Google WiFi Reviewed

[Rhyle R]

Here's a summary of my results.
Thanks to the information on this forum I got 3 asus Onhubs to setup a mesh.

I'm very happy with the setup.
I bought 3 to replace 3 APs I had before.
2 were enough and it took care of the dead zones!
Speed is max of what my ISP provides everywhere in the house.

Setup of the onhubs themselves was easy.
I spent a few hours figuring out how to setup my ISPs router in bridge mode (It's an Actiontek to go from Coax to Ethernet)

This is definitely a great setup, thank you for the tips!

 

[Rayman4449]

I just got a Google Wifi 3 pack and couldn't be happier. I now have signal in all areas of my multi-level home and for the first time I can move from all areas of the house with my phone (Samsung GS7 edge) on a VOIP Wifi call and it not disconnect. Hand-offs are truly 100% seamless. Setup was the easiest of any device I've ever had also. Two of the Pods are currently connected via ethernet to my 1gb home network and one that is connected wireless (will be hardwired soon).

 

[Elisha]

Guys need some help on something...
I have 2x Asus OnHub in Mesh. Previously the Nighthawk R7000.
Anyway main OnHub is in the basement and secondary OnHub is 2 floors up in my bedroom.
Even with only the single OnHub in the basement, I get full signal bars upstairs on my iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus. Not covering a huge space. 2,100 - 2,200 sqft max.
Anyway I have been having issues with WiFi Calling dropping and reconnecting randomly since I switched to the OnHub. I've reset them both and even went with a single one to see if Mesh was the issue.
Contacted support and they were trying to figure it out. Sent them the log and also reported from the app which send them the statistics. They're pretty much ignoring me at this point since they can't figure it out.
Anyway I've always monitored which node I connect to to see how well the device picks the router with the best signal and it's pretty random when I'm in the main level. Sometimes it picks the one above me in the bedroom and sometimes it picks the one below me in the basement. Anytime I go upstairs, the phone automatically switches to the bedroom OnHub from the basement one and that's pretty cool.
So anyway I started wondering if my WiFi Calling was dropping because I was switching from one to the other and the indicator on the phone was just a bit delayed when it was actually dropping WiFi Calling. The past couple of day I started monitoring more frequently and it seems like when I'm in the living room, it just picks 5Ghz from either OnHub. Then when I move to the front of my house, I may drop 1 bar on WiFi for a couple of seconds and sometimes my phone gets greyed out in the Google WiFi app.
I never actually lose Wifi on the phone itself. Once the app refreshes, it shows that the band has changed and that I'm on 2.4Ghz of the OnHub that I was connected to. After a couple of minutes I check again and I'm on 2.4Ghz on the other OnHub and after a few seconds I'm on 5Ghz of that same OnHub.
So it looks like band steering is working well without dropping me off the network and that the device is switching from one OnHub to another OnHub based on signal strength, channel, and etc.
But this strikes me as strange since I don't think it is my phone that is doing this as in actively seeking the strongest connection on the best band because my signal strength barely drops to warrant it. And I'm not leaving my house.
And while it switches from 2.4Ghz to 5Ghz and to another band on the second OnHub, my WiFi Calling indicator stays on so my theory is busted.
So my question is, is the OnHub juggling my phone around to give it the best and strongest connection at all times?
As far as I know, based on the current standards, it is normally the client that seeks and holds on to the AP and normally doesn't switch until it drops signal strength quite a bit.
In my case, my phone seems to be switching to both quite often when I'm in my living room and always on 5Ghz except when I go to the front of my house where it switches to 2.4Ghz on the existing router then switches router to 2.4Ghz again and then to 5Ghz on the second router if it has a stronger 5Ghz signal than the first router!

Any insights or comments?


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[sfx2000]

with regards to WiFi calling - are you forcing things with putting the iphone into airplane mode and then turning on WiFi?

Are you in LTE coverage?

(Voice over WiFi on ATT and Verizon uses the same back end as VoLTE)

Just asking...

 

[Elisha]

with regards to WiFi calling - are you forcing things with putting the iphone into airplane mode and then turning on WiFi?

Are you in LTE coverage?

(Voice over WiFi on ATT and Verizon uses the same back end as VoLTE)

Just asking...

