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Is it possible to use a Chromebook as the only home computer? The Chromebook would be brain to your home Personal Area Network, or known as a PAN. Exactly what is a PAN?
There are various types of computer network classifications. The most popular are local area networks (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and other subclasses venturing into wired and wireless nodes. A LAN is often a network of shared drives and functionality like a university campus or a corporation. A WAN is a connection of two or more LANs together. However a PAN is actually a wired and wireless combination of devices connected to your home.
Therefore when I review my PAN I have numerous devices connected. My Peppermint OS laptop, Chromebook, iPhone, cloud based home phone, Roku, Amazon Echo, a Kindle, Vizio smart TV, a Fitbit, Pogoplug NAS, and a printer. In the simplest of terms, it is all of the devices that work together within your house that you use on a daily basis.
The brains to the PAN is a wireless router and working laptop. It is these two devices that enable the IoT in our lives. I keep my Chromebook for work purposes and as a backup to my Peppermint OS laptop. If my laptop dies, I can still manage my PAN using my Chromebook, since my PAN devices operate out of a browser window. Yet if the router fails, can my Chromebook still run the new replacement?
So I started up the afternoon experiment to test the limits of the Chrome OS capability in a PAN. My old router was replaced with an improved device. After confirming the new router was active from the modem, I attempted to change the manufacturer's default password using my Chromebook. I had to tether my Chromebook to my iPhone hotspot to see if I could change the options. And I had no luck after 20 to 30 minutes of work. There were no apps that helped the Chromebook either for router connectivity.
After doing numerous Google searches the only router designed for a Chromebook is the OnHub. The OnHub has an app that allows Chromebook connectivity and settings. The router is well reviewed by the regular consumer genre. However a scathing professional review by Dong Ong stated that the OnHub has limited capability as a wireless router. A router that essentially dumbs down the consumer on WiFi options.
So yes, you can have a Chromebook and OnHub as the basis of your PAN. Yet the devices create a functioning PAN for your house. This PAN would be tied solely to the Google Ecosphere. As an informed consumer, I would be uneasy with this much “Googleness” in my house.
Google recently announced the Fuschia OS. This new OS could be the working replacement for Chrome OS and Android, since Fuschia is designed for laptop and IoT devices. Only time will tell what’s the true purpose of Fuschia. I see cloud connected devices becoming more common in our PAN.