Is Nest Wifi A Monthly Payment?

Updated on


We use affiliate links and may receive a small commission on purchases. Read more about us

Home » Nest » Is Nest Wifi A Monthly Payment?
Photo of author
Written By Dinu Sri

Dr H. T. D. S. Madusanka is an electronic expert with 10 years of experience, involved in the research and development of SMART HOME systems.

All of your devices may connect to the internet using Google Nest wifi. It serves as a replacement for your current router and provides dependable wifi coverage throughout the house. It’s possible to play music, operate connected devices, and much more using the Google Assistant speaker in Nest wifi hotspots. 

Mesh wifi is the foundation of the Nest wifi system. The router and access point work to ensure that your devices are connected to the most bandwidth-efficient channel possible. 

Your home will benefit from a robust wifi signal that isn’t restricted to the vicinity of your router. Video calls may be carried out in various rooms simultaneously, and numerous 4K videos can be watched simultaneously.

Thanks to the wifi system’s scalability, you can discover the correct number of Nest wifi devices for your home’s size and form. Greater Nest wifi hotspots may be added if additional coverage is still required. Nest wifi can work with Google wifi access points in terms of compatibility.

Is Nest Wifi A Monthly Payment?

Google does not charge anything. To stay connected to the rest of the globe, Google wifi depends on your current internet service as a router, firewall, and (mesh) wifi solution in your house. You will still be required to make monthly payments to your internet service provider.

Google Wifi Vs Nest Wifi

When Google released Google wifi, a three-piece mesh router system, in 2016, it was the company’s first step into mesh networking. To have a fast wifi signal across your home, connect a single Google wifi device to the modem and distribute the others about the house afterwards. The $300 router performed well and rapidly was among CNET’s top picks.

To conclude the year, Google released a follow-up at the beginning of 2019. To mirror the company’s attempts to rebrand its Google Home Mini smart speaker with Google Home Hub bright display, Google renamed the system Nest wifi, which was a more appropriate name. 

Even though the name is new, don’t be fooled into believing it’s simply the same system renamed Google wifi & Nest wifi both claim to provide stable, dependable, and whole-home wifi. Still, there are significant variations between the two. 

You’ll want to know the differences before you purchase one since both are now on sale at significant shops. Let us go through them one by one:

Specifications and Rates of Speed

Google wifi & Nest wifi have differing hardware capabilities since they were developed three years apart. Firstly, Google wifi is an AC1200 mesh system, which implies it’s combined 2.4 and 5GHz band speeds are 1,200 Mbps. 

For the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, Nest wifi has an AC2200 speed rating, which means that the access point can handle more traffic.

Only one band may be active at a time on a router. However, both Google wifi & Nest wifi automatically switch between them to maximize speed and signal strength. 

When we compared the two systems, the band-steering performed exceptionally well. Therefore it seems to be a strength of Google’s. 

Those AC1200 and AC2200 speed figures are based on lab-based network speeds that don’t consider distance, obstacles, and interference, so your actual peak speeds are likely to be lower than those numbers indicate. 

When tested in our laboratory, Google wifi’s peak wireless transfer speeds were 451Mbps at a close range or 201Mbps at a range of 75 feet. When using the more powerful Nest wifi, those speeds increase to 612 and 431Mbps.

Google wifi and Nest wifi support wifi 5 (802.11ac), the standard wifi protocol for the last several years. Google elected not to integrate support for wifi 6 (802.11ax), a new, faster, AX version of wifi, in its Nest wifi.

Even though Nest wifi’s antennae have been upgraded from 2×2 to a 4×4 layout, Google has not changed its wifi network. Unlike Google wifi, which does not support WPA3, Nest wifi does.

Google wifi

In recent years, Google wifi was one of the best mesh networks on the market, and it’s still on sale at a few merchants. If you see it on the shelf and read good reviews online, you may decide to purchase it.

For Google wifi, the most potent argument is that it is fully backwards compatible with Nest wifi. Using a Google Wi-Fi Point rather than a Nest Wi-Fi Point might save you money and get the job done if you already have the Nest Wi-Fi router in your home. 

For those who do not want to use the Google Assistant voice control with Nest wifi Points, this may be the better option since it is less expensive while providing similar functionality. Most folks should stay with the Nest wifi devices for a connection that is up to date.

Nest wifi

The new Nest wifi, in my opinion, is a superior mesh system for the vast majority of people—a little more expensive than Google wifi, but not by much. 

For the additional money, you get faster speeds, better connections, plus access to the newest encryption standards that are ideal for future-proofing, which is a plus.

Google WifiNest Wifi
Speed ratingAC1200AC2200
Wi-Fi standardWi-Fi 5Wi-Fi 5
Range1,500 square feet per point2,200 square feet per router, 1,600 square feet per point
Top wireless transfer speed, 75 feet (router only)201 Mbps431 Mbps
Single router price$99$149
Additional extender price$99$129
Antennas2X24X4

Google Nest Wifi Point

All of your devices may connect to the internet using Google Nest wifi. For dependable wifi coverage across your house, it takes the place of a conventional wireless router. 

Nest wifi hotspots have a speaker with the Google Assistant, allowing you to play music, operate compatible connected devices, and more.

Finally, 

The Nest thermostats are worth the money for those who genuinely want a smart thermostat and have dependable wifi (and Nest is compatible with their house). 

In terms of features, the lower-priced model contains everything you’ll ever need, and it boasts a sleek, contemporary style. Installing and using it is a breeze.