08-18-2015, 04:42 PM
Doesn't Google rate its own thread around here?
Announced today: Google OnHub router aims to make home Wi-Fi easy, reliable
And most importantly:
Announced today: Google OnHub router aims to make home Wi-Fi easy, reliable
Quote:Google says it has a solution to the glitchy home Wi-Fi that often stops working when you try to stream a movie or upload photos – a smarter, prettier router.
The OnHub router, unveiled by Google today, resembles a jumbo-sized drinking cup with a ring of light around the top. It's a significant departure from the box-with-blinking-lights-and-antenna look of traditional routers, but not that different from some newer D-Link routers that are also cylindrical and come in different colours - for many of the same reasons.
It's designed to improve the range and reliability of home Wi-Fi networks while becoming part of your living room décor.
The goal is to encourage people to put it on a bookshelf to maximize the range of the Wi-Fi signals, instead of hiding the device on the floor behind the TV, as the company says most people do now. It's a cylinder so people won't impair the signal by tipping it on its side or stack other objects on top of it.
"We didn't just make it beautiful because we wanted it to be pretty," said Google product manager Trond Wuellner via video conference from Mountain View, Calif., at a media preview in Toronto. "We designed it that way so it actually has a chance to operate at its best."
The device also optimizes your home Wi-Fi by automatically choosing the channel or frequency with the fastest connection, given nearby signals.
It allows you to set up and manage your network remotely via an Android or iPhone app. The software lets you see what devices are connected and how much bandwidth they are using – intended to be an improvement over the enigmatic blinking lights that most routers use to communicate.
Unlike most routers, Google says OnHub will be able to receive over-the-air software updates – both to add new features and to easily patch security vulnerabilities.
And most importantly:
Quote:The software was largely built in Canada, said Paul Leventis, a Google Canada engineer who worked on the project. "Anything the user touches has been done in Waterloo."