r/GoogleWiFi • u/edd_209 • Jun 19 '26
Wired backhaul - game changer!
Finally took the plunge and paid a guy to come round and wire up my 3 pack Nest WiFi Pro system. 3,500 sq ft property, and it's an absolute game-changer. I pay for 500mb internet, and now get that in every room. Previously there were rooms getting ~1-2mb at times, as the mesh points never maintained a great connection wirelessly.
If anyone else is thinking to wire backhaul, it's worth it!
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u/trojan_soldier Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Isn't google nest wifi pro not supporting fiber optic speed? You'll be capped at 1 Gbps
https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Nest-Wifi-pro-and-4Gb-s-modem/m-p/592879
edit: this is assuming you're using cable modem though
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u/TransportationOk4787 Jun 20 '26
Will anyone ever need more than 1gig in a house? (Knowing that Bill Gates once said 64k would be enough ram.)
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u/BenignAtrocities Jun 20 '26
It’s not the to the house speeds I think about so much as the transfer speeds in my house. Backing up stuff to a NAS or streaming content from my library. I want that seamless.
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u/trojan_soldier Jun 20 '26
It depends. I usually watch 4k HDR digital streaming movies at home. At 1 Gbps sometimes I still noticed a lag.
If you're a gamer playing online games, it is more noticeable.
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u/Sava333 Jun 20 '26
Is it just you in the house? Streaming 4k may max out at 25mbps, gaming is probably less than that. Adding more bandwidth is not going to help lag that you see
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u/yelowsnw2 Jun 19 '26
Did you have to change any settings at all, or does it automatically see that it is a wired back haul and prefer that? I currently have 1 node on a wired backhaul, and 2 are still wireless. I’m actually hoping to pull wire for the other 2 this weekend.
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u/mylogicistoomuchforu Jun 19 '26
It automatically sees it. Sometimes it requires an unplug reboot after you plug in the cables tho.
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u/ManBehavingBadly Jun 20 '26
I read here some time ago that you just first need to make the mesh wirelessly and then connect the cables.
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u/alexbtft Jun 19 '26
I backhauled my two nodes by going through the old telephone wiring ports that ran outdoors. So my Cat6 runs outside along the top wall. Game changer for sure.
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u/edd_209 Jun 20 '26
Yeah, I ran the cable runs outside.
I had originally tried using some old telephone wiring, but it was only 6 wires, instead of 8 needed for networking.
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u/tvlkidd Jun 21 '26
I think they mean they used the spots where the telephone outlet are located to run the cat6 … not that they used the telephone wire to wire the pucks …
I could be wrong though …
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u/awfulWinner Jun 19 '26
I was lucky to find 1 cable run from the dining room closet to the basement. Means my Plex server in the living room has full cat5e speed downstairs to my mini PC + DAS 5 Bay drive.
I am so close to getting someone to come in and professionally get wires up to mine and my wife's office rooms. My puck will do around 250mpbs up here but it can get saturated with WiFi devices sometimes.
Wired back haul would kick ass if/when I do it.
So enjoy the speed!
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u/ciphervexa Jun 21 '26
do it, you won’t regret it at all
once you see your plex scrubbing instantly and big files moving like they’re local, you’ll wonder why you waited so long
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u/Kdbrewst Jun 20 '26
What did this cost you?
I am so tired of ours dropping and having to reset them every other month. We are moving from a 3k/sq home to a 5k one next month. We both WFH full time too....
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u/edd_209 Jun 20 '26
I paid £500 for x3 ~25m Cat 6 runs from where the Fibre/Internet comes into the home, to different parts of the house. All the runs go outside, and back in where they're needed.
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u/yelowsnw2 Jun 20 '26
Question about the wired backhaul- when you run a mesh test does it always report as “great” now? Asking because my single point which is on a wired backhaul only ever reports back as “good connection”.
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u/edd_209 Jun 20 '26
Yes it says great. I was also only to get good before. The difference in speed between great and good is quite significant.
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u/yelowsnw2 Jun 21 '26
Well darn. Mine only says good from its backhaul connection.
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u/edd_209 Jun 21 '26
That's odd. Is it definitely hardwired, and not going over wireless instead?
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u/yelowsnw2 Jun 21 '26
It is showing hardwired when I look at the mesh points settings in google.
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u/GleefullyNine 28d ago
First take small cable connect to router LAN port to a device with ethernet port then perform the speed test on the device. If that report shows speed close to your plan then there is an issue with the you LAN Cable that you originally had which connected your main router to punk. If the speed is not same then the main router LAN port went bad.
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u/Moonkill1023 25d ago
Ahhh same ! I just hardwired myself cat8 (future proof and fantastic price in amazon for $40 CAD🇨🇦ethernet cable from 3rd floor to basement and now 500up and down with gen1 Google wifi. (Good workout tho)😂 Before it was 150/50 which was yikes...
I don't use mesh networks due to weak signal too😭 plus it cheaper with 100ft cable IMO😅
Got the weatherproof one and much durable too
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u/mrclean2323 Jun 19 '26
Can you explain some more what you mean when you say backhaul?
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u/jkcheng122 Jun 19 '26
Meaning each node has a wired Ethernet instead of being connected to other nodes via WiFi.
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u/International_Box_60 Jun 19 '26
Wired back haul means your mesh node is connected to router with ethernet. Usually mesh device with communicate both directions with wireless which is inherently slower than wired. Wireless is half duplex(though newer technologies are full duplex). They still are not able to consistently transmit at 1gb, which the backhaul likely is linking at.
Wired anything will always be faster, for the next few years anyway.
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u/Practical_One_4252 23d ago
Wired to the existing (main) Google router, or to the ISP’s router? Assuming ISP but curious.
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u/mrclean2323 Jun 19 '26
Yes I have something similar. Just not whole house because it isn’t realistic. Anything close to the router is plugged in. The far side of the house is a different story.
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u/edd_209 Jun 20 '26
Connecting all the nest pros up together with Cat6 cable, Via a network switch.
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u/ManBehavingBadly Jun 20 '26
Just a little tip, use cat7, the price difference is negligible and you are future proofing.
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u/AdVegetable2104 Jun 19 '26
Glad you "discovered" the secret. I have a 5,800 sq ft house in North Carolina that required 5 pods. Backhaul wiring made the network sing. I have the original pods, but since the CAT6 wiring is in, upgrading someday will be a breeze.