The avalanche of new smartphones, tablets, laptops and assorted "smart devices" (including but not limited to TVs, speakers, lights, fridge, coffee machine, heat pump, blinds, washing machines and the list can go on and on) in our homes require, pretty much all of them, Internet access. This is done mostly through wireless connections - after all who wants to spend time with ugly cables running around the house, not enough ports and poor management?
Networking companies create new devices every day - some with specific features such as parental controls, others with performance enhancements. But the reality is that consumers want an easy to use a router that can manage their network from a single point - used to be a browser, now a mobile app.
Google has answered these needs by releasing the Google Nest WiFi series in New Zealand. Rather than continue using the name Google WiFi, the company seems to have decided to leverage its well-known home automation Nest brand.
The new Google Nest WiFi has been adapted to New Zealand needs - which pretty much means support for our fibre network through the form of VLAN tags, which is a requirement for most (but not all) New Zealand ISPs.
This means that, unlike the old Google WiFi, the new Google Nest WiFi works out of the box in New Zealand. If you have a fibre connection at home you can plug the Google Nest WiFi directly to the ONT - the device Chorus installed at your home to connect your internal network (LAN) to the fibre network (WAN) and route packets between those.
The Google Nest WiFi is a router only - it has no modem capabilities, so if you are still connected to the old DSL technology (ADSL and VDSL) then you will need a modem to connect it to the old copper network. In this case, you will need to disable some features on your old equipment to make this work.
First thing you will notice, out of the box is that Google Nest Wifi looks nothing like your old router. It's a nice looking white device that is no different than a smart speaker in shape. This is intentional as Google wants the router to be "exposed". A lot of people stash their ugly routers away in cupboards or inside drawers, causing their coverage to drop. By being at the centre of the action Google Nest WiFi can give you a bit more of that so much needed performance.
But this is not the only way to make it better as Google Nest WiFi supports what we know as "mesh network". This means you can add more access points that communicate to the router, via WiFi and extend the network even further. Google Nest WiFi supports the 802.11s mesh WiFi standard - I did not have a WiFi point to test here though so won't co into further details.
As mentioned, Google Nest WiFi can be connected directly to your ONT using the supplied ethernet cable - in my case I used it with my 2degrees connection. This ISP requires, in addition to the VLAN tag, a PPPOE username/password to login - so you have to check you have this handy to configure the new device. Using the Google Home app to add the new router to my home configuration you just need to scan a QR code at the bottom of the router, specify if it will need a PPPOE username/password and in a few minutes the connection will be active.
You can then use the Google Home app to configure your LAN settings - router IP address, DHCP address pool, DHCP reservation, IPv6 support, port forwarding and UPnP support. It all seems pretty basic - because it is. No complicated browser-based user interfaces and the Google Home is one of the simplest app I've seen for router management.
The wireless network configuration is very simple too - no complicated things there. You basically enter a Network Name (SSID), the password and there's an option to enable WPA3 (a new wireless encryption) support on the network. That's it. And if you want things to automatically connect I'd recommend after you have configured everything else to just change the SSID/password (all case sensitive!) to the old network you had at home so all device just connect again.
On first install, my review device already had an update to install and Google says they keep the device constantly updated, automatically.
The router supports AC220 MU-MIMO WiFi with 4x (5 GHz) and 2x2 (2.4 GHz) antennas - this covers 802.11a/b/g/n/ac so pretty much any current device should connect first thing. The router intelligently manages band steering, meaning it can tell your devices to connect to 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz - and switch between then - to achieve the best performance.
Also, let it be clear: the focus here is wireless. The Google Nest WiFi has only two ethernet ports: one to connect to your ISP and a second one for LAN devices. Sure you can connect a switch to it - but use this port wisely, if at all.
Parental control is implemented but I found it a bit lacking on the current version - basically you can create group of devices (such as "Kids' devices) and create a schedule to pause these groups during the day. Other platforms go a step further and allow you to limit the number of total hours used during the day as well, so this would be a good thing to add here.
In terms of performance, Google says it can handle up to 100 connected devices, thanks to a quad-core 64-bit ARM CPU running at 1.4 GHz.
I did some speed tests and got interesting results. First, the router itself can perform a speed test - initiated from the Google Home app. My home connection is a 900 Mbps down / 200 Mbps up fibre service. The router test showed it capping at 890 Mbps down - which is impressive, but with a less stellar 55 Mbps down - which could be something on the test server as you will see.
Running speedtest from different devices, I managed to get anything between 600 and 700 Mbps downloads and maxed at the 200 Mbps uploads. These are good results but the reality is they are not much different than what I already get on a FritzBox 7590 (another high-end router) I have here. Other tests - including iperf3 testing between devices inside the LAN show that there isn't much difference between these high-end devices.
This means you will see a lot more improvement if you are moving from low-tier devices, like the ones most ISPs provide these days.
The Google Nest WiFi router has not Google Assistant or smart speaker capabilities - I am told the additional access points have those though. Again, I haven't tested this as I did not receive an additional access point.
The Google Nest WiFi is available through retail and can be used on any New Zealand ISP but Orcon managed to sign a deal with Google and new connections from the end of this month will start receiving the Google Nest WiFi free of charge (although I am told you have to return it if you cancel the service). You can also get additional Google Nest WiFi access points from Orcon on a monthly rental fee - while you can buy those outright in retail.
