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Google Announces a Router: OnHub
An anonymous reader writes: Google has announced they're working with TP-LINK to build a new router they call OnHub. They say it's designed for the way we tend to use Wi-Fi in 2015, optimizing for streaming and sharing in a way that older routers don't. The router has a cylindrical design and comes with a simple, user-friendly mobile app. They say, "OnHub searches the airwaves and selects the best channel for the fastest connection. A unique antenna design and smart software keep working in the background, automatically adjusting OnHub to avoid interference and keep your network at peak performance. You can even prioritize a device, so that your most important activity — like streaming your favorite show — gets the fastest speed." The device will cost $200, it supports Bluetooth Smart Ready, Weave, and 802.15.4, and it will automatically apply firmware updates.
I guess nothing would go wrong with "automatically installing firmware updates".
Be seeing you...
Only if they are sexy adds.
and it will automatically apply firmware updates
Microsoft should've patented this type of security hole!
captcha: retreat
The only thing I want to know about it is
can it self restart when it locks up?
Or is that something that no router co is ever going to fix?
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
How fucking bold of them. NSA in the browser, NSA in their laptops and now NSA in your router.
Fuck off Google.
Is the extra spying that comes with it included in the Cost?
I'm amazed anybody would entertain the idea of getting this when there are plenty of decent routers on the market. My 802.11n dual band connection already out-paces my internet connection. For that matter most 802.11g connections far outpace current internet connections.
and it will automatically apply firmware updates.
It sounds like a cool idea to let Google [and their partners] have control over my LAN equipment; sure, sign me up!
Automatically apply firmware updates, eh? Great idea... how's that been working out for Windows 10 now? Way to kill your product with one dumb idea...
"optimizing for streaming and sharing" == bufferbloat ?
See that "Preview" button?
Encrypted of course to protect me.
Apparently having access to our search habits and e-mail content isn't enough :)
Bug in Wget passes user's real IP even with proxy use (such as Tor/TAILS)
"Just FYI, it appears there is a bug in wget while using a proxy that allows wget to be forced to use the FTP port and thereby unmask the user's IP (normal usage) or at least leak the user's network adapter IP (in TAILS)."
- Comment @ Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TOR/c...
https://archive.is/3YYo0
- Original discovery of bug @ lists.gnu.org:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/...
https://archive.is/Ah3Pg
- Reported to TAILS project development list (tails-dev):
https://mailman.boum.org/piper...
https://archive.is/nPi5h
- First response @ tails-dev
https://mailman.boum.org/piper...
https://archive.is/derHC
- Wget: What is it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Can you disable all automatic updates and telemetry?
Can it route on the wire at gigabit speeds? A lot of so-called gigabit routers are not gigabit at all, they just have an integrated gigabit switch.
I'm guessing the answer to my first question is "no" and the answer to my second question is "yes"
You know, to keep you safe!
It's an interesting concept, but I don't think I want to turn my router over to a company like Google or Facebook that makes their money Hoovering up every last bit of data they can get about me.
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
Right, like I trust Google to be my router/firewall ... no way in hell I'd let Google be the gatekeeper for the internet in my house.
Because you can bet your ass they're going to get a lot more visibility into everything you do, and use it for their own purpose.
And I'm sure it will be remotely accessibly when law enforcement demands it and introduce several new security holes as it tries to be so easy to use it fails utterly. Mark my words, this will cause a lot of new problems.
I don't trust Google to do that at all. I use their services from a browser, but letting them be directly in charge of my network? No bloody way in hell.
Their "do no evil" pledge means less with every passing year.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I'm just not interested in anymore Google hardware. I'm already under Android surveillance with no interest in other Google devices like this router or Nest products or anything else. (I wonder if this is why Google is reorganizing under Alphabet?)
I will say that at $200, this is probably one of the most expensive TP-Link products that I have ever heard of.
I know this is the dumbest complaint about this device, but why circular? Why do these people design devices as if they'll be the only thing on our desks, shelves, whatever? There should be a new standard "desktop rack" that these devices can fit in.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
"Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science."
This was the Slashdot quote in the bottom left corner of my browser....
Apparently from "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson
"You can even prioritize a device, so that your most important activity — like streaming your favorite show — gets the fastest speed."
What if I'm watching my favorite show on a different device and someone else is using the main device? Huh? WHAT THEN??? WHAT HAPPENS THEN???