Yeah I have LTE coverage indoors and VoLTE is turned on. I never had this issue with WiFi Calling on the Nighthawk.
Sometimes when I got home it wouldn't kick in straight away so toggling Airplane mode kick-starts it. But that doesn't work with the OnHub.



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[sfx2000]

But that doesn't work with the OnHub.

Hmm... that's probably the problem - VoLTE will try to stay on LTE as long as it can, but once down to 2 bars or so, it'll try VoWIFI, and sounds like Google WiFi can't quite handle that - it might do the SIP side for register/invites, but the data channel (voice packets) are RTP (which is UDP)...

 

[Elisha]

Hmm... that's probably the problem - VoLTE will try to stay on LTE as long as it can, but once down to 2 bars or so, it'll try VoWIFI, and sounds like Google WiFi can't quite handle that - it might do the SIP side for register/invites, but the data channel (voice packets) are RTP (which is UDP)...

Rogers WiFi Calling works in a way that it defaults to WiFi Calling when you're connected to WiFi and only drops to VoLTE and then 3G and so on. So for voice basically WiFi Calling - VoLTE - H+ - 3G - GSM.
It sucks that it is unstable. I could stay on for a couple of hours no problem and then it just drops even though the phone hasn't moved from its spot. Comes back on 30 minutes later and so on so forth.
Also port forwarding UDP is a no go since I can only port forward to one static IP. Two phones connect for WiFi Calling.
I had port forwarding set up for 24 hours a couple of weeks ago and it significantly drained the battery of my phone even though I was home all day.



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[sfx2000]

Rogers WiFi Calling works in a way that it defaults to WiFi Calling when you're connected to WiFi and only drops to VoLTE and then 3G and so on. So for voice basically WiFi Calling - VoLTE - H+ - 3G - GSM.

sorry - seems that ATT's approach is a bit more cautious perhaps then compared to Rogers up in Canada with regards to VoLTE and VoWIFI (they share the same backend).

While I can't pretend to know what's up with ATT and Apple's implementation, my guess is that it's RSSI based, but with a hysteresis loop to ensure that VoWIFI calling is a good choice compared to the WAN coverage.. we don't need clients ping-ponging across WiFi which might be steady vs. a known/good LTE connection...

 

[sfx2000]

I had port forwarding set up for 24 hours a couple of weeks ago and it significantly drained the battery of my phone even though I was home all day.

Ping-ponging - not a google wifi problem, it's a client/carrier profile problem - that it's jumping back and forth, the client can't sleep, and that's not a good thing for battery life...

Rogers can solve this, working with Apple if it's an iPhone... nothing you can do directly on the device or router...

 

[Elisha]

sorry - seems that ATT's approach is a bit more cautious perhaps then compared to Rogers up in Canada with regards to VoLTE and VoWIFI (they share the same backend).

While I can't pretend to know what's up with ATT and Apple's implementation, my guess is that it's RSSI based, but with a hysteresis loop to ensure that VoWIFI calling is a good choice compared to the WAN coverage.. we don't need clients ping-ponging across WiFi which might be steady vs. a known/good LTE connection...

Compared to when I first got the OnHub, it has improved. It would drop more frequently and wouldn't stay on for more than 15 minutes or more.
Now it stays on for a couple of hours or more at times and drops less frequently. I just wish I knew why it was dropping.
Support suggested toggling UPnP which I did but that made no difference.
But I have to say I'm impressed how the hand-off works when I move around in the house. It's always picking the strongest signal and band.


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[Elisha]

Ping-ponging - not a google wifi problem, it's a client/carrier profile problem - that it's jumping back and forth, the client can't sleep, and that's not a good thing for battery life...

Rogers can solve this, working with Apple if it's an iPhone... nothing you can do directly on the device or router...

When I go back to the Nighthawk, everything is great again. Doesn't drop WiFi Calling as long as I'm connected at home.
Also it happens to both iPhone 6s Plus and 7 Plus on the OnHub.
I know it work on both bands on both OnHubs and it doesn't disconnect during a hand-off from one to the other or during band changes based on my monitoring.
It's a mystery that's for sure!


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[whsbuss]

When I go back to the Nighthawk, everything is great again. Doesn't drop WiFi Calling as long as I'm connected at home.
Also it happens to both iPhone 6s Plus and 7 Plus on the OnHub.
I know it work on both bands on both OnHubs and it doesn't disconnect during a hand-off from one to the other or during band changes based on my monitoring.
It's a mystery that's for sure!


