2019 Google Nest Router is impressive

[zakoh]

I am looking forward to a review of the 2019 Google Nest Wifi router (and the mesh system) on this site.

Why did this product catch my eye? A few days ago my brother connected gigabit Google Fiber to his home. It came with one of those new tiny 2019 Google Nest Wifi Routers. So when I visited him, my Pixel 3a phone (with 2x2 AC hardware) linked with the access point at 866mbps, from the same room and from the adjustment room. I run the Ookla speed test app, and it reported downlink speed of above 500Mbps, which I thought is mighty impressive.

My previous point of reference is the TP-Link Archer C8 AC1750 router in my home's living room, which has 400Mbps internet from spectrum. The same pixel 3a links with it at 866Mbps from the living room, but running Ookla speed test from the same room, or next room, results in 230-250Mbps downlink speed, which is half of what I got with the same client and Google Nest Wifi. In fact, I have never seen a downlink speed test result above 260Mbps with ANY client when using Archer C8.

So why the difference? I suspect, it's the router. Google probably did something right with their product. The nest wifi supports 4x4 transmit streams while the Archer C8 supports 3x3. Maybe this is also accounts for the difference as I have read that having a router with more transmit-receive streams can benefit even those clients with only one or two.

Having said that, I am not a fan of the Google Nest Android based app interface (it's great for those who understand nothing about networking though), it doesn't have any USB/NAS, and I am not fan of putting so much power in hands of Google to be in charge of my home networks. However, if there is some day a similar non-google product, perhaps with the same chipset, I could consider buying one.

 

[L&LD]

What I don't understand about these types of solutions is that the reason we use our own routers in the first place is to keep the ISP (and their employees and subcontractors) outside our private networks. Why oh why would I invite a more invasive host willingly, to be in charge of all?

 

[Trip]

What I don't understand about these types of solutions is that the reason we use our own routers in the first place is to keep the ISP (and their employees and subcontractors) outside our private networks. Why oh why would I invite a more invasive host willingly, to be in charge of all?

I think you know the answer to that question, L&LD. C-o-n-v-e-n-i-e-n-c-e. By far and away, the average person values quality of life and convenience over the might-be, even would-be "threat" to their privacy. Perhaps not most people here on SNB, but we are by far, by FAR, the minority. And I can't say I really blame them. If I was in the typical person's shoes, if I being honest, I'd probably do the same thing.

 

[mackworth]

What I don't understand about these types of solutions is that the reason we use our own routers in the first place is to keep the ISP (and their employees and subcontractors) outside our private networks. Why oh why would I invite a more invasive host willingly, to be in charge of all?

I think most people get their own router because 1) Wireless Range 2) Stability 3) Mesh 4) Not "renting" one from their ISP etc. 5) Speed .... 100) Privacy.

 

[MichaelCG]

So why the difference? I suspect, it's the router.

I will bet it has more to do with Google's network vs the local cable company than it does the router. I had a 300/25 service from TimeWarner, but a single client could never get higher than 125Mbps. Using 3-4 clients, I could for sure peg out my downloads at 315Mbps. Now with Google Fiber, I can easily hit 300-400Mbps with a single wireless client. I can hit over 900Mbps on a wired connection. The biggest difference....latency. TW was generally 80-120ms to almost anything. GF is generally sub-20ms and quite often sub-10ms to almost anything in the US.

 

[Peter_M]

"the might-be, even would-be "threat" to their privacy.

Well, sir we certainly are not living in the same world. Try evolutionary biology or anything that has to do with evolution and then with the nature of men and women. Try to talk about some science books like "The Bell curve". Get the red pill, we live in a propaganda world that denies reality. But sure you have the right to promote Google Tech and by the way why are you doing this...let me think...

Next.

 

[GuruGuy]

I am looking forward to a review of the 2019 Google Nest Wifi router (and the mesh system) on this site.

