Here is Limited-time deal link
That will get you to Amazon Site.....
I think this is a good solution for people that have a basic setup, want good coverage, want a simple configuration and set it and forget it. If you want to do anything more in depth this system is not for you.
Setup:
4,000 sq foot ranch with a walkout basement
1,100 sq foot attached garage
80 Mbps ImOn communications internet connection
7 wifi points total
2 wifi points on each floor connected via gig Ethernet to the primary wifi point
1 wifi point on each floor to fill in gaps
1 NETGEAR ProSAFE GS108 8-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch to tie all of the ethernet connected points
40-50 Various devices that attach wirelessly to my network at any one time. Everything from smart devices to phones to video streaming.
I've struggled for some time to get solid wifi coverage in several rooms and areas. Some of the walls are concrete and just don't let the radio signal through. I decided to give this a shot and see if Google's mesh solution would finally solve 10 years of issues I've had getting solid coverage in this house. After reading Google's description I thought I could get away with only using 3 units. I was wrong but luckily I had already ordered 7 APs. I ended up needing all 7. I actually use gig Ethernet to hook in 2 APs in the basement as a backbone and two APs on the top floor as a backbone. The additional two are used 100% wireless. Finally, the primary AP connects to my modem.
Setup is very easy. I'm not going to rehash it because everyone else has done a good job. I will say that after I got everything connected and the software updated and rebooted I was excited to try it. The results were terrible. I had good solid WiFi coverage but I was only getting 20% of the bandwidth I was paying for. Actually slower then my old system. I was furious. My hatred of Google was complete. A funny thing happened over the next hour or two while I was stewing. Everything sped up. I'm assuming that Google's secret sauce was optimizing the network in the background. My point is it took at least an hour after I set everything up to see the speed anywhere close to what I was expecting. I'm happy now with the performance. I'm lucky I sat down to drink a beer rather than box everything back up.
***Update***
So Google released 8872.40.13 today (12/14/16). I was working from home via a VPN and watching Archer from my Plex server. Everything got flaky and I started losing video and VPN connections randomly. It looked like I had a solid wifi signal on my laptop so I jumped into Google's WiFi App. Everything looked good there but it bounce offline then back online and repeating. Eventually I was able to stay in long enough to see that their firmware version was upgraded to 8872.40.13 from 8872.40.9. I figured I'd give it some time to finish up and clear up. About an hour later my connections were still flaky and I verified that all of my APs were individually updated to the latest version. I went ahead and used the "Restart Network" option which restarts all of the APs. All hell broke lose. Everything was really slow (10 Mbps) and I lost both of my meshed WiFi only APs. I waited 30 minutes for it to clear/speed up but it didn't. Eventually I went and restarted my primary wifi point and things cleared up and my expected performance returned. Not sure what to make of this other then it was very annoying because I was actually working and needed a good connection when this all happened.
***End Update***
The good:
1. I get the full internet bandwidth that I'm paying for everywhere inside the house.
2. There are no deadspots in the house.
3. The app is easy to use and intuitive.
4. Handoffs between APs appears seamless. I haven't dropped any calls (or video calls) while moving through the house.
5. My file transfers to my internal file servers are much faster. I'm usually connecting wirelessly at between 500-600 Mbps everywhere now. Prior I was connecting anywhere between 20-600 Mbps depending on where I was in the house.
6. Google does a good job getting the correct names of devices
7. Automatic AP software updates/TPM.
8. You can do basic port forwarding.
9. The priority device setting really works.
The bad:
1. I spent way too much money for this solution. I know that. I'm a moron. At least I preordered when prices were below MSRP.
2. You can't modify anything inside the DHCP scope other then making DHCP reservations
3. You can't change your LAN ip range
4. You can't change your internal LAN DNS. You have to use the primary AP for DNS and you can't add any of your own records. Most people won't care about this but it's something I've done in the past for testing purposes and specific projects.
5. One of the wifi only APs in the open garage tests as "weak." I was hoping that it would mesh connect to the nearest hardwired AP and use that for backhaul. It's within sight of the hardwired AP. I think it's actually trying to connect to the Primary WiFi AP. Because of the limited in depth tools in the WiFi app I can't prove this. My other mesh "filler" AP is one room away from the Primary WiFi AP and it will only register as "fair"
6. The app is easy but it needs more basic tools. I appreciate it's ease of use for most people but sometimes you need to look a little deeper.
7. There needs to be PC/Mac app or a webpage to manage and troubleshoot from a computer.
8. If you need to do anything in depth at all then this system isn't for you.
9. Only two ports on the APs.
10. If I didn't have the gig Ethernet backhauls I don't think this solution would have made me happy at all.
Tell us what you think about Google Wifi in Comments Below.
Comments
Post a Comment