Google Nest Wifi Pro review

The Google Nest Wifi Professional is the long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s Google Nest WiFi mesh system. It helps the newest Wi-Fi commonplace – Wi-Fi 6E – skipping Wi-Fi 6 totally, because the 2019 mannequin was Wi-Fi 5.

The newcomer is on the market in 1-, 2- and 3-packs, and most houses will want at the very least two, however in the event you simply desire a Wi-Fi 6E router to improve an outdated one in a small property, then the Nest Wifi Professional is an economical possibility.

One purpose it’s cheaper than different 6E mesh programs is as a result of there isn’t a devoted wi-fi backhaul channel. This implies a few of your community visitors should compete with visitors from the nodes merely speaking with one another within the mesh.

Wired Ethernet backhaul is supported, so if your house is wired for Ethernet already, otherwise you wish to run new cables, you’ll be able to decide to route that visitors over Ethernet as an alternative.

The Nest Wifi Professional can be a Thread border router, and helps the brand new good dwelling protocol, Matter. This implies you’ll be capable to extra simply entry and management appropriate Web of Issues issues out of your telephone, with out having to have a great deal of additional hubs and wi-fi bridges dotted round your house. 

The specs of the Nest Wifi Professional, nonetheless, differ from nation to nation, and this places US consumers in a greater place than these elsewhere, equivalent to within the UK. Proper now, solely US fashions are in a position to make use of 160MHz Wi-Fi channels, which merely implies that Nest Wifi Professional programs purchased within the UK, and certainly anyplace else on this planet, will provide slower high pace as a result of they’ll use solely the narrower 80MHz Wi-Fi channels.

Moreover, the US fashions promise higher protection, with Google saying you’ll be able to count on 200m² (2200 sq. toes) from every node, whereas Google’s UK retailer says you’ll stand up to as much as 120m² of protection (roughly 1290 sq. toes) as an alternative. That’s a big distinction 

Regardless of this, the Nest Wifi Professional nonetheless represents an improve from the unique Nest Wifi, wherever you reside, even when it now not doubles up as a Nest good speaker.

Design & construct

• 130 x 117 x 85 mm
• Two gigabit Ethernet ports on every
• Inner antennas – 2×2 2.4GHz, 2×2 5GHz, 2×2 6GHz

The Nest WiFi Professional models appear like what would possibly end result if a UE Wonderboom 2 and an ​Apple AirPods Professional 2 case had infants.  

They’re glossy however unassuming-looking ovoids – no ugly exterior antennas right here, and no banks of annoying flashing lights. The whole lot is neatly tucked away, and even the one standing mild simply glows genty beneath the egg-like plastic masking. You wouldn’t even comprehend it was a Google product, have been it not for the ‘G’ emblem engraved into the again of every unit, above the 2 gigabit Ethernet ports (one WAN, one LAN), and the ability socket.

The models are moderately compact and heavy, and the rubberised base implies that they shouldn’t be simply knocked over. There aren’t any screw threads or hooks, so you’ll be able to’t wall mount them. On the bottom there’s a small reset button in addition to a QR code, which you’ll want once you come to set all the things up. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Setup

• Makes use of the Google Dwelling app to finish set-up
• Preliminary node takes 10 minutes to put in 
• Further nodes take round 5 minutes every

Virtually each router and mesh Wi-Fi gadget is now arrange utilizing a companion app to information you thru the method, and the Nest Wifi Professional is not any completely different – besides that it makes use of the Google Dwelling app for this.

This is similar app that used to manage your Nest Cam Indoor and Google Nest Audio good audio system. For those who’re invested in Google’s ecosystem, you’ll doubtless really feel proper at dwelling and in the event you’re not, it might take some getting used to, as a result of at first it’s not instantly apparent the place all the things is. (Earlier Nest Cam homeowners are nonetheless disillusioned with the app because the outdated Nest app was so a lot better.)

As for the setup course of itself, it’s completely easy. Open the app, hit the + image, then ‘Arrange gadget’, ‘New Machine’, allow Location Entry, look forward to the Nest Wifi Professional to be detected, after which scan the QR code when instructed. You’ll be directed to show off your present modem / router, join the primary Nest Wifi Professional to the mains, the join it to the modem by way of the equipped Ethernet cable, and the ability the modem again on. 

It took me about ten minutes to arrange the primary node, after which you’ll be invited to put in the others, which follows the identical means of powering on and scanning the QR code to pair, which takes about 5 minutes every. Together with a firmware replace, the preliminary set-up course of took simply over half an hour. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Options and the Google Dwelling app

• Visitor Wi-Fi, parental controls, and gadget precedence options included
• Port administration, WPA3, ISP and gadget pace exams inbuilt
• Google House is gradual, and the format is complicated

The Nest Wifi Professional has the same old options you’d count on from a mesh system, however not the superior settings that the Professional title would possibly counsel.

