IMHO, this could significantly shake up the update model for routers, which have poor security and major importance in a network, making them highly exploitable. A router that gets updates for more than a day after selling is huge, especially if it’s secure and good.
Also, the hardware specs to me also imply future significance as a home automation hub - it’s more than the current “good enough” hardware specs of consumer routers. (Of which the firmware is significantly awful.)
I don’t want a networking device made by a company whose main revenue stream comes from tracking and advertising.
TP-Link isn’t the best company either, I’m kinda surprised Google didn’t go with Asus right off the bat, seeing as they are already doing quite a bit of devices together already.
The main draw of the device is that it’s got a fancier shell and way more antennas which means that it’s more able and likely to fill your room with WiFi than even current three antenna 3x3 devices. Having a dedicated congestion sensing antenna is a nice touch. The ZigBee and Bluetooth seem to be mostly non-features nobody will use, and the ambient lighting was just yet another way to make the total package seem sexier for the ridiculous price tag it carries. The design feels like they were taking a jab at Amazon’s Echo, and makes me wonder if Amazon won’t take this into account for their next iteration of the design (“Hey, it’s your WiFi router AND it responds to voice command, how nifty!”)
The other interesting bit is that the IPQ8064 chip is much more aggressive than most routers have; it’s similar to a chip you’d put into a cellphone (for comparison, see the APQ8064, which this chip was almost certainly derived from) with the SoC accessory hardware package jiggled around a bit to be more attractive for networking. Most of these boxes have 500-800MHz single core chips - this one has two 1.4GHz cores, and it’s almost certainly a much more expensive part when they could have used a much less expensive one… which leads to the natural questioning what Google’s motives are with this device.
I’d sit on this. The hardware is simply a better design from the current “flat box with antennas”, and everyone and their brother will be clamoring to build similar devices - within 6 months, there will be 10 devices with similar features (perhaps sans a number of the liberties and frills the Google device is shipping with), and most of us aren’t dying to upgrade our WiFi routers.
So… Channel hopping? It’s funny, I read the product page earlier, and wasn’t even able to figure that much out. It’s filled with nonsense like this:
Wtf does that even mean? I’m pretty sure I use wifi exactly like I used wifi ten years ago.
Perhaps I am just old and don’t understand how the kids wifi these days. In that case, explain! This sounds like a pile of snake oil.
My suspicion is that this bit, combined with the ‘hub’ in the name, is the key part,
I.e. it’s intended to be the local communication hub / base station / configuration portal for Google’s future internet-of-things products. I think that is also likely the reason it requires a Google Account. Apple has similar plans to use the Apple TV as an IoT hub, so it’s not an entirely unique strategy.
Wait. Are we talking about the hub or the nexus q? :)
Considering how badly AirPorts are neglected…
Oof, marketing speak. I drowned in that earlier today looking at the ISP Webpass, which has zero technical information on their site. The closest I could find was the vague claim they use “millimeter wave” and a line drawing of a building with radio waves on top. Their Twitter account would only point to the FAQ, which is also devoid of info. Best guess from that band is that they’ve set up on a tall building and sell microwave links, but fuck you if you want to know anything about their product. :(
Funny. I was a very early webpass customer, back when they had a different name, and a portfolio of about six buildings. At the time, I believe they were running T3 lines to each building.