Why did this product catch my eye? A few days ago my brother connected gigabit Google Fiber to his home. It came with one of those new tiny 2019 Google Nest Wifi Routers. So when I visited him, my Pixel 3a phone (with 2x2 AC hardware) linked with the access point at 866mbps, from the same room and from the adjustment room. I run the Ookla speed test app, and it reported downlink speed of above 500Mbps, which I thought is mighty impressive.

My previous point of reference is the TP-Link Archer C8 AC1750 router in my home's living room, which has 400Mbps internet from spectrum. The same pixel 3a links with it at 866Mbps from the living room, but running Ookla speed test from the same room, or next room, results in 230-250Mbps downlink speed, which is half of what I got with the same client and Google Nest Wifi. In fact, I have never seen a downlink speed test result above 260Mbps with ANY client when using Archer C8.

So why the difference? I suspect, it's the router. Google probably did something right with their product. The nest wifi supports 4x4 transmit streams while the Archer C8 supports 3x3. Maybe this is also accounts for the difference as I have read that having a router with more transmit-receive streams can benefit even those clients with only one or two.

Having said that, I am not a fan of the Google Nest Android based app interface (it's great for those who understand nothing about networking though), it doesn't have any USB/NAS, and I am not fan of putting so much power in hands of Google to be in charge of my home networks. However, if there is some day a similar non-google product, perhaps with the same chipset, I could consider buying one.

Isn’t it still an ac1200 class router

 

[royarcher]

Well, sir we certainly are not living in the same world. Try evolutionary biology or anything that has to do with evolution and then with the nature of men and women. Try to talk about some science books like "The Bell curve". Get the red pill, we live in a propaganda world that denies reality. But sure you have the right to promote Google Tech and by the way why are you doing this...let me think...

Next.

I recently received a sonos sound bar so like a fool I turned on the google assistant,just playing around with it , and forgot to turn the assistant off.Now its supposed to listen when it hears certain words like ok or hey google but it would just start listening while watching tv without any mention of ok or hey google, the sound would lower and the dammed think would listen without uttering a response.So I immediately turned the assistant off and the only reason I have not thrown the little spy out into the cold is the fact that it was a birthday present from my brother's and sisters, the big 60 ,and the price of the thing which is around $600 au yes please give me the red pill

 

[L&LD]

I think most people get their own router because 1) Wireless Range 2) Stability 3) Mesh 4) Not "renting" one from their ISP etc. 5) Speed .... 100) Privacy.

Take that 1 off the 100 and '00' is where I position a router for my customers and myself in your list above. It is infinitely more important to have control and total ownership of your network before the other checkpoints are even considered.

When I explain that part to my customers, that is when they start to seriously consider owning their own router. The range, speed, and one-time cost are all of a sudden secondary to the fact that their network will really be their own. The point is driven home when they see stats from Skynet or any similar script and can't believe all the 'door-knocking' that had been happening all along. The purchase is even more justified when I explain that their ISP doesn't need to 'knock' at all. They have the key to the whole network and don't need to announce themselves at all.

 

[royarcher]

Take that 1 off the 100 and '00' is where I position a router for my customers and myself in your list above. It is infinitely more important to have control and total ownership of your network before the other checkpoints are even considered.

When I explain that part to my customers, that is when they start to seriously consider owning their own router. The range, speed, and one-time cost are all of a sudden secondary to the fact that their network will really be their own. The point is driven home when they see stats from Skynet or any similar script and can't believe all the 'door-knocking' that had been happening all along. The purchase is even more justified when I explain that their ISP doesn't need to 'knock' at all. They have the key to the whole network and don't need to announce themselves at all.

What about the modem? Here in Australia we have just had a NBN ( national broadband network) set up.The idea is to provide faster speeds,which is a joke the fastest plan you can get on it is 100 mbs ( you guys don't know how good you have it with 10 times our speeds) .But back to my point / question we can have and I do owe my own routers but the gateways / modem are all owned by nbn co .Does that mean that the IPs have a key to my network?

 

[L&LD]

@royarcher depending on how you setup your router, I would say no.

If you have your own router properly setup and you also have a Public IP on your routers WAN, you can breathe a little easier.

 

[royarcher]

@royarcher depending on how you setup your router, I would say no.

