Will my 50 smart devices have to be reset if I buy a new primary Nest router?

[MTBioGuy]

I have a 4 node Google WiFi (1st gen) system connected to over 50 smart devices.  Every device expects to see a "Google WiFi" network.  I'd like to replace my existing 1st gen Google WiFi router node with a new 2nd gen Nest Wifi router node.  Please tell me that if I keep the same network name all of my smart devices will still be able to happily see and log on to a "Google WiFi" network without me having to reset and reinstall ALL 50+ smart devices?  

[MichaelP · Accepted solution]

Hello @MTBioGuy 

Yes, this should work. My current Google WiFi system started out life as an Apple Airport Extreme system. I just kept the same network name (SSID) and shared password when I set this system up a few years ago and all of my WiFi devices reconnected to it just fine. I repeated this process at my parents' house last November. The only possible issue you may run into is if you have some devices that don't like WPA3, but hopefully those are rare, and if you do happen to run into one, you can disable WPA3 on the new system.

All of that said, I'm curious why you'd invest in a Nest WiFi system when you have an existing Google WiFi system that is working well for you already. The Nest WiFi Router unit itself has a "better" WiFi radio than Google WiFi (4 streams instead of 2), but most clients can't take advantage of that extra capability (most can't do more than 2 streams anyway, though a few can do 3 – some can only do 1 stream). Meanwhile, the Nest WiFi Point units have a very similar WiFi radio as Google WiFi (2 streams), and are missing the Ethernet ports that Google WiFi has. My point is, if it isn't broke, why "fix" it? If you want to improve the performance of your existing system, you'd probably get more "bang" by building an Ethernet network off of the primary unit's LAN Ethernet port and using it for as much as possible – including wiring up your secondary Google WiFi units so they can dedicate more 5GHz capacity to nearby clients.

[MTBioGuy]

Hi michael - thanks for the great reply.  As for the "If it ain't broken don't fix it"... I'm one of those Google WiFi folks with wildly fluctuating download numbers and frequent disconnects.  My ISP tech team has tried plugging their laptops directly into the on-site radio receiver (it's a wireless system) and received nice, fast, stable downloads.  Unfortunately as soon as they plug directly into my gen 1 Google WiFi router node (no WiFi involved) the speeds plummet to 25% and begin to fluctuate again.  Their conclusion is,,, "It's the Google system"... of course. 

Well, with 4 nodes in place already I'm not about to start from scratch... I've tried direct ethernet connecting my laptop for critical high data streams needed for work... still not good.  I've even tried direct connecting a new Nighthawk sub-net router to the primary Google gen 1 router... still no good. 

Bottom line... I'm out of ideas that don't involve throwing it all away... hence the thoughts about just swapping out the primary gen 1 router node for a gen 2 router node.  My only concern had been with having to reset the whole system and then, consequently, have to re-install 50 smart devices to be able to reconnect them to the new router. 

I had read that the new router WOULD require a full reset of it and my other 3 gen #1 access point nodes.  That sounded like all downstream device settings would be lost... hence the need for a massive, 50 device, reinstall.  Been there, done that... I'll pass if at all possible. 

In your case you, apparently, went from brand A router to brand B (Nest?) router... using the same SSID... and did not have to make any changes to the downstream smart devices... that sounds amazing.  The question is whether that would also work with a change from brand A Google-gen 1 to brand A Nest -gen 2.  Thanks again.

[MichaelP]

Hello @MTBioGuy 

The wireless ISP is a red flag for me here, actually. I have run into other customers whose wireless ISP systems use the same part of the 5GHz band as Google/Nest WiFi, which causes significant interference in the local WiFi system. So, before buying a Nest WiFi system (which will use the same 5GHz channel as your Google WiFi system does), can you ask your ISP exactly what frequency range their system uses? If you post that here, I can compare it with the frequencies Google and Nest WiFi use (I may need to know what part of the world you're in as well, since US units use a different channel than European units, for example). If this turns out to be the issue, and your ISP can't put you on a different channel, replacing your Google WiFi system with a Nest WiFi system won't solve the problem. But, a different brand of WiFi system might (if it uses a different channel than Google/Nest WiFi uses).

Now, as to reset impacts, yes – you'd reset your existing system to replace it with a new Nest WiFi system. However, as long as the new system is set up to use the same network name and shared password, your existing client devices should connect to the new system just fine.

[EdwardT]

HI folks,

@MichaelP, as always, thanks for the help!

@MTBioGuy, how's it going with your Google WiFi? Still need our help?

Thanks,

Edward

[MTBioGuy]

Howdy All -

Sorry to disappear there... I've been busy setting up my new Google Nest WiFi router (replacing my Gen #1 Google WiFi router) and verifying that all 61 of my linked smart devices are still fully functioning... and... more importantly for me... functioning at a decent download speed.  My ISP reassured me that the new Cambium model 450b radio that they just installed was actually operating on a 3.690 GHz frequency so there should be no cross talk problems with my 5.0 GHz five node Google mesh network.  So far so good!  I've moved that Gen #1 Google WiFi router elsewhere in the network... acting as a simple point but close enough to the new Nest router that, in a pinch, I could run a cable to it in the future for more data intensive direct connected projects.  Thanks again for your help.

[EdwardT]

HI MTBioGuy,

Awesome — glad to hear everything is back and working as intended. Please let us know if you have other questions and concerns. We're here to help.

Thanks,

Edward

[EdwardT]

Hi MTBioGuy,

It's me again, I wanted to check back in to see if you have other questions and concerns. Feel free to let me know if you do. 

Thanks,

Edward

[MTBioGuy]

Thanks Edward... all is now good... the new gen #2 router is working well with my original 4 gen #1 points... for some reason I'm having far fewer drops and my bandwidth has seen far fewer wild swings.  When I made the switch all of my (now 61) devices reconnected with no issues.  Thanks for the help I received from everyone!