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OnHub

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Re: OnHub

#391

Post by cyanbane »

This is one of those things that I would never use however I think is great for the majority of people out there that I know that probably have not opened up their router's interface since setting it up (years ago). Pushed (forced) updates is a good thing in some cases.

An interesting thought is also what if Google starts making use of that 4gb by prepushing/caching sites that you visit daily down to the device for instantaneous retrieval.

Another interesting idea is that this probably comes with a nice UI for people to see their inbound/outbound traffic for a given timespan. My guess is a lot of people (ie non Y! news readers) don't configure their current routers for this. Once they start seeing an exact number, it will be interesting to see how it compares to their ISP if it is similar to Comcast and has caps and overage fees for metered cities.

Re: OnHub

#392

Post by cbhl »

impish19 wrote: post #211
aianus wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I upgraded from a generic $50 linksys router to a $200 Apple Extreme it vastly increased the range and speed of the wireless. Before it my TV's netflix connection would drop all the time or switch to low-res mode. So it's conceivable that it would better your Internet.

That's interesting. The largest apt I've lived in was a 850 sq ft 2br so I've never had any issue with the range or lag from my router. Thanks for sharing.

I live in a 200 sq ft studio and I've had issues with interference with 2.4 GHz Ubiquity equipment and various other routers (probably due to having too many neighbors within range) -- switching to a $200 Apple Airport Extreme with "more antennas" made most of my problems go away.

However, seeing better performance 5 GHz 802.11 n/ac requires you to have both a good router and a good laptop -- my experience is that unless your users/family blindly uses Macbooks, they won't see any improvement from a $200 router because their 2-3 year old $500 Windows laptop only has a 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz-only 1x1.

Re: OnHub

#393

Post by DaveWalk »

Itaxpica wrote: post #356
astrocyte wrote: post #321

My biggest issue with this is that Google wants to inject a piece of hardware into my home that acts as the gateway to my data. A device through which all : > Incoming data runs through > Internal data runs through > Outgoing data runs through And then wants to be vague about what data they will be pumping to their back-end for analytics/data mining. I have had a long standing proposal for home automation and I'm cur…

Vague? It seems to me like they're pretty clear about exactly what data they're collecting and why, and how to disable that collection: https://support.google.com/onhub/answer/6279845

Good link, thanks for sharing it. I gotta say, though, when I saw that wall of text my first thought was that this is going to be a tough sell for some of us. Thinking about it for half a second, I have to say that I would gladly prefer my router to be as dumb as possible. Maybe I just don't understand, at a gut level, how a cloud-connected router will actually improve my life?

Re: OnHub

#394

Post by loudmax »

busterarm wrote: post #160
wnevets wrote: post #139

The biggest positive about a company like google releasing a router is the security updates. Most consumer routers out there are left to rot and you're forced to buy a one when its exploited.

You mean like phones locked on old versions of Android once Google moves on to new ones?

Fair point, but the carriers deserve a lot of the blame for old versions of Android on those phones. Google is likely to keep software on their own routers up to date. At least until they lose interest in the product line entirely.

Re: OnHub

#395

Post by odbol »

andresmanz wrote: post #266
endtime wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Disclaimer: I work for the same former-division-of-Google-and-now-Alphabet-subsidiary that built this, though I don't work on OnHub.) I think you need an account for cloud-based configuration, credential sharing, etc. Maybe it's not for everyone, but I think it makes sense as a product. I highly doubt they added a Google account requirement to improve ad targeting.

Thanks, but shouldn't these features be optional? I still don't get why I need a Google Account.

They are optional. You have the option of just buying a different device.

Re: OnHub

#396

Post by fweespeech »

melvinram wrote: post #363
fweespeech wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure. No one ever believes me until I've been paid to fix it. I'm used to it.

My point: you're a random stranger saying to another random stranger "trust me" without justifying your request to trust you. Why should I trust you? Your reply: After I've convinced them that I know enough to fix the problem (by either demonstrating my expertise/qualifications/experience or getting someone else to vouch for me), they believe me. Well duh! If you demonstrate why they should trust you, they'll trust y…

Given I suggested a free solution it doesn't really require much trust.

