Google defends its use of Wi-Fi 5 in Nest Wifi

Google decided to save a few bucks and skip the Wi-Fi 6 for now. But only a few.

A Google Wifi Router sits next to a Google Wifi Point in this product shot from the Made by Google 2019 event.

Enlarge / A Google Wifi Router sits next to a Google Wifi Point in this product shot from the Made by Google 2019 event. (credit: Google (video still))

Google's new Nest Wifi is notable largely for two things—having a built-in smart speaker and digital assistant in every node and not using the newest Wi-Fi technology at all.

We still don't know exactly what chipsets are used in the replacement for Google Wifi; Google's not telling, and the company has submitted confidentiality letters to the FCC that kept it from needing to release photographs of the devices' boards for now, as well. All we know for sure is that the Nest Wifi Points are AC1200 (like the original Google Wifi) and the Nest Wifi Router is AC2200. Consumer AC speed ratings are largely bogus, but this should translate into one 2.4GHz 2x2 radio and one 5GHz 2x2 radio on the Points as well as one 2.4GHz 2x2 radio with two 5GHz 2x2 radios on the Nest Router.

We also know that Google decided to go with Wi-Fi 5 in the new kit rather than Wi-Fi 6. Google wasn't the first to make that call—Amazon's new Eero models also continue to use Wi-Fi 5 chipsets—but Google's rationale for the use of the older technology raised eyebrows at Ars Orbiting Headquarters. When VentureBeat asked Nest Wifi product manager Chris Chan to explain the lack of Wi-Fi 6, he pointed to both cost and performance. He said, "You do see a lot of routers with Wi-Fi 6 built in, but it charges quite a bit of a premium in order to get that, and in fact, you need to have Wi-Fi 6-compatible other devices in order for it to be a faster experience,"

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Rocket Report: The Falcon 9 goes for four, Boeing’s big cost-plus deal

“The cost incentives are designed to reduce costs during early production.”

A Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Enlarge / A Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. (credit: Aurich Lawson/SpaceX)

Welcome to Edition 2.19 of the Rocket Report! Plenty of news this week from the small side of things (two new Pegasus rockets are going on the market) to the bigger side of things (a brief stoppage of work on the Space Launch System rocket). Also, it looks like the Falcon Heavy will go for its fourth flight of the same booster.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

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Nvidia: Shield TV Pro samt Fernbedienung erscheint bald

Bei Händlern waren kurzzeitig das Shield TV Pro, eine kleine zylindrische Basisversion und Zubehör verfügbar: Nvidia verbaut einen sparsameren Chip, der Dolby Vision für HDR und 4K-Upscaling unterstützt. (Shield_TV, Nvidia)

Bei Händlern waren kurzzeitig das Shield TV Pro, eine kleine zylindrische Basisversion und Zubehör verfügbar: Nvidia verbaut einen sparsameren Chip, der Dolby Vision für HDR und 4K-Upscaling unterstützt. (Shield_TV, Nvidia)

Elektroauto von VW: Es hat sich bald ausgegolft

Es hat eine Weile gedauert, aber jetzt startet VW in die Verkehrswende: Ab November läuft in Zwickau das Elektroauto ID.3 vom Band. Dafür baut der Konzern den Standort in Sachsen fast vollständig um. Ein Bericht von Werner Pluta (VW, Roboter)

Es hat eine Weile gedauert, aber jetzt startet VW in die Verkehrswende: Ab November läuft in Zwickau das Elektroauto ID.3 vom Band. Dafür baut der Konzern den Standort in Sachsen fast vollständig um. Ein Bericht von Werner Pluta (VW, Roboter)

Wearable: Acer und Vatikan präsentieren smarten Rosenkranz

Mit dem eRosary soll das Beten des Rosenkranzgebets smart werden: Das Wearable führt den Nutzer über eine App durch die verschiedenen Gebete, gleichzeitig fungiert es auch als Fitness-Tracker. Der Vatikan hofft, junge Leute mit dem Gerät anzusprechen. …

Mit dem eRosary soll das Beten des Rosenkranzgebets smart werden: Das Wearable führt den Nutzer über eine App durch die verschiedenen Gebete, gleichzeitig fungiert es auch als Fitness-Tracker. Der Vatikan hofft, junge Leute mit dem Gerät anzusprechen. (Wearable)

Bethesda: Private Server in Fallout 76 kurz vor dem Start

Alleine oder mit ein paar Kumpels auf dem eigenen privaten – allerdings kostenpflichtigen – Server in die Postapokalypse: Das soll in den nächsten Tagen in Fallout 76 möglich sein. Das von der Community erwartete Update mit NPCs verschiebt sich allerdi…

