Nest WiFi review: good WiFi throughout the house?
A TEST REPORT from David Haydl 
on July 16, 2020, 8:30 am | 🔥 popular | Write a comment
Many know that Proproblem is all too good: you live in a relatively large house, and there is this one corner where the WiFi never reaches. It is precisely this corner that the Nest Wifi also wants to provide with reception. my test
The Nest Wifi isn't exactly new. It is the second edition of the Google Wifi that hit the market a few years ago. Since the entire Smart Home division was given the "Nest" designation in Mountain View some time ago, the former Google Wifi has also been given this name. The Nest Wifi is a mesh network consisting of at least one router and an access point. But what exactly is a mesh network? Mesh means something like "interlocking". And that's basically what this WiFi set does. The router and the access point “interlock” so that a comprehensive WLAN is created that supplies even the smallest corners of a large house with Internet.
But wait, can't normal WiFi amplifiers do that too? The answer to that question is, not really. Although the range of the Internet is also increased with an amplifier, the bandwidth is shared. This means that the internet speed will be slower.
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Unboxing and initial setup
The Nest Wifi's router and access point come in a single package that screams the "Made by Google" brand. The packaging is basically kept in white. You can only see a Google logo on it, the Proproduct name, a picture of the set and a few small inscriptions. If you open the packaging, you get to the two devices, the power cable, an Ethernet cable and various instructions.
The contents of the package are relatively complex. (Image: TechnikNews)
For the first setup, you need the Google Home app, which can be downloaded free of charge from the Play Store and the App Store. Once downloaded, there is a plus button on the start page of the app in the top left. If you press this, the option "Set up device" appears. This is to be selected. It is important that both devices are connected to the power supply and that the Nest WiFi router is connected to the actual router via the Ethernet cable. Then you have to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router. Immediately afterwards you should also scan the QR code of the access point. However, I did not find a QR code on my AP. So I manually entered the code on the bottom. However, I would hardly have found it, Google has embedded it so small in the silicone of the bottom. Not a good experience. Once the pairing is complete, a WiFi name and password have to be specified and a WiFi test is carried out. It is determined whether the connection between the two network devices is stable or whether further adjustments have to be made with regard to the positioning.
Screenshots: TechnikNews
Design
The design of the Nest Wifi couldn't be simpler. The housing of the router and the access point is completely bare except for a small Google logo on the top. The material is a white plastic. There is no other color variant. In principle, I don't think that's so bad, because the white is very inconspicuous. However, I also believe that a black version fits better in some of the homes I know.
The Nest Wifi consists of a router and an access point. (Image: TechnikNews)
The special feature of this mesh network set is that the access point has a loudspeaker. That makes some nice things possible. So it is possible to listen to music with the router and blast the Google Assistant with commands - thanks to the integrated microphones. But you shouldn't expect a sound miracle here. In terms of sound, the speakers are on a similar level as the Nest Minithat Nils tested some time ago.
Picture: TechnikNews
The underside is made of silicone so that the two devices do not slide around. However, this has the disadvantage that a lot of dust is magically attracted. The power connection is also located in the lower area of the two network devices. There is no rechargeable battery, but in my opinion it is not absolutely necessary.
Google has installed a loudspeaker and microphones for the Google Assistant in the access point. (Image: TechnikNews)
Everyday experiences
Short history lesson: As you can see from my biography under the articles, I live in Graz - in a small house. After moving into this house, the WLAN router found a place on the ground floor. In a position where I received little reception on the first floor. Although we have repositioned the router over the years, I was all the more excited about the Nest Wifi because of the history.
So for test purposes I moved the router back to its original location. And indeed, with the Nest Wifi, it is possible that I can get the same speeds on the first floor as I did on the ground floor. In addition, the connection change between AP and router happens very quickly if one is closer to one device than the other. So far so good - isn't it? The answer to this question is (unfortunately): No, not true!
There were no special incidents during the first few hours of use. At first everything was as I expected it to be. Then it happened more and more often that, for example, websites no longer worked - there was no data traffic to the device currently in use. A connection to the WLAN was still available. “What's going on?” I asked myself.
After a short research, I found out that "Double NAT" was to blame for this behavior. An explanation of this would go beyond the scope of this review, which is why you are interested here can read what it is about. In any case, I implemented the proposed solutions and everything worked again. That didn't take a lot of effort, but I would have liked the home app to show when Double NAT disrupts the network.
But that shouldn't have been the last annoyance, as it quickly turned out. A few days after the double NAT fix, it often happened that the access point simply failed and the connection was lost. Simply that way. That was very annoying, especially now with all the online meetings. The only solution for this Proproblem: Wait two minutes. The whole thing is particularly incomprehensible when you consider that the WiFi test in the Home app indicates that there isn't any Prothere are problems in the network. So it shouldn't be like that.
Picture: TechnikNews
to the latter ProHowever, it must be said that this problem probably only affects my model, since I have not found any similar reports on the Internet.
Prices and availability
The Nest Wifi is available to buy from the Google Store. The basic set with the router and the access point, which you also need for now, costs 259 euros there. If you want to expand the network, there is a single router for 159 euros and a single access point for 139 euros.
Nest Wifi: conclusion
My first impression of the Nest Wifi was really good. Apart from the fact that the router and the access point fit everywhere thanks to the simple and simple design, more living space is actually covered by the Internet. A nice bonus is that the small access point can also function as a wireless speaker.
Then there are the two elephants in the room though - the "Double NAT" -Proproblem and the unreliability of the access point (my test device). And even though I quickly got rid of the initial inconvenience with a quick search on the internet, it's annoying that the Google Home app can't point out this error. The AP's unreliability ended up causing me to reconnect to my normal router. Because of these circumstances, I'm sorry I can't recommend the Nest Wifi.
Nevertheless, we thank you for providing the Nest Wifi.
