run you twice the value as a single Nest Wifi Pro node. It’s nonetheless a noteworthy distinction, although, and one thing that would doubtlessly create an issue in a bigger family with extra units.

It’s further unusual when you think about the actual fact the ISP I’m utilizing is Google Fiber, the modem and router I’m utilizing are each Google merchandise, and the cellphone I’m testing with is a Google Pixel 6. You’d suppose a pure Google model chain would imply an optimized expertise, however I truly received higher outcomes with a competitor’s router within the combine.

Protection: Some Bizarre Frequency Shenanigans

What I did discover when checking protection, although, was some bizarre conduct with automated band administration. For one factor, a few occasions I discovered myself proper on the outskirts of the 6Ghz band’s protection, at which level the velocity would sluggish to a crawl or cease fully. It will take 5 seconds or so for the Nest Wifi Pro to lastly transfer me to the stronger 5Ghz band. Not a protracted wait, however contemplating as we speak’s speeds, a wait time like that simply will get irritating, and I by no means skilled issues like that with different Wi-Fi 6E routers.

Talking of the 6Ghz frequency, the Nest Wifi Pro additionally appeared usually afraid of placing my Wi-Fi 6E-capable units on the 6Ghz band within the first place. That’s regarding as a result of that 6Ghz frequency is among the major promoting factors of a 6E upgrade.

What would usually occur is I’d activate a wi-fi gadget, like my Pixel 6, and within the cellphone’s community settings, I’d discover I used to be on the 5Ghz band even when I related in the identical room as a kind of nodes. I may often “force” my means onto the 6Ghz band by disconnecting and reconnecting to the community, however that felt like an annoying and pointless further step in having fun with the quickest speeds attainable. Often, I’d additionally get the other conduct, the place on booting the cellphone, I’d be on the 6Ghz band instantly, but when I moved out of vary, I may by no means get again on it till I rebooted once more.

Each 6E routers I’ve beforehand used would join me to the 6Ghz band routinely every time the sign was first rate. Even when that hadn’t been the case, these different routers additionally gave me no less than one technique to power myself onto the 6Ghz community completely. For instance, I may break up the bands into separate entry factors and set my cellphone to desire the 6Ghz-exclusive community.

That is the place the Nest Wifi Pro’s lack of management comes again into focus: I couldn’t discover any such setting within the Google House app. That left me caught both being content material with the 5Ghz community or utilizing a hacky workaround each time I wished to maneuver up. I attempted contacting a Google consultant about the issue, however on the time of writing, I’ve nonetheless not heard again.

Ought to You Purchase the Google Nest Wifi Pro?

The Nest Wifi Pro is designed from the bottom as much as be a set-and-forget system. You flip a node on, title and safe your community, activate any further normal options you need, and also you’re good to go. Just a few different tweaks can be found within the Google House app, however the Nest Wifi Pro takes management of all the pieces else. You’ll admire that in order for you a Wi-Fi community that “just works.”

Even so, saying it “just works” doesn’t really feel proper, contemplating how the nodes appeared intent on preserving me off the 6Ghz band, and I had no energy to work round the issue. With out an enormous variety of wi-fi units to attach, you in all probability received’t be affected by one thing like that, nevertheless it made Nest Wifi Pro my least favourite 6E router I’ve tried.

Should you just like the tasteful aesthetic and simply need an reasonably priced, easy mesh setup you’ll be able to set and neglect, go for the Wifi Pro. If you’d like full management over your Wi-Fi 6E community and have just a few extra bucks to spend, look elsewhere.