Google’s pitch for its own mesh networking products has been to focus on clever trade-offs to keep the cost down, making it accessible to the masses. The Nest WiFi Pro, the company’s latest flagship, builds upon that existing (and winning) formula with the addition of WiFi 6E. Part of its appeal is the Google brand, plus the promise of regular free software updates and tight integrations with most of the world’s smart home players. In a head-to-head race, the Nest WiFi Pro will be bested by plenty of its competitors, but Google’s user-friendliness means it’s the default option for pretty much everyone.
Hardware
As I said in our main mesh WiFi buyer’s guide, I’ve been using Google’s first-generation version for years, and also reviewed the second-generation Nest WiFi, so I feel like this is my turf. The Nest WiFi Pro is Google’s first to harness WiFi 6/6E, which was irritatingly omitted from the last model on cost grounds. Because of this, they can’t integrate with your existing Google / Nest WiFi hardware, meaning that any upgrade will require you to start fresh.
Google Google Nest WiFi Pro
Pros
- One of the cheapest WiFi 6E systems on the market
- Easy to set up and easy to use
- Built-in smart home integrations
Cons
- Not as fast or powerful as other WiFi 6E products
- Very few “pro” features for more advanced users
In terms of looks, the Pros are ovoid bumps that stand taller than their predecessors and demand more space. ‘Round back, you’ll find the jack for the barrel power cable and two ethernet ports which Google says “support 1 Gbps wired speeds per router.” Inside, it packs a Cortex A35 dual-core 64-bit ARM CPU paired with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of storage like its predecessor. It is available in four colors: Snow, Linen, Fog and Lemongrass.
The Nest WiFi Pro doesn’t reserve a chunk of its spectrum for dedicated backhaul. Instead, it dynamically shunts traffic around the available space for optimal performance, which will primarily take place on the 6GHz band, since plenty of devices in our homes don’t have the components necessary to access it. Google adds that using 6GHz as backhaul frees up lots of space in the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, improving performance for all the other devices on the network.
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