But hey, go keep trusting the people who already screwed you.

Re: OnHub

#397

Post by fweespeech »

pbowyer wrote: post #374
fweespeech wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> routers have always a pain to configure Eh? You must buy some shitty routers, no offense. Compared to the rest of the market, paying $200 for a router isn't competitive. It just is not worth it given Google's "eh-we-will-do-it-and-stop-if-people-complain/sue" mindset. ---- To Melvin, since I'm submitting to fast: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013ALA9LA?ref=spks_0_0_2170510902&... > OnHub Wireless Router from Google and…

How do DrayTek products rank these days? When I was on ADSL they were excellent, and their UK-tuned firmware outperformed Linksys & Netgear. Now I'm on fibre I'm using the Draytek purely as an access point, and BT's modem to connect. The Draytek'll need replacing soon.

I only recommend what I've used personally. :/

Re: OnHub

#398

Post by astrocyte »

rohamg wrote: post #350
astrocyte wrote: post #321

My biggest issue with this is that Google wants to inject a piece of hardware into my home that acts as the gateway to my data. A device through which all : > Incoming data runs through > Internal data runs through > Outgoing data runs through And then wants to be vague about what data they will be pumping to their back-end for analytics/data mining. I have had a long standing proposal for home automation and I'm cur…

I agree with you, but is this specific to only home automation? Shouldn't the same paranoia / concern (depending on who you're talking to) apply to critical company data (documents, source code, etc.) as well as personal health information (biometrics, etc.)?

It isn't just specific to home automation. The same paranoia should apply to all data and will once people understand the gaping holes in existing cloud centric/data funneling architectures. In the meantime, a new approach to the problem is worth looking into. As the speed of technological innovation increases more and more, so will the disruptive paradigm shifts.. and this cloud model is long overdue for one.

Re: OnHub

#399

Post by kuschku »

loudmax wrote: post #388
kuschku wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a standard feature in a lot of other routers, too, like the Fritz!Box 7490. http://en.avm.de/products/fritzbox/fritzbox-7490/ Google is doing nothing special here.

That Fritz!Box 7490 is US $320 on Amazon. OnHub is $200. I doubt many the sub $100 routers most people get do that sort of thing. So maybe nothing special but that is quite a high end router you're comparing it to.

Well, it’s the default router that ISPs give you for free if you sign a one-year contract here. (Yes, you can keep it even after the contract ends).

So, it’s pretty much in every house in Germany.

If OnHub has to compete against this (for the consumer free) router, then it’ll have a hard time.

Re: OnHub

#400

Post by wtallis »

tibbon wrote: post #265

I'm just curious why so many wireless routers are flakey, need frequently reset, have connection issues, etc. That, and what Google is actually doing differently than other high quality routers.

There's wide variation in hardware quality, but consumer-oriented stuff is a lot more likely to have thermal issues and crappy power supplies.

For software, things are more uniformly bad. Almost every commercial router uses the drivers provided by the chipset vendor, and those are always bad. Even the poster child for open-source drivers (Atheros ath9k 802.11n) still had some nasty lockup bugs this year (eg. https://dev.openwrt.org/browser/trunk/package/kernel/mac8021...). The closed-source drivers get much less maintenance.

And then the router vendors have a team of morons slap together a web interface where all the priorities are on branding, and none on actually exposing the right functionality of the underlying Linux system in a secure manner. And that's if they're even using Linux.

OpenWRT makes an extremely powerful argument that the problems is the fragmentation of development instead of a single ongoing centralized project.

The jury's still out on where this effort from Google will fall. They've got some people who definitely know what they're doing (eg. Avery Pennarun, though I don't know if he's involved with this). On the other hand, core networking performance and stability clearly isn't what they're emphasizing, and they appear to be using the same ath10k hardware and drivers as everyone else.

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