The Google Nest Wifi Pro is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router supporting 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands. It has a sleek, minimal design and is available in several colors. The router is available as a standalone unit or in packs of two or three for setting up a mesh network. It's managed through Google's Home app and supports integration with Matter and Thread devices. We bought and tested a two-pack in dual mesh mode.
Our Verdict
The Google Nest Wifi Pro is a great router for an apartment, condo, or single-story home. Its sleek design has small dimensions and is available in several colors to match your home decor. It also delivers very good speeds, making it suitable for downloading large files quickly or handling multiple devices streaming 4k content. You configure the router using the Google Home app, which is easy to use and allows you to manage the rest of your smart home devices; however, the initial setup can take a long time.
-
Sleek design with several color options available.
-
Integration with Google's Home ecosystem.
-
Wi-Fi 6E support.
-
Very good top speeds.
-
Only two networking ports, neither rated for higher than 1 Gbps.
-
Google Home app can take a long time to setup.
The Google Nest Wifi Pro is very good if you live in a house with multiple stories. It delivers fast speeds and has a good range, making it suitable for downloading large game updates or streaming 4k content no matter where you are in the house. You configure the router using the Google Home app, and while it's easy to use and lets you manage the rest of your smart home devices, the initial setup can take a long time.
-
Sleek design with several color options available.
-
Very good range.
-
Integration with Google's Home ecosystem.
-
Wi-Fi 6E support.
-
Very good top speeds.
-
Only two networking ports, neither rated for higher than 1 Gbps.
-
Google Home app can take a long time to setup.
The Google Nest Wifi Pro delivers very good top speeds suitable for an internet connection of up to ~900 Mbps. It also supports Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), so it can use less congested DFS-only channels to give you better speeds in noisy wireless environments.
-
Wi-Fi 6E support.
-
Very good top speeds.
The Google Nest Wifi has very good range performance. Since it's a mesh router, satellite access points help it maintain consistent average speeds over long distances, making it suitable for high-bandwidth uses and high-speed downloads over a wide area.
-
Very good range.
-
Wi-Fi 6E support.
-
Updated Nov 15, 2024:
We've added a link to the newly-reviewed ASUS ZenWiFi ET9 in the Interior Long Range section.
- Updated Jul 22, 2024: Review published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Google Nest Wifi Pro is available as a standalone router or in a two- or three-pack for mesh networking. It's also available in four color options: Snow, Linen, Fog, and Lemongrass. We bought and tested a two-pack in the Snow colorway. Here's a photo of our unit's label.
Compared To Other Routers
The Google Nest Wifi Pro is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router that supports mesh networking with other Nest Wifi Pro routers. It integrates with Google's Home app and ecosystem and is compatible with Matter and Thread smart home devices. While it's a good choice for those already in Google's Home ecosystem and who prefer Google's software experience, it performs slightly worse than other competitors like the eero Pro 6E and the TP-Link Deco XE5300, which are both mesh routers.
In our testing, we found that the setup process in the Google Home app was time-consuming and frustrating. We had to restart the process multiple times, and we kept receiving an unclear error message. Let us know in the comments if you've had a similar experience setting up this router.
If you're looking for more options, check out our recommendations for the best Wi-Fi routers, the best mesh Wi-Fi systems, and the best routers for large homes.
The Google Nest Wifi Pro is a better router than the Google Wifi. The former is much newer and supports Wi-Fi 6E, while the latter has been discontinued and is only Wi-Fi 5. They're both mesh routers, but the Google Wifi has a poor range that's worse than most standalone routers. The Nest Wifi Pro has very good speeds and range.
The eero Pro 6E and the Google Nest Wifi Pro are Wi-Fi 6E routers designed for use in a mesh network. The eero is better overall since it can reach higher top speeds and has better range.
The eero Pro 6 and the Google Nest Wifi Pro are sleek-looking tri-band routers designed for easy integration into a mesh network with multiple access points. The main difference is that the Google is Wi-Fi 6E, whereas the eero is Wi-Fi 6. Despite the Google router's newer technology, the two perform similarly; the eero is better at longer ranges.
The ASUS ZenWiFi ET9 is a slightly better router than the Google Nest Wifi Pro. The ASUS is a little faster, has a bit better range, and has better wired connectivity.
Test Results
This router only has one WAN and one LAN port, so you'll have to buy an external network switch if you have many wired devices. It also only supports wired speeds of 1 Gbps, meaning your devices that support multi-gigabit wired networking will be limited in speed.
We tested this router in dual mesh mode. While there's a slight speed penalty when connected to the satellite, this is expected, and the additional access point helps deliver more consistent speeds over very long distances.
If you're looking for a router with better range, check out the ASUS ZenWiFi ET9.
We tested this router in dual mesh mode. There's a slight speed penalty when connected to the satellite, but this is expected, and the router still delivers very good speeds up to 60 feet.
