The next generation of Google smart speakers may include mesh Wi-Fi, an anonymous source told The Information.
Mesh Wi-Fi strings a Wi-Fi connection together with the use of multiple routers to create a more consistent coverage area. It also gets rid of a problem that plagues all smart speakers today: Get too far away from Wi-Fi and service is interrupted.
Unlike many routers today, mesh Wi-Fi kits often involves the use of two to three devices. More consistent Wi-Fi access means more consistent Google Assistant access, and thus an edge in competition with others in the intelligent assistant and smart speaker market like Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa.
Google Home, which operates using the Google Assistant, is able to do things like answer questions, tell jokes, place orders with more than 50 retailers, and control smart home devices. Google Home can also chat with more than 150 third party actions that can help you cook dinner, read Bible passages, or identify an illness by sharing symptoms with the WebMD action. The Google Assistant is also available on Pixel smartphones, the Allo chat app, Android smartphones using Marshmallow or Nougat operating systems, and soon Android TV.
The mesh Wi-Fi market today includes established router makers like Linksys and Netgear alongside startups like Plume and Eero. Google entered the mesh Wi-Fi market last December with Google Wifi.
Samsung introduced a mesh network router system last month on the same day as its Bixby intelligent assistant that will be integrated into other Samsung devices.
Roughly a year ago, Amazon took part in a $12.5 million investment round in mesh Wi-Fi startup Luma and its Home WiFi System.
