If you are coming from an existing one, the new Nest wi-fi pro is a great upgrade. I saw significantly faster speeds, improved reliability, and better performance on the nest wiifi pro compared to the previous nest wiifi system Most people will not be a problem with it being unable to handle multi-Gig speeds. A software update that arrived during my testing fixed the slow speeds that I experienced in the furthest rooms from the main routers.
One of the few routers that won't look like a dead spider is the nest pro. These are the best looking wi-fi routers you can buy. Pale blue, beige, or yellow are some of the colors that the Nest Pro can be found in. They look better out in the open than most other routers because of the shiny finish, but I don't like it.
The closest competitor is the Eero Wifi Pro 6E. Unlike networking experts or people who want hands-on control of every aspect of their networking setup, people who want something that is nice-looking, reliable, easy to use, and that will work well with their smart home are the ones who will be targeted by Google.
The Eero has some advantages over the nest pro. While its speeds were slightly slower, they were more consistent throughout the house and Eero locks behind a monthly subscription. It can't handle multi-Gig connections because it only has 1Gbps ethernet ports, and it has a fixed 6 GHz band.
The Nest Pro has one 6 GHz band and one 5 GHz band. The last one isn't old. It gives the few 6 GHz capable devices a fat new band to speed along on.
The main job of the 6 GHz band is to turn multiple Nest Pro units into a mesh network. The system supports a theoretical maximum speed of 2400 Mbps on 5 GHz and 6 GHz and a bit below 600 Mbps on 2.4 GHz. That is more than double the combined speeds of the last two generations.
There are theoretical maximums. You can only connect to one band at a time, you won't see anything close to the maximum speed on any single device, and the Pro's ethernet ports are capped at 1 Gigabit anyway. You will be spending money if you have multi-Gig internet.
The nest pro wifi is a good all-round device.
The option to switch on 160 MHz channels on the 5 GHz band can improve throughput at the risk of interference from neighboring signals, if you upgrade from a nest wi-fi or another wi-fi 5 In my tests, the speeds and performance were vastly improved by using the Nest Pro.
The set of one, two, or three units is sold by the company. It says there is a single routers that covers up to 2,200 square feet. I knew one wasn't going to cut it in my split level home with over 120 devices connected to the internet.
In order to make sure, I set up a single unit in my living room next to the modem and saw speeds as low as 12 Mbps down and 7 Mbps up in my upstairs rooms, and 64/16 in my office, just down the hall from the main routers. The system was able to deliver more reliable speeds after I added two more nodes in my office and upstairs.
The lower-specced "Points" have been replaced by the same hardware, including two gigabit ethernet ports. The built-in smart speaker from the Points is an easy trade. These nicer looking mesh routers are limited to two.
If you have a multi-story house, the only other option is the 6 GHz band, which has less range and more trouble penetrating solid objects than the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
The name of the system is not pro- level. It doesn't give you a lot of control over your network, but you can enable some features. You can't split 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz into separate SSIDs, force devices to connect to a certain access point only, change channels and transmit power. Most people don't want that level of control, they just want something that works
It seems like a limiting factor that the nest pro relies on 6 GHz.
The Nest Pro doesn't do much else. The setup is done with the help of the Home app. If you are going to swap out your old routers for a new one, be sure to check out my article on how to swap out your devices without cutting off your internet service.
The Home app has a variety of features, including remote network management, guest network setup, data consumption statistics, and an overview of your connected devices. Eero charges $10 a month or $100 a year for a lot of these features.
The app was able to identify about 70% of my devices, but I still can't figure out which one is the one from the video game. Setting up a Family Wifi feature that lets you assign specific devices to family members and schedule wi-fi access is a good way to manage screen time for younger children.
I can use my voice to pause the internet on my daughter's device. You can use SafeSearch to block adult sites, but you can't block specific sites or categories for a fee.
There is an option to display a password for a guest network on a Google Nest display. It is easy for friends and family to get online when you are not around.
Cloud software is used to manage the Nest Pro. The company says it automatically organizes network traffic by changing bands if there's congestion. Eero doesn't allow disabling any of these features, but you can at least do that. Without them, the system won't work as well.
The option to prioritize a single device on your network is helpful when you need to get work done and your kids are playing games at the same time. I didn't notice much difference on my work computer, but I didn't have any problems before I enabled it. People with slower speeds will benefit.
The preferred activities option with the nest pro allows you to prioritize video conferencing and gaming for better internet performance There was no noticeable change during my testing. The settings are wide. It would be great to have more control here.
The Nest Pro was very good. I was able to stream 4K video, play virtual reality on a headset, and work on my laptop in every room because of the consistent, strong, and consistent wi-fi signal I received.
The wired PC in my farthest flung bedroom was able to continue my son's online gaming habit efficiently, and my 100 plus smart home devices stayed connected and responsive.
I saw average wi-fi speeds of 350 Mbps down and 30 Mbps up throughout the house, with an average wired throughput of just under 500 Mbps. I was able to use video calls as I moved around the house.
The Eero Pro 6E had more consistent speed throughout the house, while the Nest system had slower single- device throughput from the main routers.
The download and upload speeds are reported in megabits per second, and are an average of three tests, run on a network outputting an average of 497 Mbps down and 30 Mbps up at the time of testing
In order to hardwire my son's gaming PC when I test mesh networks, I usually put a nodes upstairs on a desk in the back bedroom. There is a bedroom wall, a closet, another wall, a floor, and a couple of bathroom walls.
The 6 GHz band has a hard time with solid objects. The Eero Pro 6 and Pro 6E nodes I tested performed well there, but the first generation system really struggled there.
