Google Wifi Router, analysis, features, opinion, configuration and use

What We Have Covered in This Article

Last Updated on May 3, 2021 by Editor Futurescope

Now that the year 2016 goes to an end, it is curious to think that one of the most interesting technological products of the year have been Google WiFi router. The router as we have known so far has been transformed into a hardware utility device with antennas or intermediate elements that are distributed throughout the house. This method of using more than one device as a wireless access point is known as a mesh system and promises to correct the dead zone problems that most conventional routers have to suffer.

Google Wifi Router
Image Credit: https://madeby.google.com/wifi/

At futurescope we are following the presentation of Google, bringing you all the updates that Google is presenting. In this presentation, Google is placing special emphasis on the home, and is bringing several new products focused on our homes. The leading article is Google Wi-Fi, the new router designed and manufactured by Google that comes to revolutionize the way we use the Internet.

To get started, Google Wi-Fi has an assistant called Network Assist. This wizard optimizes the network automatically. We will not have to bother to configure it, but the router itself will choose the most appropriate channel and with better coverage so that the signal is not cut and we can enjoy an optimal experience. But that is not the best, because it has much to hide.

Without a doubt, the best function that has the Google wifi router is in the application that we can use from the phone. From that app we can control everything related to our Wi-Fi network. For example, if we want our children to stop using Wi-Fi and come to dinner, from the application we can cut off Internet access on any device that is connected. A very interesting form of parental control, but also very interesting in the face of possible intruders.

Eero is the most well-known mesh router system, but lately there have been other models that have quickly hit the market. Some of the manufacturers that have been working on it have been Netgear or Linksys. Now Google is in the game with a router in mesh called Google WiFi, which is formed by a multipoint system that has enormous similarities with the device Eero.

The origin of everything, OnHub

Google says that the WiFi system is the fruit of more than three and a half years of work, apart from having previously produced router, called OnHub. But the current one, Google WiFi, is different from the one that the company introduce on the market some time ago. First of all, Google is developing it directly. Google WiFi also leverages hardware design and cloud-based intelligence to ensure that it has powerful WiFi signal throughout your home, regardless of size, building materials or design. In addition, Google designed the product so that it can be easily configurable through a smartphone, and managed or controlled remotely. In this way, it makes simple what in many occasions becomes a laborious and tedious process.

Google WiFi Router system price

Google Wi-Fi, which in some countries has already reached, available in google stores and soon in another country too, sold individually (at $ 129 in the US, for example) or as a pack of three routers that reaches $ 299. As you can appreciate, the price is much lower than the $ 499 that Eero costs in a pack of three units as well, or the $ 399 Netgear Orbi cost.

According to the company, Google assures that a Google WiFi point will cover a house without problems up to 140 square meters, while a pack of three routers serves to ensure good coverage in homes up to 418 square meters.

However, there is always the possibility of adding new units that range the covered even more, which is a very favorable and interesting point to take into account when choosing one or another device.

First impressions of Google WiFi

Taking into account the first reviews that have been distributed by companies specialized in the testing of technological devices, the Google WiFi router system comes out well before its competitors. For example, a test in an old two-story house, which presents challenges to conventional routers due to the large stone walls, the mesh system formed by the three routers manages to achieve a good balance between speed, coverage, Use and cost, making it an attractive option if you are looking for a mesh system.

Google Wifi Router
Image Credit: https://madeby.google.com/wifi/

Technical characteristics of the system

At the bottom of the WiFi router is a power port and two Gigabit Ethernet connectors: one for an Internet connection from a broadband modem and one for connecting devices over a cable. That’s all we can find in what would correspond to the external hardware. Unlike traditional routers that typically have multiple Ethernet ports, Google WiFi router needs a network device to expand the number of ports. Nor does it have a USB port to connect a storage unit that many other routers do provide.

Top Features of Google WiFi Router

The main features of the new WiFi wireless router is that it incorporates dual band simultaneous with Wi-Fi AC technology. In the 2.4GHz band we can get up to 300Mbps thanks to its two internal antennas in MIMO 2T2R configuration and 40MHz channel width. In the 5GHz band we can get up to 867Mbps of speed thanks to its two antennas in MIMO 2T2R configuration and Wi-Fi AC technology. Therefore, we are dealing with an AC1200 class device that is compatible with the 802.11a / b / g / n / ac standards. As we read in the official website of Google WiFi router, the default security is WPA2-PSK with AES encryption, it also has automatic security updates to protect us from possible failures. The WiFi hardware in each unit is not particularly remarkable, but when several devices are placed at home the need for each one to present high performance decreases.

How to configure and control Google WiFi?

Google Wifi Router
Image Credit: https://madeby.google.com/wifi/

The WiFi system is configured through the new Google Wi-Fi router application for iOS and Android (formerly the OnHub application). The application guides you through the configuration of a new network, giving it a name, adding a password and distributing the Google WiFi units around the house. It also allows you to check the network speeds, from the ISP to the modem and from Google WiFi router to your particular device, as well as the signal strength between each node. In addition, the Google Network Assistance feature provides tips on how to improve performance by moving a drive to a different location and indicates when the Internet is not working from your ISP.

Also, the application allows you to see how many devices are connected to the network, stop the WiFi connection on specific devices, prioritize against each other and easily create a network of guests. It also allows remote access to the network, so it can be managed even when you are not at home.

Finally, we leave you a video in which you can see the Google WiFi system in action, and if you are good at tech job you can help to complete this analysis we have carried out on the new Google device.


Editor Futurescope
Editor Futurescope

Founding writer of Futurescope. Nascent futures, foresight, future emerging technology, high-tech and amazing visions of the future change our world. The Future is closer than you think!

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