Google has a whole bunch of products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nest Mini smart speaker, Nest Cam, Pixel smartphones, Wi-Fi and more. Not all of what they have to offer is officially available in New Zealand except for Chromecast and more recently, the Nest Mini.
One of their products, Google Wi-Fi has been around for a while. You can get your hands on it at handful of retailers in NZ. Across the ditch, they can get that and more directly on the Google store.
One of their products, Google Wi-Fi has been around for a while. You can get your hands on it at a handful of retailers in NZ. Across the ditch, they can get that and more directly on the Google store.
When you sign up to a broadband plan, your internet service provider (ISP) will more than likely include a modem/wireless router. More often than not, the hardware that they provide gives average performance. Depending on the size and shape of area that needs to be covered, poor performance and dead zone areas may come to light. Whats more, households have more and more bandwidth-hungry IoT devices all over the place.
What Google Wifi and other similar devices do is that they create a mesh network that essentially blankets your house with fast and stable WiFi. They are a life changer in spaces where there are dead zones or areas with degraded performance.
About a year ago, we invested in a TP Link Deco M4 (2 Pack) AC1200 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System (a product similar to Nest Wifi) and it has made a huge difference. We have gone from having the ISP provided router at one of the house (leaving the other end with patchy areas) to having two wifi points (one on each end of the house).
The installation, among other things,
- covered the entire house with a strong Wi-Fi signal
- allowed for seamless simultaneous streaming of high definition and 4K content
- dramatically increased network speeds (much faster than the ISP’s router)
- brought safety and sanity with parental controls
- easily set up a guest network
Google’s Nest Wifi works in the same way as the Deco M4 mentioned above and comes with the following features:
- Network controls
- Parental controls
- Device prioritisation
- Smart speaker with Google assistant
- Security
Free Google Nest Wifi
Nest Wifi can now officially be purchased in NZ from your favourite electronics retailer with the base unit (1 pack) currently retailing for $299.
But, you can get your hands on one for FREE. Orcon is giving them to new customers who sign up to either their Fibre 100 or Gigantic Fibre plans on a 12-month contract. If you are in the market for a new ISP or looking to switch, consider Orcon.
For an easy way of comparing all the ISP options out there, https://www.broadbandcompare.co.nz/. Its an awesome broadband comparison website that lists out all available offers. This can be narrowed down to specifics such as the cheapest, fastest, best customer service and more.
No comments yet.