Wi-Fi has become an essential part of daily home life, and yet, for something that’s so critical, Wi-Fi is often forgotten. That is, until it stops working. We’ve all experienced a spinning buffering wheel when trying to stream a movie, or a room that just never quite seems to have a strong signal. And when something goes wrong, most of us are at a loss for how to fix it, crossing our fingers in hopes that turning the router off, then on again is the solution.

You shouldn’t have to be a network engineer to have good, reliable Wi-Fi at home, which is why we built Google Wifi, available for sale today at retailers like the Google Store, Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart.

One of the ways Google Wifi is different from your traditional router is its Network Assist technology. Network Assist is based on Google intelligence that manages all the complexities of Wi-Fi behind the scenes to make sure you always have the best connection possible. Network Assist helps keep your Google Wifi system running smoothly in three key ways:

Keeps your Wi-Fi network at peak performance

Most routers scan the environment for a clear channel when they are powered on, and never again (until you restart it, which is why it’s so common that “unplugging” seems to be the fix). Over time, Wi-Fi channels can get congested, slowing channel speeds to a crawl. But now, Google Wifi solves the congestion issue by performing a scan of the wireless spectrum every five minutes. Network Assist uses these results to build a predictive model to determine the best channel for your Wi-Fi to make sure you’re always on the clearest channel, which means less congestion and faster speeds.

To ensure you always have strong coverage throughout your home, Network Assist continuously monitors the connection between all your Google Wifi points to make sure they have good signal with each other. It also conducts regular speed tests in the background, so you can review your history to see what speeds you’re getting from your internet service provider.

Finds the best connection for your devices

Through Network Assist, you'll always get the best Wi-Fi connectivity possible, but we take it a step further to make sure that each individual device always has the best connection.

Your devices (like laptops, smartphones, connected light bulbs) connect to Wi-Fi using one of two bands: 2.4GHz or 5GHz. The 2.4GHz band has slower speeds but a longer range, while 5GHz is faster but with shorter range. Network Assist helps your devices connect to the best band, based on the device and its location relative to Wifi points to make sure you always have a strong, reliable Wi-Fi signal.

Keeps you in the know

Wi-Fi should be easy to set up, provide great coverage for your entire house, and do all the heavy lifting for you. We built Google Wifi to answer those needs and more, and hope it improves your Wi-Fi experience at home.

At Google we care deeply about connecting people to the information and services they care about. Better connectivity is at the center of this, and we know that many people wish they had better Wi-Fi coverage in their home. That’s why we created Google Wifi, a new system that replaces your router to provide fast Wi-Fi for every corner of your home, on all your devices.

Google Wifi works differently than a traditional router, using mesh technology. Last week, we wrote about how mesh Wi-Fi is the best way to provide whole home coverage and as mesh is becoming increasingly popular, there are a few other companies offering home mesh solutions.

To see how we stack up, we recently asked Allion USA, a third party testing company, to put Google Wifi head-to-head with other mesh systems: Eero® and Luma®.

Allion connected two units from each system in a 3,000 square foot, two story home and tested Wi-Fi speeds at four different locations. The graphic below shows the speeds (in Mbps)  they measured at each of those locations. Google Wifi came out on top, with the fastest Wi-Fi across the whole home.

Google Wifi is 75% faster than Eero in the living room, and more than twice as fast as Luma at the same location. When you’re sitting down with your family to stream the latest Hollywood blockbuster in 4K, that speed difference matters!

And when you want to kick back and game in the upstairs bedroom, Google Wifi is 23 Mbps faster than Luma, and five times faster (185 Mbps) than Eero.

Google Wifi is able to outperform other mesh routers because we built it from the ground up to provide fast Wi-Fi in every room. Each Google Wifi point packs high-gain antennas along with powerful amplifiers that make the signal stronger and farther-reaching.

Each point’s quad core network processor, fast packet forwarding engine, and dual gigabit Ethernet ports help the network keep up with all your needs.  Each point delivers AC1200 802.11ac performance in a device that looks nice enough to keep out in the open, where Wi-Fi works its best. Dual-band dual-concurrent radios are compatible with all your Wi-Fi devices, and Google’s Network Assist software takes care of managing complex settings in the background, so you can sit back and enjoy the Wi-Fi.

Simply put, not all Wi-Fi systems are created equal. We’re confident that Google Wifi can deliver better, faster Wi-Fi to your home, no matter what its shape or size. And since we care so much about ensuring you get the best coverage, Allion will continue to test Google Wifi against other mesh products over the coming weeks.

Google Wifi is currently available for pre-order online at retailers like the Google Store. Happy surfing and streaming!

Test performed by Allion USA with an Apple MacBook Air.  Individual results may vary depending on home layout, construction, network client, and interference.  MacBook Air is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. Eero is a registered trademark of Eero, Inc. Luma is a registered trademark of Luma, Inc.

