Yet another example of why to avoid Google products

[Trell]

Google is just plain simply unreliable in the consumer market and by extension in the business market as well, like for cloud services.

I've argued against depending on Google Cloud services in my company earlier for this reason, and we don't.

Google OnHub router will join Google’s list of dead products next December

Routers won't stop working, but most functions will be shut off.

arstechnica.com

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I used to be a big Google advocate. A Die-hard Android-only user, but google successfully converted me against themselves by having erratic and illogical messaging and social platforms drastic changes and rapid product killing.
Short version - they shot themselves in a foot and lost a lifelong fan and loyal customer.

Killed by Google

Killed by Google is the open source list of dead Google products, services, and devices. It serves as a tribute and memorial of beloved services and products killed by Google.

killedbygoogle.com

245 killed products/services - I'm sure this one is itself a Guinness book record.

 

[highfigh]

I'm sure someone said "Oh, they'll be mad for awhile, but they'll come back. They always do.".

Nope- no Google hardware, for me. I'm not happy Amazon bought EERO, either.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

I have a Pixel phone coming, but I know they won't kill Android, even if they someday stop producing phones.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Google is just plain simply unreliable in the consumer market and by extension in the business market as well, like for cloud services.

I've argued against depending on Google Cloud services in my company earlier for this reason, and we don't.

Google OnHub router will join Google’s list of dead products next December

Routers won't stop working, but most functions will be shut off.

arstechnica.com

I read that yesterday. I'm surprised Ron Amadeo didn't write it.

Lot of people in the comments said the Apple Airport Express is still a good router and still supported though. I found a used one cheap locally and I'm going to buy it and try it out.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I read that yesterday. I'm surprised Ron Amadeo didn't write it.

Lot of people in the comments said the Apple Airport Express is still a good router and still supported though. I found a used one cheap locally and I'm going to buy it and try it out.

What Airport Express could do is wireless mesh network which actually worked decently well ahead before mesh wifi product became a thing. I actually used it in my ex-CEO Park Ave home to fix his WiFi issues where Ethernet over Power couldn't.

Apple is guilty of many bad/monopolistic behaviors regarding their EXPENSIVE products, but to give the devil's his due, like you said Apple support term is MUCH longer than the industry's average. Like this practically ancient Airport Expresses router/AP. Like my iPad Air 2 (circa early 2014, which I got free) - still gets software updates that somehow DIDN'T slow it down to crawl. Still a very usable tablet except for gaming.

The latest Google Pixel, which is the first Google phone which carries its own SoC (processor) is still targeted to get new OSes only for 3 years!! Before they blamed Qualcomm for not bothering to provide long-term driver support for their SoC's, but why now they could be bothered to match Apple's software support length?

 

[Trell]

What Airport Express could do is wireless mesh network which actually worked decently well ahead before mesh wifi product became a thing. I actually used it in my ex-CEO Park Ave home to fix his WiFi issues where Ethernet over Power couldn't.

Apple is guilty of many bad/monopolistic behaviors regarding their EXPENSIVE products, but to give the devil's his due, like you said Apple support term is MUCH longer than the industry's average. Like this practically ancient Airport Expresses router/AP. Like my iPad Air 2 (circa early 2014, which I got free) - still gets software updates that somehow DIDN'T slow it down to crawl. Still a very usable tablet except for gaming.

The latest Google Pixel, which is the first Google phone which carries its own SoC (processor) is still targeted to get new OSes only for 3 years!! Before they blamed Qualcomm for not bothering to provide long-term driver support for their SoC's, but why now they could be bothered to match Apple's software support length?

We've several very usable Android phones (Sony compact flagship model) that stopped getting updates after two years, and after many years of using Android phones bought Apple phones that will be supported for far longer. The price of top-of-the-line Android phones are now similar to Apple but with shorter useful life.

 

[highfigh]

I read that yesterday. I'm surprised Ron Amadeo didn't write it.

Lot of people in the comments said the Apple Airport Express is still a good router and still supported though. I found a used one cheap locally and I'm going to buy it and try it out.