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Maybe this is why G-Wifi is priced at $299 - they need to get these things fixed or the other players will eat their lunch. Nothing's perfect but...

 

[gowg]

OnHubs are chromebooks - without displays, and Chromebooks can't configure them

My asus chromebook flip can run android apps and the play store. I'm not sure which chromebooks can do this, but at least some do. I had to enable it in settings, it wasn't on by default.

 

[Elisha]

Maybe this is why G-Wifi is priced at $299 - they need to get these things fixed or the other players will eat their lunch. Nothing's perfect but...

Got this issue fixed. Changing the DNS to ISP DNS instead of Google DNS fixed it.


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[mokodi]

Google WiFi finally gaining IPv6 functionality.

 

[sfx2000]

My asus chromebook flip can run android apps and the play store. I'm not sure which chromebooks can do this, but at least some do. I had to enable it in settings, it wasn't on by default.

More chromebooks are starting to get android apps these days...

Some in beta channel, some in dev, some in stable...

https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chrome-os-systems-supporting-android-apps

I've got a chromebook I use for testing - Lenovo N22 Touch - it got Play Store earlier this week on the beta channel... the Android sub-system in Nougat - 7.1.1 - don't have an on-hub to try it with...

 

[neoterix]

I recently picked up an Android apps supported ChomeOS device—the Samsung Chromebook Pro which supports Android N/7.1.1 on its Stable Channel.

Yeah I can confirm that the Google Wifi app works fine on it, just like on my Android phone. You can use it in windowed mode, where it resembles a phone's portrait aspect ratio, or you can fullscreen it. The in-app speed tests and other app functions seem to work just fine!

 

[sfx2000]

I recently picked up an Android apps supported ChomeOS device—the Samsung Chromebook Pro which supports Android N/7.1.1 on its Stable Channel.

Yeah I can confirm that the Google Wifi app works fine on it, just like on my Android phone. You can use it in windowed mode, where it resembles a phone's portrait aspect ratio, or you can fullscreen it. The in-app speed tests and other app functions seem to work just fine!

It's a mixed bag, at least in my experience in the beta channel... many apps assume they're on a phone, so there's odd results - one can enable resizing via developer mode - tapping/clicking 7 times on the build number inside android prefs enables resizing for some apps, if they support it...

If one wants to play with Android Apps on Chromebooks - best to ensure that one has touchscreen - and my thoughts here is that ARM will do better than Intel with the Android stuff...

Samsung's Chromebook Plus has some good reviews here - sometimes better than their Chromebook Pro - for normal chromeOS stuff, they're close, but the ARM based plus does better with Android apps... For Chromebooks though - the Samsung Plus/Pro are a bit spendy - they're on the high end so it depends on needs...

Anyways - with the Beta support - enabling Android Play is a hit to overall battery time on the Lenovo N22, cut it down by half, but I chalk that up to beta code... some of the ARM based devices might be better off there.

(FWIW - Android on Chromebook is basically running as a container/VM inside ChromeOS, so there is a bit of overhead - nice that it works, and native code to the CPU runs better)

 

[sfx2000]

Rogers WiFi Calling works in a way that it defaults to WiFi Calling when you're connected to WiFi and only drops to VoLTE and then 3G and so on. So for voice basically WiFi Calling - VoLTE - H+ - 3G - GSM.

Just to follow up on ATT VoLTE/VoWIF - in my market area, there was a spectrum refarm - I was on 700MHz LTE, with great coverage - until it wasn't... went from 5 bars on LTE to 1 bar, and the iPhone spent most of the time on VoWIFI... Which sucked battery like no end... like 18 hours from full charge to empty battery warning...

Turning off LTE/WiFi calling - falling back to ATT's HSDPA-Data and 3G-UMTS-Voice services helped out much - back to 5 bars there... and back to 2 days standby time on the same device.

Go figure...

 

[ghostivv]

Picked up pair for v cheap...cheaper than N router from local ad. All seems to be working but currently I'm on Linksys EA6900 with xvortex FW. I've 8 port unmanaged gigabit switch. Is this the right setup?

From cable modem -> google wifi 1 (internet port). google wifi1 2nd Lan port -> Switch. From switch (6 devices) -> google wifi 2(any) Lan port. From google wifi 2 Lan -> Desktop2 (prefer ethernet & also at very far end of house from switch).

Thanks.