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OnHub

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Re: OnHub

#461

Post by adventured »

arihant wrote: post #442

OK, I'm trying really hard to figure out the $199 price tag. My cheap as dirt N+ router works pretty darn well connecting 12-15 devices at my home. I almost never had problems in years with it. All the smart services Google offers, work through cloud, like Cloud Print. Not through a router like Airport express. Even Android Wear now supports Wifi so having BLE isn't that attractive to me. All the smart features that…

There's no reason to buy this device for $200.

It's the equivalent of Amazon's Fire phone. It's richly priced, and does very little feature wise to justify its high price. It'll flop accordingly.

$49 or $99 (max) was the correct price point. They have to beat or match routers on price (high quality routers having become dirt cheap), or otherwise provide astounding new capabilities (which this doesn't).

Re: OnHub

#462

Post by SXX »

BufordTJustice wrote: post #449

Just as a note, if range is really one of the selling points, I have found Mikrotik's RB951 class routers to be relatively affordable and have excellent range and features, for significantly less than OnHub ($20-80 for a good home router). OpenWRT routers with a lot of the same features, and the ability to boost range can also be sourced for even less.

Did Mikrotik stopped violate GPL already?

It's was big reason to not buy any of their hardware.

Re: OnHub

#463

Post by rebelnz »

keehun wrote: post #353
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…

This is exactly why I found the Google branding a bit weird. The smart guys over there surely must know that a lot of us would be suspicious of this device. Why didn't they brand it under Nest, or a new Google subsidiary that would take the initial suspicion-edge off? I think it's a good router at a decent price, but no way I'm putting that inside my house!

The ratio of people who think about the implications vs the general public who consume rather than question is weighted in favour of big name companies.

Re: OnHub

#464

Post by pbreit »

Why is wifi so darn expensive? Does this thing really have $200 worth of electronics? Is it that much better than the $12 TP-links?

Re: OnHub

#465

Post by dzhiurgis »

BufordTJustice wrote: post #453
dzhiurgis wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but by giving more data you let software to personalize better. So by reducing your data exposure you are acting as techno-Luddite stiffing progress. I don't think we will suddenly abandon the cloud. If anything, we will centralize even more information. My biggest philosophical debate is what will happen to people who deliberately protect their information. Surely they are meatier targets by various adversarie…

> Yeah, but by giving more data you let software to personalize better. So by reducing your data exposure you are acting as techno-Luddite stiffing progress. Is this sarcasm? I guess I fail to understand how Google now knowing all the details of my life impedes "progress". It shouldn't stop them from developing new technology; why does the "cloud" need to figure out how to "personalize" things more for me anyways, ou…

> Is this sarcasm?

More of irony, I guess.

Google's core is still about serving you information and possibly some knowledge. To get better insights they need more information. It is as simple as that. MS entered the same field with Windows 10. They need more data to give better Cortana experience. If it's not all the data, Siri, Now & Cortana would suck. Now we are witnessing them going mainstream.

Re: OnHub

#466

Post by stephengillie »

aianus wrote: post #168
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.

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.

Most of this is because of the terrible Linksys software. I've had routers that acted terribly, and seen them perform much better with DDWRT installed.

Re: OnHub

#467

Post by 7952 »

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.

I understand the sentiment but I can see a certain logic to using a Google Account.

It gives some protection against an attacker using a default password (as with every other router in the world). Also the hardware could be locked to a particular account in case the firmware is reset and you return to a welcome page.

Also it seems preferable that Google should use it's existing infrastructure instead of creating something new just for this.

Re: OnHub

#468

Post by somedudethere »

eliben wrote: post #406
noodly wrote: post #345

> To set up your OnHub, you’ll also need: > Google Account No, thanks. SpyHub would be more adequate name. I would reconsider it when I could put my own software on it, that would not require untrusted third-party accounts.

I suppose you should stay far away from Google Fiber then, as well. And anything else done by the evil Google. Much better to keep with the good guys like Comcast. They will never, ever spy on you.

Thats a false dichotomy. There have always been fiber providers, its just that Google Fiber is the "sexy" one that people look to for salvation instead of locally campaigning for fiber (which has been successful in quite a number of cities across the USA).

Re: OnHub

#469

Post by kuschku »

ejdyksen wrote: post #437
kuschku wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Fritz!Box 7490 has 3 radios, for exactly this purpose. That’s how it supports automated channel search without disconnecting users, and how it is able to provide 1.3Gbps via WiFi.

If it does have 3 radios, that's awesome. They should make that much more explicit. I've looked all over their site, and I can't find anything that confirms this. Everything on their website just references plain old simultaneous dual-band with MIMO antennas. For me, at least, a 3rd radio will be on the list for my next AP, so I'll take a close look at this one, too.

Well, they claimed it. I am not sure if they do have one, but switching channels and empty-channel-autodiscovery without disconnecting is a feature in the version that I have.

The issue is just that AVM produces different versions of the Fritz!Box for every ISP, so some have more storage, or more radios than others.

Re: OnHub

#470

Post by daveloyall »

MichaelGG wrote: post #431
daveloyall wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it says somewhere on the site that it uses soundwaves to share the initial key with your device. But that's NOT an excuse to make the device depend on the Mobile ecosystem. If it can play a code on the speaker, it can just talk. In English. Via thirty-six audio files: a.wav, b.wav, ... 9.wav. Ok, thirty-seven recordings--can't forget welcome_to_your_new_router_your_key_is.wav. :)

I'd wager that whatever they're doing, it's far more reliable than reading out English letters and doing speech recognition on it. Accomplishing the key exchange might not have been reliable in all browsers.

... I meant, let the device speak directly to the user. "Your key is alpha nine hotel victor ..."

The goal was some sort of manual setup.

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