AirPort Extreme Caching

Google released a Wifi router today, the Google OnHub. It’s a smart router that is, according to Google, easy to configure and fast. There’s one tidbit in the overview that caught my attention though:

Plenty of roomOnHub has 4GB of storage space, so there’s plenty of room for auto-updates and the latest software features

I assume they mean: caching updates for the wireless router itself, but I find the phrasing weird. Why mention the amount of on-device storage for a Wifi router if they only use it for device updates? At first I thought they meant: caching updates for other devices, like Androids phones or Chromebooks, but 4GB of storage seems a bit low for that.

Following that train of thought I ended up with the following concept: what if Apple’s Airports could cache user data similar to how OS X server caches data?

Imagine a Wifi router created by Apple, that not only stores Time Machine backups for your Macs, but also caches OS X and iOS updates for all your devices, preloads App Store updates, and caches your iCloud data for faster restores in case of emergency or when you upgrade to a new iPhone?

Yes, OS X server already does this, but no regular user would touch that. But a router that’s already in plenty of homes, that does this out of the box? Not only would it “just work” but it would improve the everyday experience of so many users.  Not to mention decrease data usage for a multi-device family.