Google has created an easy-to-use Wi-Fi router called OnHub
Google has created an easy-to-use Wi-Fi router called OnHub, and it's designed to help you with your Wi-Fi woes.
Setting up, configuring and trouble-shooting a Wi-Fi router often feels like an esoteric dark art - the stars have to be aligned, you have to twist your fingers into a precise pose, and you have to chant the right mantra or it's all over. Oh, and did you update your router to the second-latest firmware (not the latest one, just because).
It looks like Google is trying to change all that with OnHub, a new Wi-Fi router that they've just announced. The new hardware is designed to be easy to set up and use, with a modern, smart interface.
It's just another router, right?
From the first looks of it - well, yes, and no. OnHub is apparently a collaboration with TP-LINK (not Nest, surprisingly, which Google acquired). Wired says another router, in partnership with Asus, is also in the works.
But what sets OnHub apart is its ease of use. The OnHub has 13 antennas inside, arranged in a circular pattern, with one antenna specifically for measuring congestion. It'll automatically switch channels for stronger signals, and it supports 802.11ac and 5GHz Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth Smart Ready, Weave and 802.15.4.
OnHub is configured, not through a web-interface that looks like it was designed in the 90s, but through an iOS and Android app called Google On. The app can help you troubleshoot your network, in easy to understand human speak. You can also run network checks, see if any unrecognised devices are piggy-backing on your Wi-Fi, and you can even control the Wi-Fi remotely.
Another interesting thing about OnHub is that it's supposed to receive software updates with new features in the future. Other Wi-Fi routers also receive firmware updates but they're often technical in nature, and have to be found as well as installed manually.
If Google can make Wi-Fi routers easy to set-up, troubleshoot, and update, then to this writer that will make it worth its weight in gold.
Wait, you want me to give Google even more of my personal info?!
We know what you're thinking, because we're thinking it too. This is the company that scans your Gmail to serve you ads, so do we really want Google to handle our Wi-Fi traffic?
According to an interview with Wired, Trond Wuellner, a Google product manager says that, “We’ve drawn a very strong, hard and fast line around inspecting any information or websites about the content you’re looking at in your home.” And that you can toggle on and off settings in the app to choose what data is being shared (that any data is being shared at all is setting off red flags, to be honest).
The devil is in the details, and we'll have to see just what data sharing settings there are in the Google On app when it launches. Till then, caveat emptor, as always.
Alright, just take my money, Google
OnHub supposed to go on sale starting August 31st for US$199.99 (approx. S$280.48), but unfortunately there's no word right now on availability outside the U.S. It's on sale at the Google Store, as well as Amazon and NewEgg, but we don't get the Google Store in Singapore, and Amazon as well as NewEgg list it as out of stock. So even if you want to give OnHub a try, it looks like it's going to take a while.
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