Google’s new WiFi router looks like a fatter, drabber version of a Pringles potato chip can. It also reminds me a little of Amazon Echo, the talkative virtual assistant.
Microphone inside? Presumably not, but a speaker can send audio signals to your Android mobile device to help get it connected properly. And then there’s the flashing light at the top, to let you know what your router is up to.
Goggle depicts the $199.99 OnHub as easy to set up, no small accomplishment if true, given the horrors of many routers. Android and iOS apps work with the OnHub.
Supposedly the OnHub simplifies management of your WiFi, so that, for example, you can effortlessly juggle the bandwidth appetites of your hungry little Roku box against those of other devices.
Luckily e-books themselves are a low-bandwidth use compared to other applications, but it’s still nice to be able to browse Amazon or Project Gutenberg or your local library’s OverDrive connection and know you’ve got a good, robust connection.
The router offers 802.11 b/g/n/ac at 2.4GHz and 5GHz. In other words, new gadgets can race along at full WiFi speeds.
The OnHub can give itself security updates automatically. It supports as many as 128 devices and includes 802.15.4 capabilities (handy for controlling the devices).
Alas, there’s only one Ethernet port. Maybe Google is convinced that the OnHub will do the WiFi routine so well you won’t miss having more. You could, of course, buy a switch to expand the number of ports.
You can preorder from the Google Store, Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers for delivery sometime in “the coming weeks,” whatever that means.
The $199.99 is pricey. But considering all the time that routes can eat up when they go awry—or the delays that slow connections can cause—the OnHub might be worth your consideration.
Now, if only Google can somehow defy the laws of physics and turn slow Comcast connections into fast ones!
