Using Nest as a second router

[cbad]

I have a Nighthawk router as my main router because it offers some features for connecting to our network servers that my Nest couldn't support. It also connects a bunch of wired servers as well as wifi. But it is in the garage and the wifi can't reach portions of my house. So I ran a cat 6 cable from my garage and connected my Nest router in a central location in my house. It is in NAT mode, but all the wireless devices will be run on the Nest wifi network. So far, no problems and it works great!

So my question: is this setup OK or am I asking for trouble? Assuming it's OK, can I now add a point that connects to the Nest router? 

Thanks in advance!

[David_K]

It will work but Google don't recommend putting Nest Wifi in bridge mode as as it's not how Nest Wifi is designed to be used, and you lose a lot of its features and security protections (more details linked below). Bridge mode also only works if you’re using a single Nest Wifi device like you are currently. If you want to create a mesh network and add more Wifi points, your primary Nest Wifi point cannot be in bridge mode. 

Bridge mode - Google Nest Help

Curious what features your third party router has that you need that Nest Wifi doesn't? Certainly for wired devices you can connect a simple unmanaged switch to a Nest Wifi router to wire devices if needed.

[cbad]

I haven't put it in Bridge mode since it doesn't really act as an extender. Using it in NAT mode is working well, but I am concerned with double NAT issues. All my wired devices run on the Nighthawk and all my wireless devices run on the Nest. 

I don't know 100% without looking at it again, but the problem I remember was some advanced port forwarding that the Nest couldn't handle. I tried a lot to make it work, but in the end it could't do it. I use a switch from the Nighthawk for wired connections already, so that wasn't what was stopping me.

Thanks!

[LovelyM]

Hello everyone, 

Thanks for lending a hand, @David_K. 

@cbad, we appreciate the information that you provided. We'll take this as feedback for our product team to improve the port forwarding features on the Google Wifi and Nest Wifi devices. You can also send us feedback about feature enhancements by following this link. 

Let us know if you have additional questions or concerns; otherwise, I'll close the thread after 24 hours.

Cheers,
Lovely

[cbad]

Well no one has really answered my question yet. Am I asking for trouble running my Nest router in NAT mode when the internet feed is coming through my primary Netgear router and not the modem? Neither router is in bridge mode. All wireless devices are connected to the Nest router. It's working well so far, but I'd like to prepare for issues that may arise.

[LovelyM]

Hey cbad,

Usually, double NAT doesn't have a noticeable effect on network performance, so your network setup is actually okay. You just need to make sure what devices are connected to your Google Nest Wifi router and to your Nighthawk router to avoid confusion. You might have issues if you configure port forwarding rules and UPnP. 

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Regards,
Lovely

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

I wanted to follow up and see if you still needed help. Please let me know if you still have any concerns or questions from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Regards,

Dan

[Dan_A]

Hello again,

We haven't heard from you in a while, so we'll be locking this thread if there is no update within 24 hours. If you need assistance or want to discuss topics, feel free to start a new thread.
 

Thanks,

Dan