This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2021, our list of ideas, by topic, by recipient and by price, to help you discover the perfect gift.
Black Friday is still weeks away, but it’s not surprising to see a rush of good tech deals throughout all of November. Right now, that includes a number of deals on the Nest Wifi mesh router, one of the top recommendations from our guide to the best mesh routers money can buy.
With multiple devices spread throughout your home, a good mesh system will amplify your home network and make it easier to connect at fast speeds when you’re far away from the main router. Even without support for Wi-Fi 6, Nest Wifi checks those boxes and then some, with voice-activated Google Assistant smart speakers built into each extender. That makes it an especially good pick for homes that already make use of the Google Assistant — as the system spreads a stronger Wi-Fi signal from room to room, it’ll expand the Assistant’s footprint throughout your home, too.
Watch this:
Nest Wifi puts Google Assistant into your router
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There are a number of Nest Wifi deals available right now, both direct from Google and from third-party sellers like Amazon. Here’s the rundown:
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The most basic Nest Wifi mesh setup pairs the main Nest Wifi router with a single extender, called a Nest Wifi Point. That Point is the part that includes the built-in smart speaker (note the yellow ring of light at its base — you’ll see that whenever you turn the microphone off for some extra privacy).
The two usually sell for $270, but right now, Google is offering them for $180, saving you a cool $90.
If you live in a large, multi-story home, then you’ll probably benefit from having more than one extender relaying your traffic back to the router. Fortunately, Google is also offering a 3-piece Nest Wifi setup with the main router and two Nest Wifi Points for $250. That’s $100 less than the usual price of $350.
The Nest Wifi routers can be used as extenders just like the Nest Wifi Points can (and, for the record, all of it is backwards compatible with earlier-gen Google Wifi setups, too). The Nest Wifi router is also slightly more powerful than the Nest Wifi Point extenders, so this 2-piece setup that swaps in a second router in place of the Point would be a bit faster than the typical 2-piece Nest Wifi setup. The pair usually costs $300, but you can currently find it marked down on Amazon for $210, saving you $90.
Just remember that, unlike the Points, the Nest Wifi routers don’t include built-in Google Assistant smart speakers, so you’ll be missing out on Nest Wifi’s voice-activated smart home capabilities with this bundle. Then again, if you’re wary about the growing presence of big tech-connected microphones in our homes, then this setup might be exactly what you’re looking for.