Setting up WiFi and internet access can tend to be a tedious process in a new setting. You have to go through all of the wiring, choose the right placement to get good coverage, then navigate through that clunky web interface that looks like I designed it in my 2008 high school computer class. Tedious and troublesome, there just seems to be so many nuances to go through just to get onto the web. Our friends over at the tech giant Google are looking to fix that. Welcome back to #TechTuesday, where we will be talking about the new
Google WiFi router, and how its gonna change your world.
Wi-Fi Made Simple
Google WiFi is a new product in google’s “Made By” line that coincides with their other releases of smart home devices, such as smoke alarms or the Google Home. Its designed for simplicity, with the aesthetic of it being a clean, small form factor device, and the UI for control set up to be minimalist. It is, for all purposes, a lifestyle device. Its designed to take away the pains of trying to set up a new router, trying to figure out what port forwarding and a WEP key is, and to focus on streamlining the setup. Not to say that it cannot do these things, but it just simply is not focused there.
Google Has Your Space Covered
Designed with the principal of total coverage, this new router was created with the mindset that we want to eliminate the wonky, backwards setups of wifi repeaters and extenders. When you set up a Google Wi-Fi, if you need more coverage, you just set up a second device. Using a style of routing called a mesh network, these devices connect to eachother seamlessly. So when a new device detects an existing network when it is setup, you can configure it to integrate and essentially expand this network’s range. From there, we also get to utilize the Network Assist feature.
Network Assist is similar to the traffic monitor and connection prioritization features you see on most routers. This, however, is more automagic with its functionality, where it will determine the least congested channels on the mesh network to prioritize your device on, as well as the best band to operate on. It promises a fast connection for every user, while still allowing you to limit certain devices as you please through its app-based interface.
Troubles With Progress
While a sleek form factor and simplicity of set up are some awesome features of a device like this, Google Wi-Fi is not without its drawbacks. These are mostly faceted toward the power users of networking. Foremost, if you are the kind of person that likes to hardwire your devices to your router, you’re going to be skimped in that avenue, as the devices each only feature two ports for LAN connections. Atop this, some end users might not enjoy the design of the interface being locked to access based on apps on a smartphone or other smart device on iOS and Android. While it may be convenient and quick to set up, it is drawn back by these small limitations. Overall, though? We have to say its a pretty sleek device, and definitely eliminates a lot of the tedium that comes along with getting your world connected.
