Google Wifi Mesh Network

[dbdynsty25]

I know we get a lot of networking questions around these parts, and being the nerd that I am, I wanted to check out these Mesh networks. I looked at a few of the options and narrowed it to the Netgear Orbi and Google Wifi. Two things made me lean towards Google's options...the first is the cost (around 100 bucks cheaper MSRP) and the second is the size and look. Given that my house is pretty small, I don't need a ton of coverage, I just wanted BETTER coverage. The configuration of my place is a detriment and it made it difficult to get fast wifi in the garage where I like to stream MLB games to my TV. It would work, but I'd get a bit of buffering...even with the giant Nighthawk X6 Router I had been using recently. Given that my son likes to stream youtube and watch netflix all the time, I needed to figure out a way to split up the bandwidth better. If I move my router into my main room it works perfectly (I have a wired connection to my modem for my DirecTV receiver). So I needed to look into the Mesh networks.

Setup was an absolute breeze and took all of 15 minutes to get it all configured and setup.

Stuck the Office Router one where my Nighthawk was...stuck one in my main room about 100 ft. away through four or five walls, and stuck the last one in my garage another 75 feet from the second wifi spot. Even with everyone streaming at the same time on four or five different devices, we didn't have any issues over my 75/75 internet connection. The only time I got any stuttering was when I started downloading Dirt 4 on my PS4, which hogged a lot of bandwidth.

So I'm more than happy...I am probably going to hard wire my main room one to the Office Router to take care of the backend communication to speed it up even more and I might even just scrap the garage one as I don't get much of a difference in speed when I'm connected to either of them.

So hopefully that all makes sense. If you are looking for a seamless way to get some good wifi throughout your house, I can definitely recommend Google's Wifi.

[Spooky]

Been a happy user for months. Got the 3 puck package and just moved and added a 4th (probably overkill but whatever).

The setup and app for monitoring is amazing. And the coverage is perfect.

[Danimal]

No idea what you're talking about but we get terrible wifi in my house with crappy Uverse. There are spots it doesn't even work so I'm intrigued by this.

[Danimal]

DB,

Can you give a quick run down on the setup? Do you just connect these 3 devices to your network like you would any range extender? Does it work with a Uverse Gateway?

[dbdynsty25]

DB,

Can you give a quick run down on the setup? Do you just connect these 3 devices to your network like you would any range extender? Does it work with a Uverse Gateway?

Completely different than a range extender in that it has it decides automatically how to send the data to and from the main base station where as the extenders use bandwidth which limits their range by about 50% compared to a Mesh Network.

It's as simple as taking one of the three units (they are all identical), connecting it to one of the internet ports on your current modem/wireless router. Run the Google Wifi app on your phone or tablet and it walks you through the rest. You basically tell it which one of the hubs is the main one by scanning or typing in the QR code on the bottom of the unit, then selecting the name of the Wifi SSID you want to create. Once that's done it downloads the updated software to the base station and you move on to placing your two satellite units. You literally plug them in, wherever you want to put them in your house and it automatically finds them and configures them for your house.

That's literally all you have to do to set it up.

From there its' really all of the monitoring that you can do, and parental control that you've got. You can see what device is connected to what unit and how much bandwidth they are using in real time, so you can always monitor kids usage and figure out where there are problems. It's really almost dummy proof and will get you access in your entire house. Like Spooky said, you can add up to 8 units I believe, so no matter what you'll be covered if you need to go above the 3 unit package.

Hope this helps.

[Danimal]

It helps a lot, my router is in my basement because everything homeruns back there. So wifi on the 2nd floor is terrible.

[dbdynsty25]

It helps a lot, my router is in my basement because everything homeruns back there. So wifi on the 2nd floor is terrible.

Yeah, so you stick one of the Wifi's down in your basement w/ your modem. One at the top of the basement stairs somewhere (to limit interference if possible), then stick another one about 50-75 feet away in another room. That should have you covered easily.

[Danimal]

Parental controls would be nice but my kids would just use cellular data for their instagram and snapchat.

