Google WiFi system, 3-Pack - Router Replacement for Whole Home Coverage (NLS-1304-25),White

Google Wifi ReviewTL;DR version: 48 hours in and I’m absolutely amazed. True to form and other reviews, these things just work, are rock solid, and fast. Very happy with the purchase.The longer version for those interested….Background: A while back I got gigabit speed internet here at home. The speed is amazing on my wired iMac, but wifi through my Apple AirPort routers (1x AirPort Extreme, 3x AirPort Expresses acting as repeaters) was leaving something to be desired. Comcast had given me a big Netgear Nighthawk monstrosity as part of the gigabit package and when I tried it out vs. the AirPorts the difference was night and day - the Nighthawk wifi network was multiple times faster than the AirPort network. Come to find out my trusty AirPort network didn't support the newest, latest, greatest wifi standards so simply wasn't as fast as the Nighthawk. And Apple has apparently decided to get out of the router game.The Problem: To take advantage of the greater speed, I reconfigured my network to support both the higher speed Nighthawk wifi and the lower speed AirPort network. Why keep both? Because the single nighthawk didn't have enough range to cover my three story, 4,500 sq.ft. house (and the now hard-wired 1,000 sq. ft. guest house) while the multiple AirPort expresses did. So now I had two completely different wifi networks running at two different speeds covering different parts of the house. Not ideal, especially now that I'm more reliant on wifi for my iPhone (T-Mobile's signal in the house isn't great, so my wife and I have been using the really excellent wifi calling feature.)The Solution: Today I replaced ALL my routers with four Google Wifi units. The primary wired into the Comcast modem in the office (downstairs), one for the Master Bedroom (2nd level, mesh), one for the guest bedroom (kind of a separate split level thing off to the side, also mesh), and one for the Guest House (hard wired to Ethernet run from the main house). The primary unit connects to a gigabit switch that then connects to several wired devices.The Verdict: Only two days in, but so far I'm thrilled. The Google Wifi units form a mesh network that seems to cover my entire house in strong wifi. I haven’t found anywhere in my oddly shaped and sized house that i’m not getting flawless wifi. Some places are “faster” than others, but even in the “worst” spots I’m still getting at least 40Mbps which I’m not going to complain about. At best, I’m getting 200+Mbps, which definitely isn’t full gigabit but is leagues better than I could get from the AirPorts and on par with the best I’d ever gotten from the Nighthawk… while covering both houses with a single, uninterrupted network with great signal in every room.Setup was stupid simple and completely done from the iPhone app. Haven’t had a chance to really play with all of the cool features (internet pause, etc.), but the core functionality is fantastic. I was slightly concerned about functionality since it’s a Google device and we’re all-in on Apple gear (3x Macs, 2x iPhones, 4x iPads, etc.), but almost everything has worked flawlessly (the only glitch was, ironically, with the now Google-owned Nest Thermostats I have - the trick is to reset the network settings on the Nests and re-enter the new wifi info). Every device, wired or wireless, has worked beautifully and the speed is phenomenal.(As a note and as a point of comparison, I had been a pre-orderer for the Luma mesh wifi system and had briefly tried that out when it finally shipped. I had been greatly looking forward to it and was so disappointed when the units finally arrived. Setup was a nightmare - the stations couldn’t find each other requiring starting over, but then I entered a slightly different name during the process and then it tried to set up two networks, the coverage was bad, and on and on… The Google Wifi units are everything I had hoped the Luma system would be and more.)Downsides: Honestly, none that I can really tell so far. I’ve long since given up on caring about being able to tweak every little power user setting in a router, so the options offered by the Google Wifi app more than take care of my needs. It was a little confusing when I hooked up the Guest House unit (wired into Ethernet) as a wifi point because it asked me to unplug the ethernet during configuration but then didn’t really give me any guidance, but it still flawlessly added the unit to the existing mesh network (but now with ethernet backhaul). Placement in my house was a little bit of a pain, but that’s just my house being weird - since you just have to plug in wherever there’s a power outlet it’s about as painless as it can be.Final Thoughts: If anything changes or something wonky happens I’ll update this, but otherwise I wholeheartedly recommend Google Wifi. Buy it you’ll love it!

After 18 months, my Google WiFi is doing great. It provides a consistent and strong WiFi signal throughout my home and in my front and back yards. I almost forget about it, but it is always there. I tested another current (2018) system by Linksys, but it was not as consistently fast as my Google system. Get this - you will be happy with it.Original Review:Day One: Loving it... I have a two story home and use Comcast for my internet service provider. They provide a single modem / router which reaches most of my home pretty well. It is located upstairs in a front room of my home. Unfortunately, it doesn't do a tremendous job of reaching my downstairs office and is spotty in my back yard. I like to listen to my Sonos system when I'm by my swimming pool and it's always a 50-50 proposition if my phone can stay connected to my home network to control the Sonos. Occasionally, when I run backups, my backup program tells me that I have lost connection to the network drive. I have tried a couple of TP-Link range extenders and they help, but not overwhelmingly.After reading a TheWireCutter article on mesh networking products, I decided to try Google's WiFi system. WireCutter actually recommended Netgear's Orbi, but as I read their review and others, I concluded that the Orbi really isn't mesh at all..... it's just a really really strong WiFi router and repeater. I'm sure it works fine, but it is more money than Google's product and I wanted to try a true mesh network.I set the Google WiFi up this morning. It took about ten minutes to put all three units in play. I think it took longer for me to come up with a clever name for my new home network than to physically install the units. The app for the system is very easy to follow, in true Google fashion.I tested the WiFi signal throughout my house and compared it to my still functioning Comcast WiFi signal. Outstanding! In places where my old signal was wimpy, the Google system was pumping out a strong clear signal that permeated places in my back yard yet unseen by WiFi. Very impressive.Next: the fun part--- reconnecting everything in the house to the new WiFi connection and new network. I have a 26 port network switch which connect my two network attached storage drives, my television and DVD player and my beloved Sonos bridge. I ran an ethernet cable from the 2nd port on the main Google unit to the switch and hoped that it would instantly allow access to everything. Nope... everything still expected to be connected to the original network. So, I disconnected cable running from the Comcast router to the switch, waited a few minutes and then checked. That was all I needed to do for those devices to connect - just give the switch ONE connection the network running through the Google router.The next issue I encountered was that my Sonos system would run fine from my PC, but not from my android phone or tablet. In fact, it caused an issue where my phone and tablet would connect to my Google network, then disconnect, then reconnect. I couldn't get my Sonos app to control anything. I called Google's support line for this WiFi system to see if they could help. They gave me some good advice:- first, don't expect everything on your network to instantly recognize everything else. I've noticed in the past when I connect network devices, like NAS drives, they don't always connect for a few minutes. Sean, from Google support said that things might take a day or two to be fully integrated.- second, when something isn't quite right, power down your modem and your Google WiFi router - the one connected to your modem. Wait five minutes and then restart your modem. Give that about three or four minutes to fully come back to life, then power on your WiFi again. That can take a minute or so to fully reboot. When I did this, my Sonos system was fine and was fully controllable by my android apps.So, it's still early in the game, but I now have a really strong WiFi signal throughout my 3350 square foot house. I have a very good WiFi signal out by my pool. My network backups appear to be running much quicker and complete without interruption. I'll update this as things progress, but on Day One, everything seems to be better, faster and running just great.