STACK #229 November 2023

SMART HOME

TECH FEATURE

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There’s nothing worse than Netflix constantly buffering because you’re too far from the router or someone else in the house is gaming. A Wi-Fi mesh router system scales to fill your whole home, and the Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro is the perfect mix of speed, smarts, and style. Words Michael Irving NETWORK NESTING

Secure The internet can be a dangerous place, so the Nest Wi-Fi Pro uses secure booting and regular software updates to block external hacks or unauthorised software. You don’t even have to hand out your regular password to visitors – set up a guest network with its own password, and choose which devices they can access. Let your uncle Chromecast to the TV, for example, but not your work laptop. A clear list of every device connected to your network lets you easily pause access for things that shouldn’t be there. Home sweet home The heart of the whole network is the Google Home app, which lets you easily check the network status or set parental controls. It also acts as your smart home hub – the system is compatible with Matter, the new smart home universal connectivity standard

How does it work? Most homes connect to the internet through one router, which sits wherever the modem is – even if that’s not the ideal spot to beam Wi-Fi evenly throughout the house. A mesh system gives you a fast, stable connection everywhere you need it by chaining multiple routers together into a network. The Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro taps into Google’s extensive expertise for a home Wi-Fi system that’s fast, flexible, secure and stable for multiple devices at once. It comes with a dedicated router that plugs into your existing modem, and smaller devices called Wi-Fi Points, which can be placed around the home to extend your coverage. The base kit comes with one Point, or to cover bigger houses you can grab a three-pack. Lightning speed The Nest Wi-Fi Pro taps into Wi-Fi 6E technology, providing speeds of up to 5.4 Gbps – twice as fast as the previous generation. That ensures that the whole household can stream movies, host video calls, and play online games without any slow-down. Even data heavy activities like virtual reality run smoothly! Wi-Fi 6E delivers a significant speed boost by operating on a new radio frequency band, 6GHz, which older systems don’t use.

across different manufacturers. Control lights, speakers, cameras, appliances, and the entire smart home ecosystem right from your phone. Style A router is usually something you hide away in a cupboard, but since Nest Wi-Fi Pro devices are designed to be dotted around the house, Google has taken the time to make sure its routers and Wi-Fi Points blend into your decor.

Smarter A smart home needs a smart network. The Nest Wi-Fi Pro automatically manages network performance to prioritise high bandwidth activities like video calls. Sick of the old “turn it off and on again” method of tech support? The router can actively keep watch for common issues, and diagnose and fix them on its own.

20 NOVEMBER 2023

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