Funny. QoS has been around for a looooong time.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
If you're a tech-savvy buyer interested in a real piece of routing hardware, think about getting some x86 kit for a similar price. Suffer none of the inevitable loss of control and privacy invasion of a piece of Google hardware. Plus, use your favorite Linux/BSD, or just pfSense/OpenWRT if you want a web GUI.
The PCEngines APU will cost you around $250 (150 board/35 32gb-ssd/15 case/10 psu/40 wifi), and get you a triple-gigabit, dual-core x86-64 device (and one of the precious few running Coreboot natively). You'll have the freedom to do whatever the hell you want with it, the peace of mind that your own router isn't spying on you, and 25GB+ of storage space for backups to boot.
Or hell, just buy a cheap TP-Link 841N or WDR3600 and slap OpenWRT on it. A lot less fancy and featureful, but at least you have control.
I get that technically-oriented people like those on Slashdot are opposed to automatic updates, but this product isn't targeting you. Most people are going to get their wifi router either from their ISP (where the ISP will manage updates) or something they bought at BestBuy and never touched again after they got it working. Most people will never go out of their way to update anything unless it's either done for them automatically or they're prompted to do so.
Wifi routers are absolutely a place where, for most people, security updates should happen automatically, because for most people, the alternative is for wifi routers to spend their entire lifetime running the same version they shipped with, whatever security updates that may entail.
Google is getting some heat from search engines like DuckDuckGo, so you can't be shocked that they are changing tactics to allow them to keep the revenue flowing in by continuing to find new and creative ways to use your surfing habits for profit.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Routers have offered traffic priority features for a while now. Unfortunately it's still not perfect and it's difficult to allocate the right amount of resources to each service especially if they aren't known. For those managing large corporation or enterprise bandwidth, they understand the challenges in controlling traffic. Netflix per example is really difficult to block because there are many sources from which it can come and the resolved name isn't consistent either.
Encrypted (HTTPS) services can appear anonymous to the router making it difficult for it to decide if it should have priority or not. What you're left with is the option to give only priority to services you know. That also has it's drawbacks because I don't think the router will ever be familiar enough with all the different services available out there
How are you supposed to configure it from a PC? And only 1 LAN port? Really? On a $200 router?
Google, while admitting that PPTP VPNs are "better than nothing", refuses to support them in Chromebooks. I'd put money on this router coming with a PPTP-only VPN host, making it useless for providing an endpoint for another popular Google product.
Thanks to tight integration with your Gmail/Google+ account the router will realize that you are on your other device and that you spouse is on the main device and it will shift the main device to the bitch-class queue.
Speaking of QoS; how does that work across the internet again?
Linux or another open-source routing software?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Gezus that better be one amazing wi-fi router, My last Wi-N router (which is plenty fast) only cost me $14.
So basically we're talking $180 for 'better firmware'? I think I'll pass.
I mean, who the fuck uses wireless these days?
Surely you all have gigabit fibre in your homes by now right?
Does everyone live in 5,000 square feet solid concrete structures these days? I've never had any issues at all with my wi-fi connection in a modestly size house...or at the end of my garden...or sat in my car on my drive the other side of the garage at the end of my garden.
I fail to see why wi-fi is such a massive issue these days; those who want performance and responsiveness use wired gbit lan, those who don't know what those are use wi-fi and won't care about the additional latency and lower speed wi-fi provides...generally because they're on facebook on their phone.
The router has 12 sectored antennas, 6 per frequency. The 6 antennas are arranged in pairs around a circle. This provides excellent "cell" isolation and better beam forming enhancement.
It is an excellent design concept, even if it does make stacking and hiding less convenient. It is a design previously used only on VERY expensive WiFi gear targeted at VERY dense environments like conference halls and stadiums.
So you can't configure your router if you don't have a mobile device?
Will it play nice with BLE (and other users of the unlicensed ISM bands?)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is deploying now.
A big enabler is the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, as specfied in the 4.0, 4.2, (and presumably beyond) Bluetooth spec. This provides for three connection establishment "advertising" channels "in the cracks" between the common 2.4G WiFI channels, plus occasional actual traffic hopping around on 37 other "data" channels, of which all but nine are within the common 2.4g WiFi channels or their skirts (and of those nine, seven, plus one of the advert channels, overlap ZigBee).
IoT devices are dirt cheap: They can typically run for years on a button battery, have substantial brainpower, and the rest of the device often costs less than the wholesale price of the battery. (As of the 4.2 spec they also have a 6LowPAN variant encoding and can be directly on the IPv6 internet.) So you can expect them to be deployed by the billions and become pervasive. Which means that, even if each one of them is only on the radio very occasionally, all together they'll be on it a LOT.
