Mystery FCC filing probably isn’t a new Google Wifi

A mysterious unreleased Google device has cleared the Federal Communications Commission. But unlike the internet (and we) originally thought, it doesn’t look like it’s a new Google Wifi mesh router.

As 9to5Google notes, the new device was actually created by a company called Murata Manufacturing Co. under an FCC ID of VPYLB1CQ, with Google applying for a “Change of Identification Request” that would grant a new FCC ID (A4R-1701AA1) for actually marketing and selling the product.

But Murata’s 1CQ isn’t a router, nor even the sort of processor you’d find inside one — it’s a (relatively) low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module designed to fit inside smart home devices, among other things. It has slower peak speeds than today’s Google Wifi, a less capable Qualcomm chipset (here, compare it to the one in Google Wifi) and no onboard processor.

The mesh router space is about to get even more high-stakes for Google now that Amazon has bought Eero, so it’s reasonable to assume that Google won’t just rest on its laurels and get around to building a new version of Google Wifi, which was last updated in 2016. But a standalone wireless module doesn’t necessarily point at that — it could just as easily be a chip that Google will distribute to smart speaker and smart display manufacturers as part of its very much downsized Android Things initiative.

Correction, February 21st at 7:08 PM ET: Upon closer inspection, it doesn’t seem likely that this is a Wi-Fi router, or even necessarily a component of one.