 Last year I reviewed the Google OnHub, a collaborative effort between Google, TP-Link, and ASUS to create a truly simple home Wi-Fi router, and they achieved that, and more! It was simple to use an out-performed Ruckus R710 in our testing. A thousand dollar solution! Now of course, we weren't able to get like a hundred different Wi-Fi devices on it or anything crazy like that where a Ruckus device would shine, but that's still damn impressive. There was only one small problem. If your home was too large or had too many walls that were difficult for Wi-Fi to penetrate, like cement, you were kind of screwed. Range extenders are objectively terrible, and having multiple access points with separate SSIDs is hardly user-friendly. This time there's a new solution. Enter Google Wi-Fi and one of its competitors, the Netgear Orbi. Two different Wi-Fi solutions that promise better coverage and smoother access point transitions through mesh networking. Let's check them out. Vertigear's ergonomic S and plus line gaming chairs make a great addition to any gaming setup. Check them out at the link below. The idea behind these so-called Wi-Fi systems, which include a router and one to two additional access points, is smooth uninterrupted transitions between Wi-Fi zones. You should be able to walk around your house seamlessly changing what access point that you are connected to without any hitches in your signal while everything is handled by the Wi-Fi system in the background. No need to go into your phone or laptop and change what point you're connected to as you walk around. It does it all for you. This may seem familiar if you've used a well-implemented Wi-Fi system at something like a large office or school, but it hasn't been very accessible for consumers until now. Both the Google Wi-Fi and the Netgear Orbi promise essentially the same thing. I mean, they even both have the same quote from CNET on their respective websites saying that their Wi-Fi system is the best on the market. Though to be fair, reading the full quote on CNET of the Orbi review reveals that they actually said that it was the best at the time and that it may be better to wait for Google Wi-Fi. Tsk tsk, Netgear. Physically however, both devices are quite different. The main Orbi package comes with two rather large units, a router and an access point. Both of these units feature quite a bit of expandability with four ethernet ports and a USB port. Google Wi-Fi's main package on the other hand comes with three rather small units which are all identical, featuring two ethernet ports which can operate in a switch mode if preferred and then there's also a type-c USB port but that's for power. The setup of both systems was simple and easy in their own way. Google does theirs through an app and mostly has you just clicking next or scanning a QR code as it handles all of the work for you and hides most of the complicated stuff behind the scenes. As you place the access points around your location, it will constantly test to make sure that the signal to the base is strong and stable. Netgear on the other hand has you connect to their network with a default password, then go through a simple in-browser setup process with slightly more revealed advanced options than Google Wi-Fi's while it does testing and stuff in the background as well, keeping the whole thing simple overall. Now at a surface level this may leave you thinking that the Orbi is better set for like if you have an access point in an office and you have a bunch of things plugged into it, you're business focused and less total Wi-Fi range and the Google Wi-Fi is more for just having Wi-Fi everywhere. But it's not actually that simple. They're actually quite different overall and while Google hides most of the specs for their unit, performance should reveal what is best for you so let's try them out. Whoa! It's like many days later after CES. We took some extra time on this one because we experienced a few oddities with our testing. I set up both of the routers on Linus' desk which is just outside of the main office's area of our studio and don't worry I do this one at a time so they wouldn't screw with each other. Then during their respective testing sections I set up one access point in the furthest away reasonable corner from Linus' desk but still within the office area and for Google Wi-Fi I also set up a third unit way on the other end of the warehouse. Then I tested the transfer speeds of one large file, one medium file and a ton of small pictures going from a MacBook which has fantastic Wi-Fi capabilities to a desktop that was wired into the network on that router that I set up earlier and vice versa. I did this in three locations, six feet away from the router to simulate a small relatively cramped office, in the conference room which wasn't very close to any access points at all and in one of the loading bays which was the furthest corner of the warehouse away from all of the access points. The Orbi behaved sort of weird especially when the laptop was about six feet away from the router. To be clear you don't want your Wi-Fi devices that close to each other. Having a laptop this close to the router is not an ideal situation but it is a very possible situation in cramped apartments and Google Wi-Fi dealt with it just fine. In conclusion, my testing methodology involved a warehouse, some random files that we've been using for file transfer tests for years now and a rather large testing area that was totally out of spec at 6,000 square feet. Neither of them say that they can handle that at all and both of them did. That's something to give the Orbi. Considering their mesh properties both systems did very well but still Google Wi-Fi was a rather clear winner in this use case. But there's one last very important thing, the creepiness level. For the Orbi I didn't personally find anything fishy but I could be wrong. On the Google side of things they don't even try to hide that they're collecting data. It's up to you to decide if you're okay with what they're collecting or not. Look up Google Wi-Fi and your privacy for more information. Tunnel Bear is the simple VPN app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. With Tunnel Bear turned on your Wi-Fi connection is secured and your online activity is kept private from your internet provider, some loser hacker guys and advertisers. Essentially anyone looking to track or profit from your data. Tunnel Bear has a top rated privacy policy and does not log your activity. Try it for free with 500 megabytes and no credit card required and if you choose to get a year of unlimited data you can save 10% by going to tunnelbear.com slash LTT. Thanks for watching guys. If you like this video, like it. If you dislike it, dislike it. Get subscribed. All that fun stuff. Check it down below. You can see to buy some mesh networking parts if you would like them. Also you can see where to purchase one of our shirts and discuss these mesh networking ideas on the forum. If you want to check out that Google on hub video that I referenced earlier because maybe you have one or a friend has one you're thinking about adding Google Wi-Fi to it for whatever reason it could expand your network. Check that out up here.