Google routers updated to improve performance on slower connections

A stable connection to the internet has never been more important than it is today. Before the pandemic, most home Wi-Fi networks were used for streaming Netflix, playing some mobile games, browsing social media, or casually checking some work email. But now, our home routers are being pushed to the limit with multiple connections vying for bandwidth throughout the day. At any given point in time, you might be trying to connect to a video chat for work while you are also trying to keep your kids occupied in the other room with Netflix or a mobile game. All of these simultaneous connections can put a major strain on your Wi-Fi, especially when working on a slower connection. Luckily, Google is here to help! 

In a recent blog post, the Google Nest team announced a software update for both Nest Wifi and Google Wifi that will improve overall network performance on slow connections. The product lead for connectivity at Google Nest, Sanjay Noronha, said the update means “your Wi-Fi will better support multiple video calls, gaming sessions and more simultaneously.” Additionally, the update will improve the connections speeds on wireless networks and make sure your devices move to faster Wi-Fi radio channels when available.  

In addition to these network stability improvements, Google says their priority device feature is getting smarter and will do a better job of directing Wi-Fi traffic when multiple devices are connected. This feature can be extremely helpful and is something you can use to make sure your work laptop is getting the strongest Wi-Fi available when you are taking a video call, instead of your kid’s Netflix stream taking up all the bandwidth. 

If you are reading this and you aren’t familiar with Google Wifi or Nest Wifi, let me take a moment and say this is a smart home product that we highly recommend. We work in a coworking space with 20-30+ devices connected at any given time and our Nest Wifi mesh network handles it all with ease, even during our heavy bandwidth days. The Google Wifi and/or Google Home app makes management a breeze and is a far cry from routers that I have set up in the past. Or if you want to set up manually, you can always log in to your router firmware page at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. But is also great in the house, where I routinely have 10+ devices connected between my smart home speakers, a Nest Hub, two Chromecasts, my phone, and multiple laptops. I can’t say enough good things about it – if you are a techy person with a lot of connected devices, the Nest Wifi is a must-have.

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Google says the update will be pushed automatically, so if you are using Nest Wifi or Google Wifi, you should start seeing improvements immediately. If you are still having connectivity issues, Google has outlined a couple of tips in the second part of the blog post that can help you troubleshoot. 

Source: The Keyword