At Google we care deeply about connecting people to the information and services they care about. Better connectivity is at the center of this, and we know that many people wish they had better Wi-Fi coverage in their home. That’s why we created Google Wifi, a new system that replaces your router to provide fast Wi-Fi for every corner of your home, on all your devices.

Google Wifi works differently than a traditional router, using mesh technology. Last week, we wrote about how mesh Wi-Fi is the best way to provide whole home coverage and as mesh is becoming increasingly popular, there are a few other companies offering home mesh solutions.

To see how we stack up, we recently asked Allion USA, a third party testing company, to put Google Wifi head-to-head with other mesh systems: Eero® and Luma®.

Allion connected two units from each system in a 3,000 square foot, two story home and tested Wi-Fi speeds at four different locations. The graphic below shows the speeds (in Mbps)  they measured at each of those locations. Google Wifi came out on top, with the fastest Wi-Fi across the whole home.

Google Wifi is 75% faster than Eero in the living room, and more than twice as fast as Luma at the same location. When you’re sitting down with your family to stream the latest Hollywood blockbuster in 4K, that speed difference matters!

And when you want to kick back and game in the upstairs bedroom, Google Wifi is 23 Mbps faster than Luma, and five times faster (185 Mbps) than Eero.

Google Wifi is able to outperform other mesh routers because we built it from the ground up to provide fast Wi-Fi in every room. Each Google Wifi point packs high-gain antennas along with powerful amplifiers that make the signal stronger and farther-reaching.

Each point’s quad core network processor, fast packet forwarding engine, and dual gigabit Ethernet ports help the network keep up with all your needs.  Each point delivers AC1200 802.11ac performance in a device that looks nice enough to keep out in the open, where Wi-Fi works its best. Dual-band dual-concurrent radios are compatible with all your Wi-Fi devices, and Google’s Network Assist software takes care of managing complex settings in the background, so you can sit back and enjoy the Wi-Fi.

Simply put, not all Wi-Fi systems are created equal. We’re confident that Google Wifi can deliver better, faster Wi-Fi to your home, no matter what its shape or size. And since we care so much about ensuring you get the best coverage, Allion will continue to test Google Wifi against other mesh products over the coming weeks.

Google Wifi is currently available for pre-order online at retailers like the Google Store. Happy surfing and streaming!

Test performed by Allion USA with an Apple MacBook Air.  Individual results may vary depending on home layout, construction, network client, and interference.  MacBook Air is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. Eero is a registered trademark of Eero, Inc. Luma is a registered trademark of Luma, Inc.

Whether we’re binge watching in the bedroom, gaming in the basement, or taking a video call from the kitchen, we want fast Wi-Fi in every room of our homes. And yet we still put up with Wi-Fi headaches, like spotty connections, dead zones, and blinking lights when something goes wrong.

As we continue to bring the latest and greatest gadgets into our homes, we want to make sure they get the connectivity they need. That’s why we built Google Wifi, to give you fast Wi-Fi in every room, on every device. We’re able to eliminate spotty connections, dead zones and blinking lights using our new mesh Wi-Fi system.

But what is mesh, exactly? We’re glad you asked…

A mesh network is a group of routers that communicate wirelessly to each other to create a single Wi-Fi network that provides a blanket of connectivity. This allows you to have multiple sources of powerful Wi-Fi throughout your home, instead of just a single router.

Think about where the router is located in your home. Probably in a corner, close to where the internet service enters your home. The problem is, that far flung corner is the worst location to place a router if you want fast Wi-Fi throughout the house. The farther you are from the router, the weaker the signal, which leads to dreaded dead zones and buffered videos.

Google Wifi addresses the problem by allowing you to wirelessly expand your network through mesh.  For the networking experts - that’s IEEE 802.11s mesh, that’s further improved by a few of Google’s own innovations.

Since Wi-Fi is broadcasted from each Wifi point (and not just a single router), Google Wifi is a connected system that provides better coverage over a wider space. The system is flexible and scalable, so if you have a larger home, connect as many points as needed to get better Wi-Fi in every room (our 3-pack covers up to 4,500 sq. ft). Wifi points connect wirelessly, so you don’t need to run Ethernet cables throughout your house.

Since all the Wifi points are connected to each other, data can take several paths toward its destination -- and we use our Network Assist technology to ensure that Google Wifi points always choose the fastest route from your device to the internet. This means that you get faster Wi-Fi speeds for things like streaming and gaming.

Want to make a ‘mesh’ of your house? Google Wifi is available for pre-order in the US beginning today at retailers like the Google Store. A single Wifi point retails for $129, and covers homes up to 1,500 square feet. The three-pack, at $299, covers homes up to 4,500 square feet. Google Wifi ships on December 6th, just in time for fast Wi-Fi for all of your holiday guests.