Nest WiFi Bridge Mode Only

[RBNetEngr]

I am a new Google Fiber customer, and they set me up with two Google WiFi units, operating in a mesh mode, with one unit connected to the Google Fiber jack, and the other unit remote (mesh).

I want to use a different device as my router on Google Fiber (a PFSense firewall), and I would like to re-deploy both Google WiFi units as wired Access Points (no mesh), operating in Bridge Mode.  My previous (pre-Google Fiber) home network was set up in a similar way.

My home has Cat5E wiring to nearly every room in the house, so I prefer to use wired Ethernet for all of the APs, and use the wired network to reach the router/firewall.

Is there any problem with setting up the Google WiFi units in this manner?

[Spaghetti69]

Google wifi, nest wifi, and nest wifi pro only support bridge mode when a single unit is used. As soon as you add a second one bridge will be unselectable

[RBNetEngr]

Do you understand what I am trying to do? The two Google WiFi units will not be connected together as part of a mesh.  They will be two independent WiFi units, running in Bridge Mode, with one wired Ethernet connection each.

Neither one will be routing.  A separate router will be on the network. This is not the standard scenario that these units are normally deployed. 

[Spaghetti69]

I believe the only way to occomplish this is to make 2 separate "homes" and add one to each in bridge mode. Firewalla has a guide on how to do this with their gold model if you search for it

[Spaghetti69]

I'll add, this can't be done if one of your units is a nest wifi point. They MUST be routers.

[RBNetEngr]

I searched but couldn’t find what you are referencing.

[Spaghetti69]

https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360048869274-Firewalla-Gold-Tutorial-Google-Wifi-or-Nes...

[RBNetEngr]

Well, I found this page:

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7215624?hl=en&ref_topic=9832540#zippy=%2Cuse-multiple-n... 

So, it looks like one Google WiFi device must be running as a router, with the others connected directly to it, not to a third party router. The mesh can either be wireless, or wired Ethernet, but in any case, the mesh units need to be connected directly together (or through a dedicated switch) and then the main (routed) unit can connect to a 3rd party router or firewall via its WAN connection.  So basically the Google WiFi mesh routers will be part of a separate subnet in my home, and the 3rd party router will provide routing to the Internet for it, as well as any connectivity to any other networks that are on the LAN side of the 3rd party router.

I was hoping to avoid that, but it looks like the only choice I have for now.  It means that the mesh connected devices will be double NATed to get to the Internet.  I have a work from home router connected to my current he network in the same way, and double NAT has not caused any problems, so I guess it should be okay.

This will make IPv6 interesting as well, as I will need to take the /56 network from Google and break it up into a /64 for each home iPv6 subnet.

[LovelyM]

Hey everyone,

I appreciate the help, @Spaghetti69. 

@RBNetEngr, thanks for reaching out. I'm chiming in to see if you need further help. You can check out this support article for more information about using bridge mode on your Nest Wifi router. 

Let me know if you need anything else. 

Thanks,
Lovely

[RBNetEngr]

I factory defaulted both Google WiFi units and then set both of them up, independently, in Bridging mode, wired to my home Ethernet network.  They work this way, but you lose many of the features, such as the ability to have a Guest network.

When I had the mesh set up, and the WAN interface on the routed Google WiFi unit connected to my home LAN (so double NATing), it caused a problem with MDNS in the home network, so Google WiFi connected devices could not find the AirPrint printer connected to the home Ethernet network.  So unless I put everything (Wired and Wireless) on the Google WiFi LAN, it won’t work properly.  I need three separate networks in the house - Home User network, Guest User network, and IOT/Home Automation network, and the ability to control/limit communications between the three networks.  So the Google WiFi capabilities are too limited for me. 

I will use them as bridged Access Points for now, and eventually replace them with more capable Access Points. 

[LovelyM]

Hello RBNetEngr, 

I appreciate the update on your network setup. I wish we could do something about the features that will be unavailable once Google Wifi devices are in bridge mode; however, this is a limitation for this kind of network mode. I highly suggest sharing feedback about this with our product engineers, who continuously work on improving the features on our devices.
 

If there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

Best,
Lovely

[LovelyM]

Hi again RBNetEngr,

I'm checking in to see if you were able to do the steps above. I want to make sure everything is covered on your end, so let me know if you still need help.

Cheers, 
Lovely

[RBNetEngr]

I think I am fine with this for now.  I have done what I needed to do to get the functionality I need.  I am planning to purchase some SMB APS in the future to replace the Google WiFi bridge mode devices and get the full functionality.

[AbigailF]

Hey there RBNetEngr,

As we got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this thread as resolved. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you in 24 hrs. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future.

Thanks,
Abi