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Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

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Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#101

Post by gruez »

basch wrote: post #90
gruez wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>and then you upgrade to a faster unit with next-gen wifi or whatever Do people actually need next-gen wifi? My impression is that 99.9+% of people would be well served by a mid-range 802.11ac router (eg. AC1750[1]) from years ago, because the most bandwidth intensive thing they do is watch 4k netflix (~25 Mb/s). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac-2013

is Bandwidth the only factor? What about 30-50 smart home devices? Every bulb or switch, water sensors, etc. Some of modern equipment is load balancing old legacy stuff better, no?

I don't have an IOT house, so I don't know how well they'll cope. That said, most IOT chips (eg. the famed ESP8266 and most variants of its successor, ESP32) seem to only support 802.11n, a standard from 2009. Therefore any benefits are probably not going to be gained by upgrading to an 802.11ac router. Newer routers might have beefier cpu/ram, but IOT devices are pretty low bandwidth, so I doubt they'll be taking up much cpu/ram to handle them.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#102

Post by ClumsyPilot »

judge2020 wrote: post #42
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You won’t be able to update things like Wi-Fi network settings, add additional Wifi devices, or run speed tests." Aren't they reaching into Your device to remove functionality? Isn't this vandalism, and a crime?

It’s not a crime, since the advertising includes OTA as a feature and it’s not criminal to remove functionality from a previously-sold device.

"It’s not a crime, since the advertising includes OTA as a feature"

My car includes free service as a feature, that doesn't mean they can take off the wheels while I sleep and call it 'service'.

Similarly I don't think any reasonable person or judge will agree bricking a device is called 'update'.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#103

Post by drusepth »

bonoboTP wrote: post #88

It's a meme now that Google doesn't support anything long term and breaks compatibility etc. all the time. Why? Because that's what's incentivized for the engineers and managers. You climb the career ladder by releasing new stuff. Supporting old stuff is a dead end careerwise. If that's the culture, this is what you get. On the whole, it does seem to work out well for them!

It's also just kind of the natural outcome of any company that has literally thousands of "product" lines. Some work, some don't, and some become less and less important to support over time for a myriad of different reasons.

Small businesses with fewer products are arguably more incentivized to ensure each product lasts long-term, but it's not uncommon to see them moving on from product to product, too. They just have far fewer in total to see "Google ends yet another product!"-esque headlines about.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#104

Post by ineedasername »

zmj wrote: post #66
greatgib wrote: post #50

> Looking at that, I'm wondering who is stupid enough to buy a new device from them like this. It is like 'bite me once, bite me again please.'. 'eh, we just self destroyed your device, because, fuck you, but here is a coupon to buy a new one from us that we will also kill in a few years' ...

I probably will. The OnHub has performed substantially better than the other consumer wireless routers I've used, and after 5 years it's due to be replaced anyway. Might as well take the discount.

Why is it due to be replaced? Has your bandwidth speed substantially improved to the point that OnHub can no longer keep up? Because otherwise it sounds like you're happy with where you're at. There's no reason to replace a well-functioning device that does everything you need just because it's reached the end of the ever-shortening consumer electronics lifecycle. My own router is about ~7 years old, I have twice the devices connected as I did when I purchased it, and it still handle my 200Mbs broadband just fine among all devices in use.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#105

Post by waych »

Doesn't surprise me. Google has trouble planning for anything longer than 1-2 OKR cycles, which nowadays means 6-12 months (previously 3-6 months). Sustainability planning and long term support just aren't in their wheelhouse as a result. In fact, anything long term planning there is a bit of a farce, including headcount planning done yearly.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#106

Post by throw_m239339 »

FredPret wrote: post #96
sebmellen wrote: post #62

Another one bites the dust. https://killedbygoogle.com/

Makes me think twice about relying on anything they do except google.com

Yeah, like Stadia... If Google wants to know why I won't pay for that service, it's precisely because I know Google is going to kill it soon.

GeForce now is a better model. You buy your games on diverse platforms and the subscription to run them on remote hardware separately. Your games are still there on your computer even if GeForce now is gone.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#107

Post by ineedasername »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #54
greatgib wrote: post #50

> Looking at that, I'm wondering who is stupid enough to buy a new device from them like this. It is like 'bite me once, bite me again please.'. 'eh, we just self destroyed your device, because, fuck you, but here is a coupon to buy a new one from us that we will also kill in a few years' ...

I dunno, I'd have to do a TCO analysis; if they give you 40% off, and you just assume it'll die after X years but be fully supported for that time and then you upgrade to a faster unit with next-gen wifi or whatever, it could still work out to be a good deal. Like... not my cup of tea (TCO is even nicer when the unit's lifespan is indefinite), but it's a plausible tradeoff.

I would only agree with that if Google fully published their support roadmap ahead of time so that I could know what I'm buying. Especially in light of the $ at any given time: $300 when there's 6 years of support ahead is fine, but it's not worth $300 anymore when there's only 4,3,2 years of support left. How can you possibly do a TCO analysis without that information?

They at least do this for their Pixel phones.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#108

Post by Tijdreiziger »

basch wrote: post #90
gruez wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>and then you upgrade to a faster unit with next-gen wifi or whatever Do people actually need next-gen wifi? My impression is that 99.9+% of people would be well served by a mid-range 802.11ac router (eg. AC1750[1]) from years ago, because the most bandwidth intensive thing they do is watch 4k netflix (~25 Mb/s). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac-2013

is Bandwidth the only factor? What about 30-50 smart home devices? Every bulb or switch, water sensors, etc. Some of modern equipment is load balancing old legacy stuff better, no?

For smarthome, I would recommend Zigbee devices. That way, you limit your attack surface to just your Zigbee gateway, rather than every single light bulb in your house, with the added benefit that those don't clog up your Wi-Fi.

We have the Philips Hue gateway at home (which has limited support for other brands, but IKEA Trådfri bulbs work), but you can also get a Zigbee USB stick/Raspberry Pi HAT, install Home Assistant or deCONZ, and go wild without being tied to any vendor.

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#109

Post by kingcharles »

aagha wrote: post #17

What utter BS! > "After that, your router will still work, but it will not receive any new software features or security updates, and performance cannot be guaranteed. You will not be able to use any Google Home app features to do things like update network settings, add devices, or run speed tests. And Google Assistant commands like “Hey Google, pause my Wi-Fi” will also not be available." [0] It'll work, but you wo…

Work. Now defined as simply "it will absorb power and gently warm the surface upon which it is placed."

Re: Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022

#110

Post by ineedasername »

waych wrote: post #105

Doesn't surprise me. Google has trouble planning for anything longer than 1-2 OKR cycles, which nowadays means 6-12 months (previously 3-6 months). Sustainability planning and long term support just aren't in their wheelhouse as a result. In fact, anything long term planning there is a bit of a farce, including headcount planning done yearly.

The crazy thing is that they don't even need to actually support a 6 year old product: you're not getting much in the way of updates from a random netgear router that old. But Netgear isn't going to brick your device so you can't make changes and reconfigure it. All google has to do it not block it in the Home app.
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