Tag: Google OnHub

Today’s Deal is on the pre-Google WiFi home router, Google OnHub.  Remember OnHub?  It debuted back in 2015 and was Google’s first attempt at making home networking easy.  They succeeded and made it even better with the second generation of devices that we know as Google WiFi.  The good thing is, OnHub is completely compatible with Google WiFi which makes a deal like today’s one to seriously consider.

Right now over at Amazon you can pick up the TP-Link build Google OnHub for $99.  That is a saving of $100 from the original price.

Physically the OnHub is a column-shaped device that measures 4.5″ x 7.5″ x 4.0″ and weighs in at 1.9 lbs.  In new money that 115 x 190 x 105 mm and .86 kg.  Powering the OnHub is a dual-core Qualcomm IPQ8064 with 1GB of RAM and each core running at up to 1.4 GHz and that horsepower for a Wi-Fi access point is important because of the massive antenna array in the device.  There is also 4GB of storage built into the unit. There are a total of 13 antennas in it that supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac for wireless connectivity, a Bluetooth antenna and a Zigbee antenna. 

Today’s Deal is on the ASUS built dual-band Google OnHub router.  The OnHub router is currently down to $129 at the Google Store and eligible for free shipping.  For those who don’t know, the OnHub routers were the predecessor of what is now Google Wi-Fi.  It allows easy network management through the Google Wi-Fi app and is completely compatible with the new Wi-Fi models from Google.  This router will completely mess with the new ones, giving you complete coverage in your home.

The OnHub has high performance antennas that auto-tune to give you the best Wi-Fi experience in your home without you having to do anything.  It does this by moving your device from channel to channel to find the least crowded one on your network.

The Google OnHub app was updated last week and while the official release notes indicated it was primarily around performance fixes and adding support for Phillips Hue lighting, there was another small but important change made to the app.  The OnHub app has always been able to do some network testing and when I initially reviewed the router and app, this was one area that was really in need of improvement.  That improvement has come over the course of the past few updates (I have no hesitation in recommending it now) but the change made to the app last week brings some clarity to those network tests.

To begin, the testing of your Internet connection speed and your Wi-Fi speed are now two separate tests.  You can run both of them or just one of them where as before, they were all lumped in together.  To be clear however, you have to run the Internet test first, every time, to get to the stand alone Wi-Fi test.  Hopefully this will change in the future but for now, it is what it is.