Their format within the app isn’t intuitive, and it usually takes a number of seconds to open a easy web page or sub menu, which is irritating.

By way of the Google Dwelling app, you are able to do the fundamentals like change the Wi-Fi password and SSID (community title), and get a fast overview of the units which can be linked to your house community. 

From the Gadgets tab, you’ll be able to pause visitors to particular units, and prioritise visitors – however you’ll be able to solely prioritise visitors on one gadget at a time, and even then, prioritisation isn’t indefinite. You possibly can go for one gadget to be given the very best Wi-Fi connection for as much as eight hours at a time.

Which may work in the event you solely want the gadget to have an excellent connection for odd days the place you may need some vital Zoom conferences, but it surely’s hardly very best in the event you, say, do business from home completely and don’t need the youngsters taking away bandwidth with Roblox and streaming after they get dwelling from college until you’ve remembered to re-set that prioritisation. 

As regards to Zoom conferences, tapping on the Settings cog in the principle menu will see you in a position to entry a ‘Most well-liked Actions’ sub menu, the place you’ll be able to choose Video Conferencing as a most popular software. For now, the one different possibility is Gaming and, presumably, extra choices might be added over time. 

You too can allow a visitor Wi-Fi community (and provides visitors entry to particular units on the community) and there are fundamental parental controls with Google’s SafeSearch content material filter.

There’s help for WPA3, though there’s no hybrid WPA2/WPA3 mode, so older units won’t join in the event you flip that on. And also you’ll discover settings and help for UPnP, IPv6, plus some DNS choices – you need to use Google’s DNS (the default possibility), your ISP’s one, or enter customized DNS particulars.

There’s no choice to run a VPN from the Nest Wifi Professional, and neither is there the choice to open up a desktop management panel which has additional settings. Certainly, you’re not invited to create an admin password for the units throughout set-up both, and you’ll’t configure a firewall.

On the plus aspect, you get at the very least 5 years of automated safety updates from Google, however you get that with all Nest units. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Efficiency 

• Most units can count on to see speeds between 500-700Mbps 
• Speeds drop to round 200-300Mbps over longer distances and when partitions intrude
• Unable to entry the 6GHz band on my Wi-Fi 6E-compatible Google Pixel 6 

All Nest Wifi Professional units help Wi-Fi 6E, however there’s a key distinction between models offered in the US and models offered elsewhere. The overall mixed throughput is 5.4Gbps within the US however solely 4.2Gbps in the remainder of the world. 

In all areas, the highest pace attainable on the two.4GHz band is 600Mbps. On the 5GHz band within the States, the utmost pace you’ll be able to count on is 2.4Gbps – it’s 1.2Gbps elsewhere. It is because, bear in mind, the US {hardware} helps 160MHz channels, whereas rest-of-the-world Nest WiFi Professionals solely help 80MHz on the 5GHz band. 

The highest speeds attainable on the 6GHz band in all areas ought to be 2.4Gbps. 

These are theoretical high speeds, and never what you’ll see in the true world, as a result of distance, obstacles, and radio interference out of your neighbours’ Wi-Fi networks come into the equation. 

Google despatched a 3-pack which I examined in my two-up, two-down terraced home in south London. 

Speeds weren’t overly spectacular, however I can say that the Nest Wifi Professional system did present constant whole-home protection, and within the nice majority of places, I used to be in a position to get speeds between 500-700Mbps on a wide range of units.

That’s manner larger than the pace of most individuals’s broadband – within the UK at the very least – so the actual fact they have been a lot decrease than anticipated must be seen in that context. Nevertheless, in the event you’d be proud of these speeds, you most likely don’t must pay a lot for a mesh system as there are many cheaper choices that can ship this type of efficiency.

I ran a variety of pace exams on my Pixel 6, plus a few older telephones – a Huawei Mate 10 Professional and a RealMe X50 5G – which characteristic Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 respectively. The outcomes beneath are averages rounded up, in contrast with outcomes of pace exams taken in the identical places in my dwelling whereas linked to my regular router, a Virgin Media Tremendous Hub 3. 

Google says that proactive band steering directs your units to radio channels with the most effective efficiency. This largely bears out in testing – in just about each case, wherever I’ve carried out a pace check, I’ve been steered in the direction of Channel 36 on the 5GHz band. Solely on the Huawei Mate 10 Professional did I get kicked all the way down to Channel 11 on the two.4GHz band, and this was out within the backyard with a brick wall, a closed door and 5 metres distance between me and the node – in different phrases, I might count on to be shunted all the way down to 2.4GHz, as larger frequencies are much less good at passing by way of stable objects. 

What you’ll discover from these outcomes is that there seems to be little or no distinction between the efficiency recorded on every telephone. This isn’t good, particularly as they need to have been significantly quicker on the Pixel 6.

