Google WIFI to detatched garage

[jcat24]

I use a Google Wifi system with three points. I want to get Wifi to my detached garage. Can I run an Ethernet cat 6 cable from one of the points to a point or a switch in the detached garage to extend service out there? It is about 150' from the closest Wifi point. Thank you!

[MichaelP · Accepted solution]

Hello @jcat24 

Close – you can use Ethernet to connect a Google WiFi secondary/point unit in an outbuilding to a wired network rooted in the primary/router Google WiFi unit's LAN Ethernet port. Connecting to another secondary/point via Ethernet may have strange behavior and potentially extremely poor performance, potentially intermittently, unless that other secondary/point is also wired back to the primary.

The reason for this is that the 802.11s mesh protocol doesn't run over Ethernet – it only runs over the WiFi channel, so mixing wired and wireless secondaries has some extra constraints. This is one of them.

Here's a help article with more details on what you can and can't do when wiring secondaries: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7215624?hl=en 

[jcat24]

Thank you! I appreciate the quick and to the point answer. Can I run a cat 6 cable from the primary/router Google WiFi unit to a Google WiFi point in the detached garage and still use the three points that are scattered through the house wireless? So my network would be the primary/router Google Wifi with three random points scattered throughout the house via wireless connection. Also, a cat 6 Ethernet cable from primary to a new point out in the detached garage? Would this mix of wired & wireless work or would that be the same as the problem you described in the first post?

[MichaelP]

Yes, you can do this. If your existing secondaries are working fine using the wireless mesh interconnect in the house, connecting a secondary to the primary/router via Ethernet should work fine. Think of them as two independent segments of the network – the wireless mesh segment and the wired Ethernet segment. Both segments are bridged together in the primary/router unit. You just can't bridge them in a secondary/point unit. 

I would recommend picking up a couple of inexpensive, unmanaged Ethernet switches to put on both ends of that long Ethernet cable run between buildings though, too. That will provide some electrical isolation to protect the more expensive router/point hardware. It also makes more ports available to nearby devices and can make testing things during setup easier.