Category: Google Home

Because you need reliable connection everywhere!

Now that we’re working from home and spending more and more time within our own four walls, reliable internet connectivity has become even more critical! So we’ve been living in the same apartment now for almost 8 years, and ever since we’ve been here the internet connection in more than 50% of our apartment has been non-existent. I’m not talking about being bad, I mean 0 bar, non-existent!

We’re talking about a home study with 2 large study desks within it, with no internet connectivity; a master bedroom with two occupants within it, with no internet connectivity; an en-suite with a very comfortable toilet seat within it, without internet connectivity; and a second bathroom with an equally comfortable toilet seat within it and very good ventilation, without internet connectivity! How can anyone in the 21^st century live like this!? So primitive!

The reason for the lack of connectivity, is where the telephone line comes into the apartment, the port is in the centre of our living room. However between this point and our study is 2 double brick walls! Likewise, another 2 double brick walls in-between the modem and the master bedroom, the en-suite, and the second bathroom. Grrrr! And for 8 years we’ve put up with this. But 6 weeks ago, I said “No more of this!” With the confinement to our homes due to Covid-19, I couldn’t take being confined to only the living room as well! What are we? Animals!?

The solution? A mesh router!

So I started doing some research, there are many companies out there producing mesh routers, however as we already have a Google Home, and 2 Google Home Minis- it made a lot of sense to purchase a compatible device which could be easily integrated into our existing ecosystem.

So in the peak of Covid-19 lock-downiness, at Easter we finally managed to get our hands on a Nest Wifi (as many stores had already sold-out by then).

Out of the box you know its out-of-the-ordinary, for a router at least. Usually these things look like an old-school car radio player which someone had boosted straight out of a vehicle (with all the dangling wires) – but the Nest Wifi has a simple modern design and easily blends in with your existing home décor.

To me, it reminds me of a jar of lanolin, like some jumbo tub of hand cream ready-to-be-used. And the best thing is that you can hide it, or proudly display it for all to see – on your shelf – right among your other knick-knacks!

We purchased the Nest Wifi with 1 point – for $379 (AUD). The router itself already gives our apartment a much stronger Wifi signal than we had beforehand. But adding the point and placing this in our study, has given us 4 from 5 bar signal in all corners of our apartment! Gone are those 0 of 5 bar black spots in more than 50% of our home, now from wall to wall in all directions we have connectivity that we’re satisfied with. Which means our study can be used as a study again! The sleeping quarters can now be used to view Netflix and Youtube – late, late into the night! Hindering our REM sleep of course! And now we can be consuming all of our medias while on the …. Well…… You get the idea……..

The router has a second Ethernet port, so if you need to be tethered for super-fast internet speeds, you can connect one device directly to the source. The Nest Wifi utilises the same Google Home app as all of your other Google Home devices, so set-up and continued maintenance was easy-peasy. Not to mention the actual physical set-up of the devices took less than 10 minutes, using QR codes to recognise your new devices- to be connected to your existing Home set-up. And did I say ongoing maintenance is a cinch? With Nest Wifi now in your home, you now see a Wifi option on your Google Home app – interacting with this option allows you to view what devices are connected to your Internet (so you can easily kick-off any unwanted freeloaders); here you can prioritise which device gets preferential treatment if multiple devices are pulling and sending data at the same time (so Super VIPs in the home i.e. my wife, can always have perfect connection all-the-time); you can also set-up parental controls on specific devices (so limiting said wife from Bosistos’ online store); limit internet time for select devices (so internet is switched-off during bed time i.e. 2am-4.30am); and the feature I love the most is the ability to perform speed tests, both testing for the performance of your Home internet, and the performance of your actual device in the given spot that you’re in – it can be quite addictive (so we’re proud to report that we get 11.1 MPs down, and 0.8 MPs up. Woohoo!).

And the last aspect which I’ve fallen in love with, is the fact that our Google Home ecosystem has grown by another one speaker. Since the Point (that extends the internet signal into the dark recesses of our home) is also a Google smart speaker with ‘Ok Google’ assistant, this means that not only do we get internet in every room in our 2 bedroom apartment – but we also now have a Google Speaker in each room (including the 2^nd bathroom). So when you group together all these devices in your Google Home app, you can now play music throughout your apartment! I mean throughout your apartment!

I’m at the front door, the music is literally right there coming out of the 2^nd bathroom!

I’m in the living room now, and the music is right there as well!

I’m in the hallway in front of the study and the master bedroom, and here I can hear the music playing from both the study and the bedroom, but because it’s an ecosystem- they’re actually playing slightly different things, because now your music is playing in stereo! Left ear, right ear kind of stuff!

It’s so crazy, I find myself just walking around the apartment, taking in and enjoying the music from each aspect of our home. Yes, a little bit extravagant and unnecessary, but its wild I tell you! WILD!

For more information about the Nest Wifi, click HERE!  

**Disclaimer: This is not a paid post, and yes, I’m aware that our upload and download speeds is rubbish- so rubbish that it has become a bragging point!!!!!!!!

