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OnHub

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Re: OnHub

#531

Post by wstrange »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #322
mtgx wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's bullshit. It should use something like Thread or Bluetooth 4.0 to let you configure it from your mobile device , which already assumes you'll be in the same room with the router in 99% percent of the cases. There's no reason for this to be sent over the Internet, when you're both in the same room.

I wouldn't phrase it so negatively but I do share the same sentiment. I think this is the craziness that seems to be so widespread that people don't notice how crazy it is - the primary way for two devices sitting few meters from each other to communicate should not be routing packets around half of the planet. I get it's easier, but it's bad engineering, unnecessarily wasteful energy-wise and I bet the only reason t…

"unnecessarily wasteful energy-wise"

This is just for setup right? So the energy cost is insanely trivial, hardly worth mentioning.

Re: OnHub

#532

Post by aiiane »

DaveWalk wrote: post #393
Itaxpica wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Of course it's going to be a tough sell for some people. We could launch a potato and it'd be a tough sell for some people, let alone launching a WiFi router. :) At the end of the day you either trust the information made available by Google or you don't. If there was less text there, plenty of people would be suspicious that something was being hidden (heck - people are suspicious even with the current amount of text)!

It's okay to decide not to adopt the device in question, and it's fine to weigh how much you trust Google against what benefits you might get from any given device. For the average tech-savvy user, perhaps there's a lower value prop, perhaps there isn't. Some people like having absolute control, other people like someone managing things for them.

Re: OnHub

#533

Post by aiiane »

falcolas wrote: post #323
mentat wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on if you think un-updated, bad PRNG devices are better.

This isn't an "either-or" situation. You can have an auto-updating router which doesn't depend on configuring via a third party service.

Not really. If the router auto-updates, it has to get that update from somewhere. If anything, being able to push firmware is more powerful than being able to push configuration.

Re: OnHub

#534

Post by aiiane »

vmateixeira wrote: post #383
magicalist wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it doesn't? https://support.google.com/onhub/answer/6279845

I like the "for example.." present in most sentences.

Attempting to list out each and every individual instance where a piece of data might be used does not a good privacy policy make.

Re: OnHub

#535

Post by rthomas6 »

scrumper wrote: post #277
therealmarv wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you are not the target audience!

Well maybe they are... If it can do all that without learning DD-WRT, then I'll buy it. I understand all those things and want most of them enabled at home, I just don't have the time or motivation to learn the configuration files despite being a programmer who's perfectly capable of it. The interface should be distinct from the capability.

You are thinking of OpenWRT, I believe. DD-WRT is pretty much flash and go. Ad blocking is a bit of a pain, but the rest of the things I named have a GUI.

Re: OnHub

#536

Post by jaysoncena »

Even with all these data privacy issues, I am still interested on how it performs since 2.4ghz and 5ghz has their own 6 anntennas. This is important for me since on the country where I am living now, 1gbps internet connection is the norm.

Re: OnHub

#538

Post by spinchange »

ericfrederich wrote: post #501

If there's one thing Google doesn't know its WiFi. Stupid Chromecast cannot connect to like 95% of Hotel WiFi. For something named after a web browser I find it mind boggling that it can't display a web page for you to enter your room number in or agree to terms.

The splash screens aren't the only problem, some hotels enforce device isolation on the network too.

Some kind of travel router (or laptop) sharing the hotel's WiFi to your own little hotspot is the way to go. You probably wouldn't want your chromecast open to other guests connected directly to the hotel's wifi anyway.

Re: OnHub

#539

Post by xur17 »

rtkwe wrote: post #227
blixt wrote: post #190

I wonder if these will be capable of lending spare (encrypted) bandwidth to anonymous mobile devices. I.e., can Google Fi[1] users benefit from Wi-Fi when walking past a house that has an OnHub running? [1] https://fi.google.com/about/

Every time a company has tried to do open wifi sharing there's been a lot of kickback. Mostly because it's opt out instead of opt in but that's put a big damper on anyone doing similar things.

What I really want to see is an 'opt-in' service that allows you to use other peoples' networks if you opt-in to sharing your's. It should be extremely easy to opt-in, and a message should be displayed asking you to opt-in when you try to sign in to someone else's network.

Also, the guest network traffic needs to be sent over a vpn, so you are not responsible for it / don't have to deal with people torrenting, etc on your network. And it should be low priority traffic.

Re: OnHub

#540

Post by cthalupa »

thrownaway2424 wrote: post #90
dazbradbury wrote: post #76

Interesting - but I'm not sure what this gives me over something in a similar price range, for example: http://www.amazon.com/RT-AC68U-Wireless-AC1900-Dual-Band-Gig... Presumably either you know something about routers and want to enable QoS, install your own firmware, or use some other advanced feature - and you spend money on a decent router. Or you don't, and use whatever your ISP provides (which if it's bad, you…

The AC68U is the perfect AP for the discerning user who enjoys going into the basement every two weeks to reboot things.

I've had the predecessor, the AC66U, since March 2013.

I've never had to reboot it outside of firmware updates.

I suppose it's not the AC68U, but out of all of the high end Asus APs I've had, I don't think I've ever had a problem with one.

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