Sunday, February 19, 2017

Google Wifi, mesh networks, redundancy

Google Wifi is a new device that can create a wireless network "mesh" by simply adding wifi points to your network.  It is super simple to setup.  Simply plug it in and add it to your home network through the mobile app.

Setting up a home network usually involves having a router (likely with wifi capabilities) that devices connect to.  Single router solutions like Asus RT-ac68u and Google OnHubs have very good reach and for most situations are going to be all you need.  The RT-AC68U allows you to tweak and configure to your heart's delight. The OnHub leverages Google's technology to monitor and configure itself for maximum performance thus regulating managing your router to the background.

There is one flaw to the single router solution which I painfully experienced recently:  single point-of-failure.  One day, my router just stopped working and nothing I did could bring it back to life.  When the internet is down in my house... well, the natives are not happy and good 'ol dad will hear about it!  In this situation, it usually mean going out and buying a replacement ASAP and if it happens at night that'll mean finding ways to pacify the citizens' unrest until that replacement can be bought.  Fortunately, in my case, I had an unused router left in storage.

"Redundancy" is a good thing in the technology world.  This brings me back to Google Wifi.  Most discussions about Google Wifi focuses on its wireless mesh capabilities, but each Google Wifi unit can also be a router.  In fact, unless you are using an OnHub as your router, at least one unit has to be the router.  If one unit fails that will just mean the reach of the home network is smaller but the network is still up.  If it is the unit that serves as the router that fails, simply using one of the other units as the router.

Google Wifi works great, but the added benefits of the redundancy makes me really recommend it especially...

(T-shirt available from snorgtees.com)

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