Google OnHub Router Specs And Review

Google OnHub Router Specs And Review-Google OnHub Router Specs And ReviewGoogle OnHub unlike other routers I've seen, this is super-cool. On the one hand, this is one of the best, most radically designed router, one that you do not mind have been displayed in the living room, not hidden in the basement. It may also be the most comfortable and it was fun to use, especially for Android users. No additional hardware under the hood would make a better router in the future. On the other hand, at launch, the router requires you to always be connected to your Google account to fully function. But Google said OnHub does not track Internet activity or network users. OnHub single local network port will disappoint anyone who needs to hardwire some products that are not wireless-friendly. Furthermore, the performance was good for speed router and the wireless range.

OnHub Google

You want a router that is interesting to share a broadband Internet connection for some mobile handheld device and you do not mind that the router is connected to Google. However there are many alternatives in the same price range, the Apple Airport Extreme feature rich Asus RT-AC68U, better than OnHub in many ways. Many other models will offer better performance for a relatively cheap price. However, OnHub is a growing part of the hardware: some of the most promising features that have not even been activated. That means features, functions and even performance can change significantly over time through a future software update. This is kind of an update after the purchase has been made the Echo products such as Amazon and Google Chromecast own age as well. 

Design 

The router comes in a cylindrical shape with a 4.6-inch (11.7cm) and diameter of 7.5 inches (19cm) tall. It's about the size of a large cup of beer, reduced grip. The only router is comparable in terms of design is extreme Apple Airport, but OnHub goes one level further, both in terms of style and idiosyncrasies, with a cover exterior shell removed, and only two ports Gigabit network (one LAN, to install the cable, and a WAN, to attach to your cable modem). Most routers equipped with four LAN ports and Airport Extreme has three. 

OnHub also has a USB port, but now there's nothing you can do with it, many routers let you install an off-the-shelf USB hard drive to create an instant network storage drive. Google said that with a limited number of ports, OnHub minimize the amount of scattered wires coming out of it. That coupled with the eye-catching design, is intended to attract users to place the router in the open, thereby improving the Wi-Fi coverage. You can also mistook OnHub to Bluetooth speakers, and it will not be made. On top of the router has a 3-watt speakers, but there is no built-in microphone, so you will not be able to interact with in a way that you do with Amazon Echo. OnHub speakers have volume controls, so it is good to play music. Around the top is ringed indicator lights that glow or pulse subtle color depending on the status of the router. Blue means the router is ready for setting, teal mean routers and switches, amber means there is something wrong. 

Hardware

OnHub AC1900 is a Wi-Fi router. In terms of technological capabilities, it means it is 3x3 (three streams) 802.11ac router that has a speed above 1300Mbps on the 5GHz frequency band, and the speed at the top of 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band at the same time. It also strong, running dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor IPQ8064 with 1GB of RAM, which is double that of most other routers. Google said selecting three AC1900 flow over the "bleeding edge" 4x4 theoretically faster (quad-stream) technology AC2600, such as Linksys EA8500 router. In fact, the majority of mobile handheld devices using the 802.11ac standard 1x1 setup capacity of only 433Mbps. In other words, OnHub more than capable for most of your device, and still arguably future-proofed for a more powerful wireless devices that will come. 

The new router comes with an internal antenna 13, including three pairs for the 5GHz band, three pairs for the 2.4GHz band and the final one to boost the signal. In the router, each paired set of orthogonal antenna and positioned 120 degrees. Google says this design is to make the router gives a solid Wi-Fi signal, even when it is not placed optimally. On the inside, the circuit board is attached to the metal core OnHub are also attached to the base metal. When the outer shell is placed, all these parts, intelligent ventilation system similar to the Apple Mac Pro. According to Google, the router has a built-in Bluetooth and ZigBee open, global wireless standard used in many devices. Unfortunately, the feature is not active; the company plans to allow them through a future software update. Finally, the router also has 4GB of built-in flash storage, although it is not clear what was used in addition to store its firmware. 