Those aren't great. They're also discontinued and haven't been supported by any new firmware in a few years. You won't reach network speeds for WiFi that are as high as new routers and you can get a good, new one for not much more than $100. If mobility with your network and equipment is important (maybe you have a boat or RV and want internet connection without using your phone as a hot spot), Netgear has at least one that has a SIM card slot- I have seen their LM1200 for less than $120. And, it comes with a warranty.

If you're familiar with IT terminology, I doubt you'll enjoy working with the Express- Apple uses their own words and phrases for things that already existed and for non-Apple people, that's a PITA.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Those aren't great. They're also discontinued and haven't been supported by any new firmware in a few years. You won't reach network speeds for WiFi that are as high as new routers and you can get a good, new one for not much more than $100. If mobility with your network and equipment is important (maybe you have a boat or RV and want internet connection without using your phone as a hot spot), Netgear has at least one that has a SIM card slot- I have seen their LM1200 for less than $120. And, it comes with a warranty.

If you're familiar with IT terminology, I doubt you'll enjoy working with the Express- Apple uses their own words and phrases for things that already existed and for non-Apple people, that's a PITA.

Minor correction, they WERE Great at their time, but aren't that great now - Wifi technology moved far ahead, WiFi 6 in particular which makes wifi work much better in dense wifi locations. And yes, Highfigh is correct, modern Wifi will run circles around Airport Express speed-wise.
I won't recommend Netgear-made stuff even to my enemy, so looking for the next Wifi solution do your homework.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Those aren't great. They're also discontinued and haven't been supported by any new firmware in a few years. You won't reach network speeds for WiFi that are as high as new routers and you can get a good, new one for not much more than $100. If mobility with your network and equipment is important (maybe you have a boat or RV and want internet connection without using your phone as a hot spot), Netgear has at least one that has a SIM card slot- I have seen their LM1200 for less than $120. And, it comes with a warranty.

If you're familiar with IT terminology, I doubt you'll enjoy working with the Express- Apple uses their own words and phrases for things that already existed and for non-Apple people, that's a PITA.

The router was $25. We have 100mb internet in the house, and we don't even need that, but it's the cheapest plan I could get.

I wouldn't buy another piece of Netgear or TPlink equipment unless those were the last 2 brands standing. Unreliable garbage. Asus isn't bad, and they do update their routers practically forever (in computer terms), but every one I've had still occasionally bugs out. Consumer grade wifi routers are almost all a joke.

 

[highfigh]

The router was $25. We have 100mb internet in the house, and we don't even need that, but it's the cheapest plan I could get.

I wouldn't buy another piece of Netgear or TPlink equipment unless those were the last 2 brands standing. Unreliable garbage. Asus isn't bad, and they do update their routers practically forever (in computer terms), but every one I've had still occasionally bugs out. Consumer grade wifi routers are almost all a joke.

Your wired speed is supposed to be 100Mbps, but how much do you depend on WiFi? I have seen AirPort Express and Extreme do well, then the wheels fall off until they were rebooted. I'm so done with those that I could die happy if I never see another one which, unfortunately, can't happen because some of my customers have death grip on that crap.

Yeah, there's a lot of variables in finding reliable network hardware, especially at the consumer level. I went to a Pakedge training session at a local electronics distributor and the guy from one of the integrators loaded up a cart with about $3500 of that stuff. The next week, we were there for a different manufacturer's training and there he was, wheeling it back in to get a refund. I have had OK results with Luxul, but lately, EERO has worked very well and if I need to, I can see if the network has problems or reboot it remotely, which is great because I don't need to drive 1/2 hour to do something that will take 5 minutes. One customer called to tell me that she couldn't set up her Dyson vacuum, so I temporarily disabled the 5GHz band so it would connect on 2.4GHz, then it returned to normal 15 minutes later.

The husband of one of my other customers went out and bought an Asus gaming router with a fallback port and he called to say that the WiFi in the rest of the house didn't work. He leapt to the brilliant conclusion that a mouse had chewed through a cable somewhere and he though it would most likely be in the Master Bedroom but he doesn't know how the network is configured. Here's the basics- cable feed--> modem in the 2nd Floor office-->router (same room)-->24 port switch (basement) via a jack in a wall plate next to the modem & router-->a few switches in other areas-->access points. He wasn't even in the picture when she had the house remodeled or when I installed the cabling, but he "knew" that this was the cause. I went there that evening, but the corner where the modem and router were located was too cluttered, so I told them I would go back the next day. In the meantime, I looked into the router and checked the manual, to see if there was something that he may have missed. There was. I checked the photos of the router and a I suspected, he had connected the cable that goes from a LAN port in the router to the wall plate (to the 24 port switch) into the 2nd WAN port. As soon as I corrected this error, the whole place lit up and I performed speed and other tests throughout the house.

