Buy it on Amazon – http://lon.tv/8761c (affiliate link) – Google Wifi offers an easy to use Internet router and wireless extension / mesh system for consumers. See more mesh systems: http://lon.tv/mesh and subscribe! http://lon.tv/s
VIDEO INDEX:
00:52 – Hardware overview
02:36 – Configuration and Mesh Overview
04:36 – Ethernet ports can be used on mesh nodes
05:11 – Configuration app
07:36 – Advanced settings: guest network, prioritization, drop clients
09:47 – Performance – direct to router, mesh speeds
11:49 – Conclusion and final thoughts
Related Videos:
OnHub:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCZHp4d1HnIs5qdxWHdcVfyxrJ4pIwANG
Wireless 101:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr_R7TLBdXs
My recommendation for power users:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL3nIwHzFIU
Google Wifi Unboxing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mspJC_21Ets
Google launched a very capable router last year with the OnHub and the new Google Wifi takes all of that products features and adds wireless mesh extending to the mix. And it couldn’t be simpler to set up and use. It was also good to see that this works with the prior Google OnHub routers.
I like this product for general consumers who rely mostly on wifi for their connectivity. Because it’s a mass consumer product there isn’t much to configure on here which may be a turn off for enthusiasts.
But for folks who are concerned about security and/or don’t check their devices often for updates this is a good choice. Google engineers will update the device for you automatically and keep it secure. Google also took out many of the advanced configuration options that could lead to an inadvertent opening of the gates.
Mesh configuration was very simple – once the first device is plugged in the other ones automatically find the base and configure themselves. For many folks it will solve most of their Wifi problems with practically zero effort.
I did see a pretty sizable drop-off in performance on the mesh nodes but did see a consistent speed of about 100 megabits per second back to the base. This should be consistent for Netflix, YouTube etc.
All in this is definitely worth considering if you’re a general consumer in need of an easy way to fix Wifi dead spots in your home.
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Lon, can you use one of the ports on the “mesh devices” as WAN? So if I have a very long ethernet cable running through my house, can I mesh these together that way rather than wirelessly?
My wifi is set up however my eco dot Alexa says shes not connected? I had a issue with my I’d and password.
Wait what is even the point of having Ethernet ports on the mesh point units ? I mean it wouldn’t be any faster than the wifi point it’s receiving data from no ?
Can the main device be an access point, instead of a router, so I can use in conjunction my existing router?
This is one of the most thorough reviews I’ve seen! thanks! I just received mine, I preordered when made available. My issue is my router is located in my bedroom which is at the opposite side of the house. I just bought one because I’m home is 1800 feet. Should be sufficient, hopefully. Thanks again! I’m excited to see if this helps!
Are you able to force Google Wifi to only broadcast 5GHz or does it broadcast both 2.4GHz and 5GHz on one single SSID? Are you able to have both bands on two separate SSIDs?
2.4GHz is very crowded and slow in my area so I would like to have all my mobile and home automation devices connect specifically to the 5GHz network for optimal performance.
BTW, thank you Lon for putting up quality content every week. Keep it up!
Very cool new concept for a router.
What’s the Windows command line instructions you are using to test your bandwidth speeds? Thanks.
Lon,
I enjoy your channel, thank you for the great information.
You had posed a question about FiOS, or other companies using MoCA working with Google Wifi or other mesh network extenders. I can share my and others experience.
I have the Google Wifi, and a mix of wired, wireless and MoCA connections. The Google wifi worked great, but created a different network, 192.168.85.*** from the FiOS network of 192.168.1.***, this meant that my MoCA adapters, which received there address from the FiOS Quantum gateway could not talk to the Google network and vice-versa. No matter what I tried, since the MoCA signal came directly from the ONT there was no way to create one network. I was about to give up on having Google WiFi when I read this post
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/googlewifi/Q-xtOnhko48/mveh4NS9BgAJ
The setup was similar to mine, HDHomerun, HTPC, Nas4Free server, XBox, FireStick and now and Nvidia Shield TV(thanks), and a host of wifi devices. So, I crawled under my house, ran CAT 5E to my ONT, had Verizon switch it from Coax to Ethernet. plugged the connection from the ONT to the Google Wifi, everything provisioned on the 192.168.85.*** subnet. Added a MoCA Bridge and everything is visible on the same network. I do not even need the FiOS router, although those with Set Top Boxes will need it for PVR services and channel guide.
