7 ms·

Hard to believe there's a huge market for $199 WiFi routers, no matter how sophisticated. On the other hand, even a sprinkling of installations is probably pre

Hard to believe there's a huge market for $199 WiFi routers, no matter how sophisticated. On the other hand, even a sprinkling of installations is probably pretty valuable if it allows Google to derive more accurate ISP performance numbers. There's got to be some benefit in having thousands of devices directly connected to the ISP's network on the consumer end 24/7.

jcastro 11y ago
It seems that with AC being more mainstream that prices north of $250 are becoming a thing. I was surprised it was only $199.
- rattray 11y ago
  AC?
  - chrisrhoden 11y ago
    Like 802.11 B/G/N/AC
- Artemis2 11y ago
  Apple's Airport Extreme sells for the same price and supports AC. I wouldn't expect Google to try to sell something more expensive without Apple's care for details.
  - rsfinn 11y ago
    Obligatory "buy refurbished equipment from Apple" comment (full manufacturer's warranty; I've never had any problems). The refurbished Airport Extreme is $129, which seems like a pretty good deal. Try poking around under "Mac Accessories".
ironlady 11y ago
I spent $150 each or something like that on my apple routers about 5 years ago, they both are still running strong but since technology has of course advanced so much in the past few years, I would spend that on a router with the hope it lasts the same time.
will_work4tears 11y ago
I paid almost that for my current router[0]. I think mine has better specs, even not being an AC (few, if none, of my devices use it anyway). Google's hub has no USB ports, no guest wifi (from what I can gather). Mine, however, has those things, though to be honest, most of the time, the printer or USB storage doesn't quite work right, though that could because I use a Mac and the driver's aren't supported as well. [0] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KG44V0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KG44V0?psc=1&redirect=t...
- publicfig 11y ago
  https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c_gletsUWTM-5b3oIpHD7fFXfaREZc6K5lRNtYyMp_e6-hnr03T3brz68Mnto8wlg10=w852-rw https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c_gletsUWTM-5b3oIpHD7fFXfa... It does seem to have one USB port, though I'm not sure what it's for.
- oz 11y ago
  It has a USB 3.0 port: https://on.google.com/hub/#specs https://on.google.com/hub/#specs
  - will_work4tears 11y ago
    Ah, my mistake then, I looked at the specs but didn't notice it for some reason.
chrisrhoden 11y ago
If you're not spending at least $100 on a wireless router, you're probably giving up significant amounts of the performance you're paying for from your ISP. Routers are computers. The $40 units just can't handle modern usage patterns (multiple phones / tablets / computers with relatively high speed caps) very well. It's my single biggest recommendation when people complain about the speed of the Internet in their home. More often than not, they're underspending on their networking equipment, not their ISP package.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > More often than not, they're underspending on their networking equipment, not their ISP package. Often, their networking equipment is part of the ISP package because the ISP wants to provide a seamless experience, and doesn't even provide easy access to the information necessary to use your own equipment.
  - RobotCaleb 11y ago
    I don't even know what this means. Are you saying that your ISP doesn't allow you to plug standard ethernet devices into their lines? I own my own modem and router and do what I want with them. I don't follow you.
    - dragonwriter 11y ago
      > Are you saying that your ISP doesn't allow you to plug standard ethernet devices into their lines? Using your own router rather than the ISPs preconfigured router requires more than just plugging a personally-purchased router into their line (even in the simple case where you aren't using the ISPs bundled cable/phone/internet service that's all delivered through a common system.) At least in the simple case, someone with modest technical skill can figure out how to get that information relatively easily, but most ISP customers aren't even modestly technical.
      - RobotCaleb 11y ago
heywire 11y ago
That's about what I paid for my ASUS RT-AC68P. I went through a couple different sub-$100 routers (Belkin and Linksys) before settling on this one. I've not yet had to reboot it for any reason other than configuration changes, something I definitely couldn't say about the others. Previously I was using a Buffalo Wireless G router with DD-WRT, but it finally gave up the ghost after about 7 or 8 years of service. Having built in samba / FTP / DLNA support of USB drives makes it worth the added expense, as does QoS and SSH access. I'd highly recommend it.
tibbon 11y ago
I bought some 802.11AC router from Asus a few months ago for around that much, and I was absolutely floored at how much better it was than my old WRT54GS that I had been using with DD-WRT for years. Now I'm easily able to download consistently at 16MB/s from the internet, and do large file transfers at even higher rates between devices at home. I've mostly stopped using gigabit ethernet at home even because it's so fast.

