OnHub • Hacker News Board

Re: OnHub

#611

Post by Albright » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 4:38 PM UTC

VikingCoder wrote: post #609

Albright wrote: post #608

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least by using a non-Google "free" mail service, file storage service, etc, you're distributing your mineable information among competing companies instead of handing it all over to a single entity. Or, you can do as I do and just find a reputable service you can just pay and not worry about it. (I pay Zoho $24 a year to host my mail.) > What, the Apple computer, Apple router, Apple browser, Apple Mail, and Siri?…

I fail to see how copying my data to more companies reduces my attack surface. > all incentive to data mine it for profit. Yes, and it has all incentive to protect my privacy, because if they screw that up, they lose all of my business, and all of everyone else's business, too.

> I fail to see how copying my data to more companies reduces my attack surface.

I'm talking about your privacy and mine-ability, not your attack surface. (Though it does help with that too, in a way - a bigger chance someone will get some of your data, perhaps, but a smaller chance they'll get all of it.)

Re: OnHub

#612

Post by aidenn0 » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 4:56 PM UTC

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'm interested.

Re: OnHub

#613

Post by imissmyjuno » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:30 PM UTC

ejdyksen wrote: post #259

impish19 wrote: post #51

So what does this device primarily do that I need right now? Just throttling internet for certain devices and prioritizing others? I'm not even entirely sure what 'uses smart software to find the best WiFi connection' means. What's the value prop here given the device costs $200? It's not like it can better your internet somehow.

It has a 3rd radio that monitors the channels you aren't currently using to see if any of them are better. The first two radios in the device can't switch without dropping connections, so they can't go hunting for new channels once the AP is turned on. My Airport Extreme chooses channels automatically at boot time, then never again. This is fine for my house though, because my neighbors are reasonably far away. At wo…

Doesn't this only really buy you time until everyone around you has the same router? If everyone is constantly changing channels to compensate for neighbours I can't imagine the performance to be great, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Re: OnHub

#614

Post by firethief » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:31 PM UTC

nadams wrote: post #402

raldi wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure you could -- just drop off a file someplace visible.

That would require committing a crime (in the US at least). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_piggybacking#Unite... This is too funny - why would you admit, to a cop, what you are doing??? You just say you are sitting in your car enjoying a nice day - and it wouldn't be a lie because technically you are. It just so happens you are doing other things as well. > He had been accessing the Internet through a nonp…

So don't sign the file with your real name?

Re: OnHub

#615

Post by zf00002 » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 5:51 PM UTC

tomkinstinch wrote: post #435

zf00002 wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't really call it a full desktop. Intel DQ77KB mini-itx, lga1155 with dual Intel nics is what we use for $100 off Amazon. Pair it with a cheap Celeron and some used laptop memory off ebay. At the wall ~15W.

That's not bad! I'm surprised you're able to get the power consumption so low. With a case, power supply, CPU, heatsink, and RAM the price starts to approach the OnHub though, without any Wi-Fi nics. The DQ77KB is a cool little board. Have you tried running one as a VPN endpoint?

Right now I have one of them with pfsense and its openvpn server running. But that one was upgraded to an Intel i5-3470T so it pulls about ~25W. We went with that cpu for it's AES stuff but it turns out that pfsense (or maybe its freebsd, not sure) can't completely take advantage of it. But otherwise it works great for a vpn that we use when we're outside and on mobile.

Another with a Celeron G1620 is running as an vsphere server. I really love the board.

Re: OnHub

#616

Post by londonsexplorer » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 6:11 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #111

About the only real improvement I'm seeing here is the automatic, silent updates. That could be a lifesaver if a crucial bug were ever found. Aside from that, eh. It looks good, I don't doubt that with that number of antennas etc. it'll work well, but if anyone else is like me they've long since forgotten what their router even is - it just sits there, doing its job, and has done for years. I find the intelligent NAS…

Most people with old routers don't even realise the router is randomly bugging out and slowing down your web page load speeds.

Fun fact: Old routers generally don't support WiFi power saving features. That means your phone battery will drain waaay faster than it could if you had a new router. Having WiFi switched on with a phone connected to a new router will in fact generally increase battery life because it can use the cell radio less often.

http://www.techworld.com/mobile/a-guide-to-wi-fi-power-save-...

Re: OnHub

#617

Post by elwell » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 7:53 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #580

WA wrote: post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot. Here's the most technical crowd on the planet and people are obsessed with Gmail as if it was impossible to get email to work by any other means. Furthermore, I will never understand why people would use Gmail, if there's IMAP and hundreds of email clients to choose from. Same is true for Google Reader, that apparently caused a lot of buzz when it went away. Never understood…

Agreed. Even if Gmail is superior in some regards (I don't know - is it? There must be a reason so many people use it), as a tech savvy person I consider it a matter of pride (and privacy of course) to run my own mailserver with project like Sovereign https://github.com/sovereign/sovereign

I would be worried about getting marked as a spam server.

Re: OnHub

#618

Post by rsync » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 8:13 PM UTC

moe wrote: post #594

WA wrote: post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot. Here's the most technical crowd on the planet and people are obsessed with Gmail as if it was impossible to get email to work by any other means. Furthermore, I will never understand why people would use Gmail, if there's IMAP and hundreds of email clients to choose from. Same is true for Google Reader, that apparently caused a lot of buzz when it went away. Never understood…

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot. Ditching GMail changes nothing about your privacy situation. An E-Mail is a postcard. Sending a postcard via DHL instead of USPS doesn't make it any more confidential, even if you happen to be the owner of DHL.

"Ditching GMail changes nothing about your privacy situation."

Actually, there is quite a bit to be gained by running your own mail server - especially in relation to other people on your mail server.

For instance, everyone at rsync.net logs into (al)pine over SSH. So yes, if you email rsync.net and we converse, that is like the postcard - every hop it goes through can see it.

But no piece of internal rsync.net email has ever traversed a network of any kind. Internal rsync.net emails are just local copy operations from one mailspool to another.

The same could be true of your company ... or your family.

Re: OnHub

#619

Post by ksk » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 9:21 PM UTC

VikingCoder wrote: post #609

Albright wrote: post #608

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least by using a non-Google "free" mail service, file storage service, etc, you're distributing your mineable information among competing companies instead of handing it all over to a single entity. Or, you can do as I do and just find a reputable service you can just pay and not worry about it. (I pay Zoho $24 a year to host my mail.) > What, the Apple computer, Apple router, Apple browser, Apple Mail, and Siri?…

I fail to see how copying my data to more companies reduces my attack surface. > all incentive to data mine it for profit. Yes, and it has all incentive to protect my privacy, because if they screw that up, they lose all of my business, and all of everyone else's business, too.

>Yes, and it has all incentive to protect my privacy, because if they screw that up, they lose all of my business, and all of everyone else's business, too.

There have been innumerable data breaches and we haven't seen those companies go bankrupt.

Re: OnHub

#620

Post by ksk » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 9:32 PM UTC

sjs382 wrote: post #269

andresmanz wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

These features are the value proposition. If you don't want them, a different router might actually be better for you.

>These features are the value proposition

Asking for an explanation or complaining or criticizing a product is good and should be encouraged. Companies should expect negative feedback if they release products that consumers do not like. In fact this helps the Companies too in making products that people want.

I don't quite see why you're telling people to "take it or leave it". That applies to every single product in existence, and I would hazard a guess that most people here are aware of it.