So when Google designed this new WiFi air-time management software, did they do it in a way that won't jam the oncoming flood of BLE devices and/or be jammed by them? Did they even take them into account? Or did they just optimize for a WiFi-filled chunk of bandwidth?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I guess nothing would go wrong with "automatically installing firmware updates".
Will the code be open (or its algorithms unpatented)? Will any other aspect of this be proprietary?
If not, and it does work better and "play well with others", it can be ported into open router projects such as OpenWRT. With those you can have control of the updates (if any), rather than accepting Google's choices.
You can also avoid any "Phone Home" and other malware inclusions - at least in the official releases. B-)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Of course Google needs to make sure its video ads have spectrum priority. Thanks, Google, for the uninterrupted ad viewing experience.
# make clean sig
Full openness regarding the hardware, and some source code for any eventual new stuff that Google will release.
Won't touch this without the ability to run OpenWRT running on it.
Cheapo TP link (35 Euro) here with DD WRT cfw.
Runs and runs and, cough. runs.
The only thing I restart once in several month is, ironically, a Cisco cable modem.
How long until Google upgrades these routers to share your unused bandwidth with third party project fi users?
Given that a lot of their revenue is generated via data collection and advertisements, can we really trust Google to build a router that won't mine your data at the source?
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
> The instructions for performing maintainence of my heat pump assume foundational HVAC knowledge, too. ...
> But for some reason, computer/network gear, despite being many times more complex pieces of machinery, carry this expectation that a retard like your mom who can't even understand/remember/figure out clicking File and then Open should be able to fully understand them.
The expectation is that mom can adjust the thermostat, without needing to know the differences between various types of refrigerants. Similarly, the goal is that she should be able to look at pictures of the grandkids without configuring ipv6.
Because consumer routers are directly connected to the internet, with no firewall between the router and the net, regular updates are required these days. Mom should be able to use YouTube, and do so safely she needs regular updates on the router.
Nerds like you and I can turn off those updates, install open-wrt, or whatever we want. Just like you CAN install a hotrod intake manifold, but doing so shouldn't be required in order to drive.
Of course, you'll have to buy a brand new router if you want to update to froyo.
I refuse to buy a networking device made in China. I'll simply buy an American machine like the Linksys WRT line, which only has all of its components made in China!
Are those holes on top a cooling vent or something else? I wonder how many antennas theis thing has.
Will they be adding this feature: http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/06/04/wi-fi-signals-enable-gesture-recognition-throughout-entire-home/
3.2 million Google OnHub routers have ceased to function due to a buggy firmware update that was automatically installed. The 116.7 million OnHub routers that are part of the BlastField Botnet were not affected.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
Towards the bottom of the link you shared:
While OnHub doesn't track the websites you visit, your DNS provider can associate your web traffic with your public IP address. OnHub sets your default DNS provider to Google Public DNS. (This can be changed in the Advanced Networking settings of the Google On app.)
What could possibly go wrong?
Compare contrast with Comcast's DNS - Comcast owns NBC now so they have a vested interest in hunting down sharing of pirated content. I'd bet every single /.er is a legitimate target for them.
So do you trust Google or Comcast more here? Unless we're all running OpenDNS, and even then are you sure they're not selling your info too?
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
Right, we can trust anything from Big Data these days.
I wonder how much of this move is designed to position Google more firmly in your house. Maybe they saw that Amazon Echo was getting traction and is moving to compete in this space as well?
Does it have a microphone...?
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
How much Cat 6 can you buy for $200?
I would definitely purchase a Google branded router that used local storage to maintain an encrypted synced cache of my Google Drive,Mail,Movies,Music & maybe third party data.
So does it cut your b/w in half when it starts piping all your internet activity back to google hq?
OnHub Tech Specs I would still like the aforementioned functionality
Who uses Tor for anything serious and _doesn't_ firewall off everything except connections to known Tor nodes?
Idiots trying to be super stealthy with no networking knowledge... It can't work.
I'm confused. Is this just a nice router? How is it any different from any other router I might want?
Also, I'm sort of unfamiliar with 802.15.4 or Weave. What are they? I've looked into smart device stuff a lot lately, and I've only seen Zigbee and Z-wave, and maybe one or two others. Do they mean Zigbee when they say 802.15.4? Do they mean "Zigbee plus whatever else might come along and fit into the 802.15.4 protocol"? Do they mean 802.15.4 as a "different" protocol? If so, why would they think that they'd be able to push yet another standard, when the primary problem with that market is the lack of adherence to a standard open protocol?
