Google Wifi is now available in Canada, as a single unit for $179 and three-pack mesh combo for a cool $439.
That's a steep premium over the U.S. price of $129 and $299 respectively, and even at the latest exchange rate includes quite a bit of a premium. Still, Google Wifi is a very good router setup, evolved from Google's own OnHub program that it worked with Asus and TP-Link to develop.
Google Wifi simplifies the router setup experience dramatically, using your smartphone as the primary administrative hub and performing updates silently in the background to ensure that speeds stay fast and coverage stays reliable. On its own, Google Wifi provides a moderate amount of coverage for an apartment or small home, but it's when one combines the units together — it supports two or three "pucks" for a mesh setup — that things get really interesting.
Instead of using a repeater, which merely captures the signal from the main router and tries to amplify it, Google Wifi uses mesh technology to seamlessly spread signal evenly around the house so speeds stay constant, and there are no nasty drop-off points in remote corners. Here's what Jerry Hildenbrand said in his review:
I heartily recommend Google Wifi to anyone looking for a way to cover their whole house with a network connection. But I also can recommend the Amplifi system and have plans to look at what Eero and Luma have to offer. I can't say one is any better than the other, but I can tell you that each is a good choice. This is a good place to be, where we have a choice of products that work the way we expect them to work. If you're deeply tied into the Google ecosystem, go with Google Wifi for a multi-device setup. You'll like the On.Here integration for connected devices, and the Zigbee and BLE radios mean more functionality may be coming, though we heard that before with OnHub and it didn't materialize.If you just need one Wi-Fi router and want something expandable (and pretty cool to use through the app) definitely go with Google Wifi here. The price is comparable to any good Wi-Fi router and you'll appreciate both the network performance and ease of use.
Jerry refers to other mesh router products, such as Amplifi, Luma and eero, but none of them are available in Canada. Google Wifi's biggest competitor is Netgear's Orbi system, which for $499.99 comes with a base unit and a single satellite, but its units have much larger antennas and have generally received glowing reviews from the rest of the industry.
Google Wifi is available April 28 from the Google Store, Best Buy, Staples Canada and Walmart.
