There was once a time when internet and wireless connectivity in the home was relatively simple. Your internet service provider set up a cable or DSL modem somewhere in your house, you plugged it into a router if it didn’t provide wireless routing in the same device, and while things weren’t always perfect, they mostly worked.
Today, the industry seems to think that wireless connectivity in the home is a real problem that the typical standalone router doesn’t adequately address. Wireless mesh networks like Eero have been popping up to do away with wireless black holes, and Google introduced its OnHub initiative to bring easier management of high-end features.
The search company introduced its own Google WiFi hardware in October, and now it has given the associated app a matching name, as Android Authority reports.
The Google On app first became available in 2015, launching with the Google OnHub routers made by TP-Link on introduction, with a later version introduced by Asus. Those devices were controlled primarily by the Google On app, which provided easy access to the devices’ feature set. Now that Google has launched its own wireless hardware in the Google WiFi, the firm has apparently decided that putting the software on the same sheet of paper was a good idea.
It’s not just a name change, either. The Google WiFi app provides a refresh of the app’s UI to offer readier access to its functionality. Despite the name change, the app will control previous Google OnHub devices as well, including integrating multiple routers into a mesh network to expand coverage and improve signal strength throughout a house.
As usual, you may not find the new version in Google Play when you hit the update button as the app rolls out to all users. Once you do, though, you’ll be ready to move forward into the world of Google WiFi and leave Google OnHub behind you.