Alleine oder mit ein paar Kumpels auf dem eigenen privaten - allerdings kostenpflichtigen - Server in die Postapokalypse: Das soll in den nächsten Tagen in Fallout 76 möglich sein. Das von der Community erwartete Update mit NPCs verschiebt sich allerdings. (Fallout 76, Rollenspiel)

Artemis-Programm: US-Parlamentarier sind gegen eine Mondlandung 2024

US-Präsident Donald Trump will unbedingt eine Mondlandung im Jahr 2024. Doch es scheint fraglich, ob das Repräsentantenhaus ihm die Mittel dafür zur Verfügung stellt. Die Abgeordneten haben den Eindruck, Trump wolle die Mondladung um des eigenen Presti…

US-Präsident Donald Trump will unbedingt eine Mondlandung im Jahr 2024. Doch es scheint fraglich, ob das Repräsentantenhaus ihm die Mittel dafür zur Verfügung stellt. Die Abgeordneten haben den Eindruck, Trump wolle die Mondladung um des eigenen Prestiges willen vorverlegen. (Mondlandung, Nasa)

Pressefreiheit: Behörden geben Unsummen zum Abwenden von Presseanfragen aus

Mehr als 200.000 Euro gaben Bundesbehörden in den letzten Jahren für die juristische Abwendung von Presseanfragen aus. Besonders der Verfassungsschutz sticht hervor. (Bundesregierung, Internet)

Mehr als 200.000 Euro gaben Bundesbehörden in den letzten Jahren für die juristische Abwendung von Presseanfragen aus. Besonders der Verfassungsschutz sticht hervor. (Bundesregierung, Internet)

Mega Overturns Brazilian ISP Copyright Block

Following a complaint by the Brazilian Association of Subscription Television and subsequent court order, file-hosting giant Mega found itself blocked by ISPs in Brazil recently. Following an appeal, however, the New Zealand-based site will now be unblocked by the country’s ISPs.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

The inevitable situation facing any site that hosts user-uploaded files is that some users will attempt to store copyright-infringing content.

The bigger the site, the bigger the problem, as YouTube’s copyright department knows only too well. But while few rightsholders would attempt to take on YouTube by filing for an ISP blocking order, plenty of other sites are considered fair game, Mega for example.

After a standing start in 2013, Mega is now a major player in the file-hosting market. Due to its early connections with Kim Dotcom, the site was under huge scrutiny from the very beginning and as such, has always insisted that it is fully compliant when it comes to copyright issues.

Nevertheless, earlier this month it was discovered that users in Brazil could no longer access the service. ISPs in the country had begun blocking the site following a copyright complaint initiated by the Brazilian Association of Subscription Television (ABTA).

Following a September decision, the São Paulo Court of Justice ordered four Internet service providers – Claro Brasil, Vivo-Telefonica, Oi and Algar Telecom – to prevent their subscribers from accessing several domains on copyright grounds, Mega.nz included.

“With respect to the block in Brazil, we respectfully believe that the order is wrong and that the Court has been misled. MEGA has excellent compliance. We are working on a solution,” the company told its customers.

The nature of that solution wasn’t specified at the time but Mega Executive Chairman Stephen Hall says that the company mounted a legal challenge to a process that had actually begun months earlier and didn’t initially include Mega.

“The case started in January 2019 with various sites but not Mega,” Hall informs TorrentFreak.

“The case has been held in secret, apparently because the ABTA submitted that various sites included could change settings in order to evade the block.”

Hall says that Mega was added to the case in September 2019 based on the allegation that a single URL on the site led to infringing content. However, that URL had never been reported to the company as posing a problem.

“We submitted to the Appeal Court details of our rigorous compliance activity such as fast response to copyright takedown requests, suspension of accounts with repeat allegations of copyright infringement etc, as reported in our Transparency Report,” Hall says.

Mega’s Executive Chairman notes that Brazilian law only allows courts to suspend access to a service if it fails to respond to legal requests so Mega eventually came out on top.

“The Appeal Court ordered the block of Mega.nz to be reversed. I believe the lower Court will now reconsider its inclusion of Mega. We are confident that access won’t be blocked again,” Hall concludes.

Reports posted by Mega users to Twitter suggest that at least some previously-blocked users are now able to access the site once again but the company is urging that any still experiencing difficulties should contact their providers.

“Contact your ISP if you still cannot access https://mega.nz,” the company says.

According to SimilarWeb stats, there are more visitors to Mega from Brazil than any other country, together making up almost 10% of Mega’s traffic and making it the country’s 108th most popular site.

A report by Mega in January revealed the massive scale of its global operations since its launch six years ago.

“To date, more than 130 million registered MEGA users have uploaded over 53 billion files, utilizing the user-controlled end-to-end encryption we provide,” the company said.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.