Google just reinvented your wireless router

OnHub, which sells at $199, is more reliable, secure, and easy to use than devices from other hardware manufacturers

Connecting to a Wi-Fi network is easy, but setting one up is not. You have to use a special IP address to log in to your router's interface (which probably isn't very intuitive), set options such as what channel to use and whether to distribute IP addresses, and use trial-and-error to determine what combination of settings results in the fastest and most stable network.
People hate this process, Google learned last year when it began interviewing people to find out about their Internet habits.
This week, Google announced "OnHub", a wireless router that it says is more reliable, secure, and easy to use than devices from Netgear, Arris, and other hardware manufacturers. OnHub costs $199, and can be preordered from Google's store, Amazon, or Walmart.com. This first iteration is being built by Google and router-maker TP-Link, though a second version made in partnership with Asus is in the pipeline.
OnHub looks a bit like the Amazon Echo. It's a black or blue cylinder about eight inches tall with LEDs on the top to indicate the router's status. The idea is that the router will look good enough to sit on your desk or table, which will help boost its signal (the transmitted radio waves won't have to fight their way out from under a pile of other devices or from behind a door, where an uglier router might be installed). A router on a shelf performs about twice as well as one on the floor, Google says.
OnHub also has some nifty features that make it a bit easier to use than most other routers. If you have more than one device connected to your Wi-Fi network, OnHub allows you to prioritise a single device for the fastest Wi-Fi - that way, your work won't be interrupted if someone starts streaming Netflix in another room. OnHub is managed through the Google On app (for Android 4.0 and up, and iOS 7 and up), which guides users through setup by using sound waves to locate the router in your home. Once the network is up and running, Google On can monitor congestion, see which devices are using the most bandwidth, and help with troubleshooting.
Google product manager Trond Wuellner said OnHub's software will be regularly updated to introduce new features, support new devices, and harden its security. Just as Google's Chrome browser automatically updates itself with new features and bug fixes, OnHub will periodically receive software upgrades to improve performance. In response to privacy concerns, Google says OnHub won't inspect any information about the content you're accessing over your Wi-Fi network. By default, the router will collect data on signal strength, connected devices, and channel information, but users can opt out of sharing any information about their network with Google.
OnHub offers Wi-Fi at a speed of up to 1900 Mbps by supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, which means fast Wi-Fi for everyone.
Google's expansion into wireless routers may conjure up memories of how the company trespassed on the Wi-Fi networks in homes and businesses around the world for more than two years beginning in 2008.
In 2010, Google acknowledged that company cars taking photos for its digital maps also had been intercepting emails, passwords and other sensitive information sent over unprotected Wi-Fi networks. The intrusion became derisively known as "Wi-Spy" among Google's critics.
Although Google insisted it hadn't broken any laws, it paid $7 million in 2013 to settle allegations of illegal eavesdropping in the U.S. made by 38 states and the District of Columbia.
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.
Besides dispatching Internet-beaming balloons and drones to parts of the world without much online access, Google also has been trying to lower the cost and accelerate the speeds of the connections in more advanced countries such as the US. The goal has already hatched Google Fiber, an ultra-fast Internet service that is already available in a few US cities and is coming to more than 20 others. Google is also preparing to offer a wireless subscription plan for smartphones running on the company's Android software.
Google has a financial incentive to make the Internet more accessible and less frustrating to use because it runs the world's dominant search engine, as well as the highly popular YouTube and Gmail. The company believes people who spend more time online are more likely to interact with a Google service and click on one of the ads that generate most of Google's profits.
Ensuring the reliability of Wi-Fi systems is becoming more important to Google for another reason. Like other tech companies, 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.
Google's push into Internet access and other far-flung fields ranging from driverless cars to health care has frustrated investors who believe the company is spending too much on its technological mishmash. To address those concerns, Google later this year is creating a holding company called Alphabet that will break things up into the main search advertising business and various side projects.
It hasn't been decided yet whether OnHub will remain in Google or spun into another part of Alphabet.