Great. A router from the company that logged wifi access point MACs and SSIDs while innocently photographing the neighboorhood. How much PII will they collect, crunch and sell?
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Google has a strong interest in having a large number of Google derived WiFi out in the market.
Project Fi handsoff between different carriers and WiFi. With WiFi they don't have carrier charges.
I wouldn't be too surprised if Google somehow ties Project Fi into the "OnHub" effort. I'd also expect google making lots of loss-leader agreements with companies to offer lots of Google managed WiFi that will make the backhaul for Project Fi free.
You have got to wonder what they have up their sleeve to add support for 802.15.4. This is the stuff that Zigbee runs, meaning all of a sudden, there is a gateway between (relatively) expensive (relatively) high-speed wifi devices and a whole lot of (relatively) inexpensive (relatively) low-speed internet-of-things devices, like SCADA of light switches, HVAC controls, home entertainment, etc.
Very interesting, indeed. What is behind door #2?
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't
My PS3 is wired to my router. Why? Because I play CoD and need the lowest possible latency. I've written several wireless drivers, their specs assume you will lose a significant number of packets and seamlessly work around the missing packets. I'm guessing I gain at least 10% by using wired ethernet instead of my wifi link.
My NAS is also on the wire. Never instrumented it, but seems to me that if I'm transferring data to/from my NAS then it's better for half the traffic to be over the air, the other half over the wire.
(Geek speaking) Automatic updates are fine, so long as the bootloader or whatever its embedded equivalent can be unlocked to allow the flashing of unofficial ROMs. Here's hoping this is like most of the Google-branded hardware products (eg Chromebook, Nexus)
...what comes next ?!?
Is it smart to name your layer 3 network component after a layer 1 component?
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Uh, dude, welcome to America: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/photos-of-an-nsa-upgrade-factory-show-cisco-router-getting-implant/
with multiple internet connections spread over a community.
If you look at Chromecast, the vast majority of silent upgrades went smoothly.
If you look at Windows, the vast majority of automatic updates went smoothly. But "vast majority" for a very large user base still leaves a significant amount of users with problems. As has been discussed here many times.
You must be trippin. And look at this bullshit.... an Anonymous Coward gets the rare Score:5, Insightful AS AN AC. This shit reaks lately. That AC comment said literally-not-a-damn-thing-dept.
"vast majority" is a hugely biased metric. If there are 100 updates but 2 render your box BSOD.. what? The vast majority were smoothly lofl? As of right now on an OEM install of Windows, there is an update that if I were to unhide it... it would force me to call Microsoft in India because their push to Windows 10 Predatory Spyware Edition tries too hard. The "update" tries to deactivate my OEM Windows on a high end PC. It wasted considerable time and wrecked that day's schedule because I was stupid enough to just let it install updates. Fuck Microsoft on many levels... TRUST being top level and STUPID being everything below that.
Their red white and blue GO USA GO USA (*cough* India) Microsoft website is of zero use either. Put red white and blue on a Microsoft website that LITERALL runs on Linux and is LITERALLY supported by India... with default installs of Carnivore... dude... suck everybody's dicks.
You all do realize when people are stupid it is obvious right?
This shit is retarded too.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/39372-onedrive-add-remove-pc-windows-8-1-a.html
This shit is expected since ever.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-scam-email-will-encrypt-your-files-for-ransom/?tag=nl.e589&s_cid=e589&ttag=e589&ftag=TREc64629f
And so is alllllll this and way more.
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/08/22/nsa-windows-8-exploit/
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/07/11/microsoft-gave-the-nsa-direct-backdoor-access-to-outlook-skype/
http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/how-stop-windows-10-upgrade-downloading-your-system
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/195592-with-windows-10-microsoft-could-move-to-a-subscription-based-model
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/205320-microsoft-windows-10-will-be-the-last-version-of-windows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GU5uv28a3I
http://techrights.org/2015/07/31/vista-10-anticompetitive/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwRYyWn7BEo
Now mod this comment -1 Troll because it is absolutely 100% TRUE and 100% FACTUAL which potentially frustrates the feelings of a homosexual.
and it cost about $25 on newegg, I use it for the kid's wifi, it shuts off at 10pm during the week. Last time I looked, it said uptime was about 254 days, I have much more expensive routers that cant go nearly that long without needing reboots. I have zero interest on these $200+ routers everyone is dumping on the market now, even with google branding.