Google has been putting their hands into everything over the last few years. They’ve had several successful smartphones, including the recent Pixel, a tablet line-up, the Chromecast, Chromebooks and much more. Now, they’re aiming to dominate the home space with their Google Home which is competing directly with Amazon’s Alexa and Echo, and their Wi-Fi offering – Google Wi-Fi, which is now available for pre-order.
Google Wi-Fi is Google’s newest router offering and for what it does, it’s really amazing. Typically when we set up a router in our homes or apartments, we get one device and try our best to put it where the entire area could get a decent signal. Well, that doesn’t always work out, does it? With Google Wi-Fi, Google is looking to make issues as such a thing of the past and it’s pretty compelling. What it does it replace your existing router and basically becomes a smart router so to speak. It can give you updates as to where to position the device or make sure you’re always on the fastest channel if you happen to have a number of wireless devices in your home. If you happen to get the 3 pack offering, you’re then able to setup the devices around your area and the mesh network will work to make sure you’re always on the best connection. If you move from room to room and one access point isn’t the best, it will automatically connect to you the best candidate. In addition, the router is managed directly via an Android or iOS enabled smartphone or tablet.
Looking at the specs, it supports 802.11 AC and is backward compatible with 802.11 B/G/N, however, it only has 2 Gigabit wired connections. The Google Wi-Fi is being sold for $129 for one unit (500-1,500 sqft) and $299 (3,000-4,500 sqft) for a pack of three. It is currently up for pre-order at Google’s Store, Bestbuy and Amazon, will start shipping and be available for pick-up as of December 6th, 2016.
For someone who’s typically set up a router for connectivity and converted several other routers as access points, this seems like a decent replacement for my current system. That said, I’ll be back once I’m able to pick up my own Google Wi-Fi and have put through some stressful testing.