Hope you find this helpful.
Christian
Hi any review of Circle Media ‑ Circle with Disney?
Is there support for 802.11r or other roaming protocols? I need something that hands off devices on multiple floors.
What if all of the routers were connected via Ethernet. would they still provide a mesh network, or would they act as individuals?
How does this compare to the ApliFi router and wifi extenders you reviewed, Lon?
Hi Lon. Great review. Question here I have GW at home I tried running iperf3 test on windows 8.1 desktop LAN Cat7 connected as server and windows 10 Laptop AC 5 ghz connected. I always got 233-250 mbps. Never got 500+ mpbs as you gets in video. All latest drivers installed. Link Speed shown on laptop is 433mbps and desktop 1 Gbps. What to do to get 500+ mbps. Thanks.
I think I’m gonna go for one of these. A little hard for me to move past my local-only, wired-only router management mindset but I’m gonna try and push myself to get with the modern times. I like the simplicity of setup and all I really need is the ability to set a few static IPs on the lan. Perhaps some simple forwarding. It looks like this does that just fine.
One other neat trick on offer here is integration with IFTTT. I’m not aware of another router that has that. So you could get a notification or whatnot based upon when a given device connects or disconnects from the network. I wonder if you can set that to trigger on attempted connections. That would be helpful to get notifications for.
I was hoping you would review this. So much more in depth than the shit the verge and CNET put out. Top job!
Very interesting! Not for me but same case as you mentioned. I could try that at my mums place to get rid of the wifi trouble.
Since the Google Wifi appears to be sold out everywhere, does it pay to get the OnHub as a main router and when the Google Wifi is back in stock to get them as access points (I read you can hook them up to Ethernet after it is configured as mesh).
If you disconnect the kid’s devices from the WAN, then wont they just change the MAC address in order to get back online?
Please comment on why this Google system vs the traditional router with additional extender options which are a lot cheaper?
Can i use them in daisy chain or in hub ethernet connect, for remote site/home and get one mesh wi-fi?
How does one of these, when used as a standard WiFi router, compare to the full sized OnHub router?
Can it be configured to only allow devices to connect only if their respective MAC addresses have been pre-entered?
is it good for gaming
Lots of you asked if the remote nodes can be connected via ethernet. The answer is yes! See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMWDrocCldc
Lon is it possible for it to do the wifi mesh through the wire? I was expecting adding these nodes to my wired network to allow for more capacity and range of my wifi? I could have sworn that was a feature during the keynote. Not so sure I’m going to blow the money on a 3 pack to just have wifi extenders. Could saturate too easily.
Hey Lon, can the public IP be accessed from the Google WIFI app? I have port forwarding on for a device and am wondering if when the ISP changes the public IP, can the new IP be seen in the app(remotely)?
what internet speeds do you have
Great video Lon. Do you think you could explain in an upcoming video the differences between this system and the UniFi network nodes from a conceptual viewpoint? With UniFi, each node is connected by ethernet wire back to the main router, which seems in concept a better implementation for the outlying nodes to deliver traffic back to the main router. The Google system is relying on RF links for each outlying node to deliver the traffic back to the router. Can you speak to the topology of each configuration and why choose one over the other? Maybe toss in comparison to the Eero or the Netgear Orbi systems too in concept. Also, is each hop on the mesh network adding any significant latency to the data that may not be realized when using a topology like the UniFi or the Orbi with its dedicated overhead channels for the back haul?