Wireless bridges and mesh devices which are used to extend the range of an existing Wi-Fi network may not work with Nest Wifi or Google Wifi. Compatibility depends on the device and how it tries to extend your network. But here are some helpful things to know:
- Nest Wifi and Google Wifi are compatible with most “universal” range extenders, repeaters, travel routers, and devices that support:
- Client mode
- AP client mode
- ProxySTA
- In general, if the extender’s setup instructions don’t make you change Nest Wifi or Google Wifi’s settings, it should work.
- Some personal devices (like a smartphone, laptop, etc.) that are connected to Nest Wifi or Google Wifi via a bridge might not show up in the Google Home app’s connected devices list. If your personal device does appear, it may show incorrect information.
- Personal devices that roam from a bridge back to your network may temporarily lose Wi-Fi connection.
Possible issues
Due to incompatibility between the mesh and external bridge node(s), some features might not work as expected when using wireless extenders such as:
| Feature | Possible issues |
|---|---|
| DNS | Third-party bridges might advertise themselves as DNS proxy |
| Client speed tests | Third-party bridges might hide the MAC address from the mesh |
| Device lists | |
| Family WiFi | |
| Guest network-shared devices | |
| Port forwarding/opening | |
| IPv6 | Third-party bridges might not propagate IPv6 multicast |
| QoS | Third-party bridges might not propagate QoS behavior outside the mesh |
| WPA3 interoperation | Third-party bridges might not support WPA3 |
| DHCP IP reservations | Third-party bridges might use DHCP addresses that were reserved by the user |