[HN Gopher] Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022
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Google to end support for OnHub routers in 2022
Author : sahaj
Score : 44 points
Date : 2021-12-20 22:16 UTC (44 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (support.google.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (support.google.com)
| jeffbee wrote:
| Abstractly bogus, but on a rational analysis my TP-Link OnHub has
| already lasted wayyyyyyy longer than any other access point I've
| ever owned. Its predecessor, an ASUS RT-N66U, lasted barely two
| years.
| qmarchi wrote:
| In case anyone wants it, here's how to root a TP-Link OnHub.
| They're essentially glorified chromebooks, with some magic sauce
| on them.
|
| https://www.exploitee.rs/index.php/Rooting_The_Google_OnHub
|
| Dis: Googler, not near Nest/Home
| CaliforniaKarl wrote:
| > Since OnHub routers were introduced 6 years ago...
|
| I'm curious, does anyone know when the product stopped being
| sold?
| mnd999 wrote:
| Amazon still has them on sale. Google still promotes them -
| https://on.google.com/hub/?main=retail
| makerofspoons wrote:
| How scummy, not even a banner saying that support is ending.
| pvarangot wrote:
| It's worse than that, this ones haven't even had security
| patches for a while.
| andybak wrote:
| Let's all buy one and join a class action.
| Spivak wrote:
| You can still buy the TP-Link one new on Amazon
|
| https://www.amazon.com/Google-WiFi-Router-TP-Link-Managed/dp...
| akaij wrote:
| I think it was 2018, because that's when I was looking for a
| way to install OpenWRT on it.
| bochoh wrote:
| I could see them doing this if they hadn't already migrated the
| OnHub devices to the new google home app that controls the new
| Nest WiFi devices. It's not like the control plane is going away
| here - the hard work of migrating to their new cloud has already
| been done.
| lgleason wrote:
| It is stuff like this, where they take perfectly usable hardware
| and turn it into a paperweight that exposes the hypocrisy of any
| of their pro environment/green talk. The right thing to do would
| be to give us the option of uploading firmware that allows us to
| update settings etc. after that date like is done with older
| routers.
| quaintdev wrote:
| On their search page they mention that they have been carbon
| neutral since 2007.
|
| I had like to ask them what about the millions of perfectly
| usable phones that had to be ditched because of Android and the
| vendor lock ins.
| 14 wrote:
| Carbon neutral is not the same as filling the landfill with
| plastic and electronic waste. Just because they use solar
| power for energy has little to do with other environmental
| impacts.
| bragr wrote:
| The answer is carbon offsets
|
| Whether carbon offsets actually work is another issue though
| wtallis wrote:
| "End support" as used in the headline apparently means turning
| off various cloud and smartphone dependent features, which I
| think includes basically all management features. Software
| updates (including security patches) are already stopped, so any
| remaining users should plan to migrate to either new hardware or
| an alternative OS sooner rather than later.
| intricatedetail wrote:
| When a company stops supporting the product, should they release
| source code so community can support it? If it turns out the
| product is unsafe through unfixed security holes should you be
| able to get a refund?
| [deleted]
| jeffbee wrote:
| Maybe.. OnHub has a command-and-control network in the cloud,
| with which you interact using the Home (formerly: Wifi) app on
| your mobile. I guess they are ending support for OnHub control
| protocols in the cloud. So you'd need to replace the software
| in the router such that it could be controlled some other way.
| ms7m wrote:
| > You won't be able to update things like Wi-Fi network settings,
| add additional Wifi devices, or run speed tests.
|
| Wow, I'm not familiar if users are forced to use the Google Home
| app, but that seems a bit drastic to stop users from even
| changing the most basic settings?
| matt_heimer wrote:
| The dedicated apps are being discontinued across the board. I
| have Google mesh Wifi system and get told that "Your network
| was migrated to the Home app" when launching the Google Wifi
| app. You can continue and it still works so far. You can also
| use the Google Home app now if you want to manage your wifi
| settings with a worse UX.
|
| Edit: Being forced to use an app is not new. If you visit your
| routers ip address you get a single page that links to the app
| for the app stores. Funny enough it still links to the Google
| Wifi app and not the Google Home app.
| akaij wrote:
| > I'm not familiar if users are forced to use the Google Home
| app
|
| Yup.
|
| On a related note: I haven't been able to find a way to root it
| for OpenWRT. Does anyone know of any resource, other than the
| OpenWRT website, that could be helpful?
| aagha wrote:
| Seems some work is happening on this:
|
| https://openwrt.org/inbox/toh/google/google_wifi
| akaij wrote:
| If I'm reading correctly, that page is for the newer
| "Google WiFi" products, which are different.
| tandr wrote:
| Oh Google... People do not care when it was introduced - people
| care for support from the time when the last one got sold!
| jeffbee wrote:
| The TP-Link OnHub is still for sale on Newegg right now. I
| don't see how Google can control the behavior of retailers of
| 3rd-party hardware.
| tandr wrote:
| They still advertise it on their own website
| https://on.google.com/hub/?main=retail , so they expect it to
| be still selling.
| wtallis wrote:
| > I don't see how Google can control the behavior of
| retailers of 3rd-party hardware.
|
| That hardware bears trademarks that Google controls, so it's
| not purely a third-party product. Google may not be able to
| prevent retailers from selling off their remaining stock, but
| they should at least be able to prevent the manufacturers
| from sending any more to retailers, and inform retailers that
| the products are discontinued.
| jeffbee wrote:
| TP-Link EOL'd this thing many years ago.
| ClumsyPilot wrote:
| How come smaller companies like Zyxel and Asus have solved
| this problem decades ago? Maybe because they support their
| hardware for years after they stopped producing?
|
| Why do you feel the need to make up excuses for billion
| dollar company with increadible amount of resources,
| pretwnding they can't solve a trivial problem?
| ay wrote:
| And that is why the very first thing every new WiFi router in my
| household gets is a fresh installation of OpenWRT in place of
| whatever vendor software it has.
|
| And I look at compatibility matrix before buying it.
|
| This strategy has worked very well. I upgrade on _my_ terms.
| eloop wrote:
| And they expect people to buy hardware from them in the future?
| [deleted]
| aagha wrote:
| What utter BS!
|
| > "After that, your router will still work, but it will not
| receive any new software features or security updates, and
| performance cannot be guaranteed. You will not be able to use any
| Google Home app features to do things like update network
| settings, add devices, or run speed tests. And Google Assistant
| commands like "Hey Google, pause my Wi-Fi" will also not be
| available." [0]
|
| It'll work, but you won't be able to control it in any way!
|
| 0 - From the email I received telling me support was ending
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(page generated 2021-12-20 23:00 UTC)