Google WiFi router

Google  WiFi router

Google announced its own branded wireless router (made by TP-LINK), which it says “is a new way to Wi-Fi.” But what does this mean? And doesn’t $199.99 seem expensive for a Wi-Fi router? Perhaps not. Although OnHub won’t be available for purchase until August 31, let’s see what a closer look at its specifications reveals about it today.

The OnHub has 13 antennas — six 2.4GHz antennas, six 5GHz antennas, and a congestion-sensing antenna — arranged in a circle. The OnHub monitors the Wi-Fi environment and automatically adjusts its settings to provide an optimal experience, let's connect it with your device via USB WiFi  .

Since it doesn’t have the usual front panel of  indicators, you will need an Android phone or Apple iPhone with Google’s OnHub app to manage the router. However, these apps let you do things like assign bandwidth priority to a specific device. This would let me, for example, make sure that the computer I’m using to record a podcast over Skype gets the bandwidth it needs, even if someone in my family is watching Netflix.

In addition to Wi-Fi, the OnHub also has Bluetooth 4.0 and 801.15.4 (ZigBee/Thread). You are probably are famliar with Bluetooth as a way to communicate with wireless devices like headphones, keyboards,WiFi PC and mice.

But Bluetooth 4.0 also supports Bluetooth Low Energy, which lets it communicate with sensors and activity trackers like the Fitbit without expending much power. 801.15.4 is an IEEE low data rate and low power Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) standard that allows a variety of devices to communicate with each other — in other words, the Internet of Things (IoT).

Neither of these radios are active in OnHub at launch according to Google. But the company advises us to “…stay tuned. We have exciting things in the works.”
And while the OnHub lacks the usual front panel of high-end consumer routers, it does have six tri-color LED arrays, which Google says is a dimmable light ring that provides feedback.


Also of note: The OnHub has one USB  3.0 port and a 3-watt speaker. Yes, that grill on the top is an audio speaker. And the OnHub does have a passing resemblance to Amazon’s well-received Echo voice activated Internet connected speaker, although OnHub doesn’t include a microphone in its specifications. However, it is easy to imagine getting Google Now-type audio responses to questions posed to a smartphone or some other connected device in the home.

So, is Google’s OnHub worth $199.99? At this point, you would be buying a potentially useful connected device hub for your home or small office. But, we won’t know what that potential is until Google turns on the Bluetooth 4.0 and 801.15.4 radios and reveals what the USB port and speaker do. Still, I’m somewhat tempted to buy one just to get a front-row seat to Google’s introduction of its IoT lineup.

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