Nest Wifi point mesh - Main point>point>point>point

[SomberSasquatch]

Hello!

I am trying to help a neighbor and I have a question I am hoping to answer prior to purchasing. He is looking to set up a mesh for his house as current coverage is spotty.

His router is on one side of his house: if he were to buy a 4 pack, could we have the main point on the left side of his house, and then do a point in the center, a point on the right side, and then a point connected to that one in a detached garage. For the sake of argument, let's assume all points have a great connection to the next/previous point.

Basically, that last point would have 2 connections to get back to the main router. Curious if the system would support that, and if the signal would be worth it.

Thank you!

[MichaelP]

Hello @SomberSasquatch 

I would strongly discourage attempting to build a system like this. The points don't know where they are in relation to each other. So, the path through the mesh follows a "fewest hops" approach. But, since WiFi links will drop their speed way down in order to get through, the result is traffic "skipping" intermediate points as long as it can get through in one hop, albeit slowly. In addition, there is only one 5GHz channel used for the mesh interconnect, and this channel is shared with 5GHz clients. So, every extra "hop" means using that channel again, blocking other transmissions.

In short, the optimal layout is having the primary unit as close to the center of the home as possible with secondary/point units no more than one or two rooms away from the primary. Close enough that they can each get a strong 5GHz mesh connection directly to the primary. From there, they will provide both 2.4GHz and 5GHz coverage to more distant clients.

For coverage in outbuildings, use Ethernet. Build a wired network from the LAN port on the primary Nest WiFi Router unit, and then use that network to connect more Nest WiFi Router units as secondary/point units (or use some Google WiFi units as wired secondary/point units if you can find them for less money), including one in the outbuilding.

WiFi is extremely low power. Lots of wired secondary/point units is really important to cover large/complex homes, especially when outbuildings are part of the plan.