Google WiFi System, 1-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!

My initial impression of the Wifi System was wrong and I have upgraded it to a five star rating.After some tweaking of the placement of the three nodes included in this kit,, I find that the wifi signal is pervasive throughout my nearly 5000 sf home and is very strong even outside 100 feet away. On top of that, the system is rock solid and stable-- a consistent and powerful signal wherever I need it. I have gigabit service and wifi speeds are consistently 50MB download (though quite a bit slower upload) at most usable distances. Within a few feet of the router, I am topping 400MB!Not sure why it did not impress me at first. My only thought is that the system may take some time to configure how it connects itself to create the mesh.Very impressed now.++++++++++++++I like it but don't love it after a few days of use.Purchased Fios gigabit service-- which has been a huge disappointment because the only place you can get giga speed is right at the verizon modem. My house is wired with cat5 however cat5e is the protocol which provides reliable gigabit service. Best I could do on a hard wired setup was about 150 MB. WiFi is also not as robust--but I figured that mesh networking is the latest and greatest and worth a try.Very easy to set up, application is simple and quick-- I had the three wifi points included in the box up and working in a few minutes. One plugs into your cable modem's WAN port (generally a yellow outlet) with the included patch cord. The other two units are placed about a room or so away from each other to provide an area of consistent coverage.So it works. However the blazing fast gig speed is only available in a small circle around the hardwired unit plugged into the cable modem. The network is solid and fairly large throughout my house however speed at any of the other units drops off significantly and is only about 50MB or so generally.Now 50MB is substantially enough to do anything you want including streaming videos--however, I was looking to spread gig speed throughout the house and this device will not do that.I do have an Archer TP 7 wifi which is really substantially stronger and costs less than $100 bucks. Comparatively, the google wifi units provide a slightly more consistent field but over a lesser area. I can pick up a usable wifi signal from the TP7 more than 150 feet away-- at a point where the signal from the three google units are not even showing up on my device.SO... perfectly usable and lovely looking google wifi is neat and works-- but doesn't do much more than a cheaper but much more powerful regular modem.You would think that all of this would be second nature by now-- strong wifi wherever you need it doesn't sound like asking too much if you are willing to pay. However, it is not as simple as it looks and this device isn't pushing any envelopes in my humble opinion.