At first, Google’s OnHub announcement felt a little out of place to me. But I quickly realized that it’s all about the internet of things — by the way, can someone please come up with a better term. Google needs hardware inside of your network to act as a relay which helps you control devices remotely. And it looks like their newly announced $199 wireless router will do just that.

Chris Burns, writing for SlashGear:

Google OnHub was revealed today by Google as the first doorway to a full smart home ecosystem. This service will be tied together with software protocols revealed in part earlier this year as Google Brillo and Google Weave. […]

Google OnHub will be the first Google Brillo device.

As for the router, it’s an attractive piece of hardware with impressive features and an easy-to-configure interface. It’s a little expensive compared to other routers on the market. But if you’re interested in buying it, you probably want it specifically for its unique features.

Personally, I wouldn’t even consider the OnHub for my home network. I have a couple of computers that I prefer to connect to my router with Ethernet and I rely on my Time Capsule’s hard drive for local Time Machine backups — both of which aren’t possible with the OnHub.