The Google Nest Wifi Pro is the long-awaited successor to the Google Nest WiFi mesh system released in 2019. It supports the most recent Wi-Fi standard, Wi-Fi 6E, instead of Wi-Fi 6, as the 2019 model was Wi-Fi 5.
The Nest Wifi Pro is available in 1-, 2-, and 3-packs, and most homes will require at least two, but if you only need a Wi-Fi 6E router to replace an old one in a small property, the Nest Wifi Pro is a good option.
Because there is no dedicated wireless backhaul channel, it is less expensive than other 6E mesh systems. This means that some of your network traffic will have to compete with traffic from nodes in the mesh simply communicating with one another.
Because wired Ethernet backhaul is supported, you can route traffic over Ethernet instead if your home is already wired for Ethernet or if you want to run new cables.
The Nest Wifi Pro is also a Thread border router that supports the new Matter smart home protocol. This means you’ll be able to access and control compatible Internet of Things devices from your phone without needing to install a slew of extra hubs and wireless bridges throughout your home.
The Nest Wifi Pro’s specifications, on the other hand, vary by country, putting US buyers ahead of those in other countries, such as the UK. Only US models can currently use 160MHz Wi-Fi channels, which means that Nest Wifi Pro systems purchased in the UK, or anywhere else in the world, will have a slower top speed because they can only use the narrower 80MHz Wi-Fi channels.
Furthermore, the US models promise better coverage, with Google claiming 200m2 (2200 square feet) of coverage from each node, whereas the UK store claims up to 120m2 of coverage (roughly 1290 square feet). That is a significant distinction.
Regardless, the Nest Wifi Pro is an improvement over the original Nest Wifi, regardless of where you live, even if it no longer doubles as a Nest smart speaker.
Specs (each node is identical)
- Dimensions: 130 x 117 x 85 mm
- Weight: 595g
- 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E) dual-band AXE4200/AXE5400 (2.4 GHz up to 300Mbps, 5 GHz up to 1201Mbps/2402Mbps, 6 GHz up to 2402Mbps)
- 2×2 MU-MIMO & OFDMA
- 1 x Ethernet WAN port
- 1 x Ethernet LAN port
- Remote control and management with Google Home
- Guest Wi-Fi
- WPA3
Design & build
- 130 x 117 x 85 mm
- Two gigabit Ethernet ports on each
- Internal antennas – 2×2 2.4GHz, 2×2 5GHz, 2×2 6GHz
The Nest WiFi Pro units resemble the offspring of a UE Wonderboom 2 and an Apple AirPods Pro 2 case.
They’re sleek but unassuming ovoids with no unsightly external antennas or annoying flashing lights. Everything is neatly tucked away, and the single status light glows softly beneath the egg-like plastic covering. If it weren’t for the ‘G’ logo engraved into the back of each unit, above the two gigabit Ethernet ports (one WAN, one LAN) and the power socket, you’d never know it was a Google product.
The units are reasonably compact and heavy, and the rubberized base means they won’t fall over easily. Because there are no screw threads or hooks, they cannot be wall mounted. There’s a small reset button and a QR code on the bottom, which you’ll need when it comes time to set everything up.
Features and the Google Home app
- Guest Wi-Fi, parental controls, and device priority features included
- Port management, WPA3, ISP and device speed tests built in
- Google Home is slow, and the layout is confusing
The Nest Wifi Pro has the typical mesh system features, but not the advanced settings that the Pro name might imply.
Their app layout isn’t intuitive, and it frequently takes a few seconds to open a simple page or sub menu, which is inconvenient.
You can use the Google Home app to change the Wi-Fi password and SSID (network name), as well as get a quick overview of the devices that are connected to your home network.
See Also; Google Pixel 7 Vs. iPhone 14 Plus: Full Comparison
You can pause traffic to specific devices and prioritize traffic from the Devices tab, but you can only prioritize traffic on one device at a time, and even then, the priority isn’t indefinite. You can choose to give one device the best Wi-Fi connection possible for up to eight hours at a time.
That might work if you only need the device to have a good connection on rare occasions when you have important Zoom meetings, but it’s hardly ideal if you, say, work from home permanently and don’t want the kids hogging bandwidth with Roblox and streaming when they get home from school unless you remember to re-set that priority.
Setup
- Uses the Google Home app to complete set-up
- Initial node takes 10 minutes to install
- Extra nodes take around five minutes each
Almost every router and mesh Wi-Fi device now comes with a companion app that guides you through the setup process, and the Nest Wifi Pro is no exception – except that it does so through the Google Home app.
This app is used to control your Nest Cam Indoor and Google Nest Audio smart speakers. If you’re already invested in Google’s ecosystem, you’ll probably feel right at home, but if you’re not, it may take some getting used to because everything isn’t immediately obvious. (Previous Nest Cam owners are still dissatisfied with the app because the old Nest app was far superior.)
