OnHub support now ending after the holidays, but you should remove from Google Wifi mesh now

Abner Li | Dec 2 2022 - 9:48 am PT

Last year, Google announced that OnHub router support and Home app control would end in 2022, but that’s now being delayed to after the holidays.

Instead of December 19, 2022 (in a little over two weeks), the “timeline for OnHub router support” is now January 11, 2023, according to an updated Google support document. Until then, “your OnHub router will continue to work as expected, but won’t receive any new software features or security updates,” with Google recommending upgrades since the announcement last year.

This move is good as it does not add undue pressure to upgrade just ahead of the holidays/end-of-year festivities. It also allows people to take advantage of deals, like the one the Google Store is running on the Nest Wifi Pro. Other retailers have also aggressively discounted the Nest Wifi.

After January 11, OnHub units will still provide a Wi-Fi signal, “but you’ll no longer be able to manage it with the Google Home app.” As such, you can’t change network settings, add additional Wifi devices, or run speed tests. It’s the big downside of a cloud-managed Wi-Fi system that doesn’t offer local controls. Besides OnHub performance not being guaranteed by Google, Assistant’s “pause my Wi-Fi” command will stop working.

However, you shouldn’t wait to pull OnHub routes used in mesh modes from exiting Google Wifi networks as in January a factory reset will be required:

If OnHub is a mesh node for your Google Wifi or Nest Wifi network: To continue managing your network with the Google Home app, you’ll need to remove the OnHub device and factory reset your network in the Google Home app.