The reason being that the Pixel merely wouldn’t connect with the system’s 6GHz radio band, however I had no such issues when testing a Asus ZenWiFi Professional ET12 node and Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 router. 

The Google Dwelling app doesn’t can help you pressure the Nest Wifi Professional to hook up with units on a particular Wi-Fi channel or band. The one possibility was to prioritise my Pixel 6 in order that it will get the most effective efficiency, however that made no discernible distinction. 

The WiFi Velocity Take a look at Professional Android app reveals which radio channels a tool is linked to, and on the Pixel none of them have been inside the 5945-6425 MHz frequencies which make up the 6GHz band. 

I’ve requested Google why that is occurring, however up to now haven’t had a solution. If an answer is obtainable and the issue mounted, I’ll replace the outcomes above.

I used NetSpot to generate a heatmap of the Nest Wifi Professional’s protection all through my dwelling. You possibly can see that the one space the place sign dropped too low to be usable was on the high (the top of the backyard).

Thomas Netwon / Foundry

You could be eager on the Nest Wifi Professional than one other mesh system due to its Matter help and the truth that every node acts as a Thread border router. Nevertheless, if you have already got different Nest units or sure Amazon Echos (amongst different good units) it’s possible you’ll discover that they’ll quickly get free updates that provides the identical help.

Plus, as Matter is model new, it’s arduous to inform how a lot of a price add that is.

Not having any Matter-branded good dwelling units at hand, I’m additionally not in a position to touch upon how properly this facet of the Nest WiFi Professional system works. 

Thomas Newton / Foundry

Value & availability

The Nest Wifi Professional is available for purchase now within the US and UK with costs and a launch date for Australia nonetheless TBC. 

Within the US you’ll be able to buy directly from Google, with single Nest Wifi Professional units costing $199.99. A 2-pack is $299.99, and a 3-pack is priced at $399.99.

You possibly can select to unfold funds over a 12 months, for $16.67/month, $25/month, or $33.33/month respectively.

Greatest Purchase additionally has single, 2-pack, and 3-pack variations of the Nest WiFi Professional on for a similar costs, $199.99, $299.99, and $399.99, respectively. 

Goal has the identical costs: $199.99, $299.99, and $399.99.

Thomas Newton / Foundry

For these within the UK, you should buy immediately from Google’s net store, the place a single Nest Wifi Professional unit prices £189.99, and a greater value-for-money 3-pack will be snapped up for £379.99 – primarily purchase two, get a 3rd one free. There’s no two-pack.

Google helps you to unfold funds over 24 months, seeing you pay £7.92/month for a single unit, or £15.83/month for a 3-pack. 

Nest Wifi Professional models are additionally on sale from Amazon UK for a similar costs, £189.99, and £379.99.

On the time of assessment, the Google Nest Wifi Professional is just not listed on Google’s Australian store, and on the time of writing, value and launch date data was not out there. 

Verdict

Our exams present that as a mesh Wi-Fi system, general efficiency of the Nest Wifi Professional is nice, but it surely’s not practically nearly as good as we’d anticipated. 

There are a good quantity of safety features thrown in, however you’ll be able to’t configure numerous the settings you would possibly count on to have the ability to on a “Professional”-branded system. 

Relying upon your causes for getting a mesh Wi-Fi system, this may very well be forgivable, as might a few of the different drawbacks. However extra demanding customers will discover this limiting, irritating, even. It’s attainable that future firmware updates will enhance on this, however that’s not a given.

What actually sticks within the craw is the truth that the non-U.S. model restricts consumers to slower 5GHz speeds, for no obvious purpose. 

The Linksys Atlas 6 for instance, helps 160MHz channels on the 5GHz band, and a 3-pack prices loads lower than what you’d be forking out for a Nest Wifi Professional 3-pack.

That mentioned, the Nest WiFi Professional is significantly cheaper than most Wi-Fi 6E programs. The Asus ZenWiFi Professional ET12 3-pack, for instance, prices over £1100 / $1000, whereas the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 router is priced round £500 / $500. 

TP-Link’s XE75 (which we’re but to assessment) is a extra inexpensive different, and a more sensible choice by the seems of it.

Wi-Fi 6E should be new to most individuals, however the Nest Wifi Professional has too many drawbacks for us to even think about recommending it. Actually, it’s best to actually spend a while studying our roundup of the most effective mesh Wi-Fi programs to see what we do suggest.

Specs (every node is an identical)

• Dimensions: 130 x 117 x 85 mm
• Weight: 595g
• 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E) dual-band AXE4200/AXE5400 (2.4 GHz as much as 300Mbps, 5 GHz as much as 1201Mbps/2402Mbps, 6 GHz as much as 2402Mbps)
• 2×2 MU-MIMO & OFDMA
• 1 x Ethernet WAN port
• 1 x Ethernet LAN port
• Distant management and administration with Google Dwelling
• Visitor Wi-Fi
• WPA3