Google teamed up with networking device maker TP-Link to build ‘OnHub’ wireless router. Google is promising its wireless router to be sleeker, more reliable, more secure and easier to use than other long-established alternatives made by the Arris Group, Netgear, Apple and other hardware specialists.
Google is touting the cylinder-shaped OnHub as a leap ahead in a neglected part of technology. OnHub also will adapt to the evolving needs of its owners because its software will be regularly updated to unlock new features, according to Trond Wuellner, a Google Inc. product manager. The concept is similar to the automatic software upgrades the company makes to its Chrome browser and personal computers running on its Chrome operating system. Wuellner expects most people will be able to set up OnHub in three minutes or less. The router is designed to be managed with a mobile app called Google On that will work on Apple’s iPhone, as well as devices running on Google’s Android software.
Google is pledging not to use OnHub to monitor a user’s Internet activity. The company will still store personal information sent through an Internet connection tied to OnHub when a user visits Google’s search engine or other services, such as YouTube or Gmail, with the privacy controls set to permit the data collection. This is the same data collection Google does when users of its services visit through any router. The new router represents the latest phase in Google’s mission to make it easier for people to be online. Ensuring the reliability of Wi-Fi systems is becoming more important to Google for another reason. Google is hoping to sell more home appliances and other equipment that require wireless connections to the Internet. Google’s Nest division already sells thermostats, smoke detectors and video cameras that depend on Wi-Fi to work properly.
Pre-orders for the $199 OnHub wireless router can be made beginning Tuesday at Google’s online store, Amazon.com and Walmart.com.
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Image: Sandbox Studio/Courtesy of Google via AP