Google WiFi

Long a beneficiary of people using the web, Google is getting more involved in creating devices that get people online.

On Tuesday, the Alphabet Inc. unit introduced a new hardware system, dubbed Google Wifi, that uses a wireless technology called mesh networks to spread Wi-Fi internet signals more evenly around homes. Google billed the system as an alternative to existing bulkier wireless routers, pitting the search giant against a crop of startups trying to grab their own piece of the market.

Last year, Google released a solo router, OnHub. Both products were developed by engineers in an Alphabet unit called Access, which focuses on spreading internet connectivity. But the devices were moved under the company’s new hardware chief Rick Osterloh earlier this year.

Google Wifi is only sold in the U.S. for now and costs $129 for a single device and $299 for a set of three. That pricing undercuts mesh router systems from companies such as Eero, Ubiquity Networks and Luma, a startup backed by Amazon.com Inc.