Did you guys see this Google OnHub announcement today?
This will be interesting
Very interesting, when paired with this app http://cenify.com/ you can actually control WIFI, Zigbee and Bluetooth devices. Will be interesting how this evolves.
Is that Echo without the speaker?
You mean the google thing? That looks like just an WiFi router to meā¦
It has Bluetooth ZigBee/Weeve/Thread and stuff like that so although details are scarce it loosk like they mean it to be your smart hub for all things wireless and IoT.
2 Likes
Hmmā¦ I guess weāll have to see. And Iām not going to bet against google doing a good job with it, butā¦ it sounds like many of these things are āfutureā upgrades. The hardware is there, but it doesnāt do anything yet. How long 'til OnHub is a robust, mature SmartHub?
Agree, The reason i like smarthings in the first place was the robust dev comunity ā¦ Just that has to stand up to what our google overlord bring us :D, I for one welcome our new google overlords
1 Like
Googleās new OnHub is the first weave hub. WiFi plus BLE plus 2.4 protocols like Thread and presumably zigbee.
Butā¦thereās a limit of 128 devices, at least on the WiFi side. Bizarre for a Device that claims to be for the new ways we use Wi-Fi. You know, like light switches and plugs.
Nope. The OnHub has a speaker and light ring too. Not sure what a router will do with a speaker, but it has one.
Edit - The Speaker
When you set up OnHub using an Android device, it uses an audio tone to send a setup code directly to your mobile device for easy and secure setup.
No thanks, I have Ubiquiti access points, I donāt need Google trying to be my āall in oneā (and Iām a fan of all-in-ones)ā¦
Also lacks Zwave.
2 Likes
Thereās decent reasons for this:
-
Even a very good home WiFi router is going to have trouble with simultaneous connections from more than a couple dozen devices.
-
Google / Nest is obviously in the business of promoting Thread / Weave, and would much rather you use those protocols for āIoTā things like lightbulbs and sensors. I wouldnāt be surprised to see Thread compatible bulbs from Nest soon ā¦ the āNest Illuminateā to go with your Nest Protect and Nest Camā¦
I was guessing the speaker will be used for device configuration via broadcasting tones upon request, for the WPA password, SSID, etcā¦
Yesā¦ I also though ā¦ Echoā¦ butā¦ no microphone(s).
The more significant technology here is the ZigBee/Thread. This is a smart home Nest #ThoughtfulHome gateway.
Keep in mind the Nest also has a zigbee radio active in it as well.
1 Like
I donāt think so. Nest makes really nice hardware so why not do this through the Nest brand? Second, it looks like the beginning of a brand new platform. Notice the domain. https://on.google.com/ and the app is called the ON app. This is just the ON hub. There is another onHub in the works by Asus as well.
Yup. They updated the specs
When you set up OnHub using an Android device, it uses an audio tone to send a setup code directly to your mobile device for easy and secure setup.
2 Likes
Baby steps.
One of Nestās (and Threadās) philosophies is hub-free smart home. Any device with both Thread and IP can act as a bridge (such as the Nest Thermostat).
But if Thread (& Weave) starts getting slipped into ubiquitous home wifi routers, thatās a win-win.
Depends on how you look at it. I donāt want all of my antennae in one box. That is a single point of failure, and an expensive one at that. One bad firmware update or hardware breakdown takes down your router, wifi, and home automation hub. Does not sound like winning to me. That and there will be multiple brands of these things out there further fragmenting the space.
1 Like
yeah, but this is designed to also be a back end solution. It doesnāt have to be the router connected to the modem.
I see a world where 3 or 4 of these are spread around a house to handle all the IoT devices.
1 Like
Youāre not the target market for OnHub.
I presume youāve watched the video? This is targeted at homes where people are too dumb to type their router passwords. Wellā¦thatās an exaggeration, but weāre in a new era for WiFi routers, and at some point on this curve, folks are going to wonder why they need a āsmart home hubā when they already have a fancy, easy to use thingymabob already connecting everything to the Internet.
I do think that, eventually, some standard will emerge as the winner and at that point that protocol could be included into the home router. I should rephrase that I donāt want all of my antennae in one box made by TP-Link. And I think the world has far from settled on Thread as the standard. What about all of my z-wave stuff?
1 Like