Nest Wifi’s ‘Gaming Preferred’ setting can optimize your Stadia traffic

The new setting will make sure you get the best possible gaming experience on Stadia.

What you need to know

• Google's new Nest Wifi now offers a new "Gaming preferred" setting that optimizes your Stadia traffic for the best gaming experience.
• You access the "Gaming preferred" setting from the Google Home app.
• While the feature stays on by default, it becomes active only when you play games on Stadia.

The folks over at 9to5Google had discovered a new "Gaming preferred" setting for Nest Wifi last week, intended for Google's upcoming Stadia game streaming service. Google has now updated its Nest support page with details on exactly how this new setting can help improve your Stadia experience.

The setting ensures that your Stadia traffic is automatically optimized, so that other activities or devices on your Wi-Fi network do not slow down your gaming experience. In its Nest Help page, Google notes that users need "a fast pathway to and from cloud servers without being overly delayed by an underpinning router or competing traffic on the same network" for the "best gaming experience" on Stadia.

While the setting is on by default, you can turn it off from the Google Home app. Once you open the Google Home app, tap on Wi-Fi and then select Settings in the top corner. You can now toggle the "Gaming preferred" setting on or off. However, the setting only prioritizes Stadia traffic, you will not notice any difference when you play games using other services.

Google's Stadia game streaming service is slated to go live on November 19 in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Google Nest Wifi router and point

$269 at Best Buy

The Google Nest Wifi 2-pack Wi-Fi system can provide fast and reliable coverage in homes up to 3,800 square feet. It is capable of handling up to 200 connected devices and supports up to 2.2 Gbps data transfer speed. The Access point comes with the Google Assistant built-in, which means you can use it to manage your Wi-Fi network, control smart home devices, play music, and much more, using your voice.