Google Nest Wifi is the latest member of the Google Wifi family of devices. It is an air-link enabled, 2G wireless router and is part of Google's new initiative called Google Now. Google Nest has replaced the standalone Google Wifi phone app with this one. It uses the same standard mesh network technology as the Google Wifi mobile app, and supports Google Wifi everywhere in the world that has a decent speed internet connection.
Google Nest Wifi is a modular line of wireless routers and connectable accessory points developed by Google as a part of the Google Nest group of products. The product became available in late December last year, in the United States in early January, in the United Kingdom in mid-March, in Canada in April, and in Australia in May. Google has claimed that the new devices are designed to work with existing Google Wifi-enabled devices and to extend the usage of these devices without the need to become a Google Wifi user. These claims are, however, not entirely correct.
One of the unique selling points of Google Nest is that it does not require the user to become a Google Wifi user before connecting to the internet; the device automatically detects whether you have a Wi-Fi signal and whether you are within range of a recognised hotspot. This means that Nest routers are compatible with Google's older apps such as Google Maps, Google Buzz and Google Places. However, it seems likely that users of Google's other apps will find it easier to connect to their Wi-Fi networks when using this Wi-Fi Direct technology. It also doesn't work with Google Voice, Google Talk or the Gmail phone service (as this uses the Google Wave browser).
Because it is designed for guest use only and cannot be changed into a Google Wifi application, it can be used as a standalone device. Rather than being connected to the internet like a computer or smartphone, the Nest wireless router connects to your TV using an integrated HDMI port. The Wi-Fi setup in this way is quite simple: you just tell the Nest how many people you want to connect to your home network, and then select a Wi-Fi network on your TV that is linked to your main Wi-Fi setup.
One of the main drawbacks of this system is that one of the problems it prevents is when two separate rooms are both wireless router users, and the first router is located in another part of the house. As long as these two areas are not too far apart, a good number of Wi-Fi devices should be able to roam freely between them. Google recommends only using Wi-Fi whenever you are at home, so if your laptop or other wireless devices are in another room of the house while you are watching TV, they should not be using the internet. In this case, a separate internet device should be set up, such as a mobile access point (known as an AMP). If you are watching TV and still using a wireless internet device, Wi-Fi will attempt to detect it, and disconnect it.
There are some potential solutions to this problem, one of which is to configure a mesh network. A mesh network works in much the same way as a virtual private network, with the only difference that users on the mesh have their own priority device. The priority device is designated to each device individually, and is only transmitted to devices that belong to your mesh network. All other devices share a single device on the main priority device, and their connection is determined by their position on the mesh network. This makes it possible to connect multiple devices to the internet at the same time, although this method can become congested if all devices have the same priority.
Another possible solution is to move everything into one main device. The Google Nest Wifi system will already have many of these devices connected, so it will be easy to keep them all working together. The main device could be an air cooler, or a laptop, and you can easily assign each device its own priority. By using a central system, you can distribute power to all devices so that they don't get overloaded, and you can keep all of your electronics plugged in so that they don't go to sleep.
You may be tempted to use your existing router to connect to Google Nest's mesh wi-fi system. This is a good idea if you are going to have the device for a long time, as you won't have any problems with finding a spot for the router to be. You could also try connecting directly to a hot spot and ethernet cable to the router, but this can be a bad idea for the Nest, since they have very sensitive heating elements. Instead, it would be a better idea to keep your existing router as a secondary router, and place your new device into it. You can also keep notes about which networks you want to associate with your user's profile so that you don't accidentally sign up with the wrong people.