Google's Nest Wifi router line could get a long-awaited upgrade this year

What you need to know

• Google is reportedly preparing a major upgrade to its Nest Wifi line of routers.
• The next-generation Nest Wifi may include support for Wi-Fi 6 and, potentially, Wi-Fi 6E.
• The updated router line could also ship in various color variants.

Since Wi-Fi 6 was introduced in 2019, Google's Nest Wifi line has quickly fallen behind the competition. It has lacked support for the latest iteration of the network protocol, whereas rival mesh routers such as the Amazon Eero 6 ship with Wi-Fi 6 onboard, but Google could address that shortcoming this year.

According to 9to5Google, the search giant is preparing a major upgrade to its line of mesh routers, bringing support for the latest Wi-Fi 6 speeds. The Nest Wifi is currently one of the best Wi-Fi 5 routers money can buy, but upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 should theoretically increase its speed to up to 9.6 Gbps from 3.5 Gbps.

Wi-Fi 6 can also handle more devices at once than Wi-Fi 5, while maintaining consistent speed and latency even when the network is heavily used.

9to5 also claims that the upcoming refresh to the Nest Wifi range will resemble the Google Wifi series in terms of hardware design. The Google Wifi system can function as routers connected to the internet or as satellite nodes that extend the coverage of your mesh network.

On the other hand, the Nest Wifi line is currently offered in distinct packs: a router pack and a satellite node option. The upcoming upgrade is said to adopt the simpler Google Wifi design.

It's also possible that the Nest Wifi will be future-proofed by adding support for the Wi-Fi 6E standard, though this has yet to be confirmed. It's unclear, however, whether Google Assistant support will be included.

The next Nest Wifi series could also come in a variety of colors. There's no word on a release date, but it's a safe bet that Google will unveil a new version of the Nest Wifi later this year.