Nest Wifi’s new ‘Gaming preferred’ prioritization for Google Stadia detailed

Our APK Insight into the new Google Home app this week revealed a new “Gaming preferred” setting for Google and Nest Wifi. Intended for Stadia, a support document now details what network prioritization will be occurring when this preference is enabled. Google describes how the “best gaming experience” requires a “fast pathway to and from cloud servers without being overly delayed by an underperforming router or competing traffic on the same network.” The former is a ding on other networking devices, while the latter is unavoidable in a modern smart home. With “Gaming preferred” enabled, Nest Wifi (and presumably the first-generation Google Wifi given their interoperability) “automatically optimizes your Stadia traffic.” This works regardless of whether you’re using a Chromecast Ultra, desktop, laptop, or mobile device, and does not require any other user tuning. While the setting is on by default after setting up Made by Google routers, the company notes how it’s only active when you’re streaming a game from Stadia.