Setup

Out of the box, OnHub has been equipped with a single Wi-Fi network (for both bands), details of which are printed on the bottom. Using this information you can use the router after plugging it into power and enter the broadband WAN port of the Internet, there will be a cable modem. Unlike other routers, OnHub do not have a site main page to access via internet browser. Instead, you'll need to use Google in mobile applications, is available for iOS and Android. You will also need a live Internet connection and a Google account. On other devices, particularly Apple's iPhone and iPads, you should need to manually connect the device to the router using a Wi-Fi network before running the Google application. No matter what device you use to organize OnHub, you must first sign in with a Google account and the router and must be connected to the Internet. 

In fact, the first step of this process is to associate the router with a Google account into mobile applications. It allows users to remotely mange their home networks, and also means that the router will always connect to Google. After the initial setup process, you need choose a new name and a new password for the Wi-Fi network, the router will play another cool sound to notify you if the setting was successful. Remote management vendor is not new. Linksys offers the option of a similar solution for the company Smart Wi-Fi router, in addition to the Web interface. Google OnHub is the first I've seen, however, the user must connect to Google before they can even make changes to the router's settings. Google said that respecting user privacy and OnHub not track the sites you visit or collects the content of the traffic on your network. However, OnHub not collect data such as Wi-Fi channel, signal strength, and the types of devices that are relevant to optimize the performance of Wi-Fi. You can also use the mobile application to disable the data collection function of OnHub, but there are other options for using OnHub without having access to your Google account unless you want to use with the default settings as previously mentioned. Even then, though the router may still be connected to Google. features and functions Google in mobile applications are well designed and sleek. In addition to adjusting the Wi-Fi network, you can use it to quickly send the Wi-Fi password to others or to remind yourself if you forget the password. 

You can also add another Google account to manage routers or add OnHub unit to an existing account. In other words, many people can manage one OnHub and one person can manage multiple units OnHub in different locations. Besides working as a standard router (providing primary Internet the access point to the home you live in), OnHub router can also be configured to work in access point mode if a secondary wireless point at home. According to Google, if you use more than one unit OnHub at one location, the application can make them work together seamlessly to improve the range of Wi-Fi. This application works well in some case while it was limited in others. For example, allows you to quickly and accurately see all devices connected to your network. You can tap on the device to easily book their IP address or add one of them to the priority list. 

However, you can only make a priority of the client up to 4 hours. There is no option to create a permanent or to institute more flexible schedules. There are also many popular routers features that are not available from OnHub. Some features are missing including a guest network, parental control, firewall, Dynamic DNS, VPN (Virtual Private Network), content filtering, and others. And as mentioned earlier, And as mentioned above, you will not be able to mention the name of the network two-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) separately and you can not use an external hard drive to the USB port of the router. Google says more features will by available through software and firmware updates future. Performance Wi-Fi At a distance closer than 15 feet (about 4.6 meters), the real world of sustainable registered router 288Mbps speed. When I increased the distance to some 100 feet (30m), becomes 67Mbps. Generally, the 5GHz band has a higher data rate but a variety of short, 2.4Ghz has a data rate that is lower but longer range. In my experience, when you mention the router two bands with the same name Wi-Fi network, clients tend to automatically connect to 5GHz band 2.4Ghz melee and distance to maintain a stable connection. In the case of OnHub, there is no way for you to tell the band is connected to the client at any given time. That said, OnHub data rate is not terrible but they were not impressive. 

This is about average among AC1900 router remotely close range and was almost at the bottom of the chart. Although the 13 antennas, the range OnHub by google was not the best. The maximum effective range of the router is about 120 feet (about 37m) away. Google in mobile applications has their own speed test function does not work as you expect. Local, as long as the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi router, the first application to test a broadband connection (between the router and the Internet), and then test the speed of Wi-Fi between the router and the mobile device itself. After that, the price of how effective speed Wi-Fi in delivering broadband speeds to the device.