Google has entered the Wi-Fi 6E race with the sleek and compact Nest Wifi Pro

What you need to know

• Google has announced a new Nest Wifi router, the Nest Wifi Pro with Wi-Fi 6E.
• Nest Wifi Pro has a top speed of 5.4Gbps with dual gigabit Ethernet on every node.
• Nest Wifi Pro starts at $199.99 for one, $299.99 for two, and $399.99 for three.
• Pre-orders open up on October 4, 2022, with availability on October 27.

Google is finally ready to step up to the latest version of Wi-Fi with its new Nest Wifi Pro, with pre-orders beginning on October 4, 2022, and availability on October 27.

This mesh router has a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E connection with support for 160MHz connections. While Google isn’t the first to market with Wi-Fi 6E tech, it has adopted a sensible set of specifications that make a lot of sense for a mesh Wi-Fi system. Nest Wifi Pro has a tri-band wireless connection with support for 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands. This 6GHz band utilizes a new chunk of spectrum with support for more devices than 5GHz could accommodate.

Coverage is set to be strong considering the compact size of each router, with up to 2,200 square feet of coverage. The two-pack will cover up to 4,400 square feet, and the three-pack will cover up to 6,600 square feet. Naturally, mesh coverage depends greatly on your home, the materials used to build it, and congestion in your area. Luckily, you can add more Nest Wifi Pro routers to your mesh as needed to cover your entire home.

It’s also worth noting that 6GHz Wi-Fi does not have as wide a coverage area as 2.4GHz or even 5GHz bands due to power limit restrictions. This, however, makes 6GHz Wi-Fi the perfect fit for a well-implemented mesh system that puts your devices closer to an access point.

Like the previous Nest Wifi, the new router itself is quite compact and designed to be kept in the open to improve the quality of your Wi-Fi signal. Google is offering Nest Wifi Pro in four colors: Snow, Linen, Fog, and Lemongrass, designed to help fit in better with your room’s decor. With rounded corners and a smooth finish, Nest Wifi Pro routers look a bit like the eggs of your Nest smart home (get it?).

Google also touts that each Nest Wifi router is made of more than 60% recycled materials by weight making it an environmentally friendly home networking choice. This is great to see and another step forward from the fully recycled packaging we saw in our eero Pro 6E review. Speaking of the eero Pro 6E, the Nest Wifi Pro has very similar wireless hardware with both routers operating at AXE5400 speeds. Unlike the eero however, Nest Wifi Pro does not come with multi-gig Ethernet ports, so it’s really only suited for internet connections up to 1Gbps.

Of course, all of this hardware means nothing if the software can’t keep up. This is a place where Google has excelled in the past with simple Wi-Fi settings and controls that you can set and forget. The system is designed to cope with changes to internet speed and will automatically check and optimize the Wi-Fi for your home's conditions. You set Nest Wifi Pro up using the newly revamped Google Home app, which many people will already have installed on their phones.

Google also keeps security front and center with automatic updates and parental control features. Unlike some mesh systems, there is no monthly subscription for the full suite of software on offer here with profiles and time scheduling. There’s also a bedtime feature for kids, as well as the ability to block unsafe content.

For smart home users, Nest Wifi Pro includes a Thread Border Router so you can connect Thread smart home devices to your network. Nest Wifi Pro is also set to support Matter when it launches.

Google isn’t the first company to launch Wi-Fi 6E, but with good software support, there’s a good chance Nest Wifi Pro will be one of the best Wi-Fi 6E mesh routers. Its AXE5400 connection should be more than capable of keeping up with the needs of a family. While 6GHz Wi-Fi devices will take time to catch up with 5GHz when it comes to overall traffic, each one can take some of the strain off the 5GHz bands. Many people are already using 6GHz-capable devices such as the Google Pixel 6 series of phones and the Galaxy S22 series.

While Nest Wifi Pro isn’t too special compared to routers from the competition, compared to the previous Nest Wifi router, it will be much faster thanks to Wi-Fi 6 on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands as well as 160MHz support at 5GHz. If you like to stick with Google for your Wi-Fi needs, this could be the upgrade you’ve been waiting for.