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Using a google wifi router as access point

TFS
Community Member

Hi, I have a google wifi router and a google wifi access point. The access point cannot be ethernet-wired to the router and due to the distance, the mesh connection quality comes up as "good" or "ok", never "excellent".  I'm thinking of replacing the access point with a router since the router's wifi signal will probably be stronger.  Can I use a router as an access point, connected over wifi to the main router? Any problems with this approach? TIA

1 Recommended Answer

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

I see. So, yes, if your primary is already a Nest WiFi Router unit, then replacing the secondary Google WiFi with another Nest WiFi Router may improve performance a bit, since they'll be able to use all four streams when talking to each other (but the client-facing connections will still be limited to whatever each client is capable of, and most clients don't support more than 2 streams). How much difference will it ultimately make? Hard to say. It will likely still get the same mesh test rating, but will run a bit faster. If you don't have a performance problem right now, I'm not sure I'd spend the money on what might not be a significant improvement. Keep the receipt and the packaging in case you decide it wasn't worth it, maybe?

Using the Ethernet ports on the secondary is also worth it if you're just trying to optimize, since that removes one WiFi hop from the end-to-end connection. So, if that secondary is near any streaming video devices that support Ethernet, or any gaming consoles, etc., then that would be an improvement (and that applies whether you stick with the existing Google WiFi secondary or swap it for a Nest WiFi Router unit).

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14 REPLIES 14

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @TFS 

I'm not exactly sure which devices you're asking about here. The Google WiFi units are all the same hardware – the first one you set up acts as the router + firewall + mesh primary. Any secondaries added to that are mesh secondaries. If you're asking about adding a Nest WiFi Router unit to an existing Google WiFi system, then yes, you can do this, and yes, it does have a better WiFi radio (AC2200 4x4 vs AC1200 2x2). However, it is not likely to make much difference in performance, since it will still be limited to the AC1200 2x2 radio in the primary Google WiFi unit it will be talking to.

Instead, I would consider moving that secondary closer to the primary so it can get a better 5GHz mesh connection. From there, it will provide both 2.4GHz and 5GHz coverage to more distant clients. You may find this results in better end-to-end performance.

TFS
Community Member

Hi @MichaelP  Thanks for your reply. I should have been clearer in my post, sorry.

My primary router is the Nest Wifi router AC2200. The secondary one is Google Wifi AC1200. I cannot change the physical location of either router and cannot ethernet them together.  Will it help to replace the older Google Wifi AC1200 access point with a newer Nest unit?  If yes, can I replace it with the NestAC2200 router and not the AC1200 access point? BTW, it's not like I'm suffering or trying to solve a bottleneck, but just looking to optimize connectivity.  

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

I see. So, yes, if your primary is already a Nest WiFi Router unit, then replacing the secondary Google WiFi with another Nest WiFi Router may improve performance a bit, since they'll be able to use all four streams when talking to each other (but the client-facing connections will still be limited to whatever each client is capable of, and most clients don't support more than 2 streams). How much difference will it ultimately make? Hard to say. It will likely still get the same mesh test rating, but will run a bit faster. If you don't have a performance problem right now, I'm not sure I'd spend the money on what might not be a significant improvement. Keep the receipt and the packaging in case you decide it wasn't worth it, maybe?

Using the Ethernet ports on the secondary is also worth it if you're just trying to optimize, since that removes one WiFi hop from the end-to-end connection. So, if that secondary is near any streaming video devices that support Ethernet, or any gaming consoles, etc., then that would be an improvement (and that applies whether you stick with the existing Google WiFi secondary or swap it for a Nest WiFi Router unit).

TFS
Community Member

Thanks for your thorough, thoughtful and helpful reply!

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, TFS.

It looks like you were able to get this question sorted out with MichaelP's help. Before I mark things as resolved, I just wanted to follow up and check to make sure and to see if you needed anything else. If so, just let me know.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, BenW.

I'm curious to see if you made any progress on this. I know you were working with support, so I thought I would chime in to see if you had any luck getting this worked out or to see if you still needed more help.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, TFS.
Just one quick final check in here. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.
Thanks.

BenW
Community Member

Hey Jeff,

So, I worked with support for a few hours the other night. We cleared the DNS cache on the routers themselves as well as resetting each point individually and the network as a whole. In other words took the whole network down left each point offline for roughly five minutes and then plugged them in in order of disconnect. I started with the primary point. I thought it had worked until last night when another speaker dropped off of the network. It would appear that the IP address issue isn't fixed. I haven't heard back from my initial support ticket and have confirmed there are no other IP issuer's in the network. It only happens on wireless. 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Thanks for added info, BenW. If you continue forward with support and can't find a resolution there, please let me know and I'll see what I can find out for you as well. Hopefully that open ticket leads to a resolution for you. In the meantime, I'm going to keep the thread open in case anybody else has input to share or if you need to update things.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Thanks for going through those tests and reporting back, BenW. Good to hear that things are holding steady and working well for now.

Is anyone else still struggling to get things working 100%? If so, please let me know.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, all.
Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.
Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, everyone.
As we haven't had any activity here recently I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. If you have more to add, feel free to start a new discussion.
Thanks

BenW
Community Member

In theory this works. HOWEVER, that's exactly how I have my four points setup with Nest routers. I've been having devices drop off of wifi now for a month or more. Nest support told me I needed to put the points on wireless backhaul. They said that the points were having an IP addressing issue. I can update if I get a response but I posed the same question before I purchased 4 routers instead of a router and three points. 

BenW
Community Member

Ok, so I had a chance to do some testing finally. I unplugged each point and ran a mesh test. The points dropped from great connection to good. All points stayed in the good state but as you mentioned the mesh test is not as informational as one would hope.  I also ran a ping test from each point, there were no dropped packets with no ping spikes. I wish there was a way to assign IP to the router points. 

I ran the test again and the points went back to great connections.