The Nest Wifi, the successor to Google Wifi, is a line of mesh-capable wireless routers and add-on points developed by

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

as part of the

Google Nest Google Nest is a line of home automation, smart home products including smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, Smart thermostat, thermostats, smoke detectors, Router (computing), routers and security alarms, security systems includ ...

family of products. The first generation was announced on October 4, 2016, and released in the United States on December 5, 2016. The second generation was announced at the Pixel 4 hardware event on October 15, 2019, and was released in the United States on November 4, 2019. The Nest Wifi aims to provide enhanced

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

coverage through the setup of multiple Nest Wifi devices in a home. Nest Wifi automatically switches between access points depending on signal strength.

History

First generation

''Android Police'' reported in September 2016 that Google was preparing to introduce a mesh-capable wireless router with enhanced range, along with its October 4 date of announcement and

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

129 price point. Google Wifi was officially announced on October 4, 2016, with expected availability in the United States in December. The device became available in the United States on December 5, 2016, in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2017, in Canada on April 28, 2017, in France and Germany on June 26, 2017, in Australia on July 20, 2017, in Hong Kong and Singapore on August 30, 2017, and in Philippines on June 26, 2018. The first generation Google Wifi features

802.11ac IEEE 802.11ac-2013 or 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the IEEE 802.11 set of protocols (which is part of the Wi-Fi networking family), providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band. The stand ...

connectivity with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels, 2x2 antennas, and support for beamforming. It has two

gigabit Ethernet In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is the term applied to transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second. The most popular variant, 1000BASE-T, is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard. It came into use i ...

ports, and contains a quad-core processor with 512 MB RAM and 4 GB

flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...

. Wi-Fi access can be controlled through a companion

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

. In 2020, Google relaunched the first-generation Google Wifi, with minor hardware changes and at a relatively lower price.

Second generation

The second generation of the product was officially announced at the Pixel 4 hardware event on October 15, 2019, renamed as Google Nest Wifi as part of the company's shift towards its rebranding of all its smart home products to the

name. It adds a smart speaker equipped add-on point. Internally, a few changes were made, such as a quad-core 64-bit ARM CPU 1.4 GHz and a machine learning hardware engine for both the router and point, as well as IEEE 802.15.4 Thread support. The router has 1GB RAM and 4GB flash memory and supports AC2200 4x4 MU-MIMO whereas the point has 768MB RAM and 512MB flash memory and supports AC1200 2x2 MU-MIMO.

Feature comparison

Reception

Technology websites ''

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...

'' and ''

CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

'' praised the device's ease of setup, design and speed, but criticized its lack of customizable options, such as no settings for

MAC filtering In computer networking, MAC address filtering is a security access control method whereby the MAC address assigned to each network interface controller is used to determine access to the network. MAC addresses are uniquely assigned to each card ...

content filtering An Internet filter is software that restricts or controls the content an Internet user is capable to access, especially when utilized to restrict material delivered over the Internet via the Web, Email, or other means. Content-control software dete ...

, or

Dynamic DNS Dynamic DNS (DDNS) is a method of automatically updating a name server in the Domain Name System (DNS), often in real time, with the active DDNS configuration of its configured hostnames, addresses or other information. The term is used to desc ...

. ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...

'' also praised its design and ease of use.

References

External links

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Google Wifi routers have been going offline at random
{{Google Inc. Wifi Wireless networking hardware