Question

Google Nest Wifi vs. Google Wifi (with TMo Gateway)

  • 6 September 2021
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To anyone using the Nest Wifi router with the Gateway: are you seeing a significant drop in network speed using this combination?

It’s been reported that hooking up the old Google Wifi router over ethernet and using it to handle wifi connections does cost you some network speed even if it’s more flexible and extensible than the built-in Gateway router.

So, Is it worth upgrading to the Nest Wifi, or will performance be about the same as what you get with the Google Wifi? 


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I'm seeing the exact same thing. Direct WiFi speeds from the TMO router are 400-600 Mbps down but, through my Google Nest WiFi mesh setup, I can't get more than 150-180 Mbps. This is the only downside I've found so far with the TMO Home Internet but it's very frustrating.

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Oh, that’s worse than I thought. I tested an old Google Wifi router and, with 200-300 Mbps down, it pulled speeds in the same range as what you’re getting. I wonder if the mismatch between Google’s wifi 5 routers and TMo’s wifi 6 gateway will effectively limit network speed to below 200 Mbps no matter which Google router you use. Perhaps someone who knows more about wifi technology can say whether that’s valid, but it appears that  (1) there’s no particular advantage in using the Nest Wifi router in this setup, and (2) it might be worth waiting for TMo to roll out its own mesh wifi 6 system.  

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Just wanted to add, after further testing, that my conjecture about a cap on network speed using the Google Wifi system in conjunction with the TMo Gateway was mistaken. It is slower than the TMo router, but it isn’t limited to below-200 Mbps speeds. What I’m seeing is that the download speed on Google Wifi is consistently about 100 Mbps below the TMo gateway speed, but if the latter is above 300 Mbps (at my location it’s often somewhere between 300 and 400 Mbps), then the Google speed will rise above 200 Mbps. (There doesn’t seem to be the same tariff on upload speeds; it’s usually about the same.) I didn’t want anyone to be misled by my earlier conjecture so I’m posting this correction. 

   

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I get about 325mbps down with the can alone. Adding two gen 2 google (1 router at can, 1 point around house) and three gen 1 google (points throughout house), speed dropped to a max of 125mbps down. 

When I originally replaced my two gen 1 googles with gen 2 I noticed a speed increase.  I recently changed out all of my gen 1s to gen 2s. No change at all in speed. 

Bottom line for me. Google mesh reduces speed by 40%.  

I am experiencing the same issues.  T-Mobile wifi 400-600mb down.  Google wifi is around 175-275mb down. Direct Ethernet connection.  Any solution found all?  I tried disabling the T-Mobile router SSIDs, that maybe helped a little.

I had issues with my Google WiFi yesterday where my speed dropped from ~200 on SpeedTest.net to about ~5.

Tried resetting my new Acadian Gateway, but continued to have slower than expected speeds using Google WiFi.

Had 4 old TP-LINK M5 mesh units, speeds back up today… hope it lasts as I prefer ~200 to ~5__:slight_smile:

Isidro not last, pulled both the Deco and Google Mesh units… Speeds back to normal… Crazy!!!

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