The Home app reported that the mesh connection was poor when I first set it up, but when I tested it, the connection was good.
There are 160MHz channels in 5 GHz and 6 GHz and 2x2 in 5 GHz and 2x2 in the 6 GHz band.
The signal from the living room is too weak for a reliable back-up. The laptop I was using had a wireless speed of 165/6. In order to address complaints from some users that their speeds were being capped at 50Mbps, a software update was pushed during testing. I was able to get consistent speeds in the rest of the house due to the increased speeds upstairs.
There is more airspace in the 6 GHz band than in the 5 GHz band, which is why it uses the 6 GHz band. According to Noronha, this gives it up to two times the speed and a more reliable connection. He said that if you don't have a 6 GHz capable device in your home, you're seeing a better level of performance.
The 6 GHz signal has a lower penetration than the other two bands. In regards to the number of streams, the antenna design, and the power amplifier, Noronha says that the hardware was designed by Google. Even though speeds improved after the update, I still needed three nodes to get a strong signal in my house.
The wired PC averaged more than double the amount of data on the Eeros when connected via ethernet. The 6 GHz backhaul is believed to have caused the Nest to have higher Latency. The Eero systems are stuck on 6 GHz unless you use a wired connection.
Connected devices bring with them concerns about how the data they collect is protected. The companies whose smart home products we review handle your data.
The Privacy FAQ outlines the types of data that is collected from its connected home devices, as well as the standard Privacy Policy. The data it collects and how you can manage it can be found on the support page.
signal strength, channel, and device types are some of the main data collected by a wi-fi routers. This is needed to improve the performance of your internet service. The content of any traffic on your network, as well as the websites you visit, are not tracked by the internet giant, and the MAC addresses of your devices are only retrieved when you need them.
You can turn on or off cloud services in the Privacy settings section. Cloud services that are turned off won't work with features like guest network.
Because of this inflexibility, the 6E devices can't really use the 6 GHz band on the nodes. My phone got just 191 Mbps down when connected to the upstairs nodes, compared to the 315 Mbps it got when connected to the 5 GHz band. I got the fastest speeds I've ever had on any device, at 622 Mbps, when it was connected to the main routers.
If you have a multi-story house with no internet in the walls and want top speeds on the top floor, you should look at a different networking solution. It seems like the reliance on 6 GHz backhaul is a limitation.
A proxy for range and signal strength is the single- device throughput measurement. Most devices won't need that much bandwidth unless you download large files or transfer them between devices. It takes 25 Mbps to stream 4K video on a single device.
It is more important that your network is stable and reliable with lots of stuff on it running at the same time: several people streaming, doing video calls for work, playing games, and any smart home devices doing their thing. It can all add up. The Nest Wifi Pro did well after the update. I didn't have any issues with slow speeds, unresponsiveness, or congestion, and I didn't need to restart the system.
I found that the security cameras and smart displays on the Eero Pro 6E network were more reliable than the ones on the Nest system. Slow load times were caused by them staying on the 5 GHz channel instead of bouncing between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The Hub Max didn't do it once on the network.
Noronha told me that while they don't prioritize Nest devices over those from other manufacturers, they do test their devices extensively with their wi-fi system to make sure they perform well.
I haven't been able to test this yet, but the hardware of the nest wifi pro should be an excellent foundation for your smart home There is a Thread radio built into each routers. When the new smart home standard Matter arrives on Google Home devices, it will be possible to connect Thread smart home devices and Matter controllers.
You won't have to worry about having a separate hub when you buy any Matter smart home device. It will work in your house if it is Matter or Thread.
If your internet speed is less than 1 gigabit per second, your home isn't enormous, you don't need advanced networking features, and you want something that's simple to use and largely reliable even with a lot of smart home devices on the network, the search engine company'
The Eero Pro 6E is a better choice if you have higher speeds. The three-pack cost $699 when it was first launched, but it is currently on sale for as low as $419. Eero has a smart home hub built in and will be updated to support Matter next year.
The Eero Pro 6E has a 2.5Gbps ethernet port as well as a Gigabit port, but you have to pay $10 a month for many of the features that are offered by the internet giant. Ad-blocking, internet backup service, and more robust parental controls are included in the price. Annual subscriptions to a password manager are included.
The Eero Pro 6 is similar to the Eero Pro 6E in that it is cheaper and has more features, but it is also more expensive. It doesn't offer wi-fi 6e. The Eero systems can use smart speakers. If you wanted to get further coverage, you could buy an Eero router and use a Echo device. The speed of the devices is cut in half so they aren't as efficient as adding another one.
If you are looking for the best budget 6E router, I would recommend the nest wip pro. I'm waiting for the reviews on Wyze's new option for a wi-fi 6. This is the company's first product.
TP-Link has a $300 two-pack wi-fi system. That doesn't include Thread or Matter. There are lots of bells and whistles, but no Thread or Matter, and it starts at $400. If you're into that sort of thing, either of those will give you more access to the networking information.
One of the first three-in-one devices to come on the market are the Matter controller, the Thread border routers and the Nest Wifi Pro. The Eero line is going to be upgraded to Matter. It is expected that Thread and Matter will be built into every access point. If you want future-proof your smart home, don't anticipate access to multi-Gig speeds, and want to avoid the dead spider aesthetic, the nest wi-fi pro is a good fit.
The photos were taken by Tuohy.
Every smart device has a set of terms and conditions that you have to agree to before you can use it. It is not possible for us to read and analyze all of them. We started counting the number of times you have to agree to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people can't negotiate.
You have to agree to use the internet service.
There are some agreements that are optional.
By sharing device statistics and crash reports, you can help improve the network.
There were four mandatory agreements and two optional agreements.
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