[TCrouch]

If I wasn't moving soon, I'd be all over this. For some reason, my router is a badass when it comes to pure strength--I can actually get my signal down to the stop sign leaving my block (about 100 yards away from my house), but WITHIN my house? The back bedrooms never lose signal, but it's spotty. Kids gaming in the back rooms have ping spikes which sucks. I didn't climb into the attic to run cat5 throughout the house yet, so it's been a headache.

And I mean...the router is basically about 6 feet behind this picture:



So how is there a problem sending a signal that's basically a straight shot down a long ass hallway??

But knowing this technology exists will help me in my next place, as most houses I'm looking at in Texas seem to be 2-story.

Thanks, Scott.

[dbdynsty25]

Installed another system in my dad's house. Works perfectly to cover his 3000sq. ft. house. No dead spots at all and reaching the corners his regular router never could. All of his repeaters and ultra powerful antennas are a thing of the past.

[DivotMaker]

I just got accepted into Netgear's First Look program. This program offers free Netgear equipment for reviews on sites like Best Buy. Amazon has backed away from allowing reviews on their site even though every First Look review has the disclaimer that the equipment was free in exchange for a comprehensive and objective review of the product.

I just received my first product to review as it is an AC2200 Orbi system. Unfortunately, I am having to wait to install it as I need to procure a 2nd satellite to go with the router and the plug in wall unit to meet my Ethernet needs for my PC. The package I received was the last Orbi unit they had, but I was promised one of the first shipments of their new products coming out in the Fall. I am going to see if the Netgear Rep has a spare Orbi satellite laying around, otherwise I will have to pay about $200 to get what I need.

Looking forward to seeing how this system compares to my X6 R8000 Nighthawk router and AC1900 Nighthawk Extender. I am expecting much higher throughput with the Orbi and my AT&T fiber which is delivering 900+ Mbps from the modem.

[DivotMaker]

Well, I ended up borking the firmware during an update, so Netgear sent me the Orbi RBK53 AC3000 router and two satellites.

Got it installed this afternoon and OMG what a difference. With my previous router/extender (see post above) I was getting 170 MBPS down and 300 upload.

With this Orbi, I am getting 650 MBPS down and 740 MBPS upload from a satellite 3 rooms away and over 50' away from the router!

iPad got 100 down 150 up and now 450 down and 520 upload. iPhone 6s even higher.

My Son's PC is in the room above mine and he has his own satellite connected with an Ethernet cable like my PC and he is gettin 540 down and 650 upload. With his previous extender he was getting 60 down and 65 up.

The Netgear Orbi is an amazing piece of technology like the Google. I am floored with the results since I am getting right at 800MPBS out of the AT&T fiber optic modem......

[Danimal]

So family is fed up with bad wifi and my wiofe gave me the go ahead to order this. Because I have shitty Uverse an their crappy gateway I did a quick search and it seems many people have problems setting this up with uverse. something about putting the gateway in bridge mode, or the mesh in bridge mode. I'm not exactly a networking guru anymore, I don't want to drop this much cash to find out it doesn't work.

Anyone use one of these with uverse?

[dbdynsty25]

So family is fed up with bad wifi and my wiofe gave me the go ahead to order this. Because I have shitty Uverse an their crappy gateway I did a quick search and it seems many people have problems setting this up with uverse. something about putting the gateway in bridge mode, or the mesh in bridge mode. I'm not exactly a networking guru anymore, I don't want to drop this much cash to find out it doesn't work.

Anyone use one of these with uverse?

You shouldn't have to do anything special with UVerse. Assuming the gateway has a 4 port switch on the back, connect the google wifi to one of the ports and then set it up. They might be talking about turning off the wifi, as some systems use the wifi on the Gateway for connecting wireless tv receivers. You can always just create a new SSID on the Google Wifi for your computers/phones/etc and keep them separate. That's what I did at my sisters house when I installed Google Wifi at her house.

[Danimal]

So family is fed up with bad wifi and my wiofe gave me the go ahead to order this. Because I have shitty Uverse an their crappy gateway I did a quick search and it seems many people have problems setting this up with uverse. something about putting the gateway in bridge mode, or the mesh in bridge mode. I'm not exactly a networking guru anymore, I don't want to drop this much cash to find out it doesn't work.

Anyone use one of these with uverse?