If you have your own router properly setup and you also have a Public IP on your routers WAN, you can breathe a little easier.

Thanks for that and yes I do have a public IP on the WAN .My IP uses a pppoe connection so the first thing I did,after tossing out the supplied tp link piece of junk, was change the password if that's what you mean by proper set up

 

[sbsnb]

The idea is to provide faster speeds,which is a joke the fastest plan you can get on it is 100 mbs ( you guys don't know how good you have it with 10 times our speeds).

I have 50 mbps and that's enough to stream to two televisions in HD simultaneously and still download huge files at over 40 mbps without a hiccough in WiFi calls. I don't get the need for more speed. Maybe people just don't have a router with a good QoS implementation? I mean more speed is nice, but it's not a strict necessity even for a connected home.

 

[royarcher]

I have 50 mbps and that's enough to stream to two televisions in HD simultaneously and still download huge files at over 40 mbps without a hiccough in WiFi calls. I don't get the need for more speed. Maybe people just don't have a router with a good QoS implementation? I mean more speed is nice, but it's not a strict necessity even for a connected home.

Yes your right we to are on a fifty mbs plan and we stream two tvs , sometime at the same time, while my wife facebooks or reads local news feeds on her laptop and we never have any buffer problems so if we did have one gig speeds I wouldn't know what to do with it

 

[10gig]

Isn’t it still an ac1200 class router

Negative. It's an AC2200 now.

 

[10gig]

I have 50 mbps and that's enough to stream to two televisions in HD simultaneously and still download huge files at over 40 mbps without a hiccough in WiFi calls. I don't get the need for more speed. Maybe people just don't have a router with a good QoS implementation? I mean more speed is nice, but it's not a strict necessity even for a connected home.

Well, many of us have moved on to 4K HDR televisions and programming. I get 4K from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and even Vudu. Since there's more than one person in our home, we might have two or more 4K streams at once.

Also, almost everything I do on the web is faster for having 1 Gbps service from AT&T Fiber. I download and upload documents all the time, as well as images, and occasionally video. Windows 10 updates are also faster to download, as is everything else – Linux distros, the latest version of Golang or Python, Office updates, etc.

 

[10gig]

Well, sir we certainly are not living in the same world. Try evolutionary biology or anything that has to do with evolution and then with the nature of men and women. Try to talk about some science books like "The Bell curve". Get the red pill, we live in a propaganda world that denies reality. But sure you have the right to promote Google Tech and by the way why are you doing this...let me think...

Next.

Agree about The Bell Curve, red pill, and reality-denial (I'm a social psychologist). But I'm stumped as to what you think Google is going to do to you, or what data you think they're collecting from a router they sell to people. Care to elaborate?

I will say that the automatic security updates are a major positive in their favor in terms of the overall threat model of a home router user. Who's the bigger threat – Google data collection or ransomware perpetrators and their ilk? I'd say the latter. I'm not even sure that Google collects any data I'd deem objectionable. I suspect it's just the kind of telemetry and performance data that eero collects, fully anonymized.

 

[thiggins]

Negative. It's an AC2200 now.

The router is four streams on 5 GHz, 2 streams on 2.4 GHz. The mesh points are two streams on both bands. There is no dedicated backhaul radio on either router or mesh points.

Since most devices are two stream, this is a good trade-off. The four streams on the router provide extra receive gain, extending 5 GHz range.

 

[GuruGuy]

The router is four streams on 5 GHz, 2 streams on 2.4 GHz. The mesh points are two streams on both bands. There is no dedicated backhaul radio on either router or mesh points.

Since most devices are two stream, this is a good trade-off. The four streams on the router provide extra receive gain, extending 5 GHz range.

The "pods" used to have ethernet ports to use for backhaul, is that not the case anymore and you now have to use wifi? That would really suck

 

[thiggins]

The "pods" used to have ethernet ports to use for backhaul, is that not the case anymore and you now have to use wifi? That would really suck

The Nest WiFi mesh points have no Ethernet. This is less flexible, but makes sense since most people buying mesh don't have an Ethernet-connect option.