I called his wife to tell her it was fixed and her response- "Typical".

 

[Old Onkyo]

I have a Eero mesh system. It is about to go back. When it works it is great. about twice a week I notice through faulty performance, that all of my devices are on the router, and none on the nodes. I reset the modem and nodes and the system works great for a few days.
customer service is useless.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I've also seen mixed results with Eero. Google WiFi isn't much better. I've also let you know my feelings for Netgear.
According to Wirecutter, they picked Asus as the best Mesh system and best upgrade option mesh.
Asus generally builds robust devices, and their software support is relatively long. I've tried to use older Asus stand-alone WiFi Routers with WiFi range extension mode, and it was beyond hopeless. I genuinely hope they have improved on their mesh product range since then.
I use Ubiquiti, and previously I'd shout out loudly how awesome it is (features/price), BUT it's not without shortcomings. Some of the software updates made it work worse. IA auto-configuration works kind of, soft-of.

In my experience, if Eero is on one end of the scale in terms of ease/complexity to install & configure and Cisco enterprise WiFi is on the opposite side, then Ubiquiti UniFi is somewhere in-between. The catch here is you also want/need IP Security cameras with an on-prem recorder, then getting an UniFi Dream machine Pro is making more sense. This single device will handle the firewall/router/WiFi controller and NVR duties.

Dream Machine Pro

All-in-one, enterprise-grade UniFi OS Console and security gateway designed to host the full UniFi application suite. Connect the Dream Machine Pro with a USP RPS to create an uninterruptible network. Features: Pre-installed UniFi Network application LAN ports: (8) GbE RJ45, (1) 10G SFP+ WAN...

store.ui.com

There are also Plume mesh devices, which are supposed to be the smartest around, but they are subscription-based and $8/month just for Wifi and very basic network security seems too steep for me.

 

[panteragstk]

I've also seen mixed results with Eero. Google WiFi isn't much better. I've also let you know my feelings for Netgear.
According to Wirecutter, they picked Asus as the best Mesh system and best upgrade option mesh.
Asus generally builds robust devices, and their software support is relatively long. I've tried to use older Asus stand-alone WiFi Routers with WiFi range extension mode, and it was beyond hopeless. I genuinely hope they have improved on their mesh product range since then.
I use Ubiquiti, and previously I'd shout out loudly how awesome it is (features/price), BUT it's not without shortcomings. Some of the software updates made it work worse. IA auto-configuration works kind of, soft-of.

In my experience, if Eero is on one end of the scale in terms of ease/complexity to install & configure and Cisco enterprise WiFi is on the opposite side, then Ubiquiti UniFi is somewhere in-between. The catch here is you also want/need IP Security cameras with an on-prem recorder, then getting an UniFi Dream machine Pro is making more sense. This single device will handle the firewall/router/WiFi controller and NVR duties.

Dream Machine Pro

All-in-one, enterprise-grade UniFi OS Console and security gateway designed to host the full UniFi application suite. Connect the Dream Machine Pro with a USP RPS to create an uninterruptible network. Features: Pre-installed UniFi Network application LAN ports: (8) GbE RJ45, (1) 10G SFP+ WAN...

store.ui.com

There are also Plume mesh devices, which are supposed to be the smartest around, but they are subscription-based and $8/month just for Wifi and very basic network security seems too steep for me.

I'm seriously considering a Dream Machine pro to replace my USG. The USG is just a very wimpy device. My old long range Unifi APs are still going strong, and I like the data captured by the management software. Updates have caused me some headache, but that's on me for setting my docker to update to the latest version instead of stable.

I'm hoping the dream machine can do everything my Sophos UTM can (the little of it I use) otherwise it's going to be part of my quest for a true DMZ.