You shouldn't have to do anything special with UVerse. Assuming the gateway has a 4 port switch on the back, connect the google wifi to one of the ports and then set it up. They might be talking about turning off the wifi, as some systems use the wifi on the Gateway for connecting wireless tv receivers. You can always just create a new SSID on the Google Wifi for your computers/phones/etc and keep them separate. That's what I did at my sisters house when I installed Google Wifi at her house.

Ah well that's not an issue, we have DTV and nothing is wirelessly getting a TV signal. I'm thinking I might need 4 of these because of my house layout

[Danimal]

DB

Do you have any experience with the NetGear Orbi system?

[dbdynsty25]

DB

Do you have any experience with the NetGear Orbi system?

None. Heard it was good too though. I prefer the look and size of Googles, which is why I went that route. Plus, I'm everything Google so all of the configuration stuff is just tied to the rest of my smarthome apps.

I've installed four Google Wifi networks and it's been simple and painless at each house. A buddy of mine did his w/ UVerse come to find out and had no issues either.

[TCrouch]

Got the Google Mesh when we got to Texas. Have had zero problems since. And while my XB1 and PS4s are hardwired to a mesh satellite in my room through a gigabit switch (with the main hub across the house), my XB1 network tests clock in at 170 to 200 Mbps. Unbelievable performance and setup was as easy as could be.

[DivotMaker]

So family is fed up with bad wifi and my wiofe gave me the go ahead to order this. Because I have shitty Uverse an their crappy gateway I did a quick search and it seems many people have problems setting this up with uverse. something about putting the gateway in bridge mode, or the mesh in bridge mode. I'm not exactly a networking guru anymore, I don't want to drop this much cash to find out it doesn't work.

Anyone use one of these with uverse?

Dan,

Any chance you have access to AT&T Gigapower? Beats the living hell out of Uverse.

I have been on it for 4 months and not a lick of trouble. And I'm paying $70/month for 2 years....

Google Mesh is a great system. Love the Orbi because it too has been a flawless performer.

You could not go wrong with either system.

[DivotMaker]

Got the Google Mesh when we got to Texas. Have had zero problems since. And while my XB1 and PS4s are hardwired to a mesh satellite in my room through a gigabit switch (with the main hub across the house), my XB1 network tests clock in at 170 to 200 Mbps. Unbelievable performance and setup was as easy as could be.

Terry,

See if your neighborhood is wired for AT&T Gigapower.....it will triple to quadruple your network speeds.

[Danimal]

Dan,

Any chance you have access to AT&T Gigapower? Beats the living hell out of Uverse.

I have been on it for 4 months and not a lick of trouble. And I'm paying $70/month for 2 years....

Google Mesh is a great system. Love the Orbi because it too has been a flawless performer.

You could not go wrong with either system.

I wish but no such luck yet, it seems to be all around me but no Fiber here at this point. I have a 50 mbps plan but my speed test has never been over 24 and the wifi on their default gateway is horrible.

[grtwhtsk]

Does the Google Mesh replace your router or do you plug it into the router? Sorry, I am clueless!!! I have the Dark Knight Asus Router currently.

[dbdynsty25]

Does the Google Mesh replace your router or do you plug it into the router? Sorry, I am clueless!!! I have the Dark Knight Asus Router currently.

It connects to your modem. Replaces your router in your case.

Some people use their modem/gateway as their wireless access point as well, in which case it just plugs into one of the ports and you turn the wifi off on your modem/gateway.

[grtwhtsk]

Does the Google Mesh replace your router or do you plug it into the router? Sorry, I am clueless!!! I have the Dark Knight Asus Router currently.

It connects to your modem. Replaces your router in your case.

Some people use their modem/gateway as their wireless access point as well, in which case it just plugs into one of the ports and you turn the wifi off on your modem/gateway.

Thanks buddy.

[grtwhtsk]

If I set it up right next to my main computer (as my router is currently), is there a port on the back for me to plug my computer into. Currently I just plug my home computer right into the router directly. I know these are stupid questions, but I really do lose my mind when it comes to this sort of thing. I currently have a Zoom modem, router plugs into that, and my main PC into the router directly.