I love Google Assistant so much, that we’ve invited it into the private sanctity of our bedroom!

On the weekend we invited a new member of the Google home assistant into our lives, that being the Google Home Mini (chalk), at $55 AUD, it was truly a no-brainer decision!

The justification for this purchase was that I’m now on a 2.5 month career break, and the plan is to spend a lot more time in bed. Haaha. And being able to get Google to play my music, news updates, podcasts, and radio  stations is all and fine in the living room, but being totally unconnected and devoid of our Google assistant when in bed felt like we were stepping back in time each time we left the living room. Like, what the?

So a quick stop to our local JB Hi-Fi and after handing over $55, we quickly resolved this first world problem.  The advantages I’ve seen thus far with Mini in the bedroom has been:

Music throughout the apartment– with more than one Google speaker now, we have grouped them together so they both now sing from the same song sheet, and with a small apartment the entire home is now filled with our beats wherever we go! Not to mention our music sounds more stereo now! And positioned correctly (in a corner), the sound quality of the Mini isn’t that bad actually.

Declutter– now that I have a versatile device like the Mini on my bedside table, I was able to decommission my old school bedside alarm clock/radio. So now my bedside table is very spartan, maybe too spartan…

Bluetooth speaker– in the past to listen to my audiobooks and podcasts in bed, I had to remember to take my portable Bluetooth speaker with me to bed. And there has been many times when I had to jump out of bed in winter, as I had forgotten to bring it with me (the portable speaker still sitting on the shelf in the living room). But now with Google mini always there, I just have to ask Google to turn on Bluetooth- within seconds it’s paired to my phone, and magnifies the volume of whatever I’m listening to in bed. And when I’m done with it, I just have to ask Google to stop playing and to disconnect the Bluetooth. Too easy!

Night mode– And when it’s time for bed, I just have to say “Good night Google’, and it’ll put in place all my pre-set night time rituals, e.g. inform me of tomorrow’s weather, ask if I would like to set an alarm, and then turn on the ambient noise (chirping crickets- which I currently have on, I’m curious to hear when do the insects pack-up shop and they too call it a night- 40 mins on, and they’re still chirping…)

Randomness– and of course when my wife is almost asleep, and if you’re a funny bugger like me, you can now ask Google to tell you a joke and wake her right up! Haaha. Now that’s an example of 2’s a company, and 3’s a crowd! 

Say hello to the home of the future!

The future is here! Join me in embracing a new and better way of living!

Okay, I’m compelled to tell you all about Google home, because it has honestly changed my life for the better. And I think it can do the same for you as well!

Here is an insight to my character. I’m lazy when needing to search for stuff on my phone (especially when it involves numerous apps), my phone isn’t always in reach when I’m at home, and who doesn’t like a simpler way of doing things? If this sounds like you and you currently don’t have a Smart assistant, here are 10 reasons why you should consider getting one in 2019.

• 1. Your very own Jukebox which can play every song in the world!

Okay, if you’re as old as me, you probably remember the old school Jukeboxes? You know the ones,  their as tall as a person, with the  colourful lit-up arch, and for a few bucks you can select a song from their playlist and for the length of a song you control the vibe of a restaurant? Well, Google Home paired with a paid music streaming service like Spotify is just that! You can now request to listen to any song imaginable, just by asking Google to ‘Play….’ The response is immediate (perfect for those who expect instant gratification) as long as you know the name of the song (or some key lyrics) and the artist. And the sound quality is actually not too bad. The sound is clear (in the medium and upper volume ranges), in stereo, and loud enough to fill a large living room. The limitations is the bass, the bass sound will never match the quality of a good stereo system, and it’ll struggle if you’re asking it to produce the beats to get people moving at a house party. But these days, I’m literally being introduced to new songs and artists on a daily basis who I’ve never heard of before, and loving the fact that I can enjoy all over again the songs which shaped my formative years.

• 2. Controlling your TV

If you have a Chrome cast, you can now control your TV without moving a single muscle. There is no need to pick-up your phone or tablet, or reach for the remote control. You can control everything with your voice alone, i.e. start streaming from Netflix, play videos from Youtube, and control all of your usual TV functions. For example, I just ask Google to start playing ‘Suits’ from Netflix, and it’ll pick-up from where I’d left it say 3 weeks ago! Before doing a home yoga workout, I just ask Google to play ‘Maggie Grove Bikram yoga from youtube’ and within seconds Maggie’s sultry tones are playing through my TV speakers, while I busy myself getting the yoga mat ready….. And turning on and off the TV is just one voice command away!

• 3. Timer

Sure, your phone can also set a 15 minute timer for you when you’re cooking (and your hands are covered in grease) just by using your voice. But can you turn-off the timer with your voice every-time? Hey? I’ve been super annoyed when Siri isn’t able to shut off the timer when it starts to go off, either the timer’s sound itself is stopping it from hearing me, or it’s by design? But I end up needing to wash my hands, drying them quickly and then manually turning off the alarm. All the while whatever I’m cooking is smoking or boiling over. Annoying yeah?!  But Google home, its 100% hands free. And because you’re probably playing music through Google Home while you’re cooking, so when the alarm goes off, Google auto dims the music so it can easily hear your voice command to turn-off the alarm. So there ain’t no shouting at Google to get its attention in this kitchen!

