* Eero: https://eero.com/
* Ubuquiti: https://www.ubnt.com
* Cisco: http://www.cisco.com (sized for larger buildings)
Does this new Google device come with the Google Fi feature which backhauls all your traffic to Google via a VPN?
The bad news is if you're used to the cost of consumer gear, this ain't it. When it was all said and done it set me back $400. Throw in the cost of a pfSense router (because my old workhorse died recently) and we're at about $600. So, much like everything else, getting to that first 90% is cheap. That last 10%, not so much.
Personally, for my home I need just two units. Shame there's no $199 2-pack yet. It would be an instant buy for me.
3-pack $300 or $100/item
2-pack $230 or $115/item
1-pack $130 or $130/itemThis was started as a kickstarter campaign and they have just begun shipping out the first units.
Like the Google APs, Portal can form a mesh and automatically figure out which channels have the least interference.
Overview : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202076
Extending: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204617
WDS: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4262
While the wireless distribution mode drops speed (as does Ubiquiti etc.) it's still faster than a DoCIS 3 cable modem, and the Airport Express for end nodes is cheap.
Not applicable.
The purpose of Google Connectivity Services is to provide protected access (encrypted via VPN) to the Internet on an unsecured 802.11 network like one that you'd encounter at a coffee shop.
In that case, GCS sets up a tunnel from your phone to Google's edge network, traffic from your phone egresses via an IP address dedicated to GCS and then you're surfing the Interwebs.
If you've entered a SSID and a related PSK or WEP password (as one typically does on a home network), GCS isn't available to use.
Use of GCS is optional. It can be disabled as desired.