jcastro 11y ago

It seems that with AC being more mainstream that prices north of $250 are becoming a thing. I was surprised it was only $199.

rattray 11y ago
AC?
- chrisrhoden 11y ago
  Like 802.11 B/G/N/AC
Artemis2 11y ago
Apple's Airport Extreme sells for the same price and supports AC. I wouldn't expect Google to try to sell something more expensive without Apple's care for details.
- rsfinn 11y ago
  Obligatory "buy refurbished equipment from Apple" comment (full manufacturer's warranty; I've never had any problems). The refurbished Airport Extreme is $129, which seems like a pretty good deal. Try poking around under "Mac Accessories".

ironlady 11y ago

I spent $150 each or something like that on my apple routers about 5 years ago, they both are still running strong but since technology has of course advanced so much in the past few years, I would spend that on a router with the hope it lasts the same time.

will_work4tears 11y ago

I paid almost that for my current router[0]. I think mine has better specs, even not being an AC (few, if none, of my devices use it anyway). Google's hub has no USB ports, no guest wifi (from what I can gather). Mine, however, has those things, though to be honest, most of the time, the printer or USB storage doesn't quite work right, though that could because I use a Mac and the driver's aren't supported as well. [0] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KG44V0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KG44V0?psc=1&redirect=t...

publicfig 11y ago
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c_gletsUWTM-5b3oIpHD7fFXfaREZc6K5lRNtYyMp_e6-hnr03T3brz68Mnto8wlg10=w852-rw https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c_gletsUWTM-5b3oIpHD7fFXfa... It does seem to have one USB port, though I'm not sure what it's for.
oz 11y ago
It has a USB 3.0 port: https://on.google.com/hub/#specs https://on.google.com/hub/#specs
- will_work4tears 11y ago
  Ah, my mistake then, I looked at the specs but didn't notice it for some reason.

chrisrhoden 11y ago

If you're not spending at least $100 on a wireless router, you're probably giving up significant amounts of the performance you're paying for from your ISP. Routers are computers. The $40 units just can't handle modern usage patterns (multiple phones / tablets / computers with relatively high speed caps) very well. It's my single biggest recommendation when people complain about the speed of the Internet in their home. More often than not, they're underspending on their networking equipment, not their ISP package.

dragonwriter 11y ago
> More often than not, they're underspending on their networking equipment, not their ISP package. Often, their networking equipment is part of the ISP package because the ISP wants to provide a seamless experience, and doesn't even provide easy access to the information necessary to use your own equipment.
- RobotCaleb 11y ago
  I don't even know what this means. Are you saying that your ISP doesn't allow you to plug standard ethernet devices into their lines? I own my own modem and router and do what I want with them. I don't follow you.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > Are you saying that your ISP doesn't allow you to plug standard ethernet devices into their lines? Using your own router rather than the ISPs preconfigured router requires more than just plugging a personally-purchased router into their line (even in the simple case where you aren't using the ISPs bundled cable/phone/internet service that's all delivered through a common system.) At least in the simple case, someone with modest technical skill can figure out how to get that information relatively easily, but most ISP customers aren't even modestly technical.
    - RobotCaleb 11y ago

heywire 11y ago

That's about what I paid for my ASUS RT-AC68P. I went through a couple different sub-$100 routers (Belkin and Linksys) before settling on this one. I've not yet had to reboot it for any reason other than configuration changes, something I definitely couldn't say about the others. Previously I was using a Buffalo Wireless G router with DD-WRT, but it finally gave up the ghost after about 7 or 8 years of service. Having built in samba / FTP / DLNA support of USB drives makes it worth the added expense, as does QoS and SSH access. I'd highly recommend it.

tibbon 11y ago

I bought some 802.11AC router from Asus a few months ago for around that much, and I was absolutely floored at how much better it was than my old WRT54GS that I had been using with DD-WRT for years. Now I'm easily able to download consistently at 16MB/s from the internet, and do large file transfers at even higher rates between devices at home. I've mostly stopped using gigabit ethernet at home even because it's so fast.