• 4. Answers to every life’s question

We as a collective are much wiser, now that the answer to any and every question (large or trivial) is known by just Googling it. But with Google Home, you’re now spoon fed answers to life’s questions in a matter of seconds, with absolutely no effort on your part. You just have to be clear and concise with what you want to know. Finding out the weather, the time etc.  They’re all givens. But it is those weird thoughts and requests which you might have, that always surprises. E.g. “Did Robert Wagner play No. 2 in Austin Powers?” Or “where is my nearest Thai restaurant?” Google knows all! And not to mention, conveys all of your answers in her polite and sexy Aussie voice. Haaha.

• 5. News headlines

At breakfast time I like to know what’s been going on while I was asleep. Now you can get all the important news headlines/stories in quick 5 minute bursts. The ABC, SBS and Channel 7 are now clipping segments from their hourly radio/TV news updates (or they might be purposefully recording them as short podcasts) but in 15 minutes you can be kept right up-to-date with what is important. I always start off with 7 news, then ABC news, and then finish it up with SBS news (taking all 3 perspectives, you’ll eventually end-up with the whole). This eliminates the need to trawl for news, and this filters out all the ads and distractions like sensationalised headlines/fake-news. It’s all about needing what you need to know, when you need it.

• 6. One-off podcasts

If you’re like me, from time to time you clean-up your Podcast library by unsubscribing to some shows (largely due to feeling the sense of dread when you see the tally of unlistened podcasts reach double figures). But sometimes it’s nice to listen to the occasional one-off episode from a formally pre-loved pod. And this is what Google Home is able to do for you! Just ask Google to play the podcast, and it’ll always play the most recent episode. This is particularly good for podcasts which release daily episodes which quickly become dated like news, current affairs, or sport talk shows.

7. Bluetooth

Google Home also has Bluetooth functionality, so you can connect your phone to it and use it to magnify the sound of anything you’re playing on your device. Great when playing podcasts and you want to navigate to a specific episode, or if you want to play out aloud your audiobook from Audible (just make sure it’s not a particularly ‘saucy’ part of your novel).   

8. Recipes

Google can also provide you with recipe ideas, just ask for a recipe recommendation! I’ve tried a 3 cheese pasta recipe recommended by Google. And when you’re cooking you can go step by step, prompting Google to provide you with the next step as soon as you’ve completed the previous one. But I tend to copy down the recipe, as the worst case is that you go out and buy all the ingredients and then you can’t find the recipe again to cook it that evening (it’s happened to me once).

9. Content sent to your phone

And if you request for information which is too content heavy for Google to just verbalise it out to you. Google sends the information to your phone (via the Google Home app) so you can study the information in more detail like “What is the full Merriam-Webster dictionary definition for Domineering?”

10. Novelty

And in the end, it’s a bit of a conversational starter and a hoot when you have friends over. Or if you have kids in the family. You can ask Google silly questions and wait for its answer, oftentimes it’s quite amusing (Google actually has a character, I’m sure reflective of the Google Engineers who built her). You can ask Google to translate things, e.g. ‘How do you greet someone in Mandarin?’ You can play a game of trivia with Google, just say ‘Google, let’s play Lucky trivia’, and it’ll keep score and applaud and cheer when you get the answers right. Or ask Google personal and inappropriate questions, and listen to her dodge and weave your questions, just like someone who you’ve just met at a bar who is so not interested in you! And in the  past few months the concept of ‘Interactive audio’  has been emerging. Remember back as a kid there used to be those ‘Choose your own adventure books’? Where each page was a part of the story, but at the bottom of the page you’re given two options and a corresponding page number to flip to? Well, same concept, but their professionally made audio tracks, their quite immersive actually. Try asking Google to ‘Find Dolores’. The only thing I can suggest is not to try this if you’re home alone, it’s late at night, and if you’re a little bit screamish. Haaha.

Google Home can be found at JB Hi-Fi for $149

Alternatively if you like all the functionality mentioned above, but you don’t need the sound quality, or you only have a small space e.g. kitchen or bedroom. The Google Home Mini will suffice ($49.00), which is really reasonable considering that it’s ‘life changing’!

Or if you want to connect up all of your existing technology (TV and speakers), you can connect them all together with a few Google devices. You just need Google Home Mini ($49); Chrome Cast ($59); and Chrome cast audio ($59).

Or you can get the premium product, Google Home Hub (the one with the screen). But in my opinion it’s not necessary, as we already have enough screened devices around the home, it’s not necessary to also see what Google is already verbally telling you. So yeah, the future is here! Embrace it I say……… And if you’re worried about Google ‘eves dropping on all of your conversations…….  If everyone had a Google Home, they’ll end up with too much Intel, they wouldn’t know what to do with it! Haaha.