The setup procedure is extremely straightforward. Open the app, tap the + icon, then select ‘Set up device,’ ‘New Device,’ enable Location Access, wait for the Nest Wifi Pro to be detected, and then scan the QR code as directed. Turn off your existing modem/router, plug in the first Nest Wifi Pro, connect it to the modem using the supplied Ethernet cable, and then turn the modem back on.
It took me about ten minutes to set up the first node, after which you’ll be invited to install the others, which will go through the same process of turning on and scanning the QR code to pair, which takes about five minutes each. The initial setup process, which included a firmware update, took just over half an hour.
See Also; How to Display Current Date on Google Calendar App
Performance
- Most devices can expect to see speeds between 500-700Mbps
- Speeds drop to around 200-300Mbps over longer distances and when walls interfere
- Unable to access the 6GHz band on my Wi-Fi 6E-compatible Google Pixel 6
All Nest Wifi Pro devices support Wi-Fi 6E, but there is a significant difference between units sold in the US and units sold elsewhere. The total combined throughput in the United States is 5.4Gbps, but only 4.2Gbps in the rest of the world.
The maximum 2.4GHz band speed available in all regions is 600Mbps. In the United States, the maximum speed on the 5GHz band is 2.4Gbps; elsewhere, it is 1.2Gbps. This is because, as previously stated, US hardware supports 160MHz channels, whereas Nest WiFi Pros in the rest of the world only support 80MHz on the 5GHz band.
The maximum possible speed on the 6GHz band in all regions should be 2.4Gbps. These are theoretical top speeds, not what you’ll see in practice, due to distance, obstacles, and radio interference from your neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks. Google sent me a 3-pack to test in my south London two-up, two-down terraced house.
According to Google, proactive band steering directs your devices to the best-performing radio channels. This is largely supported by testing: almost every time I’ve run a speed test, I’ve been directed to Channel 36 on the 5GHz band. Only on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro did I get redirected to Channel 11 on the 2.4GHz band, and this was in the garden with a brick wall, a closed door, and a five-metre distance between me and the node – in other words, I would expect to be redirected to 2.4GHz because higher frequencies have a harder time passing through solid objects.
| Mate 10 Pro | Virgin Media Super Hub 3 | Google Nest WiFi Pro |
| 1m | 715Mbps | 635Mbps |
| 5m with a wall | 122Mbps | 296Mbps |
| Upstairs, near the rear of the house | 19Mbps | 416Mbps |
| Garden | No connection | 238Mbps |
| Realme X50 | Virgin Media Super Hub 3 | Google Nest WiFi Pro |
| 1m | 527Mbps | 740Mbps |
| 5m with a wall | 147Mbps | 333Mbps |
| Upstairs, near the rear of the house | 23Mbps | 461Mbps |
| Garden | No connection | 224Mbps |
| Pixel 6 | Virgin Media Super Hub 3 | Google Nest WiFi Pro |
| 1m | 619Mbps | 710Mbps |
| 5m with a wall | 278Mbps | 422Mbps |
| Upstairs, near the rear of the house | 51Mbps | 419Mbps |
| Garden | No connection | 264Mbps |
The results show that there appears to be very little difference between the performance recorded on each phone. This is unacceptable, especially given that they should have been significantly faster on the Pixel 6.
The Pixel simply refused to connect to the system’s 6GHz radio band, whereas I had no such issues when testing an Asus ZenWiFi Pro ET12 node and Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 router.
Read More; What is Google Analytics and How Does it Work
Price & availability
The Nest Wifi Pro is now available for purchase in the United States and the United Kingdom, with pricing and a release date for Australia still to be determined.
In the US you can buy directly from Google, with single Nest Wifi Pro devices costing $199.99. A 2-pack is $299.99, and a 3-pack is priced at $399.99.
You can choose to spread payments over a year, for $16.67/month, $25/month, or $33.33/month respectively.
Best Buy also has single, 2-pack, and 3-pack versions of the Nest WiFi Pro on for the same prices, $199.99, $299.99, and $399.99, respectively.
Target has the same prices: $199.99, $299.99, and $399.99.
For those in the UK, a single Nest Wifi Pro unit costs £189.99, and a better value-for-money 3-pack costs £379.99 – essentially, buy two, get a third one free. There is no two-pack available.
Google allows you to spread payments over 24 months, with a single unit costing £7.92/month and a three-pack costing £15.83/month.
Nest Wifi Pro units are also available from Amazon UK for the same £189.99 and £379.99 prices.
The Google Nest Wifi Pro was not listed on Google’s Australian store at the time of review, and no price or release date information was available.
Verdict
Our tests show that the Nest Wifi Pro’s overall performance as a mesh Wi-Fi system is good, but not nearly as good as we expected. There are some security features included, but you can’t configure many of the settings you’d expect to be able to on a “Pro”-branded system.
This, like some of the other drawbacks, may be forgivable depending on your reasons for purchasing a mesh Wi-Fi system. However, more demanding users will find this limiting, if not frustrating. Future firmware updates may improve on this, but this is not guaranteed.
What really irritates me is that the non-US version limits buyers to slower 5GHz speeds for no apparent reason.
