Either way, the service you’re on will determine your ultimate speeds.ĭownload the Google Home app to get started, and you’ll be walked through a straightforward setup process, sped up if you can snap a shot of the QR code on the product’s underside. Me, I’m stuck with Spectrum at the moment (I know, I know), so, um, no issue there.īut obviously you don’t want a device that sits between you and the wall slowing down your internet speeds. If you have fiber, for example, you’re going to get bottlenecked. That may or may not be an issue, depending on your specific plan. That last bit is a potential limiter, of course, as is the 1Gbps upper limit on the built-in Ethernet (to help keep the system under $200, one imagines). There are three ports: power and a pair of Ethernet - one for the modem, the other to hardwire a single device. Your mileage on that last bit will vary, but as with other Nest products, this one is designed - above all - to blend in with its surroundings. It’s taller and slimmer, the matte color replaced with a shiny, plain job. The design is arguably even more minimal than its predecessor. There’s not much to the device from the user’s perspective (again, this is intentional). The setup process will prove familiar if you’ve ever set up most smart home products - Google/Nest stuff in particular, for obvious reasons. And the upshot to the UX is that it’s easy to add Google mesh routers down the road (though you won’t get those bundle savings). As you push closer to 2,000 square feet, the bundle starts to make more sense. If you’re on the fence about whether a single device is enough, it should be more than enough for anything below 1,000 square feet. Speeds can fluctuate during the day, but I found mine to be fairly consistent, regardless of how close I was to the router. With that in mind, a single device was plenty. One-bedrooms in NYC tend to range from around 600-800 square feet. Google clocks the Nest Wifi Pro’s coverage area as 2,200 square feet (4,400 for a two-pack, 6,600 for the three, etc.). That means, among other, better things, that I have a relatively small dwelling area. Suffice it say that a strong and steady internet connection is an important part of doing my job.Īnother caveat I should mention before we go further is the one I often give while testing smart home-related tech: I live in New York City. There are more embarrassing things that can happen to one on a live broadcast, but we won’t get into them here. I was long overdue for a wireless upgrade myself, as someone who hosts a lot of podcasts and video livestreams. Amazing how often the fix is someone flipping a switch on their end. I say this with the authority of someone who spent his own hours on the phone with terrible ISP customer support, because of some phantom ghost in the machine of the company routers. If you’re looking for a quick boost to your home internet, and the current dusty old router is starting to give up the ghost, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better “just works” system out of the box. At $199, this is a solid entry into Wi-Fi 6E territory. That’s an important thing to note with products like this. If, however, you’re looking for a router with Wi-Fi 6E that works right out of the box, it’s hard to beat. There are routers that are more customizable and flexible. There are faster and more powerful routers out there. It’s a home router, one that looks nice and is easy to set up. It’s “Pro” in the sense of where it fits in the broader Google Wifi line. Let’s start with what the Nest Wifi Pro is an isn’t. We’ve got plenty of big reviews planned over the horizon. If you need something a bit more substantial than my doughy brain can offer up at the moment, I completely get it. I hope this is helpful if you’ve been eyeing one since its unveiling earlier month. Third, we very rarely review routers here, for a lot of reasons, including resources.Įven so, the Nest Wifi Pro is available now, so I’m committing some of my initial impressions to the page, after setting it up and using it for a few days. Second, this week is my COVID week (third round, otherwise self-explanatory w/r/t a limited output). First, last week was Disrupt - I was busy on the other side of the country.
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